Extra posting : What kind of changes are needed for more equality? / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

I think one of the real action that our society can do is applying Affirmative action. Basically, affirmative action is a discriminatory policy, although it is considered to be a positive genre of discrimination because it is only temporary in nature to open opportunities for certain groups of people to seize the same opportunities as other groups have enjoyed. One example of affirmative action in the effort to achieve gender equality is for example setting a certain quota for women in government positions.

Extra Posting: Is there ethnic cleansing or genocide happening today? If so, where?

Sadly, ethnic cleansing is something that still happening today. One of the most popular case is Rohingya, largest muslim groups (1.1 million) who live in Rakhine state in Northwestern Myanmar. The government of Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens, meaning they face many barriers, including on their movement, access to the economy, education, health and other rights. They have been forced to flee into Bangladesh since 1977. But recently the problems gaining more attention because Myanmar’s security forces have committed mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya.

Extra Posting: Why do you think this is the case?

This graph is trying to describe poverty rates in Indonesia base on their age group. In the graph, solid blue line is the relative poverty rates in Indonesia. Elderly groups then become the relatively poorest population sub-group in Indonesia followed by children assuming that children have about half the expenditure needs of adults. I think the reason why this is the case is first young people live in a different environment with old people. Young people have a really great environment to achieve success and facilities to do so.

Extra Posting: What's the meaning of Yellow Ribbon?

Yellow ribbon has a lot of meaning depending on the community. In general yellow ribbon is a sign of support to some group in a positive way. In Indonesia, Yellow ribbon is used to show sympathy for the victim of May 1998 Riot who were mostly Indonesian Chinese. Other important meaning in different part of the worlds is Suicide awareness, Support of soldier outside their home country (US and Canada) and tribute to the victim to the sinking of Sewol ship.

Extra Posting: Why do you think South Korea has a high suicide rate?

South Korea is popular by its high suicide rates. The South Korean Health and Welfare Ministry found that in 2016, 90% of the people who commited suicide has a psychiatric illness often caused by stress. Their stress is came from their demanding work and education environment culture. When suicide occurs, the media will cover it for a long of times which i think can lure a lot of people to see suicide as the answer.

Demography / Week 14 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Demography is the study of human populations. This includes how humans grow and spread over time. Analysis in this study uses data taken from censuses or pre-existing statistics. The main thing they usually find out is the fertility, mortality and migration pattern.

Fertility refers to a woman's ability to produce offspring. In this area, scholar usually also searches for replacement level. Replacement level will tell us the number of children that must be produced to reach the previous population number. Fertility is closely related to the level of female education. The higher the level of education the lower the value of fertility. In addition, the level of development of the country they live in is also an influential factor.

Mortality refers to the ability of humans to die. In this area the scholar will find out about the death rate or the length of time a person lives in his life. Just like fertility, the education and development of the country you live in also greatly influences the level of mortality that exists.

Demographic transition theory is a model that describes changes in population from high stable growth rates to low growth that occur from time to time. According to Blacker there are 5 stages of demographic transition. Stage 1: Experienced by pre-industrial communities. fertility rates and mortality rates are high .This happens because there is no fertility control, lack of food and there is no adequate health technology. Stage 2: Mortality rates slowly decreasing and fertility rates start increasing. Experienced by developing countries. Stage 3: The mortality rate decreases rapidly and there are a decreasing level of fertility but not as fast as the decrease in mortality. Stage 4: Birth rates and mortality rates are both low or zero. Therefore the growth population is high and stable. Stage 5: The mortality rate is higher than the fertility rate

Overpopulation is a situation where the population of living things is very large, exceeding the resources that living things need to live. Overpopulation can have an impact on child poverty, the affinity of plants and animals consumed by humans, high unemployment rates and much more. One proven solution is to provide education to women. Other solutions offered are family planning programs and reforestation. The opposite of overpopulation is underpopulation. Countries that experience this experience worry because usually the decline in the population of living things is accompanied by a decline in the country's economy too.

The last thing that is often examined is the migration pattern. In particular, urbanization is the movement of people from rural to urban areas. This usually happens because rural people are looking for a better life in an urban area where job opportunities are far greater. Urbanization is often considered to have an adverse effect especially on the environment. Based on existing data, urban areas are warmer than rural areas.

