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

Classical Liberalism

• Key Thinkers: Adam Smith, John Locke, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Woodrow Wilson.
• Core Assumptions: Objectivity is weak; the system is anarchic.
• Game Theory: Positive-sum game; Prisoner's Dilemma leads to mutual and collective gains.
• Key Actors (Institutions): Individuals, states, markets, International Governmental Organizations (IGOs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and pressure groups.
• Individual Preferences: Utilitarian and idealistic.
• Intervening Variables: Non-state actors (political parties, markets, lobbies).
• Explanatory/Predictive Scope: Normative international, foreign, and domestic policy.
• Goals: Self-determination, cooperation, security, wealth, peace, and stability.
• Key Concepts: Just War Theory, Collective

Theme: Progress

Text analysis: Persuasion

Technique:

• Logical appeal: this technique uses reason and evidence to support a position.

• Emotional appeal: This technique creates strong feelings, such as fear and anger, to influence readers' opinions.

• Ethical appeal: This technique refers to values and principles which the reader is likely to believe in strongly.

Reading skill: Recognize ideas

Victorian writers use complex sentence filled with phrases, clauses, and modifiers.

Strategies:

• Clarify meaning by identifying the main subject and verb of a sentence.

• Watch for patterns in the text, such as repeated sentence structures, that the author uses to organize thoughts.

• Once you identify the idea of a passage, reread it. Consider the details you initially skipped

The Role of Leadership in Corporate Success

Iconic Founders and Entrepreneurial Leadership

Some organizations are defined by their leaders. Amazon is identified with Jeff Bezos, eBay with Pierre Omidyar, and Google is identified with Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Entrepreneurs and founders of their organizations, they are perceived to possess leadership qualities and pronounce on the issues of the day. They are often held up as role models.

The mercurial leadership characteristic of many entrepreneurs means that they might found and then sell a series of start-ups, rather than guiding them to the next, more mature stage. Unlike the examples above—corporations that operate on a global scale—others prefer to leave the day-to-day management of... Continue reading "Corporate Leadership Dynamics: Founders, Turnarounds, and CEO Succession" »

Types of knowledge:

• Intuitive: acquired through direct experience with things, objects, people.
• Empirical: based on experience; does not explain reality.
• Magic relig: built on beliefs and supernatural ideas.
• Philosophical: guide for human beings in the search for knowing.
• Scientific: produced with a method of study for observing, analyzing, and reflecting on reality.

Human beings:

Characterized by reason and consciousness of their acts, with a natural desire to know.

Formal sciences:

Study conceptual entities like numbers, figures, and concepts.

Factual sciences:

Study natural events, including natural and social phenomena.

Social sciences:

Study human social relationships and institutions.

Methods of sociology:

Main methods include positivism, comparative,... Continue reading "Types of Knowledge and Human Sciences: A Comprehensive Overview" »

IMG a company has many images as each person hold different images of the company. Company manages its images and develops them by coordinating its internal operations to build a desired image in the minds of various target audiences. It can help to deliver good customer service or also recover from an episode of bad publicity. The company's image is formed by what people say about the company and what the company says about itself. Vision is crucial. As a conclusion, it is the total impression an organization makes on the mind of people, this tends to humanize them to see them much as they do human in terms of being mature, liberal, or friendly. A healthy image characterizes strong emotional response, appearance of power (feeling the power... Continue reading "Building a Strong Company Image: Elements and Dimensions" »

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

The Evolving Landscape of Future Employment

Today, many cities worldwide face the challenge of unemployment. This complex issue stems from various underlying factors. This analysis will explore the future of employment, focusing on a critical contemporary concern: the profound impact of new technologies on the labor sector.

Technology's Dual Impact on the Workforce

On one hand, while some jobs face redundancy, others are experiencing rapid growth. Existing roles are also undergoing significant transformations in their required skill sets. However, the advent of new technologies does not automatically lead to widespread job displacement. Instead, it signifies a major breakthrough in research and development.

For instance, even as some companies... Continue reading "Workforce Transformation: Adapting to Technological Change" »

Key Institutions of the European Union

European Parliament

• Role: A body of the European Union elected by direct universal suffrage, with legislative, budgetary, and supervisory powers.
• Members: 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
• President: Antonio Tajani.
• Established:
  • 1952 as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community.
  • 1962 as the European Parliament (first direct elections in 1979).
• Seats: Strasbourg (France), Brussels (Belgium), and Luxembourg (Luxembourg).

European Council

• Role: Defines the main orientations and political priorities of the European Union.
• Members: The Heads of State and Government of the EU Member States, the President of the European Commission, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs

The New Deal of the 1930s

Following the Crash of '29, greater state interventionism became necessary.

1. The American New Deal created a social security system in 1935.
2. Initially, this system was only available for white people.

Defining the Welfare State

The Welfare State is a core concept in political and economic sciences. It designates a political proposal and general model of social organization where the State provides services in compliance with social rights to all inhabitants of a country.

It encompasses two aspects simultaneously:

• A political technology
• A social ontology

It was created primarily to solve the problem of social conflicts arising from the limitations of private insurance and mutual systems working. It primarily benefits the middle... Continue reading "The Welfare State: Origins, Keynesian Model, and the 1970s Crisis" »

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: