Chapter 4

Question 1

A set of instructions used to solve a problem or perform a task

Answer 1

algorithm

Question 2

The condition in which an individual is isolated from their society, work, sense of self, and/or common humanity

Answer 2

alienation

Question 3

A situation of uncertain norms and regulations in which society no longer has the support of a firm collective consciousness

Answer 3

anomie

Question 4

The geological epoch defined by the impact of human activities on the global ecosystem

Answer 4

anthropocene

Question 5

A historical materialist model of society in which the economic structure forms the base of a society, which shapes its culture and other social institutions, or superstructure

Answer 5

base and superstructure

Question 6

The owners of the means of production in a society

Answer 6

bourgeoisie

Question 7

Awareness of one’s class position and interests

Answer 7

class consciousness

Question 8

The communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a society

Answer 8

collective conscience

Question 9

A collectivity based on shared emotional bonds, ambience, feeling, sensibility, or atmoshere

Answer 9

community of feeling

Question 10

The transformation of social life into the raw material of data as a new stage of global colonization

Answer 10

data colonialism

Question 11

A type of analysis that proposes that social contradiction, opposition, and struggle in society drive processes of social change and transformation

Answer 11

dialectics

Question 12

The way in which the creation of culture is both constrained by limits given by the environment, and a means to go beyond these natural limits

Answer 12

dialectic of culture

Question 13

The gap between those who are able to access and make effective use of information technology and those who cannot

Answer 13

digital divide

Question 14

The replacement of magical thinking by technological rationality and calculation

Answer 14

disenchantment of the world

Question 15

The division of people into different occupations and specializations

Answer 15

division of labour

Question 16

A way of life or a way of conducting oneself in life

Answer 16

ethos

Question 17

When a person’s beliefs and ideology are in conflict with their best interests

Answer 17

false consciousness

Question 18

Agricultural societies that operate on a strict hierarchical system of power based around land ownership, protection, and mutual obligations

Answer 18

feudal societies

Question 19

A model of capital accumulation based on mass production, cheap standardized products, high wages, and mass consumption

Answer 19

Fordism

Question 20

A city which has become a central node in a global economic network

Answer 20

global city

Question 21

An approach to understanding society that explains social change, human ideas, and social organization in terms of underlying changes in the economic (or material) structure of society

Answer 21

historical materialism

Question 22

Societies based around the cultivation of plants

Answer 22

horticultural societies

Question 23

Societies that depend on hunting wild animals and gathering uncultivated plants for survival

Answer 23

hunter-gatherer societies

Question 24

Societies characterized by a reliance on mechanized labour to create material goods

Answer 24

industrial societies

Question 25

Societies based on the production of nonmaterial goods and services

Answer 25

information societies

Question 26

A situation in which an individual is trapped by the rational and efficient processes of social institutions

Answer 26

iron cage

Question 27

The three stages of evolution that societies develop through: theological, metaphysical, and positive

Answer 27

law of three stages

Question 28

Anything that is used in economic production in a society to produce goods, satisfy needs and maintain existence (e.g., land, animals, crop production, technology, factories, etc.)

Answer 28

means of production

Question 29

Social solidarity or cohesion through a shared collective consciousness with harsh punishment for deviation from the norms

Answer 29

mechanical solidarity

Question 30

A stage of social evolution in which people explain events in terms of abstract or speculative ideas

Answer 30

metaphysical stage

Question 31

The ensemble of policies, rules, patterns of conduct, organizational forms and institutions which stabilize capitalist accumulation

Answer 31

mode of regulation

Question 32

A set of policies in which the state reduces its role in providing public services, regulating industry, redistributing wealth, and protecting the commons while advocating the use of free market mechanisms to regulate society

Answer 32

neoliberalism

Question 33

The economic transition to sedentary, agriculture based societies beginning approximately 10,200 years

Answer 33

neolithic revolution

Question 34

Groups of people bound together in communities of feeling who gather at particular times and places for specific reasons and then disband

Answer 34

neo-tribes

Question 35

A linkage of autonomous companies, or segments of companies, often geographically disperse, organized temporarily for specific projects or tasks and characteristic of global information societies

Answer 35

network enterprise

Question 36

A society whose social structure is made up of networks organized through digital information and communications technologies

Answer 36

network society

Question 37

A consumption model based on small batch production of specialized goods tailored for specific market segments or “niches.”

Answer 37

niche market consumption

Question 38

Social solidarity or cohesion through a complex division of labour, mutual interdependence, and restitutive law

Answer 38

organic solidarity

Question 39

Societies based around the domestication of animals

Answer 39

pastoral societies

Question 40

A form of society characterized by irreducible social heterogeneity, contingent social relationships, and ephemeral organizational structures

Answer 40

postmodern society

Question 41

Insecure employment based on subcontracting, temporary contracts, outsourcing and involuntary part-time work

Answer 41

precarious employment

Question 42

The wage labourers in capitalist society

Answer 42

proletariat

Question 43

The duty to work hard in one’s calling

Answer 43

Protestant work ethic

Question 44

The general tendency in modern society for all institutions and most areas of life to be transformed by the application of rationality and efficiency

Answer 44

rationalization

Question 45

A practice of self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-monitoring in which people distance themselves from traditions and institutional roles to construct their own identities

Answer 45

reflexive subjectivity

Question 46

The division of society into economic classes (the social roles allotted to individuals by virtue of their position in an economic system of production)

Answer 46

relations of production

Question 47

The process by which groups become isolated in ways that hinder their communication and cooperation with others

Answer 47

siloization

Question 48

A group defined by a distinct relationship to the means of production

Answer 48

social class

Question 49

How strongly a person is connected to their social group

Answer 49

social integration

Question 50

General patterns of social behaviour and organization that persist through time

Answer 50

social structure

Question 51

A form of capitalism based on surveilling, extracting, and commodifying digital information about people

Answer 51

surveillance capitalism

Question 52

A stage of social evolution in which people explain events with respect to the will of God or gods

Answer 52

theological stage

Question 53

A system of social security whereby the government intervenes in the economy to redistribute resources and protect the health and well-being of its citizens

Answer 53

welfare state