What was interesting/what did you learn

It is interesting to see that in fact this concept has long been projected by Thomas Malthus in "An Essay on the Principle of Population". Even though at that time there was no technology like family planning pills, etc. he has offered several solutions such as moral restrain to deal with this problem.

Discussion Point

With the adverse effects of urbanization, is it possible that in the future there will be a trend of population movements from urban to rural?

Family & Aging / Week 13 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Family has many definitions, but in the reading the author explains it as a group of people who are connected due to common ancestor, marriage, adoption or other committed relationships. Families exceed blood relations. The definition of family usually depends on the culture or religion they have. For example in Catholicism, they believe that we can only have one partner in marriage, but on the other side of the world there are other groups that allow polygamy. This broad definition of family did not exist in ancient times. In the past the concept of family was very narrow, for example at the time of the ancient Rome. In those days father was the main center of the family. He has full power to organize his family. The purpose of family formation is also very diverse depending on the angle we observe. For example in procreative families, parents see family as a tool for child reproduction, but on the contrary, children see family as a tool to adapt to society. In non-procreative families, parents who really do not want to have children, families can become their mental and finance support. In family life, we usually go through several stages. In general, we will do courtship, get married and then have children. If the marriage does not go smoothly, the couple can divorce. But if their partner dies, they can remarry or live as widows or widowers.

The next topic is aging. In simple aging is when we go through the stages of becoming biologically and sociologically mature. These stages are divided according to a certain age. For example in Sweden if you are 18 years old, that means you are considered to be at the stage of adulthood. Depending on the stages you live in, you will get different treatments too. If you are at a stage that is considered young, you will usually get discriminated against, for example not being able to express opinions in the family. In addition there are some things that cannot be done in accordance with the existing formal regulations such as choosing election, smoking, or drinking alcohol. But if you are in the stage that is considered eldery, besides you are arranged with a number of restriction, you may also experience a physical abuse.

What was interesting/what did you learn

The interesting thing in this week's reading is how each culture has its own tradition in courtship. In Japan, they use a method called Omiai, where parents will hire a matchmaker to find the best partner for their child.

Discussion Point

We have seen that the family has a lot of function, but what does the function of living without family? Do we really need a family in our lives?

Collective Behavior & Social Movement / Week 12 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Collective Behavior is not conforming behavior or deviant behavior. Collective behavior can occur when existing rules do not exist, are unclear or contradict each other. Collective behavior can be divided into 4 forms, the crowd, the mass and the social movement. Apart from that there are some actions that can be taken by collective behaviors such as rumors, riots, trends and fads.

I will try to explain some keywords in the collective behavior.

1. Crowds

Crowds are a group of people who have the same goal. An example in our daily life is in the music concert, all of the people who watch it have the same goal of enjoying music performed by the concert singer, therefore they are a crowd. When the group started doing things that were violent, they were no longer called crowd but mob.

2. Riots

Riots is violent behavior that breaks the rules carried out by a group of people with the same thought of disapproval. Usually there will be losses including damage to buildings or maybe individuals.

3. Rumors

Rumors are information that has not been verified. Spread by word of mouth and usually closely related to the needs of the community. Rumors can be dangerous because the information can be distorted. In the reading, it is written that 70% of the detailed information will disappear when it has passed 5 or 6 transmissions. Therefore rumors are often used as an effective technique in political communication.

The next topic is the social movement. The social movement is people who are connected because they have same interested on certain social change topic. One example of a social movement originating from Indonesia is the "Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Indonesia" (An association of university students in Indonesia. In 1966 they blocked roads using motorized vehicles in order to prevent the inauguration ceremony of new cabinet members.

What was interesting/what did you learn

Although only a few people support and find evidence of this theory, I am very interested in mass-society theories that try to explain why social movements can occur. In this theory it is explained that feeling insignificant or eliminated from society is the main source of the social-movement.

Discussion Point

Moral Panics the thought that is felt when they feel that there are some people (usually minorities) who are in a threatened position. It was also written in the reading that it turned out that Media Coverage was one of the reasons this state occurred. The media has the duty to report on important matters that occur including negative ones. Knowing the capabilities of the media, does the media also have a moral responsibility to keep the audience away from this states?

