The Making of a Modern Society

The Making of Modern Society Worksheet
In your analysis, be sure to engage with, provide specific examples from, and cite** all the assigned materials from this week (this includes lectures, readings, videos, podcasts, etc.) to illustrate your points. Remember, these writing assignments are an opportunity for you to:
• Demonstrate you understand the sociological concepts and perspectives examined this week;
• Demonstrate an ability to synthesize information from multiple sources to make your claims; and,
• Demonstrate an ability to use empirical evidence (specific examples) to support your claims.
Use the grading criteria to guide you as you write, and as always, please feel free to attend the optional discussion sections and/or sign up for office hours to get additional assistance.
** Please use the ASA Citation Style handout to cite your sources as you write (available in the “Guidelines and Grading Criteria for Writing Assignments” tab in the “Start Here” module). See page 4 of the handout for examples on in-text citations. You are not required to submit a bibliography, unless you cite material from outside sources. Please note, though, that any outside sources should be used sparingly; your analysis should focus primarily on the assigned materials. **
1. What was the significance of the enclosure movement in England? How did this facilitate capitalist development?
2. How did colonization and slavery facilitate capitalist development? What are some of the lasting legacies of these historical processes?
3. Define the concept of primitive accumulation:
4. Provide a specific example of primitive accumulation in each of the following contexts:
a. During the shift from feudalism to capitalism in England:
b. During colonization in the United States:
c. During the era of slavery in the United States:
5. Define globalization and describe some of its main features:
6. How has outsourcing contributed to inequality within the United States and in the Global South?
7. Explain the concept of commodity fetishism and use the concept to analyze how people around the world are indirectly connected:
8. In no more than a few sentences for each, explain how the processes of capitalist development have affected the following groups:
a. Peasants:
b. Native Americans:
c. African Americans:
d. Workers (internationally and in the United States):
e. Capitalists:
9. Why is an historical understanding of capitalist development so important to understanding inequalities in society today?

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