Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Social sciences

The Concept of Law

Distinction between Law and Right

Law

It is the set of principles and norms governing human relations in society. It is a comprehensive code addressing all aspects of personal and social interactions.

Right

It is the faculty or ability of every human being to act permissibly or demand what aligns with their dignity. Human rights are a clear example.

Types of Law

Positive Law (Derecho positivo)

The system of rules established by a particular state, applicable at a specific time and place. This is known as the legislation of a country.

Natural Law (Derecho natural)

A set of universal and immutable principles and rules. Positive law should align with natural law, as the latter establishes what is just, not merely legal.

Principles of Law

Principle

ALLEGORY:

ALLEGORY: It is a way of expressing a complex idea by means of simple visual images. It is not the same as metaphor (compares two things that are not similar and shows what they actually have in common), or symbolism (the isolated items that put together make the allegory), or a simile (which compares two things by stating its nature of comparison) or analogy (compares two things that actually do have in common). Sometimes, it depends on the own author the meaning he wants to assign to his pictures. An allegoric story must have two parts: the literal story and the figurative story that readers interpret following the lead of the author (the passing of time may inflict in this matter, which could lead to multiple meanings). Also, allegories... Continue reading "Understanding Allegory and Postcolonialism in Literature" »

Risk and Social Change

Reflexive Modernization and Risk Society

• Increasing Risks
• Increasing possibilities, options, decision-making alternatives
• Increasing reflexivity (reflexive modernity)
• Increasing the feeling of taking risks (Risk Society)

Reflexive Modernization: Beck, Giddens, and Lash

Reflexivity

• Beck: Focused on the role of unintended dynamics of modernity (non-knowledge), which are what cause the unintended risks.
• Giddens: It is precisely this knowledge that creates most of the manufactured risks that affect us (such as nuclear energy) and that replace the natural ones (such as earthquakes). Because of the knowledge...

Reflexive Modernization and Risk Society

Increasing the Feeling of Taking Risks (Risk Society)

Crisis of Meaning – Disenchantment

Individualization:

Introduction

In Ecuador, several sectors are predicted to be the most popular career preferences for young people in the next five years. These sectors include economics, technology, and the environment.

Economic Sector

The economic growth in Ecuador has created a positive effect on young people, leading them to learn about trade and the stock market. This has resulted in an increase in the number of young people choosing economics as a career path.

Technological Sector

The technological sector in Ecuador has been growing rapidly, creating a demand for innovative and creative workers. This sector includes fields such as creative design animation and information technology.

Environmental Sector

Climate change and environmental problems in Ecuador have... Continue reading "Popular Career Preferences for Young People in Ecuador" »

The Origins of the European Union

After World War II (1939-1945), the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers, dwarfing the power of European nations. To counterbalance this new world order and foster cooperation, European countries decided to establish a continent-wide organization.

Their objectives were twofold:

• To safeguard peace and prevent future conflicts.
• To collectively compete with the superpowers on the global stage.

Key Milestones in EU Formation

1950: On May 9th, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed the creation of a united Europe.

1951: Six countries—Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands—agreed to pool their coal and steel resources, forming the European Coal and Steel Community... Continue reading "The European Union: History, Institutions, and Challenges" »

A person might be ill in one respect but well or healthy in others, it means that illness and health there are not opposite, so illness is not a lack of health and being healthy does not mean a person is well in all respects (psychologically and physically). WHO defines health like a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. In the last 60 years, psychologists use the Disease Model, making miserable people less miserable. However one of the challenges of psychology nowadays is to discover how to promote health to get better people’s lives, it calls positive psychology. So the aim of this essay is to know how to promote health.

Martin Seligman proposes different techniques,... Continue reading "Promoting Health: Positive Actions and Behavior Change" »

Smart cities optimize the use of technology in the design and operation of infrastructure and buildings in a way that meets the current and future needs of their citizens.

There are few operating examples of smart cities across the world.

There is a need to combine integrated 'layers of smartness' that embrace not just resource efficiency but the promotion of good health, economic stability, a sense of shared community, and an ability to adapt to future challenges.

5G technology means evolving the concept of wireless connectivity to enable new ways of defining performance monitoring and assurance, as well as the quality of service. It is believed that 5G tech will be present in different sectors of daily human life such as finance, agriculture,... Continue reading "Smart Cities and the Impact of 5G Technology" »

Historical Development of Literary Theory

Literary Science vs. Literary Studies

• Restrictiveness
• A search for models, patterns, and schemes in the literary work
• Repetitiveness
• Making theory firmer, more coherent
• Borrowing from linguistics
• (For example, Structuralists in the mid 20th century)

Interpretation in Literary Theory

Monistic Systems

• Psychoanalysis (relation of conscious and unconscious psychological processes)
• Hermeneutics (holy texts)
• Phenomenology (experienced

Democracy

A democracy is a political system that empowers individuals to participate in the governing process. There are two primary types of democracies:

Direct Democracy

In a direct democracy, citizens directly participate in making laws and governing. Ancient Athens serves as a historical example, where citizens could attend assemblies and directly influence decision-making.

Representative Democracy

Representative democracies involve citizens electing representatives who make laws on their behalf. Spain and the United States exemplify this system, where citizens vote for legislators who then enact legislation. In the US, even the president is chosen by electors representing the citizens' wishes.

Other forms of democracy include:

• Deliberative Democracy:

Sociolinguistics

Monolingual

A monolingual community is a community where there is only

one dominant language which used to cover all society

domains.

Multilingual

A multilingual community is one where there are more than

one dominant language to communicate with.

Formality scale

This scale helps assessing the influence of social setting or type

of interaction on language choice.

Ethnicity

Relating to large groups of people classed according to

common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural

origin or background, i.E. Ethnic minority.

Social factors

1 The participant: who is speaking and to who

2 The setting or social context of the interaction.

3 The topic: what is being talked about?

4 The function: why are they talking?

Social dimensions

1... Continue reading "Untitled 1" »