Test Bank of Exploring Sociology A Canadian
Perspective 3rd Edition by Ravelli
Test Bank of Exploring Sociology A Canadian
Perspective 3rd Edition by
... [Show More] Ravelli
Sample Test
Chapter 3 Essay-TIF_csm
1) Compare and contrast the theories of Marx and Gramsci, and particularly
their concepts of ideology and hegemony.
Answer:
Gramsci accepted Marx’s analysis of the struggle between the ruling class
and the subordinate working class, but he diverged from Marx in his analysis
of how the ruling class ruled. Marx had explained that the ruling class
dominated through both force and coercion, using the strong arm of the state
—that is, the police and the military. However, absent from this analysis,
according to Gramsci, was a consideration of the ruling class’s subtle yet
insidious ideological control and manipulation.
Hegemony refers to ideological control and consent. According to Marx and
Engels, “the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.”
Ideological control, then, means that a society’s dominant ideas reflect the
interests of the ruling class and help to mask social inequalities. Note that
hegemony also involves consent. Gramsci argued that regardless of how
authoritarian a regime may be, no regime would be able to maintain its rule by
relying principally on organized state power and armed force. Rather, to enjoy
longevity and stability of rule, a regime must have the allegiance of the
masses. So, the hegemony of the dominant group’s ideas and cultural forms
works by bringing about the consent of the subordinate class.
Diff: Challenging
Type: ES
Page Reference: 68-70
Skill: Conceptual
Objective: Describe Antonio Gramsci’s Marxist concept of hegemony.
2) Compare and contrast Smith’s and Marx’s ideas of ruling relations and
where the power lies in society.
Answer:
Marx argued that the ruling class dominated through both force and coercion,
using the strong arm of the state—that is, the police and the military, as well
as through ideological control; the ruling ideas. He and Engels stated that,
“the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.” Ideological
control, then, means that a society’s dominant ideas reflect the interests of the
ruling class and help to mask social inequalities.
Smith argues that experiences are often the result of ruling relations in
everyday circumstances. She uses the concept of ruling to indicate the
“socially-organized exercise of power that shapes people’s actions and their
lives.” Ruling relations are the abstract, conceptual, and “extra-locally
organized relations of state, professions, corporations, academic discourses,
mass media and so on.” These ruling relations exist in a generalized form and
work to coordinate, from outside the local sites of our bodies, what people do
(their actions). After all, our experiences are not entirely shaped by daily
interactions; rather, our experiences are often the result of ruling relations in
everyday circumstances.
Diff: Challenging
Type: ES
Page Reference: 68-73
Skill: Conceptual
Objective: Describe Antonio Gramsci’s Marxist concept of hegemony; outline
second- and third-wave feminist thinking using the examples of Dorothy Smith
and bell hooks.
3) Develop an essay in which you discuss the US government’s response to
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans from a critical race theory perspective.
Answer:
Critical race theory allows us to view contemporary social situations through a
lens of historical racism. In this way, we can connect historical inequities to
contemporary practices and situations. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of
the United States in August 2005, and the vast majority of those affected were
poor and African-American. Many social scientists have focused on how the
relations between race and social class were implicated in the evacuation of
citizens, rescue efforts, and governmental action and inaction. After the
hurricane, there was a lack of an organized government rescue response for
citizens trapped in New Orleans because of flooding. Those who had made
their way to the Superdome stadium lived in appalling conditions in terms of
food and sanitation. Many social theorists argue that the “natural” disaster of
Hurricane Katrina was so devastating precisely because of decades of
institutionalized racial inequality. Hurricane Katrina revealed for the world the
enduring effects of racial segregation and racial inequalities in housing and
occupation.
Diff: Moderate
Type: ES
Page Reference: 84-85
Skill: Applied
Objective: Define the principal tenets of critical race theory and the approach
to “whiteness” as a racial identity. [Show Less]