BASIC THEORIES OF SOCIETY

WEEK 2 (17 APRIL - 21 APRIL 2023)

LESSON PLAN

SOCIETY - DEFINITION

• A large group of individuals living in a community.
• A system in which people live together in organized communities.
• Derived from the Latin word socious which means ‘association’ or ‘companionship’.

Society can also be referred as a group of interdependent people who share a common culture and feeling of unity.

SOCIETY - MODELS/TYPES

CONSENSUS MODEL

CONFLICT MODEL

CONSENSUS MODEL

CONSENSUS MODEL

A consensus model society has characteristics of cohesion, consensus, cooperation, reciprocity, and stability. The parts of the system are in harmony, achieved through a high degree of cooperation (societal integration) and shared goals and values.

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CONSENSUS MODEL - CHARACTERISTICS

• The absence of conflict is seen as the equilibrium state of society.�
• There is a general or widespread agreement among all members about norms, values, rules and regulations.�
• Concerns with the maintenance of social order in society (e.g, preservation of the status quo).

CONSENSUS THEORY

In consensus theory, the rules are seen as integrative, and whoever doesn't respect them is a deviant person.

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According to Durkheim, people's norms, beliefs, and values make up a collective consciousness, or a shared way of understanding and behaving in the world. The collective consciousness binds individuals together and creates social integration.

Emile Durkheim

CONSENSUS MODEL - SOCIALISATION

Critical to consensus theory is the idea of socialisation. This is the process that creates a value consensus and therefore social solidarity. There are two stages of socialisation:

Primary socialisation: Learning the particularistic values of family and community through family (occurs at a young age).

Secondary socialisation: Learning the universalistic values of wider society through education, media and other institutions.

CONSENSUS MODEL - EXAMPLES

• Rukun Negara. To create harmony and unity among the various races in Malaysia. It was created in reaction to a serious race riot known as the 13 May Incident, which occurred in 1969.
• Social contract. Society comes to a collective understanding — a social contract — that it is in everyone’s interest to enforce rules that ensure safety and security for everyone.
• Kita Jaga Kita. a recognisable clarion call for Malaysians to stay united and work together in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

PLURAL SOCIETY

SOCIAL CONTRACT

SOCIAL CONTRACT IN MALAYSIA

‘Social contract’ refers to the bargain in a political society between the state and its citizens. Citizens obey the state and its laws while the state in turn protects its citizens and undertakes to perform all its obligations with a sense of trust.

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In Malaysia, the term “social contract” has a unique meaning. It refers to the painstaking compromises between the ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians on their mutual rights and privileges and their bargains with the Malay Rulers and the British for the creation of a democratic, monarchial, federal and non-theocratic system of government.

Definition:

• Agreement between the ruled or between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each. �(T. Hobbes)
• Malaysian context: refers to the agreement made by the country's founding fathers in the Constitution.
• The social contract usually refers to a quid pro quo trade-off through Articles 14–18 of the Constitution, pertaining to the granting of citizenship to the non- Malay people of Malaysia and Article 153, which grants the Malays special privileges.
• The term has also been used occasionally to refer to other portions of the Constitution, such as Article 3 (Islam as the religion of the Federation) and Article 152 ( Malay as the national language of the Federation)

CONFLICT MODEL

CONFLICT MODEL

A conflict model society is where most struggles in the society happen because of conflicts between different social classes or groups. Each group struggles to attain more resources, and because resources are scarce they must struggle with other groups. Groups try to protect their own interests, thus blocking the progress of other groups.

CONFLICT MODEL - CHARACTERISTICS

• Individuals and groups of society compete for advantage; the degree of social integration is minimal.
• Social change results from conflict among competing groups and it can be drastic and revolutionary.
• Unity in society is achieved through coercion.

CONFLICT THEORY

• Conflict theory studies any social phenomenon with a perspective that it is in the nature of humans to have conflict. Under conflict theory, the rules are seen as coercive, and whoever transgresses them is considered an agent of change.�
• Karl Marx depicts that there exists a struggle because of limited resources and unlimited utilities of resources. The never-ending competition for these finite resources gives rise to conflict. This gives rise to the concept of rich and poor.�
• Marx does not say conflict is bad or good; he just refers to the conflict to be an unavoidable aspect and helps explain why things are the way they are.

