Introduction to sociology

WOLKITE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE & HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Introduction to sociology for second year
agricultural economics students
By Wubit D. (MA)
March, 2024
 Introduction to sociology …

Sociology Defined;
It’s Significance and
the scope

What is sociology?
Chapter one: the discipline of sociology
1.1. sociology defined

 The term sociology was first coined by a French

thinker Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in 1838,
linking two words, socius and logos.
Socius is a Latin word to mean society, city or
people where as logos is a Greek word which
means knowledge or wisdom.
 Chapter one: the discipline of sociology
1.1. sociology defined

 The literal meaning of sociology is, therefore,

the knowledge or reason of society.
Since then the term spread rapidly and is now
used in virtually all language to
denote any relative rigorous, reasoned
(scientific) study of society.
 Chapter one: the discipline of sociology
1.1. sociology defined
 Sociology is a social science concerned with the
systematic study of human social relationships and
The various ways these relationships are patterned in
terms of social groups, organizations and societies and
group influences on individual behavior.
 Sociology is the study of human social life, groups
and societies .
 Chapter one: the discipline of sociology
1.1. sociology defined ……
 The structure and function of society as a system

Interaction of human beings with their external

environment
 The indispensability of social interactions for
human development
How the social world affects us, etc.
 Chapter one: the discipline of sociology
1.1. sociology defined ……

 The individuals’ place in a society and the influence

of individual on society
 The social environments: religions behaviors;
conduct in the military; the behavior of workers and
managers in the industry;
Differences in the behavior of entire classes- the
rich, the middles classes, the poor,
 Cont’d…….
1.2. Sociology and other social sciences
o Political Science
 Political science focuses on politics and
government. Political scientists study how People
govern themselves: the various forms of
government, their structures, and their
relationships to other institutions of society.
 Cont’d…….
1.2. Sociology and other social sciences
o Economics
Economics also concentrates on a single social institution.

Economists study the production and distribution of

material goods & services of a society.
They want to know what goods are being produced at
what rate and at what cost, and how those goods are
distributed
 Cont’d…….
1.2. Sociology and other social sciences

o Anthropology
 Anthropology, in which the primary focus has
been on qualitative research method, is the sister
discipline of sociology.
 The chief concern of anthropologists is to
understand culture-a people’s total way of life.
 Cont’d…….
1.2. Sociology and other social sciences
o Psychology
 The focus of psychology is on processes that occur with in the

individual.

 Psychologists are primarily concerned with mental processes:

intelligence, emotions, perception, and memory.

Some concentrate on attitudes and values; others focus on

personality, on (psychopathology, or mental illness), or on how

individuals cope with the problems they face.

 Cont’d…….
1.2. Sociology and other social sciences

Similarities between sociology & other S. sciences

 Like political scientists, sociologists study how people
govern one another, especially the impact of various
forms of government on people's lives.
 like economists, sociologists are concerned with what
happens to the goods and services of a society; especially
on the social consequences of production and distribution
 Cont’d…….

Similarities cont’d
 Like anthropologists, sociologists study culture; they
have a particular interest in the social consequences of
material goods, group structure, and belief systems, as
well as in how people communicate with one another.

Like psychologists, sociologists are also concerned

with how people adjust to the difficulties of life.
 Cont’d…….

Differences between sociology & other S. sciences

 Unlike political scientists and economists, sociologists

do not concentrate on a single social institution.

Unlike anthropologists, sociologists focus primarily on

industrialized societies.
 Unlike psychologists, sociologists stress factors

external to the individual to determine what influences.

 1.2. The Development Of Sociology: A Historical
Review

Early Origins And Development

 Sociology is a young discipline even though people have
known about society through all ages.
 It was in 1838 that the French S. thinker Auguste Comte
(1798-1857) coined the term sociology from Latin word socius
(the social) & Greek word Logus (reasoning) thus reasoning
about the social to describe a new way of looking at society.
Factors that contributed to the development of sociology
in the 19th century
1. Industrial Revolution: in 19th c there was IR in Europe and

there was a change from agriculture to factory production.

