Macionis and Plummer, Essay Example

Macionis and Plummer stated that sociology is “the systematic study of human society” (4). The power of this study is to demonstrate just how strong the social forces that organize society in very different ways are (3). Just like any discipline, sociology can be defined “through the set of concepts that it employs to guide observation and to provide the means to describe and explain what is observed” (Harris 7). In this paper, two of the sociological concepts will be declared and discussed as to their relatedness to each other and to the external environment. The chosen concepts are the population growth and social change. In the beginning, to provide a sufficient ground for the discussion, it is necessary to take a look at each of the concept’s core ideas and contemporary applications.

Nowadays, with the world population already exceeding 6.5 billion people, the problem of rapid population growth raises a wide concern in the society. It has come to the point where all spheres of human practice from demographic to social, from infrastructural to economic are being influenced by it. One can argue that from the stand point of sociology the more people there are, the greater the opportunities to study and research various types of group behavior and structural communication are. But, at the same time, the problems that are being caused by the increased number of people inhabiting the Planet, especially in the field of countries’ economic development, cannot be underestimated. From my point of view, the size of the population has a significant influence on the development of the economy and society and vice verse. One the one hand, with overpopulated regions, businesses are not able to provide workplaces for everyone willing and able to work. People try to find alternative ways of earning for a leaving, but still, in most cases, it is not enough to ensure the satisfactory level of life. As a result, the poverty and unemployment levels are rising, bringing with them increased crime rates and social disturbance. The active labor force is unable to provide all the necessary financial and social support, as the domestic businesses are not able to pay adequate wages and international ones are more concerned with cutting down their own expenses by means of using cheap labor. The last one is called off shoring and is among the most recent discussions in the business environment. On the other hand, however, undeveloped infrastructure of certain regions and their unattractiveness to foreign investments are among the essential identifiers of the social and economic degradation of those regions. Lacking financial support and any kinds of work opportunities, people go back to using all the available natural resources in order to provide some kind of nutrition for the family. In the above situations, keeping in mind the absence of social education, lack of the established health system and abundance of free time, the population of the regions grows at rapid rates, exposing even bigger numbers of human lives to poverty, lack of educational background and unemployment.

On the other hand, when talking about the concept of social change, it is vital to mention that change is inevitable and has to take place in order to provide new opportunities and open new horizons. As the concept of change may be discussed in micro-, meso-, and macro level dimensions, in this paper the attention will be paid to the concept of global changes as there are a couple of reasons for the importance of such kind of discussion. First of all, as long as the huge financial, economic and social gap continues to widen between developed and third-world countries, poverty, overpopulation and resource-scarcity will hold their positions as threatening worldwide issues. Nowadays, only a combined and mutually beneficial effort of countries’ and world leaders can act as an engine for finding possible solutions and helping those in need. Secondly, the threat of environmental collapse and developing terrorism movement leave no choice for the nations but to cooperate and together provide opportunities and take actions on the way of establishing and maintaining peaceful, environmentally friendly and conflict-free surrounding for the citizens of the Planet. And finally, to my mind, the increased number of military conflicts, invasions and wars in the recent years leave no choice but to make a difference. It is unacceptable and unethical to allow such huge numbers of lives to be wiped out and so many inhabitances and homes to be destroyed. The global leaders today have forgotten their primary functions. It is in their power to influence, to negotiate and to improve. People have chosen them as valid representatives and there are truly not that many to be named that are putting their best effort in working towards peace, equality and prosperity of the whole world community and not just a specific part of it.

Nowadays, the connection between the above-discussed concepts is evident, while somewhat 20 or 30 years ago it would have been considered nonsense even to consider them at one time. What we are witnessing today is that overpopulation has gotten out of reach of control of domestic governments and politics in some regions of the world. Sufficient international assistance and support are needed to fight overpopulation and its consequences. And it is not only financial aid that should be considered. Even in the view of possible infrastructural and economic development overpopulated regions will still need social readjustment. As most overpopulated regions today are found in underdeveloped rural areas where the family survival and care for the elderly combined with insufficient healthcare are the core identifiers for the extensive birth rate (Barbanas, 58), it is essential to provide international assistance in spreading awareness and providing opportunities of contraceptive use, technology acknowledgement as well as social equality and human rights. Such efforts are impossible it be fulfilled if they are just the initiative of one or two countries. So, the most adequate solution in this situation is for the world leading countries to combine efforts and resources, leaving all the prejudice and personal interest behind, in order to help those in need. The benefits of the proposed changes are not only likely to improve the world’s demographical situation, but also solve a number other issues, proving once again the closeness and relatedness of contemporary social concepts and issues.

