Exam 13: Technology, the Environment, and Social Movements

Researchers today, especially those practising theoretically-driven research in universities, are insulated from the influences of government and industry.

What did the Russian geographer and naturalist Petr Kropotkin conclude from his five-year study of animal life in Siberia was at least as important a survival strategy as competition?

Describe resource mobilization as an essential component of collective action according to solidarity theory. Use the example of the frequency of strike action to support your answer.

Forming a union is an example of which of the following?

Describe two factors that created Thomas Edison's tremendous success.

Monique is a theoretical mathematician at a large university. Which of the following is most likely to motivate her research work at the university?

Describe the process in which an environmental problem can be defined as a social issue.

Greenpeace is an example of an organization that is part of a social movement with a global scope.

Research recent forecasts of the extent, rate, and consequences of global warming. Outline proposed countermeasures and classify them in terms of their underlying philosophy of resolution: market forces, social action, or technological innovation.

What term is used for enduring and usually organized collective attempts to change (or resist change to) part or all of the social order?

Go to the website of the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario. (http://cfsontario.ca/index.php ) Under the "Campaigns" tab choose two or three of the different campaigns they are supporting and using resource mobilization theory describe how this organization is trying to build alliances to further its campaign to halt tuition increases.

Globalization helps ensure that many new social movements transcend local and national boundaries in the promotion of universal goals.

Optimists believe that the environmental crisis will right itself through two means: the market and high technology. Outline the reasoning that supports this conclusion.

Like the social movements before the 1970s, social movements today seek rights, not for specific groups, but for humanity itself; they recruit from the educated and professional classes rather than from the underprivileged, and they are increasingly globalized.

Outline solidarity theory.

Identify the types of organizations that dominate in research and development initiatives.

What do scientists predict will occur if the polar ice caps continue to melt at the current rate?

According to resource mobilization theory, which of the following circumstances are associated with an increase in strike activity?

Charles Darwin is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists in history. Perhaps his most widely known contribution to science is his view on the survival strategies that members of species have adopted in their struggle for survival. One of these is competition for scarce resources. Which of the following is the other strategy discussed by Darwin?

More recent research shows that leaders and early joiners of social movements are well-integrated members of their community; they are not marginalized outsiders, as breakdown theory would suggest.