Social inequalities as theoretical and empirical problem of sociological research
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The main objective of this paper is to point out and to analyze different meanings and different aspects of 'social (in)equalities', depending on three levels of sociological analysis: the most abstract ideological level, concerning general, socially accepted or imposed social values, ideas and objectives; the second normative and political level at which social values and objectives are operationalized and, on the other hand, at which different and opposite social norms may provoke social conflicts (for instance, conflict between social laws forbidding monopoly behavior and violation of free competition, on the one hand, and some norms of big corporations that favor monopoly behavior, on the other hand); the third level of social practice, of everyday social life. The most important conclusions of the sociological analysis of social inequalities in the former socialist society are the following: (a) the principle of remuneration according to work is much more ideological norm of socialist society, while the more effective, functional norm is the principle of general economic and social security (employment of all persons capable to work, salaries regardless of work results and so on); (b) it is necessary to make clear distinction between the wrong and ineffective egalitarian norm tending to equalize social power of all employed persons and the right, effective egalitarian norm favoring equal rights of all employed persons to participate in decision making in the former system of socialist self-management. According to empirical results of several sociological researches, in the former Yugoslav society a kind of mixture of four value orientations prevailed: principle of socialist remuneration was primarily an ideological and political declaration; more effective (functional) principle of general economic and social security of all citizens was dominant; inclination toward libertarian principle of equal social chances was subdued, and even less present was acceptance of the principle of equal political rights and political equalities.Keywords:
Sociological Theory
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Social norm theory is a strand of behavioral economics that analyzes social norms, status competition, and social meaning, and the ways in which all three influence individual behavior. This literature complements (or offers a friendly amendment to) neoclassical, rational-choice models of individual behavior, by adding social context and human emotions that help explain individual conduct that otherwise might appear inexplicable and irrational. The aim is to beef up economists' unrealistically thin account of human behavior, while still preserving the relative simplicity and predictive power of the economics model. It is no surprise that social norm literature has caught the eye of legal scholars. Several writers have applied this literature to constitutional law, tort law, contract law, and criminal law. The criminal law scholars among them, whose work is the focus of this article, are recasting the social order and deterrence models that dominated criminal law theory in the 1940s-1960s into the social norm vocabulary of social meaning and social influence.
Social Order
Surprise
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Explication
Cohesion (chemistry)
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This Article describes the emergence and operation of a powerful type of social norm which is not only ingrained into the very fabric of society, but is also accepted and internalized by a high percentage of populations all over the world. This type of norm is termed a quasi-global social norm. This Article introduces quasi-global social norms by giving an account of their origin and development. Quasi-global social norms are shown to originate as a result of the sociological necessity that individuals have to rely upon one another for survival and self-betterment. This instinctual reliance causes these norms to penetrate deep into the subconscious of individuals and contributes to their almost universal adherence. Their development and enforcement is contingent on their internalization by large segments of society. Thus, quasi-global social norms tend to be abstract behavioral guidelines rather than specific rules of conduct, and to substantively relate to notions of fundamental import such as liberty and fairness. This Article continues by showing that the personal interactions that sustain quasi-global social norms are both continuous and pervasive, so much so that they seep into the legal system which, to be effective, must adapt itself to the prevailing quasi-global social norms. This Article concludes by reviewing two U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Romer v. Evans and Lawrence v. Texas, which illustrate how and when quasi-global social norms inform contemporary social and legal behavior.
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Social justice is one of the basic social values guiding people's behavior and determining their normative assessment of the phenomena of social life. Problems of social justice become especially significant in times of large-scale social change. Changes in the foundations of social stratification and in the principles of economic distribution are regarded by the population from the standpoint of views, formed during the lifetime of more than one generation, on how society should be organized. Assessments of the fairness of a social system also involve the extent to which that system corresponds to the interests of the individual and of the social group with which the particular individual identifies.
Social Stratification
Social Justice
Social Inequality
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The purpose of the article is to consider the main content and essence of the concept of social norm and its role in the life of modern society. A person's assimilation of the values and norms of society, social rules and standards of behavior required by society, coordination of their behavior with the institutions of society, subordination of their actions and actions to the highest standards of proper behavior developed by society — an indispensable condition for the formation of a citizen. In addition, the characterization of the obligations of a different person in his activity in norms, as well as the presence of special prosessual norms aimed at protecting the rights, such cases as right-to-law strife and prosecution, lead to the idea of the nature of norms that cause conflicts. The norm represents a model of generality inherent in them, summarizing and schemating a large number of private cases (Act, attitude, event). Because it is the product of scientific understanding of the laws of development of Nature, Society and human nature. In his opinion, the norms are reflection of the society's desire for self-support. Norms exist in various systemic states and manifestations and include law, morality, customs, traditions, and so on. Social norms are compulsory. Powerful socio-economic factors that divide the modern world, which distinguish diametrically different classes, strata and layers within society, ultimately give rise to an infinite number of different types of cultures, ways of life and activities, forms of interaction and relationships of people in modern society.
