Culture theory explains how ideas, values and meanings sharpen social relations within different communities

Discussion Assignment unit 1.

Globalisation is the spreading of technology, products, information, jobs and culture around the world as defined by Kopp (2019). There are various theories which explain the existence of globalisation however, I have chosen to discuss two theories which are the theory of culture and world-system theory.

World system theory entails that globalisation came into existence in the twentieth century due to capitalist movements across the world as explained by Lechner (2001). This theory brings out the facts that European countries during that time there was a race for supremacy and power whereby these European countries were interested in developing their countries during the industrial period so they had to move around the world in searching for raw materials for their industries, new markets to sell their finished goods and labour.

Culture theory explains how ideas, values and meanings sharpen social relations within different communities. This theory explains that there was culture diffusion during the period of European expansion. It is believed that it was at this time that facilitated and quickened culture diffusion around the globe. This was because European countries were able to influence many countries into adapting their culture when they were moving around in search of raw materials and labour. It also entails that globalisation is a continuous process that is still evolving with time and changes happening around the world.

The two theories which I had listed above show similarities and differences. Similarly, the two theories explain that globalisation came into being during the twentieth whereby European powers were moving around the globe in search of labour and raw materials to develop their countries. However, the difference is that the world-system theory brings out how globalisation was able to spread mainly through the exploitation of others. For example, there was a need for cheap labour and raw materials. There is also the issue of power and state division according to power. While on the other hand. Culture theory brings out that having one culture would sharpen the society into having one unit accord. There is no much exploitation of man but people voluntarily copied others because they liked their lifestyle and this is also the issue of modernisation whereby many countries are in a race of modernizing themselves not because they are forced but because that is the new trend. I have chosen the world system as a theory that leads to globalisation because many countries changed their old ways and adapted new things during the twentieth century. This period changed both the economic sector and the cultural norms of different communities. I do not completely agree with culture theory because there are still many countries out there which were not affected culture-wise but still managed to thrive the influence of these European countries in their societies.

In conclusion, globalisation is a topic of many different views as they are many theories as to why it came into existence. From the above discussion, world system was able to bring about globalisation because there was a lot of movement and exploitation of people around the globe and many countries were affected by these foreign changes into their communities while culture theory also had an impact to globalisation as people adapted the European culture as there was a need of creating one cultural world. However, some countries were not affected by this but as it is explained it is a continuous theory and some countries are changing their ways to become modernized.

References

Kopp. C .M (2019). Globalization. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/globalization.asp

Lechner. F. (2001). Globalization theories (Back to list of theories). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20130529201438/http://sociology.emory.edu:80/faculty/globalization/theories01.html

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Discuss the role of the polis in Archaic and Classical-era Greece, supporting your response with examples and detail from your reading Poleis

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Here's my answer to this week's discussion question:

Discuss the role of the polis in Archaic and Classical-era Greece, supporting your response with examples and detail from your reading.

Poleis were city-states independent of each other that handled the issues of governmental organization, culture, war, and foreign relationships in quite different manners. In reality, what is known as Ancient Greece was formed by a number of poleis, many of them considerably small in size (Brand, n.d.). 

The poleis were not part of a concrete group. They chose their own ways of government, as it is made obvious from the political differences between Athens and Sparta (Brand, n.d). As stated by Arzamas (2017), Ancient Greece was actually a group of city-states that can be first recognized in 800 BCE. As a consequence of being independent political organizations, each polis faced its own particular issues in relation to other poleis. 

There was no such thing as unity among the poleis. Poleis behaved in extremely independent manners (as it would be expected from an independent country), only turning to one another when they had an interest in forming an alliance or invading and subjugating another polis; the latter being perfectly illustrated by Sparta (Brand, n.d.). Citizens from one polis would be considered foreigners in another polis, and would even receive special treatment, as is illustrated by the Metics social class in Athens (Brand, n.d.). Due to the geographic conditions of Ancient Greece, colonization took place, thus spreading Greek culture into relatively far lands (Arzamas, 2017). But the culture was, too, a matter particular to each polis.

