Sociology: Power and Authority's Contribution to Social Order
Social order requires social behaviour to be predictable and individuals to cooperate. Amongst the explanations of social order are five outlined by Hechter and Horne: (shared) ‘meaning’, ‘values and norms’, ‘power and authority’, ‘spontaneous interaction’ and ‘networks and groups’. Following Hechter and Horne, describe how at least TWO of these explanations might account for social order, and discuss the extent to which you find those explanations convincing.
Social order is one of the most central aspects of sociology. Two main factors are necessary for the existence of social order: predictability of society and cooperative behaviour of individuals (Hechter and Horne, 2003). In this essay I will describe how ‘values and norms’ and ‘power and authority’ account for social order, drawing on the explanations offered in Theories of Social Order: A Reader (2003) by Michael Hechter and Christine Horne. The first explanation is based on people cooperating voluntarily and following informal rules, while the second focuses on the ability of one group to control and coerce another into obeying the rules. I will discuss limitations of both theories and suggest that neither provides an entirely convincing explanation of social order on its own.
Values and norms are internal and external criteria for evaluation (Hechter and Horne, 2003), individuals use them to judge which actions are good or bad, appropriate or not and hence regulate behaviour. Therefore it could be assumed that if people share the same values and norms they act in a predictable and cooperative manner which leads to the establishment of social order. The processes that could be responsible for the development of these phenomena will be discussed below.
Internalisation is a process through which individuals incorporate values present in their social environment into their own mind (Hechter and Horne, 2003). Freud (1930 in Hechter and Horne, 2003) suggests the following mechanism for this process. A
Social order is one of the most central aspects of sociology. Two main factors are necessary for the existence of social order: predictability of society and cooperative behaviour of individuals (Hechter and Horne, 2003). In this essay I will describe how ‘values and norms’ and ‘power and authority’ account for social order, drawing on the explanations offered in Theories of Social Order: A Reader (2003) by Michael Hechter and Christine Horne. The first explanation is based on people cooperating voluntarily and following informal rules, while the second focuses on the ability of one group to control and coerce another into obeying the rules. I will discuss limitations of both theories and suggest that neither provides an entirely convincing explanation of social order on its own.
Values and norms are internal and external criteria for evaluation (Hechter and Horne, 2003), individuals use them to judge which actions are good or bad, appropriate or not and hence regulate behaviour. Therefore it could be assumed that if people share the same values and norms they act in a predictable and cooperative manner which leads to the establishment of social order. The processes that could be responsible for the development of these phenomena will be discussed below.
Internalisation is a process through which individuals incorporate values present in their social environment into their own mind (Hechter and Horne, 2003). Freud (1930 in Hechter and Horne, 2003) suggests the following mechanism for this process. A
References: Durkheim, E. 1897. ‘Egoistic Suicide’ M. Hechter and C. Horne (eds.) 2003. Theories of Social Order: A Reader. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press: 112-17 Durkheim, E Engels, F. 1884. ‘The Origin of the State’ M. Hechter and C. Horne (eds.) 2003. Theories of Social Order: A Reader. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press: 179-82 Fehr, E Freud, S. 1930. ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’ M. Hechter and C. Horne (eds) 2003. Theories of Social Order: A Reader. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press: 101-11 Goffman, E Hechter, M. and Horne, C. 2003. Theories of Social Order: A Reader. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Henrich, J., Boyd, R., Bowles, S., Camerer, C. Fehr, E.and Gintis, H. 2004. Foundations of Human Sociality: Economic Experiments and Ethnographic Evidence from Fifteen Small-Scale Societies. Oxford University Press. Hobbes, T. 1651. ‘Leviathan’ M. Hechter and C. Horne (eds.) 2003. Theories of Social Order: A Reader. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press: 166-178 Horne, C Weber, M. 1921-22. ‘The Types of Legitimate Domination’ M. Hechter and C. Horne (eds.) 2003. Theories of Social Order: A Reader. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press: 183-203 Willis, P