Extra Posting / Is modern democracy really "the will of the people" / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

I am not sure that about other country, but at least in my country i don't think it doesn't channel our will really well. We have a legislative that will represent our voice. They tend to use their authority for their own will. Therefore some of the policy that has been made was made for certain group of people. I think one of the reason that my country has a broken democracy maybe because the people doesn't really care about voting the right person to represent us.

The Cause of War & Conflict Theory / Week 11 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Some scholars try to find out what causes war. This reading, therefore contains some popular theories related to this matter.

1.   Psychological Theories.
The psychologist tries to explain that humans were originally violent. Therefore War is one way to channel the human nature. It also explains that war only occurs when men are in power, therefore one way to avoid war is to let women take the leadership position.
2.    Anthropological theories.
Unlike the previous theory, this theory assumes that war is something that is nurture, therefore this can be easily eliminated with the right approach. One of the factors that cause war is ideology, religion and nationality.
3.    Information theories
This theory is interesting because scholar propose that war is a result of lack of knowledge. Knowledge that is used here is knowledge about who will win the war. If they already know the results, then the person who will lose will most likely not participate in the war.
4.    Economic theories
Economic competition for limited resources to obtain wealth is considered the reason for the war. This theory is a part of Marxist theories which see class disparity as inherently bad.

What was interesting/what did you learn

the thing that I find interesting is Conflict theory originated from philosophy first. Chinese philosophy argues that to regulate men we need punishment that is feared by them. Therefore people who have the power to punish are people who are powerful in society. Besides that, many other philosophies have the same view. Broadly speaking, they agree that conflict is important in maintaining the integrity of society. One of the people most often associated with this theory is Karl Marx. After its contribution to this theory many other scholars have continued to develop this theory. For example Max Weber in his though in power, prestige and property or C. Wright Wills in a Social Structure.

Discussion Point

Looking at the data provided in the section on Wealth and Power Inequality, Unites States have a high level of equality. Does this prove that Karl Marx is right? Capitalism is a bad thing and communism will solve inequality?

Race and Ethnicity & Gender / Week 10 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Race groups human based on physical differences that everyone can see. But in contrast to race, ethnicity classifies human according to the social traits they have, for example religion, culture, language, nationality and much more.

The concept of race that classifies based on physical differences is still very controversial. Some sociologists believe that this physical difference is something consider man-made. Therefore some of them chose to use ethnic words compared to the word race.

One solution that can resolve this controversy is to use a combination approach. We have a clear differences from the biological side (skin color, eye shape, hair type), but the thing that can really classifies us in term of race are artificial and socially constructed.

This classification also often creates several problems such as Prejudice and bias. Both of these are related to the negative perspectives held for certain groups. The difference is that prejudice evaluates certain groups based on stereotypes that exist in society and bias evaluates certain groups based on minimum experiences of negative interactions with these groups. Prejudice and Racism can be included in racism because racism in general is a behavior carried out by someone on the basis of understanding certain groups are superior to other groups

Next the topic to be studied is gender. Gender and Sex are two different things. Sex is identified through the biological conditions that a person has. We divide sex into two male and female. While the concept of Gender is identified through masculine personality behavior or their feminism. Feminism is usually associated with characters such as submissive, dependent, emotional and others, while masculine is associated with dominant, independent, and rational characters. Both sex and gender are concepts built by humans.

What was interesting/what did you learn

From the reading, we can see that the differences possessed by humans in the gender dimension influence their social life, such as work, education and others. Often women become victims and man's privileges. One of Christian Schilt's research clearly shows that people who make a transition from female to male will have certain benefits in their work life. They will get fewer jobs and more rewards than women.

Discussion Point

if gender raises many negative gaps, is it not better to eliminate the concept of gender from the start?

x

Extra Posting / Will 3D Printing change the world / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

I think 3D printing make people life generally easier. The line between producer and consumer become more blur than ever. The consumer will not depend on the producer anymore because they can do it by themselves. But on the other side, 3D printing can be very dangerous too. For example when the 3D blueprint for guns were publish on the in internet it means everyone without background check and serial number to trace can print and use the gun right away.

