Discuss the different tasks that demand cooperation with reference to agricultural or industrial operations.
Cooperation means working together it is a social process. Cooperation plays a very important role in the society. According to Durkheim, "Solidarity is important to understand cooperation in society"
He has divided it as -
Mechanical Solidarity - This form of unity is based on similarity. Most of the people in society live very similar lives with little specialisation, which is associated with age and gender. These members feel united by the belief they share, their common sentiments, and the common conscience and consciousness.
Organic Solidarity - This form of unity is based upon the division of labour and results due to interdependence among the members of the society. Specialisation brings dependency with it. Industrialisation is more about specialisation and is related with the unity which requires both cooperation and coordination without which it is difficult to achieve the desired objective.
Is cooperation always voluntary or is it enforced? If enforced, is it sanctions or is the strength of norms that ensure cooperation? Discuss with examples.
No, cooperation is not always voluntary but sometimes it may be enforced. According to the conflict perspective of Karl Marx - cooperation is enforced and not voluntary.
The viewpoint of Durkheim and Marx differ on cooperation yet they both emphasize cooperation.
Marx argues that society is divided into various classes and so the cooperation cannot be voluntary in the society.
The cooperation is the result of division of labour; it is the alien force which enforces cooperation.
As per the rule of division of labour, a work is divided among various persons on the basis of their specialisation and the main goal can be achieved only when all the works are put together. So, to achieve the result people are compelled to co-operate.
Can you find illustrative examples of conflict drawn from Indian society? Discuss the causes that led to conflict in each instance.
Conflict is nothing but the clash of interests, which may be due to scarcity of resources or in the struggle to gain access over the resources or to control the resources.
The conflict may be on the basis of class, caste, tribe, gender, religion, etc. However the scale and nature of conflict differ on the basis of the reason behind the conflict.
Conflict appears as a discord only when it is openly expressed like the existence of peasant movement is an overt expression of a deep-rooted conflict over land resources.
Some of the conflicts that have occurred in Indian society are listed below –
1. Caste based conflict: This conflict existed between the traditionally superior and inferior communities and has led to violent clashes also. With the help of education, the awareness about oppression caused by caste system has been spread and the conflicts could be minimised.
2. The Kashmir conflict: It is the major Indo-Pak conflict about the disputed territory. India believes Kashmir to be its integral part whereas Pakistan wants to own Kashmir. However the Kashmiri independent groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan. This is a territorial conflict.
Write an essay based on examples to show how conflicts get resolved.
There are many conflicts in contemporary society which are based upon various factors like caste, class, etc. These factors may be social, economic, and cultural.
The kind of resolution depends upon the nature of the conflict.
Before finding the method to resolve the conflict it is very important to understand the root cause of the conflict otherwise it will not be possible resolve it completely.
The basic solution of conflict is enforcing cooperation.
Imagine a society where there is no competition. Is it possible? If not, why not?
A society without competition is beyond imagination. Competition is universal and natural and it exists everywhere.
Competition is a guiding force in every society in today's world.
A society without competition is built up on the principle of equality to all which is the ideology of socialism but the socialism does not work as it is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of human behaviour.
It is a human nature to compete in order to survive. All the advancements, innovations that has taken place in the society is just due to competition
Competition is the dominant ideology of capitalism which allows free competition in marketplace to get maximum profit.
Talk to your parents and elders, grandparents and their contemporaries and discuss whether modern society is really more competitive or conflict ridden than it used to be before. And if you think it is, how would you explain this sociologically?
The modern society in which we are living is more competitive but to some extent it is conflict ridden than it used to be before.
When we talk with our parents and grandparents about their society or the society of olden time, we come to know that competition and conflicts were there also but the nature was very different. The competition was quite low and conflict was quite high.
In earlier days, the basic conflicts were the cast conflict and the conflict between several communities.
Now-a-days in modern society, due to spread of education, this type of conflict has been minimised but still political conflicts can be seen.
However the competition level is quite high and so the society is in the progressive state.