Assimilation (phonology)
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This paper adopts a social institutional approach to account for the societal-level mechanisms underlying the interaction between social norms and the law. Drawing on institutional economics and social psychology, this paper outlines a model in which norms form interdependent systems. In this model, societal orientations define the backbone of an evolving body of norms. This model sheds light on the nature of the rule of law and on its role in promoting social order. This paper posits that treating social norms as isolated regularities, as is commonly done in the literature, misses the big picture of social norms. Analyses of the relations between social norms and the law consequently run the risk of becoming "just so stories." Economic analyses of other-regarding behavior may go beyond the narrow view of self-interestedness yet they remain confined to the individual level of analysis.
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A norm is an established and self-reinforcing pattern of behaviour: everyone wants to play their part given the expectation that everyone else will continue to play theirs. It is, in short, an equilibrium of a game. This paper surveys some of the ways in which norms structure economic life: in the definition (and division) of property, in the terms of contracts, and in the assignment of social roles. We argue that norms can evolve from the cumulative effect of many decentralized interactions by individuals who are trying to solve a coordination problem. The theory suggests circumstances under which evolutionary forces favor norms that are efficient and more or less egalitarian in their distributive implications.
Division of labour
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At issue in the debate over social norms are different conceptions of human nature and the social order, of the ways people behave, and of the ways the law can both modify and be modified by social conduct. Three interpretive frameworks to the discussion of social norms are discussed: (a) whether social norms affect individual behavior merely as environmental/external factors or whether they also shape people's intrinsic predispositions; (b) the specific process by which norms influence people (i.e., whether preferences are considered predetermined or assumed to be modifiable as a result of internalization and persuasion); and (c) the ways social norms themselves are formed (whether merely via rational choice or also through historical transmissions). It is concluded that the discussion of social norms within a legal context is enriched by considering a “law and socio-economics” model, which combines the law and economics and law and society perspectives into a single discipline.
Internalization
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For decades, economic theories have been mostly based on rational choices made by selfish individuals to maximize their utility, while sociology spent a lot of efforts describing the environment of individuals and explaining how this environment shapes theirs decisions. However, the last thirty years have seen many sociological concepts appear in the economic literature. For example, behavioral economics introduces things such as envy or altruism in economic theories. Other notions such as social capital, social norms, trust or community became more and more present in economic papers. The objective of this new strand of literature is to engage into sort of socioeconomic approach and to shed some light on interpersonal relationships. This thesis belongs to this socioeconomic approach, and tries to explore new aspects of various concepts. The two first papers are theoretical. In the first one, we explore the negative side of social capital, which has not been studied extensively, by investigating the effect of a norm on consumers when moving is costly. In the second one, we introduce a sociological concept, namely social identity, in a classic economic model in order to show how social interactions modifies its results, and hence, the importance of taking such interpersonal relationships into account. The third and final paper is an empirical case study of social capital in Belgium, an exercise that has not been done before, with the objective of comparing the level of social capital between the various regions of the country. In the first paper, The Tyranny of Social Norms on Individual Behavior, we study the negative effect of the existence of a norm and moving cost inside a community. Because of deviation cost (such as social shame or peer pressure for example), consumers inside a given community may not reach their ideal consumption, that is the consumption they would have without social constraint. On the other hand, moving to another community may be too expensive (in terms of social assets needed to be part of the new community). Hence, agents may get stuck in their community, being forced to consume something they do not want to. One example of such behavior is the underinvestment in education in some neighborhood. We show that such equilibria are possible and that they may be socially suboptimal equilibria as well as Pareto inferior equilibria. We also show that state intervention can correct those “bad” equilibria by operating transfers between agents in order to lower the moving cost. In the second paper, Social Identity, Advertising and Market Competition, we use a particular approach of a sociological concept, namely Social Identity, which focuses on the fact that people want to signal who they are to others. We assume that this is done by choosing a specific consumption (think of fashion market for example). We show that under this assumption, the classical result of Bertrand Price Competition does not hold anymore, and that prices and profits are positive, meaning that social identity creates market power for firms. Moreover, if the number of goods is limited, groups will be formed, and there will be multiple equilibria, each one corresponding to a particular partition of the consumers. We then add the possibility for firms to use advertising. This allows consumers to have a coordination tool, but increases also market powers for firms. We investigate the various equilibria that arise and their impact in term of welfare. In the third paper, Social Capital in Belgium, we construct an index of social capital using the European Social Survey, and we show that this index can be decomposed in three aspects: Trust, Social Activities and Social Network. We then study whether there is a difference in social capital between Belgium’s regions or not. We show that indeed, such difference exists, even when controlling for socioeconomic variables. In a third part, we investigate whether the level of social capital is higher or lower in Belgium than in other European countries, and we analyze European regional differences in term of social capital.
Social Reproduction
Social Order
Social Mobility
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This essay is an attempt to transcend the contentious political environment by offering a conceptual framework for discussing the outlines of a “good society” and its constituent elements. We offer an argument that is grounded in social theory that identifies a way to develop public policies to remedy long‐standing economic and social problems in American society. The development of public policies that can unify individuals and groups to provide their support depends upon the existence of core social values and shared social norms to realize those values. We proceed by first identifying a set of core social values that we believe most Americans would endorse, and then present a set of guides for behavior that would advance those values. Finally, we propose a series of public policies that are consistent with the core values and social norms and that would help to create what we have called the “good society.” Our assumption is that when a citizenry endorses a set of core values and acts in a fashion that supports those values, the usually divided political factions will be compelled to respond with real solutions.
Argument (complex analysis)
Sociological Theory
Value (mathematics)
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