 This change brought violent changes in peoples life

 Large no. of people were forced off their land and moved to

the cities in search of work where they were met with poverty,

anonymity, filth, and harsh working conditions

 Thus, social r/ns in the new urban centers were extremely

different from those in rural pre industrial setting

Factors that contributed to the development of sociology
in the 19th century

2. Social problems: industrial revolution was also

resulted in social problems.
o Crime, pollution, inadequate housing, were
among social problems and crisis that attracted
the scholars and contributed to the
development of sociology.
Factors that contributed to the development of sociology
in the 19th century
3. Exposure to new cultures: The Europeans had been
successful in conquering many parts of the world. Their new
empires stretching from Asia through Africa to North America
exposed them to radically different cultures.

4. Political changes and upheavals : political revolution brought

both positive and negative impacts but what attracted the

attention of scholars was the negative consequences.

 Factors that contributed to the development of
sociology in the 19th century

5. Religious change/Secularization: political

revolutions, industrial revolution, and
urbanization had a profound effect on religiosity.
 As the traditional order was challenged,
religion lost much of its force as the unfailing
source of answer to life’s questions.
 Factors…
6. The Development of physical/natural sciences:

• The 19th c was a period of scientific evolution.

• The scientific method –objective systematic observations

to test theories-used in chemistry and physics had began to
transform the world.
 Given these successes, it seemed logical to apply this

method to the question being raised about the social world.

The thinkers of the day started using method of the natural

science.
 Cont’d…….

1.3. Scope of sociology

 The scope of sociological study is extremely
wide, ranging from the analysis of passing
encounters between individuals on the street to
the investigation of global social processes.
Thus, There are two levels or branches of
analysis in sociology
 Micro and Macro Sociology
Micro sociology is interested in analyzing small scale social
phenomenon or patterns of society while macro-sociology
studies analyzing broad or large scale social phenomenon.
 Micro sociological level of analysis focuses on face to face
interaction between humans
Is concerned with the behaviors of the individual and his/her
immediate others- that is, with patterns of interaction among
few people (relations between spouses, peer groups, family
members)
 Micro and Macro Sociology…
Deals with much larger-scale.

The macro level of social life refers to whole

societies and the ways in which they are changing-
that is, revolution, wars, major changes in the
production of goods and services etc.
macro sociologists pursue questions about aggregate
units of analysis. e.g. Why the rate of HIV
transmission is higher in one countries than others.
 1.4. Sociological Imagination and Significance of
Learning Sociology

 Sociological imagination is the ‘instrument’ that

sociologists use to have a better understanding of
human behavior and of our social world.
 The ‘instrument’ that sociologists apply in order to
better understand the nature of human behavior and
individual circumstances in groups
 Sociological imagination is a particular way of looking
at the world around us through sociological lenses.
 1.5. Benefits/Significance of Sociological Perspective
Learning and using sociological perspective in our daily lives provide the

following general benefits

o It becomes way of thinking a 'form of consciousness' that challenges

familiar understandings ourselves &others

oit empowers us to be active participants in our society

oit enables us to assess both opportunities and constraints that characterize

our lives
oit helps us to recognize human differences and diversity

ohelps us to critically assess truth of commonly held assumptions

 1.6. MAJOR THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN
SOCIOLOGY

Sociological theory is “a set of principles and definitions that tell how societies operate and people in them relate to one

another and respond to the environment.”

1. Functionalist Perspectives (functionalism or structural functionalism)

Society is a stable, orderly system; a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability.
 FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

Functionalists used analogy of human body to explain their view.


Human body is composed of various parts or subsystems such as bones, nervous system, digestive systems,

circulatory system, and other systems


All of the body parts work together in harmonious way.


Each function in a unique way to maintain the entire body, but it cannot be separated from other body parts.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT
IVES IN SOCIOLOGY…
1. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…


The structural-functional paradigm has two components:

1) Society is composed of various kinds of social structure, defined as a relatively stable pattern of social behavior which ranges from family and

religious system
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT
1. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

2) All this structures are related in terms of social functions (i.e. all structures work for the operation of the

society as a whole.

oThus, structural functional perspective simply focus on the all structures are functional or all structures

work/operate for the stability of society as a whole.