Apart from being connected with each other, the sociological concepts discussed in this paper also have an evident connection with some other sources in the external environment. For instance, population growth is inevitably connected with poverty levels, whereas social change can be discussed in the prospective of international relations development. Talking about the first components, it is important to point out that currently there are two arguments, which many social scientists and social aid programs are debating: is it poverty that leads to overpopulation or can it be that overpopulation creates poverty (Dimeck). In both cases, the answer or clarification of at least one of the questions is vital to those “1.1 billion of the world’s 6.5 billion population, who are left to wallow in poverty” (Sachs 12). Currently, many aid programs are trying to educate people in impoverished areas in order to help them curb their population problem (Dimeck).  Studies have shown “that people typically have the amount of children they want, however, the studies have also shown that people who are better educated (particularly women) tend to have less children because they realize it is both cheaper and of greater benefit to their children” (Lappé, Collins, and Rosset).  Additionally, in parts of Africa, where urbanization has taken place, the birth rate has dropped off significantly, which has allowed families to spend more on education and health care for each child (Sachs 14). On the other hand, however, “poverty is the result of a myriad of factors, and the mentality and culture of the impoverished is self-destructive by nature” (Dimeck). Providing food and economic aid to the poor only helps in the short-run, but helping them learn how to produce their own food on a sustainable level can save generations.

When considering the connection between social change and international relations, it is important to keep in mind that the international arena today is living by the already established unspoken rules and patterns. . In a rush for taking the position of the world superpowers, developed countries are using all imaginable and possible ways of influencing other countries and building coalitions or so-called unions. Those countries, being in charge of the majority of the world financial and natural resources, use manipulation and appealing proposals to countries in need, which basically results in “buying” support on the global arena. So, when disagreements or conflicts arise, alias support each other, standing on the view point of the “friend” country and rejecting all ways of negotiation or compromise. In the majority of cases, in the situations where a combined global decision is able to save thousands of human lives, opponent countries, finding their ideas as the only appropriate ones, lack the shared ability to give up imaginary, as I would call it, boundaries and stereotypes and cooperate on the behalf of the humanity. As soon as the leaders worldwide will be willing to negotiate and put aside whatever judgments they hold for each other, the process of social change will be possible and productive.

Judging from the perspective of my own experience, I can definitely state that for sociological concepts to be understood and considered, it is important to raise public awareness. It is impossible for one person to solve the problem of overpopulation or make even a slightest social change – public acknowledgement and understanding are the keys. However, an individual contribution can still make a difference. Simply by means of making a in-class report or a group project, by participating in associated workshops or being a member of a charitable or voluntary organization, one is not only able to clarify own perception or viewpoint on the particular sociological concept, but can also contribute to raising public interest and attention to various concepts and ideas, which are essential to society’s acceptance and understanding of the surrounding environment. “Education will always be the solution to any problem, for with education comes understanding and with understanding comes solutions” (Dimeck).

Work Cited

Barnabas, A. P. “Population growth and human development”. D’Souza AA, de Souza A, ed. New Delhi, India, Indian Social Institute, 1974. 57-66.

Dimeck, Joe. “The Vicious Cycle of Overpopulation and Poverty”. 23 Jun. 2009 http://ronebreak.com/2009/02/14/overpopulation-and-poverty-the-roots-of-all-our-problems/

Harris, Christopher Charles. “Introduction.” Fundamental Concepts and the Sociological Enterprise. Taylor & Francis, 1980. 7-10.

Lappé, Frances, Joseph Collins, and Peter Rosset. “Poverty and population growth: lesson from our past.” Global Issues. Global Issues. 23 Jun. 2009 <http://www.globalissues.org/article/206/poverty-and-population-growth-lessons-from-our-own-past>.

Macionis, John J., and Plummer, Ken. “Introducing Sociology.” Sociology: A Global Introduction. 3^rd ed. Pearson Education, 2005. 4-7.

Sachs, Jeffrey D. “Unit 1 Article 3.” Global Issues. 24th ed. New York, NY: Contemporary Learning Series, 2008. 12-16.