Each polis had its own ideology that shaped their state-level decisions and organization. The most striking example of this fact can be found in the great differences between Sparta and Athens. While Athenian culture promoted the development of thought and a somewhat-free distribution of political power, Spartan culture was characterized by its focus on military development and the absence of interest in any other area (Brand, n.d.). Their cultural differences led Athens and Sparta to take different roads in terms of foreign policy and political organization. 

In conclusion, the fact that each polis was organized independently from each other led to political and cultural diversity. It can be affirmed that Western civilization had its beginning the moment each polis had the opportunity to choose their own form of government, culture, and, ultimately, their own way of life.

References

Arzamas. (2017, May 30). Ancient Greece in 18 minutes [Video]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFRxmi4uCGo&feature=emb_logo

Brand, P. J. (n.d.). Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. dictatorship. Retrieved from: https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/770336/mod_book/chapter/228561/Athens%20%20Sparta%20dictatorship%20%20democracy.pdf?time=1582319035433

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A polis is a city-state that is organized as individual small countries with separate rules of governing than the other polis

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A polis is a city-state that is organized as individual small countries with separate rules of governing than the other polis, many of which were small in size. However, there were a few distinctively larger cities that were described in the article. The author Dr. Peter J Brand wrote, "At the opposite end of this spectrum were the two largest, most powerful and ultimately most influential Greek city-states, Athens and Sparta" (Brand, pg. 1). Athens and Sparta were virtually opposite in their government structure. Athens was democratic, meaning the decisions were made by a group of aristocrats who were a small group of wealthy landowners. Athenians believed in philosophy and the arts, which developed more educated aristocrats. Whereas, Spartan culture was based on the development of warriors who occupied the top positions within the governing hierarchy. Spartans believed in toughness and gave power to notable warriors by giving them land. The differences in the Spartan and Athenian cultures is the reason why the architecture of the two cities was vastly different. Athenians were more intellectually advanced, so their architects built more advanced temples, academies, and public forums. On the other hand, the city of Sparta had less advanced city buildings, but put more emphasis on barracks and training grounds for their soldiers, instead. The Spartan warriors subjugated the surrounding poleis in the Peloponnesus and turned their citizens into slaves. The expansionist strategy by Spartans was based on the brutal force of the military, which was different than the Athenian democratic approach to occupying new territory. The citizens in the poleis that were occupied by Athenians would experience life much differently than the slaves captured by Spartans. Athenian slaves were bound to a life of servitude based on their debt to the wealthy aristocrats.

References

Brand, Peter J. (n.d.). Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship.

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Discuss the role of the polis in Archaic and Classical-era Greece, supporting your response with examples and detail from your reading

Hello everyone

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I wish everyone the best of luck with the course.

Discuss the role of the polis in Archaic and Classical-era Greece, supporting your response with examples and detail from your reading.

The city of Athens was different from Sparta. Athen was a more cultural city and its territory of Attica was also cultural and the economic powerhouse. Athens was more wealthy and Sparta was more a warrior place.

As each Polis were founded its own government, the country was wreck into many small and separate empires instead of one combined empire. There was a reason why they did this, from what I could understand this made it easier to overcome and take control over the forces to take over the lands that once were Greek. The only way spartan boys and men could get out of military life by running away or by dying only.

It sounds like they may have been free, but basically just in some ways, one it's for sure that they were owned by the state until they were 30.

A lot of countries and places back then use to kill the children that were disabled, the Spartans would do the say with their children that were disabled.

The boys and men were expected to be the best no matter the circumstances or had lost a hand, at least that's how things seem to have been in the Roman army a couple of hundred years later. For example just like we read in this week's readings, a Spartan woman named Damatria heard that her son was cowardly in battle and she actually killed her own child, they were not supposed to show their cowardly.

