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

Karl Marx's Theory of Alienation

Karl Marx's thesis on the alienation of humanity within capitalist society describes a condition he sought to expose and overcome. Alienation, in this context, signifies estrangement, humiliation, and even reification (the process of turning a person into a thing). From the perspective of historical materialism, work and production are fundamentally the primary sources of human self-realization and development. However, capitalism alienates the worker, thereby corrupting their activity, humiliating them, and reducing them to an object, a mere commodity. Through the worker's labor, the value of goods increases, creating an added value to the commodified object. Interestingly, alienation also impacts the capitalist,... Continue reading "Karl Marx's Theory of Alienation in Capitalism" »

• Electoral Systems

  Electoral systems exist in democratic regimes and are found in two forms: proportional and majority.

• Proportional: Characterized by the amount of power that is assumed in the governing bodies, which is proportional to the number of votes obtained in the elections.

Majority: Characterized by the desire to obtain the most votes, which grants all the power. When a party receives 50 + 1 votes, it secures 100% of the representation in Congress.

The proportional system is a fair system from the standpoint of political representation, but it is often seen as unfair compared to the majority system.

From the perspective of political representation, the proportional system helps create conditions that can lead to political instability due

Absolute, Liberal, and Socialist States

The Absolute State (16th-17th Centuries)

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, social and political problems and revolts from nobles, cities, and farmers increased the power of kings. Authoritarian monarchies evolved into absolute monarchies where kings held absolute power. These kings concentrated executive, legislative, and judicial functions. The absolute state was defined by the rule of law, applying to all its components.

The Liberal State

The liberal state centers on the individual. Its function is to create a legal framework enabling free action. Individuals possess inherent rights, prior to and more important than the state, which must respect these rights. The state creates laws to protect... Continue reading "Absolute, Liberal, Socialist, and Welfare States: A Comparative Analysis" »

Understanding the Concept of Text

The text is a sentence or a more or less long sequence of sentences ordered coherently and endowed with meaning. It is the maximum unit of communication.

A text elaborates on an idea or a number of ideas that the sender wants to transmit, and each idea is logically related to the others. The resources for this are links, syntactic matches, and semantic relationships.

Therefore, the two essential properties of a text are syntactic cohesion and semantic coherence. Cohesion can be defined as the interdependence between the elements of a text. It exists when each constituent of the text depends on others and cannot be understood without taking these into account.

Cohesion mechanisms are varied; the most important are:... Continue reading "Understanding Text: Definition, Properties, and Global Spanish" »

The Spanish Constitution of 1978

This document, of a legal and political nature, outlines a series of articles from the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It was drafted by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies and published in December 1978.

Genesis of the Constitution

Following the composition of Parliament and its conversion to a bicameral system, Adolfo Suárez, then head of government, sought to transform the elected chamber for the transition into a constituent assembly. This crucial first step was decisive in creating the initial draft of the Constitution.

A committee was formed, comprising 36 deputies from various political associations. Within this, a subcommittee of seven individuals was tasked with approving the... Continue reading "Spanish Constitution of 1978: Foundations of Modern Democracy" »

Social Inequalities: Causes and Consequences

The Industrial Revolution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was a major cause of social inequalities. Key factors contributing to these disparities included:

• Establishment of factories and mass migration from the countryside to the city.
• Excessive working hours (14 to 16 hours).
• Low wages and inadequate housing.
• Lack of insurance and medical rights.

A new social class, the proletariat, reacted to these inequalities and injustices through strikes. As a result of this movement, the proletariat gained the right to association and trade unionism, although the working class remained exploited by the interests of capital.

Global Division Resulting from Industrialization

Due to the Industrial Revolution,... Continue reading "Social Inequality, the Proletariat, and Christian Social Action" »

Understanding Language Varieties

Language is a common code shared by speakers belonging to a community. Certain circumstances explain the appearance of different varieties within the same language. These are categorized into:

Diaphasic or Situational Varieties

These are related to the communicative situation and the individual style of the speaker. It is a variety of speech that gives rise to linguistic registers. The elements of a communicative situation are:

1. The personality of the sender-receiver
2. The communicative tension or degree of formality
3. The intentionality
4. The subject matter
5. Unilateral or bilateral interaction
6. The interaction space

There are two types of registers:

• Formal Register: Typical of cultural, scientific, and literary domains. The most

Feminist Literary Criticism Defined

Feminist literary criticism is a form of literary analysis informed by feminist theory or the politics of feminism more broadly. Feminism itself is a way of thinking, writing, and acting that asserts men and women possess equal capacity and deserve the same opportunities. It posits that gender differences are not inherent but socially constructed through education and societal norms.

As articulated by Simone de Beauvoir, this movement involves the rejection of the naturalization of the category of "woman": “One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” In the process of exposing the ideological work involved in the construction of gender, feminist theory and practice are intimately entwined within the domain... Continue reading "Feminist Literary Criticism: Definition, Principles, and Aims" »

Workforce Planning & Talent Management

Workforce re-cultivation involves strategic internal investigation and planning to predict the labor force and human talent required for the realization of future organizational actions.

Strategic Workforce Planning

Strategic workforce planning aims to align human capital with organizational goals, ensuring the right talent is available when needed.

Key Workforce Planning Models

• Demand-based model: Estimates demand for products or services, accounting for productivity increases from technological changes.
• Substitution model: Focuses on replacing positions.
• Flow model: Characterizes the flow of people into and out of the organization.
• Integrated planning model: Considers planned workload volume, technological