 THEORETICAL PERSPECT…
1. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

oSociety like human body is composed of parts.

o
The parts of society include family, politics, religion, education, health, and so on.

o
Each of society’s parts functions together to maintain a larger system.

o
Eg. A major change in the economy, may change the family.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

Talcott parsons

oTalcott Parsons (1902-1979), a founder of the sociology department at Harvard University and the most influential contemporary advocate of the functionalist perspective.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

Talcott parsons….

oParsons suggested that a division of labor between husband and wife is essential for family stability and social order.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

Talcott parsons….

o
The husband performs instrumental tasks, like, leadership and decision making responsibilities in the home and employment outside the home to support the family.
FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

Talcott parsons ….
olikewise, The wife/mother is responsible for the expressive tasks, including housework, caring for the children, and providing emotional support for the entire family.

oother institutions, including school, church, and government, must function to assist the family and that all institutions must work together to preserve the system over time
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT
IVES IN SOCIOLOGY…
1. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE…

Robert Merton

One of the student of T. Parsons.


He refined functionalism by distinguishing between manifest and latent functions of social institutions

Manifest functions: are intended and/or overtly recognized by the participants in a social unit.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
2. Robert Merton…

latent functions: are unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants.

All features of a social system may not be functional at all; dysfunctions: are the undesirable consequences of any element of a society.


A dysfunction of education can be the perpetuation of gender, racial and class inequalities.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT…
Criticisms of functionalism

Focuses on macro- level (large scale) analysis of society neglecting micro- level (small

scale) societal realities

The perspective doesn’t provide us with the entire story of social life and social change
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT…
Criticisms…


It tends to exaggerates consensus, integration and stability while disregarding conflict and instability.

Conservativeness in their approach (defends existing arrangements…existence of poverty as functional) etc.

 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES …

2. The conflict paradigm

o Karl Marx provided the foundation for conflict

perspective.

osociety as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and

change.

osociety is a complex system characterized by inequality

and conflict that generate social change.

 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES …
2. The conflict paradigm
oThis approach complements the structural functional paradigm by high lighting not integration but division based on social inequality.

o
There is unequal distribution in money, power, education, social prestige, etc and rather than promoting the operation of society as a whole, social structure typically benefits some people

while depriving others.

 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
2 The conflict paradigm….


There is ongoing conflict between dominant and disadvantaged categories of people, (those on top try to protect their privileges while the disadvantaged attempt to gain more resources

for themselves.


Thus, according to K. Marx, society should not only be studied but also changed and social inequality should be reduced
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT…
Critical evaluation
It glosses over how shared values or interdependence generate unity among members of a society by only highlighting inequality and division and inequality in society

Pursue political goals by overlooking any claim to scientific objectivity. Both the functional and conflict paradigm view society in broad terms (family, s.class & etc)
 THEORETICAL PERSPECT…
Critical evaluation
It overstates the importance of conflict and disregard the stability and order that do exist within societies.

The theory is also criticized for over emphasizing changing society rather than understanding how order and stability can be maintained.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
3.3

3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm

Both Structural-functional and conflict paradigms share a macro level orientation, meaning a concern with large scale patterns that characterize society as a whole

However, symbolic interaction paradigm differs, by providing a micro-level orientation, meaning a concern with small-scale patterns of social interaction in specific settings

.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES… 3.3

3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm

The theory is concerned with how the self develops, the meaning people attach to their own and others action, how people learn these meanings and how meanings evolve.


They said that we learn meanings from others and adjust ourselves according to those meanings.


Meanings are subject to change.

.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
3 .3

3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm ….

Being at street level, observing, for example, face-to-face interaction in public parks or how people respond to a homeless person they pass on the street.

The key assumption of this theory is that society involves interaction by which individuals actively construct reality in everyday life.

.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
3.3

3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm ….

Therefore, sociologists guided by the symbolic interaction

approach view society as a complex mosaic of subjective

perceptions and responses.

The symbolic interaction paradigm is a theoretical frame

work based on the assumption that society is the product of

the everyday interaction of individuals.

 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
3 .3

3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm ….


Symbols play an important role in interaction.


A symbol is “any kind of physical phenomena-word, object, color, sound, feeling, odor, movement, or taste-to which people attach a name, meaning or value”


Symbols are shared by people and used to communicate with one another.

.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES… 3.3

3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm …

The development of this paradigm was greatly influenced by a German sociologist Max Weber who recognized society as it is subjectively perceived by individuals and

sociology should study at subjective meaning that individuals give for themselves and others.

.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES…
3. The Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm…
3.3

Others like George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, George Homans and Peter Blau have also developed a number of related approaches to understand society under symbolic interactionism.

