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CANADIAN SOCIETY
MODERN-DAY CANADA•2011 census: population is just under 35
million•Ethnically diverse metropolitan areas,
with Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver attracting about 70% of all new immigrants
•Dropping fertility rates + rising life expectancy = future problems funding social welfare and pension programs
•English and French, but also Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Arabic, Spanish, Tagalog, Russian, Farsi, Tamil, Urdu, and Korean
MARX, THE INDIVIDUAL AND WORK
•“Man makes his life activity itself the object of his will and of his consciousness.”
• In other words:▫you are because you
do▫you are what you do▫you are who you are
because of what you do
MARX, MONEY & POWER•Society is made up of two groups of
people, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat▫Bourgeoisie: powerful because they own
and/or control the means of production; “haves”
▫Proletariat: work for the bourgeoisie and consume what the bourgeoisie’s products; “have-nots”
▫The bourgeoisie exploit and oppress the proletariat through capitalism
▫Both the government and the law are just tools that the bourgeoisie use for their own benefit
MARX, THE VALUE OF LABOUR, AND ALIENATION
•The value of a commodity is directly related to the cost required to produce or obtain it▫Question: how much would you charge
someone for a cake that you made from scratch and decorated?
▫Question: how much would you pay to have your uniform cleaned and ironed for you each week?
▫Question: how much would you charge someone to write a 12-page essay on the significance of water imagery in Hamlet?
•More manufacturing = more labour = $$$$$
MARX, THE VALUE OF LABOUR, AND ALIENATION• If you control the means of production, then you
control access to the product via pricing
MARX, THE VALUE OF LABOUR, AND ALIENATION
•The bourgeoisie gained control over the means of production (via the Industrial Revolution); they do not want to give up control
•How to maintain power over the proletariat?▫Alienation: separating the worker from the
finished product•Alienation achieved through specialization of
labour: hire and/or train a worker to do only part of the job really well▫Bourgeoisie bonus: specialization also makes
workers more efficient!
MARX, THE VALUE OF LABOUR, AND ALIENATION• Powerlessness of the proletariat increases when
jobs become so specialized that machines can take over▫You would have to pay ONE worker a lot of money
to build an entire car; that worker will build that car with care
▫You can pay less money to a bunch of individual workers to build one car; those workers will not care very much about the car
▫ If you can automate the entire car-making process, you save money Complete alienation of the proletariat from the
production process; growing divide between bourgeoisie and proletariat – money AND power
LABOUR, ALIENATION, & THE INDIVIDUAL
• Mechanizing simple tasks helps people:▫ prevents injury▫ frees up time for people
to find meaningful work• If a person’s work can be
done by a machine:▫ that person will be paid
less▫ that person will feel
devalued in society▫ that job will become
devalued
LABOUR, ALIENATION, & THE INDIVIDUAL
• Therefore, in order to be considered successful today, one must be highly skilled:▫ Greater importance to the
community▫ Higher social status within
society▫ Increased number of social
benefits• Society values the highly-
skilled individual more so than it does the rest of the population
One’s social class position determines one’s entire fate.
