SOCIO EXAM#4 Flashcards
(34 cards)
Consumer Culture
is a system that is dominated by the consumption of commercial products.
Perceived Obsolescence
An object may continue to be functional, but it is no longer perceived to be stylish or appropriate, so it is rendered obsolete by perception, rather than by function
Planned Obsolescence
A policy of producing consumer goods that rapidly become obsolete and so require replacing, achieved by frequent changes in design, termination of the supply of spare parts, and the use of nondurable materials.
Outsourcing
describes when companies decide to have the goods manufactured in another country for the purpose of finding cheaper labor costs and/or a fewer regulations
Conspicuous Consumption
A concept originally developed by Thorstein Veblen, this describes how people display their wealth through what goods, services and experiences that they purchase.
Consumptionism
From the film The True Cost, consumptionism describes a corporate strategy of convincing people to treat objects that they should use for a long time (appliances, clothes) like objects that they should use up (disposable).
Fair Trade
Is products when there’s a fair trade between workers & companies
Typically more expesive than fast fashion
Upcycling
Describes reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. Example: in the film The True Cost, the woman in Haiti was sewing new garments out of secondhand clothing.
Economies of Scale
it is cheaper – per unit – to produce a large volume of goods than a small volume, because your expenses are spread out over many units.
Linear Model of Production
A linear model of producing goods moves through a cycle involving the following steps: 1) extraction of natural resources; 2) manufacture of products from natural resources into finished products; 3) distribution in stores for sale; 4) consumption of goods by shoppers; 5) Disposal.
Critiques of the linear model of production is that it produces externalities along the process through environmental harm and worker rights issues; and is not environmentally sustainable since natural resources are finite and the planet can only sustain so much environmental degradation before it is unable to regenerate.
Externalities / Externalizing Costs
corporations pass the true cost of doing business onto the government, the environment, workers and consumers.
For example, when retail workers are paid minimum wage in the U.S. it is not enough income to raise a child, and the family will be at or below the poverty line. Therefore, the government pays the true cost of doing business by supplementing minimum-wage workers through food stamps, and other poverty programs.
Assembly Line/Fordism
A mass-production technique that often accompanies scientific management where the different steps of making a commodity (like a shirt) are divided up into simple steps and workers are assigned to each step as the shirt moves down the line.
Scientific Management/Taylorism
a set of principles governing the design of jobs that separates mental work from manual labor and subdivides tasks into a step by step process with different workers assigned to each step. Scientific management involves close managerial control of workers and incentive pay for high productivity. Scientific Management is also known as Taylorism.
Commodity Fetishism
consumers see goods and don’t think of the people who made the goods and under what working conditions.
Alienation
lienation means to be “estranged” – or distanced – from. Marx argues that workers are alienated from
1) themselves and what it means to be human;
2) from one another
3) from the product they produce, and 4) from the consumers who buy the products that they make (commodity fetishism).
Piecework
s any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed regardless of the time it takes them.
Deskilling
To eliminate the need for skilled labor in (an industry), especially by the introduction of high technology. Or to downgrade (a job or occupation) from a skilled to a semiskilled or unskilled position.
Closed Loop Production
is when a company has plans to re-collect the used goods it produced and re-use and/or resell them. Closed-loop recycling is basically a production process in which post-consumer waste is collected, recycled, and used to make new products.
Clothing Deficit Myth
describes the belief that many people have that there is a clothing shortage in their communities and in other parts of the world, and that everything they donate to a charity will find a poor, and eager owner elsewhere.
Exploitation
Traditionally, exploitation is considered as unfairly taking advantage of another person because of his or her inferior position, giving the exploiter the power.
Conflict Perspective
According to the conflict perspective, society is made up of individuals competing for limited resources (e.g., money, leisure, selective colleges etc.). Competition over scarce resources is at the heart of all social relationships.
Capitalism
an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.
Marxist class model
Societies are divided into conflicting classes based on two criteria:
- Ownerships of the means of production – land, commercial enterprises, factories, and wealth (stocks)
Capitalists/Bourgeoisie & Working class/Proletariat
Means of Production
are physical, non-human inputs used in production, such as machinery, tools and factories, infrastructural capital and natural capital (land).
