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Author: haroonkhan

  • TRIBE

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    haroonkhan
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    While race is now recognized as a biological term and the physical indicators for it are well established, there seems to be no consensus regarding the concept of tribe. Pioneering anthropologists carried out their studies of primitive societies without bothering to precisely define the concept of Tribe. This is somewhat understandable if we went back…

  • UNITED NATIONS AND APARTHEID

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    haroonkhan
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    The issue of the policies of apartheid of the Government of South Africa remained on the agenda of the United Nations for almost 50 years. After numerous efforts to urge the Government of that country to abandon its policies—declared a crime against humanity—the international campaign reached a watershed in 1989. That year, the United Nations…

  • Apartheid in South Africa

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    haroonkhan
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    Apartheid became the official policy of the Government of South Africa in 1948, following the election of the Herenigde Nasionale Party, later renamed the Natio al Party. Under this policy, racial discrimination was institutionalized. The lives of the Africans, who made up almost 75 per cent of the population, were controlled by the unjust segregation…

  • RACE

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    haroonkhan
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    The history of the evolution of Man tells us that all humans belong to a single genus and a common species, called Homo Sapiens. This indicates the biological commonalities between all humans that distinguish them from other animals. At the same time, we note that each individual of this highly populous group (now more than 6.8 billion)…

  • Introduction

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    haroonkhan
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    Of the several ways in which societies get stratified, three ascriptive groups (namely Race, Tribe and Caste) and a category based on the criterion of achievement (Class) are used as the prominent strata. Reviewing the trends in sociological research in the 1980s, Neil J. Smelser noted that the ‘three words … —“race”, “ethnicity”, and “class”—enjoy…

  • Differentiation on the Basis of Achievement Criteria

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    haroonkhan
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    Income groups, the rich and the poor, and the ruling class and subjects are achievement-based divisions in a society. The occupants of these status categories can move in or out of these through their efforts, or they could be pushed in or out by others. It is of course the case that children born in these…

  • SOCIETAL DIVIDERS

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    haroonkhan
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    Differentiation on the Basis of Ascription Earlier, in our discussion of the concept of group, it was said that a group is defined by its membership. Non-members are those who do not belong to the group, and they may, or may not, want to become members. In the case of societies, which are also a…

  • Functionalist Interpretation

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    haroonkhan
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    Functionalists generally look at the prevailing structures and explain their existence and continuity in terms of the functions they perform for society. Implicit in such an approach is the assumption that functions provide the raison d‘etre, while non-functional items become vestiges—this is how biologists view organic systems. Of course, Merton introduced new elements which helped to demonstrate…

  • Counter Theory of Max Weber (1864–1920)

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    haroonkhan
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    A relative junior to Marx was another German sociologist, Max Weber, regarded as one of the founders of modern sociology. He closely examined Marx’s work and presented a counter theory. He questioned the Marxist assumption that it is the economy that lays the foundations for the superstructures of society. His work on the Protestant Ethic and…

  • THEORIES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

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    haroonkhan
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    There are two major theoretical orientations to social stratification. The one advanced by Karl Marx had a powerful and worldwide impact on sociological reasoning. It is called the ‘historical’ approach, and has significant ideological overtones. Other scholars have either offered critiques to this approach or proposed an alternative sociological approach in functional terms. The key contestant…