ANTONIO GRAMSCI and CULTURAL HEGEMONY
•Please read Challenge and Change: Patterns, Trends, and Shifts in Society, pp. 105-106
•Make point form notes on this section, add to your current note
INTERNAL DRIVES: FREUD vs. DURKHEIM• Freud looked at different
states of consciousness & natural state to seek pleasure (ruled by unconscious)
• Durkheim was interested in conscious internal and societal motivators
• Anomie: what people experience when they are unsure of society’s norms and expectations
ORGANIC SPECIALIZATION & ANOMIE•Organic specialization: workers perform specific
tasks for the benefit of the entire system▫Like an organ in the body
•Organic specialization causes anomie:▫Workers are isolated by the specificity of their jobs▫No shared work experience = no strong personal
bonds▫No social interaction social rules not transmitted
social norms break down▫Result: dissatisfaction, conflict, deviance
• If you think the world of work is bad, imagine the anomie of an unemployed individual
FREUD & DEFENCE MECHANISMS•When we experience stress – whether
financial, emotional, or other – we use defence mechanisms to deal with the problem▫Unconscious response▫Allows our minds to hide or distort a
problem so that it stops consciously bothering us
▫Protects the ego from having to deal with shame, anxiety, and other uncomfortable/unacceptable feelings or thoughts
10 DEFENCE MECHANISMS•COMPENSATION: making up for
weakness in one area by excelling in another
•DENIAL: refusing to acknowledge the problem
•DISPLACEMENT: taking out impulses on a less threatening target
•ESCAPISM: fantasizing to escape reality•IDENTIFICATION: taking on the roles of
others•MINIMIZING: “writing off” problems as
being too minor to worry about
10 DEFENCE MECHANISMS•PROJECTION: putting your own faults
onto someone else•RATIONALIZATION: using an excuse to
cope with a problem•REACTION FORMATION: when a belief
of yours causes you anxiety, you adopt the opposing belief
•REGRESSION: reverting to immature behaviour to express your emotions
•SUBLIMATION: acting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way
INSTINCT•Although the human brain has evolved to
allow us to think rationally, creatively, and abstractly, we still retain our most primitive survival instincts
•Stressors can still trigger our fight or flight response
•Different people have different threshold stress tolerances
•The way we act out our primal instincts varies from one person to the next
What’s your instinctual reaction to a stressor?
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF IDEAS•Social organization necessary as society
becomes complex•Rules & expectations necessary for
stability
•How does one change these rules and expectations?
•Who has the power to make change happen in society, and from whence does that power come?
WORK•Max Weber (Sociologist): around the
beginning of the 1900s, noticed that society’s relationship to work was changing:▫Paid work evolved to become a means of
distinguishing the worker as a successful individual
▫Wealth accumulation became an important goal
▫In general, life started to revolve around the idea of producing, consuming, and increasing personal wealth
EARN MORE $$$
ELEVATE LIFESTYLE
SPEND MORE TIME ATWORK TO PAY FORLIFESTYLE
Identification & Priorities• Worker ensures family is looked after during
work hours
• If need to work more, need to extend childcare
• Earning more leads to elevated spending lifestyle
• To pay for lifestyle need to earn more
• Family gains benefit of increased income but suffers due to reduction in time spent together
LEARNED BEHAVIOUR:NOT JUST WITH CLOWNS
•Please read Challenge and Change: Patterns, Trends, and Shifts in Society, p. 114
•Answer all three questions at the bottom of the page
INEQUALITY, GENDER AND RACE• The increasing specialization of labour, coupled
with the consumption-oriented lifestyle, helped institutionalize gender inequality
• Positions of power in modern-day Canadian society continue to be male dominated, and held predominantly by Caucasians
• 1986: Employment Equity Act instituted in Canada▫Goal: remove barriers to employment for
women visible minorities Aboriginals people with disabilities
TOP-EARNING CEOs (CDN), 2012
1. Frank Stronach, Magna (Ex-Chair/Ex-CEO): $40,984,8202. Michael Pearson, Valeant Pharmaceuticals: $36,308,7163. Robert A. Quartermain, Pretium Resources Inc.: $16,908,7294. Bradley Shaw, Shaw Communications Inc.: $15,851,3365. Ned Goodman, Dundee Corp.: $15,037,8356. Rick George, Suncor Energy Inc.: $14,857,8187. Donald Walker, Magna International Inc.: $14,836,9488. Gerald Schwartz, Onex Corp.: $14,133,7039. Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.: $12,574,30510. Peter Marrone, Yamana Gold Inc.: $12,416,99911. William Downe, Bank of Montreal: $11,420,24212. Edmund Clark, Toronto-Dominion Bank: $11,380,73013. Keith A. Carrigan, (Ex-CEO) Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd.
$11,171,13014. Gordon Nixon, Royal Bank of Canada: $11,171,129 15. Charles Jeannes, Goldcorp Inc.: $11,117,750
