Sociology
Answer all the following elements:
Some claim that “digital technologies have the potential to greatly increase productivity and growth”. Combining insights from the films Inequality for All, and Robots will Change the World identify some of the limits of this expectation.
From the perspective of workers, discuss one similarity and one difference between the Fordist mode of production and the current bout of automation involving robots and AI.
Identify and discuss two key differences between the workers in Thailand’s shrimping industry as shown in the film Super Market Slave Trail those depicted in Chaplin’s Modern Times? Do not just describe; reflect on the ways in which the two groups of workers are affected by and negotiate the Fordist and post-Fordist modes of industrial production.
2. Answer all the following elements:
What makes the works of some social theorists from the 19th and early 20th centuries—most notably, that of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and W.E.B. Dubois—still relevant for our times?
Define two important concepts, each associated with one of these theorists (Must involve two different concepts, and two different theorists).
Discuss one of these concepts as it relates to the substance of one of the following films/texts: Modern Times; Black Like Me; Evicted; How Robots Will Change the World.
Each answer must be comprehensive but concise.
We will not read past six (6) double-spaced typed pages.
Please use a font size no less than 12 points.
I would advise you not to waste space by quoting directly lengthy passages from readings. We are interested in grading only your work, not that of other authors. Of course, you can and should paraphrase arguments from the readings in support of your answers.
All sources, including internet sources, must be cited properly, or you will be penalized. Citations could be in footnotes, endnotes or in a bibliography. We are particularly interested in citations if you refer to works that are not included in the course syllabus.
Please note that using work that is not included in your course syllabus does not guarantee better grades. How you use any material to support your arguments is more important than the number of readings you use.
Even if you use readings other than what we focused on, you are still required to use the material we covered in the course.
You are welcome to use additional material from the course to formulate your answers, but you must draw on the texts/films mentioned in the questions.
Please note that citation does not mean unacknowledged borrowing or lifting. You have to write the answers in your own words, even if the content of what you write comes from other sources.
Plagiarism is taken very seriously by the university administration. If you find readymade answers to questions similar to the ones below on the web, and decide to simply submit these answers or copy/paste portions of them as yours, we will find them. This constitutes plagiarism and you will be failed.