The woman man kids and everyone was tough how to be strong warriors no matter what to protects its people and land.

References

https://my.uopeople.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=206463

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Ancient Greece was divided into many poleis, or “city-states”, that were all small countries

Hey, I'm Mil and I live in Canada. I work as a financial analyst for a company that provides an online business management program. I hope to remember some of the aspects I studied in school with this course, and hopefully, elaborate even further to discover other things that may be interesting.

One of the most studied and idealized societies of the past seems to be Ancient Greek. We have all studied their philosophers, literature and even seen many of the movies that portray such a society. The truth is that the Ancient Greek provided humanity with monumental architecture and policies which influenced other societies throughout human history to this very day; the best example being the democracy.

Ancient Greece was divided into many poleis, or “city-states”, that were all small countries by themselves, all of them with their own and distinctive rules; the most famous of them being Athens and Sparta (Brand, n.d.). The two were opposites in terms of political and social structure, but both of them had one thing in common, they served as role models for the succeeding societies.

Sparta was a strong military society, with most of its citizens comprised of soldiers and they were all males because the function of the Spartan women was to give birth to as many “worthy” male Spartans as possible. The Spartans were very authoritarian, even killing people that they did not consider worthy; a feature that would, later on, inspire the German Nazi (Brand, n.d.).

The Spartans had two kings, but the decisions were voted by two specific groups comprised of males that were usually 60 years old or above. There was no democracy; the society was comprised of slaves that often rebelled against Spartans, the women, the soldiers, and the oligarchy. They had more problems among themselves than with other societies, mostly because they were very good at defeating their opponents (Brand, n.d.).

Now, the Athenians, on the other hand, had a direct democracy in which everyone who is considered a citizen can vote for any law being voted. The problem was that slaves and women were not considered citizens; only specific males were considered citizens. The Athenians were very concerned with their architecture, philosophy, and literature, producing pieces of work that humanity studies and admires to this day. It is one of the reasons why we are having this class, by the way (Brand, n.d.). The democracy they started also became predominant in Western societies nowadays, being improved throughout many years. I would say it had achieved its highest peak thus far.

References

Brand, P. J. (n.d.). Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. dictatorship. Retrieved from https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/770336/mod_book/chapter/228561/Athens%20%20Sparta%20dictatorship%20%20democracy.pdf?time=1582319035433

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The Role Of The Polis In Ancient Greece HIST 1421 GREEK AND ROMAN CIVILIZATION

I am a writer from Zimbabwe, mostly self-taught, and am published in prose, poetry, and theater. I also like writing code and have written several experimental applications which I have put online, and then later taken off as I felt they were not doing what I wanted them to do.

I have been with you for 4 years now, and am in the Computer Science degree program, which I am doing slowly, sometimes two modules per semester, sometimes one, as I have a very busy schedule.

I have also traveled a lot around the world, mainly due to invitations to writing festivals or residencies, and now believe myself to be a global citizen. Currently, I am writing a new book set in ancient Africa, and in which I have created a fantasy kingdom, and so I guess this is an interesting module for me to be in, and judging from the reading of the first material, I am going to love this!

The Role Of The Polis In Ancient Greece.

According to my understanding from the reading material, the Greek polis, or city-state, evolved after the Mycenaean wars of the 8th century which had destabilized the region(Cartwright, 2013). This stabilization led to the formation of several scattered settlements in Greece which were self-contained and were modeled like some kind of ‘one city-state’ with their own governing bodies. Called polis, and plural poleis, these city-states had their own individual governing systems, and sometimes were at war with each other. The governing systems ranged from monarchies, militaristic societies, and proto-democracies(Khan Academy, n.d).

One most important role of the polis was that it introduced the concept of urbanization, and whose power and influence extended to the local surrounding agricultural regions, which provided resources and paid taxes(Khan Academy, n.d), and which is a concept that we also observe in modern urban societies.

Another role of the polis was that it offered military protection to its inhabitants against invasion from other warring states seeking plunder and an extension of their power.

