Essay Question: Write a well-structured essay based on the textbook material
that answers one of these questions. 30%
- Karl Marx, Max Weber, and state theorists all provided explanations for the beginnings of capitalism. Compare (find the similarities) and contrast (find the differences) in the three explanations. If you were forced to choose one explanation, which would be the most convincing? Use evidence to support your answer.
- Explain Kingsley Davis’ demographic transition theory relating modernization to low fertility. Use specific evidence from the textbook to describe whether this theory is holding true in developing nations, and ways in which developed nations have varied from the original formulation of the theory
- There is a linkage between industrialization and urbanization. Explain why urbanization required farming to become industrialized, and why industrialization required urbanization. Use specific evidence from the text.
- What are the main characteristics which distinguish formal organizations? Compare and contrast the natural systems and the rational systems approaches to formal organizations, and explain the best approach to the working with these different perspectives. Use specific evidence from the text.
- Compare and contrast the “collective behavior” and “resource mobilization” approaches to explaining the birth of social movements. How does this compare with the conditions under which people, according to the J-curve theory, are more likely to take actions directed at changing their environment? Use specific evidence from the text.
