The Social Contract

Read the Fine Print!

Origins of an Idea

Before the Enlightenment (1600s) there was no questioning of the way in which society was created. Elites were born that way

Christian Church helped maintain this Divine Rule, God’s Will

People accepted the way things were because they regarded life / society as a test / punishment for our “sins”

Starting in the 1500s thinkers began to challenge the status quo – using ancient Greek / Roman texts

Beginning of an Era

At first people looked for ideas on the nature of the world around them

Then they began to question the structures that “inhibited” them – Church (Martin Luther)

By the 1600s, as society was in flux, some thinkers began to reflect on the type of society they lived in and how it was organised. Challenged the idea of divine rule by monarchs

and elites Thomas Hobbes, John Locke

Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679) Nature was in its essence chaotic and supports

oppression / exploitation.

Natural selection occurs in nature and in society. The weak are overruled and exploited by the

strongest.

Society should be centralised and administered by a strong central authority (king).

They serve all of society not just one segment. “Need a strong man to protect us from ourselves”

John Locke (1632 - 1704) He believed that society was not in danger as

much as Hobbes believed. He agreed with Hobbes that there should be

a centralised government – BUT... If that authority no longer served the will of

the people – it lost its legitimacy and authority to make decisions Revolution, coup d’Etat, etc.

Over the next century people took these ideas and applied them to their circumstances – American / French Revolution, Anarchism, Socialism, Communism

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) He argued that social institutions had

corrupted people and that human beings in the state of nature were more pure, free, and happy than in modern civilization.

This line of thought provided a foundation for the growth of romanticism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Rousseau's most important political work is The Social Contract (1762), in which he argued for popular sovereignty.

The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody. ”

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality, 1754

Returning to SOC 12

Sociologists took these ideas applied them sociologically

We use social contracts in many aspects of our lives.

Take a minute and think of what forms of a “social Contract” you have unwittingly signed off on.

They are kind of like codes of behaviours or role expectations in our society.

Types of Social Contracts

student

friend

worker

boyfriend / girlfriend / spouse

Limits and Powers of Social ContractsIt must be understood that these agreements are not written

It is Assumed you want to have the advantages and benefits of the contract if you attend or if you participate

It is Assumed if you break contracts consequences are understood – even if they are not spelled out

Social contracts can be renegotiatedEither through successful completion or

through breaking the contract

People can break the social contract with institutions but it is rare for institutions to break the social contract with the individual

If a social contract is put in place, it is rigid – not flexible

Can society renegotiate the social contract?Gay Marriage

Divorce Laws

Capital Punishment

Flex Time (Work from home)

Casual Day at work

Integrated sports (race and gender)

What happens when the social contract keeps getting broken?

A new one will be negotiated for you with harsher and harsher conditions, none of which you have any control over.-Growth of prisons in US / Canada

Alternative versions will be developed- Gated communities

The Social ContractAre there social contracts that just should

not be kept?

Can promises be too great? Not realistic?Funny Car Commercial Parody

Deconstructing The Social Contract for education / SOC 12Advantages Disadvantages

Benefits Boundaries

Deconstructing The Social Contracteducation / Sociology 12

Advantages

Learning something

Being with your peers

Being with Welcher Being away from parents/Home Intelligent conversation

Something to do

Disadvantages

Away from parents/Home Note taking

Immaturity

Opportunity cost

No snacks provided in class

Picked on/harassed

Reading – complicated or non-choice texts

Homework

Benefits

Education

Credit

High School diploma

Knowledge

Help with employment

Social savyness

Learning how to deal with difficult people

Boundaries

Stressed relationships

Other opinions

Follow expectations – class, school, legal, interpersonal

Participate

Early mornings

General class attendance

Examining the Social Contract Part time employment

Pet / Parent

“In a Relationship”

Friend (Alternate – Facebook Friend)

Music Fan

Babysitter/caregiver (temporary)