The most prominently mentioned poleis are Athens and Sparta, as they had the most influential governing systems, but which were politically polar opposites of each other(Brand, n.d.). ‘Athens was the birthplace of many fundamental aspects of Western civilization, including ethical philosophy and the theater, while Sparta was a warrior society of fierce, often unbeatable soldiers, and only warriors participated in political life(Brand, n.d.).

Another observation of the political organization of the Greek poleis is that women and slaves were regarded as inferior citizens, and had no say in political matters. While the political organization of Sparta, as a military state, did not pretend about this, on the other hand, it can be observed that for Athens, democracy only applied to a certain group of its citizens, those who were seen as pure male Athenian, while slaves and women did not participate in the same(Brand, n.d.).

References

1. Cartwright, M. (2013). Polis. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Polis/

2. Khan Academy. (n.d). The Greek polis. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/a/the-greek-polis

3. Brand, P.J. (n.d). Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. dictatorship.

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The idea of globalization POLS 1503 GLOBALIZATION

The idea of globalization is nothing new, it has been around for years. As we know, there are multiple theories on globalization. These theories have different thoughts and ideas on how globalization works and is effective. Of these theories two stands out the most to me, that of the World-System Theory and the World Culture Theory. Both have their way of thinking towards globalization and what influences them. In this week's discussion, I will cover both these ideas.

Looking at The Globalization Website we were able to gain an understanding of the World-System Theory and what it means. We learned that the world-system theory is based around the idea of three types of countries, Core, Periphery, and semi-periphery. Each of these types has its function in world-system theory. Starting with core countries we see that they are diversified economically and are considered wealthy industrialized. Countries such as Japan or the United States would fall into this category. Next, we see periphery, these countries focus on extracting raw materials, providing support for the core countries, and will be relatively poor. Last we have semi-periphery, these countries fall in the middle between core and periphery countries. To view these countries you would want to look at a transition between periphery to core or core to the periphery. Since the world is an ever-growing and evolving environment, the strength and weaknesses of countries can shift, thus causing them to move between the sections. The world-system theory is not without its own flaws. There does appear to be less focus on individual culture and more focus on that of the core countries.

Shifting to that of the world culture theory, we gained an understanding of The Globalization Website of this theory. From our reading, we can see that the overall idea of this theory is the spread and overall idea of culture. Thinking to countries around the world we can see how this impacts those in the region. This can be found by looking at the values of cultures and how they transcend their own culture into others. Living in the United States I have had the opportunity to live in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the US. Because of mixed cultures, there is a great deal of cross-culture influence. To me, there was always a higher level of understanding because of this.

Between world-system theory and world culture theory, you can easily see how they compare to each other. World-system theory focuses much more on the economic gain and the core countries than that of the cultural value. World culture theory focuses much more on the cultural value than that of the economic gain of countries or individual corporations. With the world-system theory’s focus on gain towards the core countries and the economic value, there is a clear benefit to this model. In theory, more immediate income should come from this theory than that of the world culture theory. With the world culture theory, the long term focus of building up culture should provide a better gain overall.

In conclusion, between world-system theory and world culture theory, you can see strengths and weaknesses between the two systems. Depending on what you feel would be best effective will determine what you may focus on. From my past experiences and understanding of globalization, I am in favor of world culture theory than that of world-system theory. Building up culture in general across the world allows for many benefits that can’t be provided through the world-system theory. Having a level of understanding across cultures is important, especially for organizations that are looking to succeed across borders. The world culture theory is not perfect, but I do feel it has a strong shot at being effective.

References:

The Globalization Website. (n.d.). World-System Theory. Retrieved April 9, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130529201438/http://sociology.emory.edu:80/faculty/globalization/theories01.html

The Globalization Website. (n.d.). World Culture Theory. Retrieved April 9, 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130602170544/http://sociology.emory.edu/faculty/globalization/theories03.html

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