KARL MARX

CONFLICT MODEL - EXAMPLES

• Owners of business & employees. Owners want more profit, which means less distribution of surplus to employees. On the other hand, employees want more salaries for themselves. This gives rise to strikes, disputes, etc.
• Landlord & tenant. Both parties want to take the maximum out of each other. Hence, such relationships usually are not harmonious.
• Class conflict. The Bourgeoisie vs The Proletariat, T20 vs B40, etc.

CONSENSUS MODEL vs CONFLICT MODEL

The conflict and consensus models are two parallel models that work toward furthering the protection of society.

The conflict model focuses on preserving the rights of the people while the consensus model focuses on public safety (Cronkhite, 2013).

CONSENSUS MODEL

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• Shared norms and values as fundamental to society�
• Focus on social order based on tacit agreements�
• Social change occurs in slow and orderly fashion

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CONFLICT MODEL

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• Emphasise the social dominance of some social groups�
• Sees social order as manipulation and control by dominant groups�
• Social change occurs rapidly and in a disorderly fashion

CLASS ACTIVITY

• Find the differences between Consensus and Conflict models of society.
• Describe an example of a Consensus society.
• Describe an example of a Conflict society.
• Which model of society is being practiced in Malaysia?

TO BE CONTINUED…

Any questions…???

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PLURAL SOCIETY - DEFINITION

A society composed of different ethnic groups or cultural traditions, or in the political structure of which ethnic or cultural differences are reflected.

• Fredrik Barth - A society combining ethnic contrasts: the economic interdependence of those groups, and their ecological specialization (i.e., use of different environmental resources by each ethnic group). �
• J S Furnivall - A medley of peoples who do mix but do not combine. Each group holds by its own religion, its own culture and language, its own ideas and ways.

PLURAL SOCIETY - CONCEPT

The integration of different communities who practice different culture, languages, and beliefs.

For example, in a national school (sekolah kebangsaan), different students belonging to different social classes study all together. It can be seen as the very basis of teaching everybody values regarding respect, equality and humbleness.

PLURAL SOCIETY IN MALAYSIA

STAGES OF A PLURAL SOCIETY

Acculturation

Assimilation

Integration

ACCULTURATION

Acculturation is a process of cultural contact and exchange through which a person or group comes to adopt certain values and practices of a culture that is not originally their own, to a greater or lesser extent. The result is that the original culture of the person or group remains, but it is changed by this process.

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When the process is at its most extreme, assimilation occurs wherein the original culture is wholly abandoned and the new culture adopted in its place. However, other outcomes can also occur that fall along a spectrum from minor change to total change, and these include separation, integration, marginalization, and transmutation.

• Integration - Contact and identification with both cultures.�
• Separation - Identification with only the culture of one’s heritage country and contacts with one’s own group members. �
• Assimilation - Identification with the host country’s culture and non-ac­ceptance of one’s heritage culture. �
• Marginalisation - Absence of identification with both cultures.

ASSIMILATION

Assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assimilate the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially.

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The different types of cultural assimilation include full assimilation and forced assimilation; full assimilation being the most prevalent of the two, as it occurs spontaneously.

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During cultural assimilation, minority groups are expected to adapt to the everyday practices of the dominant culture through language and appearance as well as via more significant socioeconomic factors such as absorption into the local cultural and employment community.

INTEGRATION

Integration is defined as when people from a culture adopt the essence of another culture, while maintaining their own culture. Rather than losing their own culture or keeping their own culture and completely rejecting the new culture, they fuse the two.

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They bring parts of their culture into their communities in the form of food, language, music, arts, attitudes, or traditions. They also adopt parts of their new culture and adapt to local customs and ways of interacting.

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Integration is important because unlike assimilation, people maintain their own culture and the parts of their cultural identity that are important to them. They maintain their culture by practicing it at home and in their community. They neither shun the new culture or allow themselves to be completely absorbed by it. Instead, they integrate into the larger culture without losing the essence of their own.

PLURALISM

When people with different origins, backgrounds, belief systems, and other differences come together to form society and live in it, then such society is known as pluralistic society.

There is no force or coercion by anyone or on to discard their existing belief system and adapt to new one. Such a society is based on the principle of ‘Live and Let Live’.

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Even the minorities are allowed to maintain their own, different identities in the matters that differentiate them.