.
 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES… 3 .3

Critical evaluation : symbolic paradigm helps to overcome

a limitation typical of all macro-level approaches to understanding society.

Attempts to show more of how we as individuals experience society and as the critics says, all social experience is affected by social structure.

.
1.7. introducing rural socilology

Rural Sociology
Definition, origin, Scope
and relevance

52
 Definition of Rural Sociology

 Rural sociology is one of the sub fields of sociology

concerned with the scientific study of rural life.
 It is the systematic body of knowledge resulted from
the application of the scientific method to the study of
• rural society,
• social processes,
• basic social systems,
• society organization, institutions and 53

• group dynamics.
 Defn. …..

 Studies the influence of physical and cultural

factors of persons considered to be rural or
non-urban.

 Is an applied sub- field of sociology with an

emphasis on applied research and practical
interventions to improve the life and well
being of rural people and the conditions in
54

which they live.

o RS employs sociological perspective and in
sociological perspective we see:
 Human beings as participants in large clusters of
interdependent human beings.
 Behavior as being constrained by expectations,
obligations, social rules & traditional ways of
looking at things
 Men and women not as exclusively self
determining individuals but as social products of
societies, cultures, social institutions & groups
within which they live
 Human existence as series of negotiated, not fixed,
arrangements with others within an environmental 55

context.
 1.8. Origin and Development of RS
o The fields had its beginning in the United States
of America at the beginning of the 20th C .
 The emergence of rural sociology as a sub-field of
sociology in the US is mainly explained in terms
of a concern, which has to do with:

1. Problems of increased urbanization and the

decreasing role of rural interest groups and

2. The effect of industrialization on rural

56

communities
 Origin ….

 Afterwards, rapid development of rural

sociological research was stimulated by

(i) direct assistance from government and

(ii) other organizations, which were worried

by the rapid-urban migration and the

growing difference in living standards

57

between village and town.

o RS was set up as a separate field of study in the
curriculum of Chicago University from 1892 onwards.
 The 1916 congress of American sociology devoted a

major part of its time to rural sociology.

 In 1921, a section of RS (concerned with the problem of

rural farm people) was set within the American

Sociological Society.
 In 1937, the autonomous Rural Sociological Society was

formed, and in the same year, the society started its

journal- Rural Sociology and this publication made 58a

significant contribution to the field.

 Origin ….
 Although the predominant emphasis on rural

sociology has been in North America and Western

Europe, this does not mean that these are the only

places where rural sociological research takes place.

 Rural sociology both in research and in teachings

were occurring in other parts of the world as well, but

only in the United States did three things occurred

59

before World War II.

 Origin ….

These are:
 Sustained support for rural sociological
research by the federal government and
the state agricultural experiment stations
 The organization of scholarly societies for
the discipline and
 The publication of journals to serve as
60

forums for research and conceptualizations.

 1.9. Scope of Rural Sociology
 Although rural sociology shares perspectives
and theories of its parent discipline sociology, it
has a special interest on rural setting that sets it
apart from other sub-fields of sociology.
 Rural is a remote area of distance far away
from the seat of government; that is, country
side and people living in villages.
 “Rural” is what we get when subtract cities from

a given society.

61
 Con’t …..
o There are three indicator for determining the

degree of rurality namely,

___community size,
___amenities found within the community and
___proportion of male heads of households engaged
in farming as primary occupation.
___Population density may be included.

oHistorically,
Rural, referred to areas with low
population density, small size, and relative isolation,
where the major economic activity was agricultural
production, and where the people were relatively 62
homogenous in their values, attitude and behavior.
 Con’t …..

 Nonetheless, there is no single point of distinction

between the rural and urban.
 Hence, rural sociology uses a comparative
perspective to understand the rural in comparison
to that of the urban.