Stratification / Week 9 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Stratification is a grouping of people into a different classes. According to Max Weber, Economic Stratification can be distinguished based on their 3 characteristics, namely power, property and prestige. Power is the ability of someone to tell others to do things Property is the sum of people’s possession. The last,  prestige is his status in a society.

There are two approaches in learning stratification, structural-functionalism and conflict theories. Structural-functionalism says stratification is useful for the sustainability of society. People are grouped to be in the best position to do their respective tasks. The person on the upper class has the ability that some people don't have. Therefore they can govern the people below while getting more rewards than the people below.The conflict theories approach instead says that stratification is a bad thing for society. This system will only benefit a few people and promote inequality.

Capitalism is often regarded as something that supports stratification. Through capitalism, rich people will get richer and the poor will get poorer. Besides that, minority groups based on race, gender, and others often also become victims and this stratification system.

What was interesting/what did you learn

What is interesting is the global inequality figure that I found in this week's reading. As per the reading, almost half the human population still lives on less than $ 2.50. This statistical number prove that poverty is a global problem that must be resolved immediately.

Discussion Point

In one theory who should be blamed for the poverty, some researchers say that tradition is the problem. If tradition is abolished, will diversities in this world disappear too?

Extra posting / Can China replace the United States with economic power in the near future? / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

I think China can replace United States but it will not happer near in the future. China is gaining world  because of their export goods around the world. We have to admit they are playing a big role in our world economy. But when it comes to replace United States, China still needs times to prepare themselves in their financial and human resources sector.

Extra posting / Why Koreans and Poles value the environment less than Americans, Australian, Chinese or Japanese? / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

My hypothesis is maybe Korea and Poles economy level is lower than America, Australia, China orJapane. Their people doesnt satisfy with their own economy and their media also expose this problem more than anything else. In the end, their focus was directed to economy more than environtment problem.

Extra Posting : why is God in Christianity often portrayed as a male? / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

My religion, Chatolic, bealive that god has no gender, but in our bible and pictures god refer as a "he"   and male individual. It kind a the same with race, God doesnt has a race, he can be black or white. I think in order to see the reason is we have to look at the origin or where it came from. Christianity is originated from roman region where most of the people then bealive that element of strenght, protection and other God's characteristic as a male's characteristic. That's why the christian tend to potrayed Gor in a masculine way

Deviance / Week 7 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Deviance is an act that violates the cultural norm in certain cultural society. Every society has its own culture. Therefore what deviance considers is very dependent on society culture. Deviance itself can be divided into two, normal and informal deviance. Formal deviance is usually a behavior that has been regulated by existing legal regulations and has clear penalties such as theft, murder. Informal deviance is a behavior that although it is not written in legal regulations but is still considered as something that should not be done in society, for example, speaking in an impolite manner to an old person in certain society.

There are various theories that try to explain what deviance is like the belief that people avoid deviance behavior so that they are not punished by society. Social-Strain Typology also tries to explain that deviance has various types, such as conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Another important theory is Structural-Functionalism. This theory wants to underlines various functions of deviance in society. This theory explains that deviance has a very important function in society because it can be a tool to promote social unity, distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior and the most important is changing society as time goes by.

What was interesting/what did you learn

Through this reading, I understand that labeling has a big impact on the formation of one's identity and behavior. Labeling theory explains that a person can have deviant behavior because we give the deviance label to her/him. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's case at Columbine High School massacre later became a concrete example of this theory.

Discussion Point

What is the example of deviant behavior that has become an acceptable behavior over time?

Socialization / Week 6 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Socialization is one of the important elements of sociology study. To understand it, several theories such as Symbolic Interactionism Internalization Theory and Role Theory are the basic theories that must be studied. Jeffrey Arnett (psychologist) has summarized 3 objectives of socialization, namely, conscience development, preparation of roles and the cultivation of source of meaning. Broadly speaking, socialization is one the way for human to adapt himself in a real social world. Because human socialization is very different depending on their respective cultures, therefore certain socialization should not be forced on anyone.

