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

Understanding Competences and Skills

Defining Competences

What are competences or skills?

• They are what make people competent: the prerequisites for effective action.
• They should take into account all general and specific knowledge, skills, and motivations needed for effective action.

Action Categories for Graduates

According to Allen, Ramaekers, and van der Velden (2005), higher education graduates may find themselves in nine primary action categories:

• Directing productive tasks
• Directing the work of others
• Planning
• Coordination
• Control
• Innovation
• Information management
• Maintaining relations with personnel
• Maintaining relations with clients

Types of Competences: General and Specific

General Competences Explained

General competences can be applied across a range...

The Gilded Age: Capitalism, Corruption, and Tycoons

American finance fueled a series of peaks in American capitalism, characterized by intense moments of expansion and recession. This era of big business often fostered widespread corruption.

Defining the Gilded Age

The government strongly favored modernization and the rapid accumulation of wealth. This period was famously dubbed The Gilded Age by Mark Twain, who observed: “The golden gleam of the gilded surface hides the cheapness of the metal underneath.”

Economic Transformation and Rural Displacement

By the end of this golden period, ordinary farmers and veterans were increasingly displaced. This displacement was driven by financiers seeking to consolidate land and increase the size of their...

International Organizations and European Integration: Essential Facts

Most Important Treaties for European Integration

The following treaties allowed for the gradual deepening of the European integration process:

• Treaty of Paris (1952): Established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
• Treaties of Rome (1957): Established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
• Single European Act (1986): Launched the Single Market.
• Maastricht Treaty on European Union (1992): Established the European Union (based on three pillars).
• Treaty of Amsterdam (1997): Authorized further enlargement.
• Treaty of Lisbon (2009): Authorized constitutional changes.

Composition of the European Council and its President

The European...

England's Social Shift Before Industrialization

Before the Industrial Revolution, England was a monarchy with a king and queen at the top of the social structure. They controlled everything in the country and were the wealthiest. That all changed when the monarchy was weakened by a constitution and Parliament. The king's power and wealth were restricted, with someone else making decisions in the country. The nobles of the country were also weakened, losing much of their power.

The Catalyst: James Watt and Mass Production

When James Watt introduced the steam engine, factories could start mass-producing goods, fundamentally changing the social structure forever.

Industrial Revolution Class Hierarchy

During the Industrial Revolution, mass production...

Understanding International Relations

International relations refers to interactions where the primary subjects are states, and the issues involved directly affect their national interests. Today, other significant social agents, such as multinational companies, also play a crucial role in international relations.

Key Characteristics of International Relations

• Diversification: International relations are implemented across a wide range of fields, promoting the establishment of institutions to address global problems.
• Globalization: This phenomenon impacts a larger number of states and other social agents, requiring them to confront global challenges and coordinate global interests worldwide.
• Institutionalization: International relations possess

Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution brought about profound changes. Key consequences included:

• International Relevance

  The international standing of countries began to be measured by their level of industrialization.

• Economic Activities

  Economic activities like agriculture, commerce, and the financial system received an impulse with the introduction of new technology.

• Urban Expansion

  Factories were situated in towns, leading people to emigrate from rural areas to look for work, causing significant urban growth.

• Science and Technological Research

  Increased focus on scientific and technological research aimed at finding new methods, techniques, and materials.

Key industries included the exploitation of mineral resources,...

Saint-Simon's Social Critique

Saint-Simon did not develop an idea of a future perfect world, but proceeded to radically criticize the society resulting from the French Revolution. In this context, he felt that governments should aim for improving the moral and material conditions of the working class, and ending poverty and war, but exercising less and less government (understood as despotism) and more administration.

Not opposed to private property, he suggested deleting the inheritance. The State should undertake great public works for the benefit of the society: railways, dams, bridges, communication channels, credit unions, etc.

Challenges for Utopian Communities

The main obstacle to the creation and consolidation of utopian communities was...

European Parliament: Role, Structure, and Functions

Directly elected by EU voters every five years, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent the citizens of the European Union. The Parliament stands as one of the EU’s primary law-making institutions, working in conjunction with the Council of the European Union.

Key Roles of the European Parliament

• Debating and passing European laws, in cooperation with the Council.
• Scrutinizing other EU institutions, particularly the European Commission, to ensure democratic accountability.
• Debating and adopting the EU's annual budget, alongside the Council.

Passing European Laws

The Parliament collaborates with the Council to determine the content of EU legislation and officially adopt new laws.

Democratic

José Ortega y Gasset: A Biographical Sketch

José Ortega y Gasset was born in Madrid in 1883, into a liberal and enlightened bourgeois family. His mother owned the newspaper El Imparcial, where his father served as director. Ortega alternated his dedication between philosophy and journalism, acting as a prominent political theorist of his time. He staunchly defended Republican ideology.

After his exile, he returned to Spain in 1945 and passed away ten years later. Ortega's intellectual trajectory is typically divided into three periods: objectivist, ratiovitalist, and perspectivist.

Historical and Cultural Context of Ortega's Era

This period holds significant importance in the recent history of Spain and the world. In Spain, the Bourbon Restoration...

Historical materialism is the philosophy of society and history in Marxism. Marx assumed that the knowledge of man, society, and history requires a science whose subject matter, epistemological foundation, and method are radically different from those of the natural sciences. Historical materialism, Marx thought, is the true science of human phenomena (social and historical) and is presented as a scientific theory of the economic or material conditions of society and history.

The main idea of historical materialism is that history is not an accidental sequence of events resulting from the individual action of some influential characters and decisive action or imaginary subjects, like providence, fate, or the spirit of the people (Volkgeist),...