 Therefore, Cities are generally defined in terms of

size and density of population, heterogeneity of
63
occupations, amount of formal social control and
organizational complexity.
 Con’t …..
 Accordingly, based on the comparative approach rural
places are defined as having the following features:

 remoteness: rural places are remote from urban centers;

 have low population densities;
 are sites for production of primary commodities like food
& timber
 provide relatively few social services;
 maintain social control through informal means; and 64

 have simple organization of life

 Con’t …..
 The subject matter of RS includes on the following issues
which can be subsumed under three major areas namely,
 Rural People and Their Environment
 Rural Livelihoods
 Natural Resources and Development Issues
• Farmers, their ways of making a living, types of farms, land
tenure, land use practices, and settlement patterns, social and
geographic mobility of rural people, food production, nutrition,
and family welfare, rural family and other institutions, youth and
inter-generation problems, structure and distribution of rural
people, rural attitudes, values, aspirations and perceptions,
social interaction and different forms of relationships, level of
living, poverty, and equity issues, social stratification, and 65
prestige, housing and other cultural practices, beliefs and
rituals....
 Relevance/ importance of RS
o The relevance of RS is particularly significant to

the developing nations of the world such as

Ethiopia where the rural takes the largest

proportion of the total population.

o Moreover the rural is the major contributor of the

national economy, a source of employment and

income generation for the majority of the

66

population.
 Relevance…
 It must be emphasized here that we cannot do

without the rural areas because they form the

most important sector of economy since large
majority of people live there.
 For a country to develop, it must arise and
tackle the problems in the rural areas because
agricultural productivity is the cornerstone in
economic development and social progress of
67

any developing country.

 Relevance…
 The relevance of RS is often asked in regard to

the contemporary dramatic decline of the

proportion of population resident in rural places
and the dramatic growth and expansion of
urban areas

 Although this is the fact of the day, rural

sociology will prove relevant for the following
68

reasons:
 Relevance…
 Given the uneven nature of capitalism, there will

always be places that remain marginalized and

left behind historically

o There are numerous objective indicators that

continue to differentiate people and places by the

degree of rurality; poverty rates , employment

opportunities, educational attainments, access to

health care, local government resources and so

69

forth.
 Relevance…
 Public concerns about food, farming, rural
inequality, and environment continue to
increase as a result of rural sociologists
presence in GO and NGOs.
 Issues addressed by rural sociologists
pertaining to farming, food , environmental
conditions and rural poverty are among the
most important public concerns today that70
further augment the continuing relevance of RS.
 Relevance…
 Finally, rural sociology will continue to be
relevant field of study as there is always
rurality to study as it differs in terms of
 Poverty rates;
 Limited employment opportunities;
 Limited educational attainments ;
 Differential access to services; and
71
 Uneven allocation of local government
resources
 THE RURAL
URBAN
DICHOTOMY AND
CONTINUUM
PERSPECTIVE
 The Traditional Modern Dichotomy
 The rural urban dichotomy includes the
perspectives and conceptualizations
provided by
• ancient philosophers and
• medieval social thinkers such as Plato, St.
Augustine, Ibin khaldun and Hegel as well
as the 19th century sociologists such as
Tonnies, Durkheim, and Weber.
73
 The Traditional …
 The modern social thinkers such as Main,

Townies, Durkheim, Spencer and Weber

provided types of societies based on certain

rational of classification that is generally

referred the traditional and modern dichotomy.

 All of them treated societies as having two

categories of traditional and modern as a result

74

of which it is called rural urban dichotomy.

 TRADITIONAL AND MODERN
DICHOTOMY
Theorists Rural Urban Rationale
for
classificatio
n
Maine Status Contract Assignment
of roles
Tonnies Gemeinschaft Gesellschaft Nature of
relationship
Durkheim Mechanical Organic Division of
solidarity labor

Weber Traditional Rational-legal Structure of

authority
Industrial Social
 The Rural-Urban Continuum Perspective
 The rural-urban continuum is a master model in RS
that describes rural & urban as a continuum consisting
of a series of gradation from supposedly semi-rural to
rural & through all forms of rural to semi urban & then
urban & finally to hyper urban.
 It is developed by the rural and urban sociologists in
their attempt to describe rural urban relations.
 This perspective includes the theoretical explanations
of Robert Redfield and Louis Wirth that view rural and
76

urban in a comparative perspective.

Robert Redfield’s description of
rural and urban society
 Robert Redfield, in his description of the Folk
and urban society, noted that all societies are
alike in some respects, and each differs from
others in other respects and
 Thus folk societies have certain features in
common which enable to think of them as a
type which contrasts with the society of the
77

modern city.
Robert Redfield’s description
of rural and urban society…
 A primitive or folk society is that of
small groups scattered over a territory.
The folk society is a small society. There
are no more people in it, can come to
know each other well.
They remain in long association with
78

each other.
Robert Redfield’s
description of rural…
The folk society is also an
isolated society
 folk societies are made up of
people who have little, if any,
communication with outsiders.
79
Robert Redfield’s description of
rural and urban society ……
 The people who make up a folk society are

very much alike (homogeneity)

 Since the people communicate with one another
and with no others, one man’s learned ways of
doing and thinking are the same as another’s.

 What one man knows and believes is the same

as what all men know and believe. 80
Robert Redfield’s description
of rural and urban society ……
 The members of a folk society have a
strong sense of belonging together.
 Folk sense their own resemblances and
feel correspondingly united.
 Communication ultimately with each
other, each has a strong claim on the
sympathies of others 81
Robert Redfield’s description
of rural and urban society ……
 There is no much division of labor in folk
society: what one person does is what
another does.

 All the tools and ways of production are

shared by everybody. The “everybody”
must mean “every adult man” or “every
82

adult woman”
Robert Redfield’s description of
rural and urban society ……
 Within the folk society members are bound by
religious and kinship ties, and there is no place
for the motive of commercial gain.
 Therefore, the vast, complicated, and rapidly
changing world in which the urbanite lives
today is enormously different from the small,
inward-facing folk society, with its well-
integrated and little changing moral and
83

religious beliefs.
 ROBERT REDFIELD’S DESCRIPTION OF THE FOLK
SOCIETY IN COMPARISON TO THE URBAN SOCIETY.

Rural/folk society Urban

 Small size of population Large population
 Isolated, non-literate, Literate and heterogeneous
homogenous Less group solidarity
Strong sense of group More individualistic
solidarity Greater division of labor
Traditional nature of
Prevalence of secular
behavior behavior
 Prevalence of kinship
Social disorganization
Dominance of sacred

behavior
Strong belongingness
strong social control
 Criticisms
 Robert Redfield’s description of
rural/Folk society and urban society is
criticized for the following three points,
1) It glosses over (omits) apparent heterogeneity in
rural areas

2) It assumes rigid classification between rural &

urban society

3) It underestimates existence of great deal of

85

mixture.
 Louis Wirth’s Ruralism and
Urbanism as a Way of Life
 Louis Wirth provided description of
ruralism and urbanism as a way of life in his
discussion of rural urban relations.
 Wirth maintained that environmental
differences produce basic differences
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between rural and urban places.
 RURALISM AND URBANISM AS
WAYS OF LIFE: LOUIS WIRTH
 Environmentaldifferences between rural and urban
places produce basic differences in their ways of
life
 Basic environmental differences include:
 Social and Demographic characteristics leading to
variations:
 Size
 Density and
 Social composition of population
 Behavior patterns
 Life styles
 BASIC DIFFERENCES OF RURAL AND
URBAN PLACES

Ruralism as a way of life Urbanism as a way of life

Small size, low density Large size, high density,
homogeneity heterogeneity
Strong social control Weak social control
Low division of labor Greater division of labor
Affective interpersonal Instrumental interpersonal
Primary relations Secondary relations
BASIC DIFFERENCES CONT’D
 Primary relations are characterized by:
 Total involvement of the interacting person
 Emotional intensity between interactants
 Total commitment
 Mutual satisfaction
 Secondary relations are characterized by:
 Partial

 Transitory

 Ephemeral
RURAL-URBAN DIFFERENCES
CONT’D
 Relations in rural areas are affective interpersonal
 Individuals enter in the relation for its own sake
 Relationship is sought for its intrinsic value
(built-in)
 Emotional satisfaction is derived from the
relations

 Relations in urban areas are instrumental in

nature:
 Individuals engage for utilitarian reasons
 Does not require the involvement of feelings/
emotional satisfaction
 Criticisms
 L. Wirth’s theory of ruralism and urbanism
as a way of life is criticized on the following
areas;
1) Ignores existence of many and different forms of
rural and urban life, varying from culture to culture
2) Difficult to derive all aspects of rural & urban ways
of life from only demographic and social composition

 Overall, both are criticized for idealization and

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glorification of rural life as peaceful and egalitarian.
Unit two: The Concept of Culture

2.1. What Culture is and What

Culture isn't?

1. The Concept of Culture