• Pluralism refers to a society, system of government, or organization that has different groups that keep their identities while existing with other groups or a more dominant group.

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• Rather than just one group, subgroup or culture dictating how things go, pluralism recognizes a larger number of competing interest groups that share the power. �
• Pluralism serves as a model of democracy, where different groups can voice their opinions and ideas.

PLURALISM - EXAMPLES

Pluralism exists when multiple groups seek to influence policies, practices and other factors that impact daily life.

• A pluralistic company or organization involves employees or members in decision-making rather than having management dictate all decisions.�
• A pluralistic democracy is one in which democratic elections are held and separation of powers exists, so that no one person or political party has too much control.�
• A pluralistic society is one in which people don’t have to give up their cultural backgrounds and identities in order to be a part of the group.

PLURAL SOCIETY - PROS & CONS

PROS

• Encourage diversity among members: Pluralism addresses and acknowledge diversity among various groups in a political context. Various groups whether small or large have equal opportunities to participate and safeguard their interests.�
• Preserve traditions: Pluralism helps to preserve unique traditions, identities, and languages among different cultural groups in society.�
• Respect for different religions. People of different ethnic groups and races can coexist in one society as a result of pluralism. The same goes for people of different religions. Each one of them feels inclined to recognize and respect the other person’s religion.

PLURAL SOCIETY - PROS & CONS

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CONS

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• Cultural relativism: There is fear that pluralism leads to cultural relativism where different ways of life are treated morally equal regardless of whether the accepted customs are viewed as immoral by others.�
• Difficult to govern: It is very difficult to govern pluralistic democracies due to many diverging interests among different groups. It can also lead to political gridlock since there is less consensus.�
• Hostility among inhabitants: Alienation and differences between different ethnic beliefs can lead to hostility among them. It can trigger favoritism from authorities on a particular ethnic group over the other

CLASS ACTIVITY

1. Define Plural Society.
2. Is Malaysia a plural society?
3. How does acculturation work in Malaysia?
4. Give the pros and cons of a Plural Society.

ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF SOCIETY - UMMAH

• The sacred text of Islam, the Qur’an uses the term ummah to refer to the community of believers.�
• The term is used to describe:
• Individual communities of faithful Muslims, as well as
• the worldwide community of believers the Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam)

In its widest sense however the term sometimes refers to all believers in monotheistic religion (Christians/Jews) and sometimes to the entire human community.

CHARACTERISTICS OF UMMAH

Ummatan wasatan, from the Qur’an (2:143). �

“And it is thus that We appointed you to be the community of the middle way so that you might be witnesses to all mankind and the Messenger might be a witness to you”.

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Literally it means “the middle community”. ��As generally understood in Islam, the term conveys the idea of a community that is essentially characterised by moderation and balance.

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• Brought together by Faith in Allah and the Messenger.�
• While believers are necessarily part of the ummah admission into this community is available to others provided they embrace the religion.�
• Admission into the Islamic community carries with it obligations to follow the Islamic sacred law and offer certain privileges such exemption from taxes imposed on non believers in Islamic states.

MUSLIM SOCIETY vs ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Although members of both societies are Muslims they are not identical in definition and nature.

MUSLIM SOCIETY

A society with majority Muslims and follow certain values of Islamic teachings but do not follow strictly the Islamic way of life.

ISLAMIC SOCIETY

A society of majority Muslims who follow Islamic teachings and implements the Shari’ah according to the Qur’an and Sunnah. Practices the Islamic way of life.

ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Islam perceives society as an association, which is formed in accordance to the divine law with the purpose of harmonious and peaceful coexistence.

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The Divine revelation as contained in the al-Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) constitutes the foundation of social order in Islamic society.

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In an Islamic society, the members must observe the rules laid down by Allah and must not go against the Shari’ah. The leader must, as a matter of ‘amanah implement the Rules of Allah in order to gain His Pleasure.

NON-MUSLIMS IN ISLAMIC SOCIETY

Dhimmi is a term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under sharia to protect the individual's life, property, as well as freedom of religion, in exchange for their loyalty to the state and payment of the jizya tax, in contrast to the zakat, or obligatory alms, paid by the Muslim subjects.

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Historically, dhimmi status was originally applied to Jews, Christians, and Sabians, who are considered to be "People of the Book" in Islamic theology. This status later also came to be applied to Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists.

Thank you for your attention.

Any questions?

END