Socialization is often divided into 2 parts, primary socialization and secondary socialization. Primary socialization occurs during child and adolescent (human core identity will develop). Secondary socialization occurs throughout the life of human and is a continuation of human development when undergoing their own role in society. In addition, socialization is also divided into 2 types, broad and narrow socialization. Broad socialization refers to individualism and independence, and in contrast narrow socialization refers to obedience. Human type of socialization is not only limited to 2 choices, because someone's socialization can be broad as well as narrow (combination).

Socialization is very important, especially at the primary socialization stage. If it is not done properly, then they will be difficult to adapt and function in the community. One example is the case of 'Genie'. She was a child who was victimized by abuse and abandonment. Growing up, she does not have the ability to communicate and socialize with others.

When someone is considered unsuccessful in socializing, one solution is to implement ‘total institutions’. Examples of people who are considered unsuccessful are criminals and mental health patients. They will be included in a ‘room’ (prison, mental hospitals) where the authorities will design a system that forces them to socialize like ordinary people.

What was interesting/what did you learn

In the reading, it was written that a researcher named Victor W. Marshall made a study that wanted to link socialization with death preparation. This research was conducted in retirement residence where an average of 1 death per week. Even so, the community that allows socialization between people who almost have the same conditions has a very high level of death acceptance.

Discussion Point

Does the knowledge of socialization originating from primary socialization determine the success of one's life in society? How much does the family's role shape one's personality?

Politics / Week 5 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

According to Joice Mitchel, politics is collective decision-making or public policy-making in its entirety. When talking about politics, people usually associate it with state affairs, but over time, politics can also be linked to various aspects of human life that relate to the power of decision making, general policy, and distribution of prosperity.

In politics, there are 3 important elements, namely, Power, Authority, and Violence. Power often interpreted as the ability to influence the other, to achieve what is desired by the power holder. Meanwhile, authority is the right to do something or order someone else to do or not do something to achieve certain goals. Power does not need legitimacy while authority requires legitimacy and requires power. Authority is the right to manipulate or change others. Authority is divided into 3 types, rational-legal authority, traditional authority, charismatic authority. In today's countries, governments also have various types of government, for example, monarchy, Democracy, Totalitarianism, Oligarchy, and others. These different types of government have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Government is usually contested by political parties. The way they work depends on the type of government they use. For example in a USA country that has 2 main parties, Democratic Party and Republican Party, they have a system called Electoral College votes for presidential elections.

What was interesting/what did you learn

Politics that can be a tool for the prosperity of many people, apparently still has the values of injustice in the reality of its practice. Gender, age, race and class still seems to be an obstacle for some people to be able to voice their political opinions. For example, even though women were found to be more likely to vote, women were still in underrepresented positions. At the 109th Congress (2005-2007) there were only 14 female Senate members out of a total of 100 members and 70 members of Congress from a total of 435 members.

Discussion Point

One of the oldest type of government is Monarchy. It is stated that there are still 44 countries that have a monarch as their head of state. What are the real tasks of monarchs in a country when they actually have a head of government to deal with government problems?

Economy / Week 4 / Cindy Paskalina Kweesar

Summary

Economics is a branch of Social Sciences that studies a human activity that is closely related to the problem of production, distribution and consumption of a service or goods.

Before we use money as part of our economy, humans used to only use a system called barter. They exchange goods for goods such as certain amount of rice for certain amount of beef. But with the development of the era, gold coins and silver coins began to be used by the public. Human ability to write and read also makes the human economy more developed. We begin to divide private property, make compensation and give fine to people who break the law. The economy continues to grow in medieval times, where there are many investment processes, openings in trading, and stock exchange discoveries. Until now, the economy continues to grow and does not rule out the possibility of major discoveries in it.

What was interesting/what did you learn

The most famous economic systems are capitalism and socialism. They have different positions and views in economic life. Adherents of capitalism argue that individuals have the right to have the means of production. This raises a lot of criticism such as the possibility of monopoly by certain parties so that wealth inequality is created in society. On the contrary, socialism considers that society must have the same and equal resources. This system has not escaped criticism because some scholars consider that socialism cannot be implemented in the real world.

Discussion Point

After I read this week's reading, I want to know whether socialism and communism are the same or different