Comparative Sociology SYA 4170                                                                                                      

Questions from Global Sociology

 

Egypt: Faith, Gender, and Class

 

1.                  How do Islamic norms shape daily life in Egypt?

 

2.                  What are the norms for “modest dress” in your society?

 

3.                  How has modernization changed the roles Egyptian women play? Has it changed the roles of Kung women in the same way?

 

4.                  Is it ethnocentric to condemn female circumcision?

 

5.                  What role conflicts do women in your society experience? What strategies do women pursue to resolve them?

 

6.                  In what ways are rural Egyptian families patriarchal? Are Kung families patriarchal? How about families in your society?

 

7.                  Is the social stratification system in Egypt becoming more open or more closed? How about the stratification system in your society? 

 

8.                  Based on what you have read in this chapter, do you think the Islamic fundamental movement in Egypt will become stronger or weaker in the next few years?

 

                                                                                                                                                           

 

 

Germany: Social Institutions and Social Change in a Modern Western Society

 

1.                  Describe the values and institutions that made East Germany a socialist society.

 

2.                  Do you live in a capitalist society? If so, is its style of capitalism similar or different in any way from Germany’s or Japan’s?

 

3.                  Compare the system of higher education in Germany with the system in your society. What advantages or disadvantages do you see in each?

 

4.                  Compare and contrast the ways that East Germany and West Germany defined and responded to deviance.

 

5.                  Explain why many people in eastern Germany have experienced anomie since reunification. Can you think of some examples of people experiencing anomie in your own society?

 

6.                  Turn to Table 5.3 (p. 247) and compare the percentages of 20- to 24-year-olds attending institutions of postsecondary education in West Germany and in the United States. Can you explain why Germans= incomes rival those of Americans even though many fewer Germans attend college or university?

 

 

Japan: A conforming culture

 

1.                  When you read Chapter 1, were you ethnocentric in your reaction to the Japanese?

 

2.                  Using a highlighter pen, go through pages 7 to 15 of Chapter 1. Highlight descriptions of Japanese values in blue and descriptions of norms in yellow. Are you confident you understand the difference between values and norms?

 

3.                  When some large American luxury cars were recently put on display in Tokyo, many Japanese shoppers said they wouldn’t want to purchase them. “I would get a lot of attention if I drove that car,” one woman said. Using what you now know about Japanese society, decide what kinds of cars you would choose to export to Japan if you were making this decision for an American auto company.

 

4.                  What are some Japanese values that contrast sharply with values in your own society?

 

5.                  What social groups are most important in the lives of the Japanese? What groups are most important in your life, in your society?

 

6.                  How are offices in your society physically arranged? (Are the desks separated, or all touching, as in Japan? Are there cubicles? Separate offices with doors?) Are offices in your society similar to Japanese offices or different? What kinds of interaction and attitudes does office arrangement in your society encourage?

 

7.                  Turn to Table 1.2 (p. 33) and compare the homicide rates in Japan in the United States. Thinking sociologically, can you explain what causes the tremendous difference in these rates?

 

 

 

The Kung: Bushmen of Southern Africa

 

1.                  Explain what the authors mean when they say that the Kung “live close to nature.”

 

2.                  Can you use the functionalist perspective to explain why the Kung Bushmen emphasize sharing, why they are nomadic, and why they have small families?

 

3.                  What are the most important social groups in Kung society?

 

4.                  Which of the four types of social interaction (social exchange, cooperation, competition, and conflict) predominate in Kung society? How about in your own society?

 

5.                  When Kung bands settle down in villages, how do their culture and social institutions change?

 

Mexico: Social Groups in a Diverse Society

 

1.                  Describe some norms that are important in Mexican culture.

 

2.                  Are there any similarities in the roles men are expected to play in Mexican society and in Japanese society? What differences are there?

 

3.                  Explain what is meant by the term “reciprocity network,”using examples from Chapter 2. Do people in your society form reciprocity networks? Can you give an example of a reciprocity network from your own experience?

 

4.                  What are some of the reasons why Mexicans, even urban Mexicans, often have many children?

 

5.                  Can you explain what political patronage is and how it works? Can you find an example of political patronage in your own society?

 

6.                  Look up the most recent data you can find on income distribution by quintiles in your society. Is your society more like Mexico or more like Japan in its degree of inequality?

 

7.                  Does the social category of  “mixed race” exist in your society, as it does in Mexico, or does everyone have to be classified as belonging to one race or another? Which way of thinking about race would you prefer?