Sociology of Developing World, Essay Example

Case A, which describes the way in which a government has attempted to change the face of rural, agricultural areas and to modernize them, centers around many familiar sociological concepts. For instance, the case examines the role of social institutions on social relationships, when it describes how the government’s attempts to de-agriculturalize rural areas are harmful to women, whose social relationships allow them to make their own money only from small plots on which they grow corn, which they can use to make their own tortillas or trade for goods such as soap. Case A also describes how women in developing countries are somewhat subservient to patriarchal men, and must barter with their husbands in order to secure goods. The description of Case A’s society as patriarchal refers to its societal structure.  The discussion of how women and men trade and interact in the marketplace shows an instance of collective behavior.

The case also gives the reader an idea of the socioeconomic context in which the new policies are occurring. It says that without corn, women are sometimes hard pressed to feed their families or to take care of medical expenses while their husbands are away. This indicates, that perhaps those in rural areas are poor, and that women must cultivate the land in order to ensure that their families are healthy.  Another indication of socio-economic status is the use of corn. Case A states, for instance, that the poorest families use corn cobs and stalks for heating and cooking. There is some evidence here of discrimination against women, but in Case A, the government has begun to try to encourage women  to work outside their homes in spite of opposing cultural beliefs. There is most certainly an example of culturally-based food prejudices. The women, for instance, dislike store-bought processed tortillas and favor their own, home-made goods.

The part of Case A that says that the culture believes that men must bring in the income while women must feed the family helps set the new policies in their cultural context, describing the values that their society shares and the beliefs that their culture holds. There is not a trace of ethnocentrism in this case, rather there seems to be a little bit of the opposite. In this case, the farmers and the government are trying to compete and measure up to the outside world by modernizing and engaging in free trade.

The government might not have been paying a great deal of attention to the needs of the people in its agricultural sector. In order to get rural areas to modernize, the government cutoff loan programs and subsidies and discontinued some programs that gave technical advice. At the same time, it got rid of restrictions on imports. In this way, it left agricultural areas on their own and failed to address any socio-economic problems they might have because of it. Still, the case study shows that the move was somewhat successful. Fathers seem to have left their farms to work elsewhere, but they have let the women continue farming. Still, the plan may lead to social problems, as fathers must leave their homes unattended.

Case A is very similar to the cases of Latin American countries, where the government has attempted to spur modernization and industrialization in order to keep up economically with its neighbors and trading partners. Many Latin American countries historically found themselves strugging to compete with the wealth and success of the United States, and the problem was somewhat exacerbated by the entrance of some of these nations into Free Trade agreements which often seemed to make the United States more prosperous than Latin America. This was the case in Brazil and more particularly with Mexico. Indeed, this case is almost identical to the situation in Mexico, where traditional patriarchal structures have made men the bread-winners and women the housekeepers and cooks. Just as corn is a prized possession to the women in Case A, maize is dear to the hearts of women in Mexico. It gives them a tool to trade with.