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

Understanding State, Power, and Authority

State: A group of people within a unified territory, sharing a single market, and organized under a legal framework to ensure social peace and order under a single government.

Power: The ability to impose one's will on others.

Authority: Leadership held by an individual with power.

The Leviathan and the Social Contract

The social contract serves as the foundation of political legitimacy, validating a social order where some rule and others obey. Equal and free individuals, acting rationally, enter into a contract, establishing a government as humanity transitions into society.

Rousseau's Perspective

Rousseau believed that the state of war exists within civil society, leading to inequality, domination, and... Continue reading "Understanding State, Power, and Authority: Key Concepts" »

Item 1: Legal Framework Evolution

Since 1978, the European Community (EC) initiated a dynamic transformation of the legal framework for Social Services (SS) in Spain. The Statute of Autonomy granted significant references to SS across all Autonomous Communities (CCAA). The 1985 Law on the Basis of Local Government (for populations over 20,000) further solidified this framework. Regional Acts addressing specific needs were also approved, alongside sector-specific laws such as the Penitentiary Law, Asylum and Refugee Law, Work-Family Reconciliation Law, Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners Law, Gender Violence Law, and regional Social Wage or Minimum Insertion Income Laws. This extensive legal framework has led to intense policy development at both... Continue reading "Social Services Evolution in Spain Since 1978" »

Decolonization After 1945

The decolonization process unfolded rapidly after 1945, concluding for most territories by 1962. It began in Asia with the independence of British India in 1947 and culminated in Africa with the expulsion of the French in 1962. Two distinct waves can be identified:

• First wave: Occurred at the end of World War II, primarily affecting Asia and ending with the formation of Israel in 1948.
• Second wave: A swift wave of decolonization from the mid-1950s to the 1960s, impacting Africa, particularly North Africa, followed by the independence of Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s.

Several factors contributed to this process:

• The weakened state of traditional colonial powers like France and England, who lacked the capacity to maintain

Political Philosophy

Political philosophy's primary objective must be rational. The state must be devoted to studying political phenomena as they are. Its purpose is to establish how they should be to become righteous.

Domain

Domain is the capacity that an individual or group of individuals can have to impose their will on others.

Political Power

Political power is when some individuals or groups of individuals, intending to organize tasks, perform the task of directing the actions of members of the group or society. They make decisions that affect the entire community and even exercise some control over others, thereby forcing all members of the community to follow their guidelines and instructions.

State

State is a socio-political organization whose... Continue reading "Key Concepts in Political Philosophy and Governance" »

Company Policies and Their Purpose

In clearer terms, considering their purpose, we can distinguish two kinds of companies:

1. Private Companies: These have defined purposes, voluntarily chosen by their members. Their activities are aimed directly and immediately at the goal that inspired their creation through a conscious and voluntary act.
2. General-Purpose Companies: These have an indefinite and generic purpose, creating the conditions necessary for individuals and other companies that integrate into them to reach their particular purposes. Participation in these societies almost always depends on an act of will.

Companies are commonly referred to as general-purpose political societies precisely because they are not attached to a particular purpose... Continue reading "Understanding Company Policies and the Origin of the State" »

Origins of Sociology

Interest in social life is very old, dating back to ancient social philosophy. However, sociology as a distinct discipline emerged in the nineteenth century. Its founder was Auguste Comte, who coined the term "sociology." The emergence of sociology was closely linked to the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, as Comte himself grew up amidst these transformative events. These revolutions brought about significant political and social changes. Among those who sought to explain this new social reality were Comte, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber.

Study Subjects

Sociology is the social science dedicated to the systematic study of society, social action, and the groups within it. It examines how organizations and institutions... Continue reading "Understanding Sociology: Key Concepts and Culture" »

Values and Their Influence on Human Behavior

Values are deeply held convictions of human beings that determine their character and guide their behavior. Partnerships involve a multitude of individuals who are grouped by preserving their individuality and harmonized coexistence through mutual cooperation to achieve common goals.

Understanding Neoliberalism

What is neoliberalism, and what is its background? Neoliberalism, also known as neoliberal institutionalism, is a political theory that aims to maximize the reduction of state intervention. It is associated with the free market and capitalism in economic terms.

Fundamentals of Economics

Economics focuses on the best use of assets to meet existing needs.

The Role of the State in the Economy

The State... Continue reading "Understanding Values, Neoliberalism, Economics, and Social Structures" »

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is judging the world through one's own culture's parameters. It often involves believing one's race or ethnic group is superior. People using this ideology judge other groups based on their own culture, particularly regarding language, customs, behavior, religion, and beliefs—aspects that define cultural identity.

Subjectivity

Subjectivity has two meanings: referring to knowledge or the subject. In knowledge theory, subjectivity describes perceptions, arguments, and language based on a subject's viewpoint, influenced by their interests and desires. This contrasts with objectivity, which is inter-subjective, unbiased, and verifiable.

Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism is the extreme exercise of authority, lacking consensus... Continue reading "Ethnocentrism, Subjectivity, and Authoritarianism" »

Production Relations

Production relations do not work in isolation. The relations of production depend on the agents of production, all individuals involved in a production process, and the means of production. There are two types of production relations: technical, which occur between the agent and the environment, and social, which exist between the agents. Technical relations refer to the control of the production agents over ways to work. There are three types of control:

• Individual production process: The agent controls the media and the process of work (e.g., craftsmanship).
• Simple cooperative production process: Agents perform the same task, individually control the media, and collectively control the labor process (e.g., original game)

Benefits of Developing Community Projects

There are many benefits to developing a good project. Among them, we note the following:

1. The community worker should reach an early agreement with the administration of which they form part. For this, the project must be sufficiently developed.
2. To start the community process and move people toward organization, you need dissatisfaction with the status quo and hope in the possibilities of a solution. To gather these possible solutions, it is necessary that the community worker announce some viable or true plan. That announcement builds on the intervention project.
3. The transaction between projects or the reappropriation of one of them by people recreating procedures leads to developing a community worker