SOCIAL ANALYSIS

Social analysis can be defined as “the effort to obtain a more complete picture of a social
situation by exploring its historical and structural relationships” (Holland & Henriot, 1983).
Using frameworks provided by the social sciences [e.g. sociology, anthropology, political
science, economics, psychology, etc.], social analysis examines causes, agents, interrelations,
and consequences from a particular perspective to gain a simplified but limited picture of the
current situation.

History
A careful analysis of the past describes how society and its ideologies evolved over time.
Historical projections and discussion of “alternative futures” ask questions like “Where are we
heading today? What will the world be like several years from now if things continue as they are
today?”
Social Structures: organized & relatively stable patterns of human interaction
Economic structures shape basic patterns of production, distribution, exchange and
consumption in a society. Analysis of economic structures provides insights into the sources,
allocation, and use of wealth by those who possess it.
Political structures are the institutional concentrations of power in a community. Analyzing
them determines where and by whom key decisions are made, how much people participate in
them, and the prospects of those decisions being enacted.
Cultural structures, as the institutional foundations of the dreams, myths, and symbols of
society, tend to perpetuate and justify the status quo, as well as define the identity and expected
behavior of communities and those who belong to them.

GLOBALIZATION
The phenomenon called globalization is an uneven process which affects people and their
interactions differently even as it occurs on many different levels. At the same time, “there exists
no scholarly consensus on what kinds of social processes constitute its essence” (Steger, 2013, p.
31).

For purposes of discussion, let us make use of one definition. According to the
sociologist Manfred Steger, globalization is the “expansion and intensification of social
relations and consciousness across world-time and across world-space” (2013, p. 15). This
means the creation of new social networks and the multiplication of existing global connections,
which not only cut across geographic and social boundaries but are also spreading and becoming
more closely linked to each other. This also includes people’s subjective perception that their
world has become a smaller place. Steger calls this “growing consciousness of global
connectivity” (2013, p. 30) as global imaginary.

Such is made possible by “tight global economic, political, cultural, and environmental
interconnections and flows that make most of the currently existing borders and boundaries
irrelevant” – a social condition which Steger (2013, p. 29) terms globality.

The global imaginary consciousness and the condition of globality are enabled by the
instantaneous communication made available by contemporary technology – turning the world
into what Marshall McLuhan called “a global village”.

Anthropologist Arjun Appadurai emphasizes that local cultural concepts spread

globally on multiple & intersecting dimensions of integration [“scapes”]:

ethnoscape: global movement of people

technoscape: circulation of mechanical goods & software
mediascape: flow of culture & information
ideoscape: circulation of political ideas
financescape: global circulation of money

DIMENSIONS OF GLOBALIZATION
Economic
Political
Cultural

4CONWORLD
This course examines the multifaceted phenomenon of globalization. Using the various social
sciences, it examines the cultural, economic, political, technological, and other transformations
that have created an increasing awareness of the interconnection of people around the globe. It
seeks to inculcate a sense of global citizenship and global ethical responsibility.

globality to signify a social condition characterized by tight global economic, political, cultural,
and environmental interconnections and flows that make most of the currently existing borders
and boundaries irrelevant.

global imaginary as a concept referring to people’s growing consciousness of global

connectivity.

globalization applies to a set of social processes that appear to transform our present social
condition of conventional nationality into one of globality. As we noted in our observations
about the 2010 World Cup, however, this does not mean that the national or the local are
becoming extinct or irrelevant.
globalization is an uneven process, meaning that people living in various parts of the world are
affected very differently by this gigantic transformation of social structures and cultural zones
globalization is reflected in the expansion and the stretching of social relations, activities, and
connections.
Globalization can thus be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link
distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles
away and vice versa.
globalization involves the intensification and acceleration of social exchanges and activities.
Globalization refers to the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness
across world-time and world-space.

Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells has pointed out, the creation of a global network society
fuelled by ‘communication power’ required a technological revolution—one that has been
powered chiefly by the rapid development of new information and communication technologies

Globalization as a concept refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of
consciousness of the world as a whole. (Roland Robertson, Emeritus Professor of Sociology,
University of Aberdeen, Scotland)
Globalization may be thought of as a process (or set of processes) which embodies a
transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions—assessed in terms
of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact—generating transcontinental or interregional
flows and networks of activity, interaction, and the exercise of power. (David Held, Professor
of Politics and International Relations, Durham University
Globalization can thus be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link
distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles
away and vice versa. (Anthony Giddens, Former Director of the London School of
Economics)