Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Social sciences for Secondary education

The 1919 Strike and the Rise of Dictatorship

The most significant conflict of the era was the La Canadenca strike (1919), which paralyzed industry and essential services. In response, the government and employers adopted hardened attitudes toward workers, leading to increased violence. Employers favored free trade unions and employed armed groups, known as gunmen (pistoleros), to terrorize strikers. This period saw the suppression of the Commonwealth of Catalonia and all public expressions of Catalan identity, alongside heavy repression of university professors.

The military dictatorship initially benefited from a favorable international economic situation and the conclusion of the conflict in Morocco. However, following the 1929 economic crisis,...

The Concept of the State and Its Functions

A State is a set of institutions created to organize the life and activity of people who live in the same territory and under the same power. The population consists of people living in the territory of a State who are subject to its laws and the state itself, possessing both rights and duties.

Functions of State Power

The functions of state power include:

• Establishing laws to ensure compliance through the judiciary.
• Maintaining order and security from the inside to the outside.
• Exercising exclusive competence in foreign policy.
• Raising taxes and directing the economy.
• Managing and administering public services, collective infrastructure, and facilities.

Legal Framework and Administration

The Constitution is...

Item 5: Human Dignity and Rights

To ensure that respect for human dignity is effective, it must become a duty required of all. Protecting the fundamental rights of our dignity as people is the essence of human rights. The doctrine of human rights serves as the foundation of a universal ethic valid for all humanity.

The Evolution of Human Rights

• Civil Rights: The first to become effective.
• Political Rights: Began to be imposed during the mid-nineteenth century.
• Social Rights: Recognized following the First World War.

Human Rights in the Modern World

Human rights remain an ideal that is unfortunately far from being a reality in all countries. The fragility of these rights in many parts of the world stems from the absence of a democratic culture and...

A. Policy

1. Liberalism

Liberalism is a political system characterized by:

• Individual Rights: The recognition of fundamental freedoms.
• Constitutionalism: A constitution that establishes the basic forms of state organization.
• Division of Powers: Separation into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
• Political Participation: Citizens transition from subjects to active participants. This introduced national solutions and elections, ranging from census suffrage to universal suffrage.
• Private Property: The protection of individual ownership.
• Political Parties: The emergence of elite parties as a result of liberal systems.

2. Rejection of Liberalism

This movement represents the opposition from defenders of the Old Regime (absolutism).

• Traditionalists:

Science Concept and Main Features

Science is defined by various thinkers:

• Ander-Egg: "sound body of knowledge, certain or probable, obtained methodically, systematic and verifiable, and that refer to objects of the same nature"
• Bunge: "rational, systematic, accurate, verifiable and fallible"
• Ferrari: "is the set of rational attitudes and activities aimed at systematic knowledge with limited items, can be subjected to verification"

Science is characterized by:

• Its content: a trait that defines it is its conceptual or theoretical nature. Science, as a form of knowledge, provides concepts through scientific theories, using them to classify, explain, and analyze empirical phenomena.
• Its principles relate to events or facts of reality that can be accessed

Key Political and Social Movements

A revolution represents a profound change in the political, economic, or social institutions of a nation.

• Liberalism: Postulates the recognition and guarantee of rights and liberties; the separation of state powers is the political foundation of Western democracies.
• Socialism: A criticism of the social inequalities created by capitalism, where power resides in the working class.
• Nationalism: A feeling of unity that affirms national identity.

The Enlightenment (1721–1794)

An intellectual and philosophical movement characterized by confidence in the light of reason, challenges to Christian revelation, acceptance of a naturalistic religion, the exploitation of nature, civil tolerance, and a belief in the progress...

Human Rights and Global Social Equality

1. Prisoners of Conscience

A prisoner of conscience is detained for their beliefs without having used violence, whereas a common prisoner has been arrested for committing a recognized crime.

2. Refugees and Displaced Persons

Refugees have fled their homes for reasons beyond their control and have been welcomed into another country. Conversely, internally displaced persons have also been forced to leave their homes but have not crossed an international border.

4. Poverty and Human Development

Poverty prevents access to hygienic conditions, food, and medical care necessary for health. It also limits the possibility of receiving an education that allows individuals to escape their situation and achieve freedom....

History and Formation of the European Union

The history of the European Union began after Europe was devastated by the Second World War. To prevent future conflicts and foster economic development, several nations joined together. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC). Later, in 1992, the Maastricht Treaty was signed, officially creating the European Union (EU). Today, the union consists of 27 member states.

The Current State of the European Union

The modern EU covers an area of approximately 4 million km² and has a population of around 500 million people. The ultimate objective of the EU is to move toward the formation of a unified state through various levels of integration:

• Economic Union:

Increase in Agricultural Production

Amount of land, no technological advances

Intensified Commercial Activity

Surplus in products, travelled in search of new markets

Expansion of Craftsmanship

Workshops controlled by guild, domestic system, new products to Europe

Mercantile Capitalism

Economic growth of banking

• Nobility-clergy
• Bourgeoisie-peasants-laborers

Monarch had more resources so became powerful, they consolidate the authority control powerful of measures

Powerful Armies

Of mercenaries subdue nobles, prohibited armies alliance

Strengthened Bureaucracy

Officials control who supervise the kingdom's affairs

Centralized Power

Creating institutions to serve them

Establish a Court

For institutions function well

Humanism Philosophy

• A renewed interest in classical

Comment

In order to comment about sweatshops lets first state the Cambridge definition: a place where people work for long hours and very low pay in an unhealthy situation. Sweatshops or sweat factories, as we have defined them started basically with the industrial revolution in the 19^th century, mainly in GB. Back then of course there were almost no rights for workers and therefore, many companies exploited them in order to produce more and cheaper goods.

As part of the evolution of human and labour rights, in the last two centuries, legislation has been passed to eliminate sweatshops, although obviously, depending on the degree of social development of each country, this goal has been achieved in a higher or lower degree.

It is a fact that in...