Colonialism
This is the situation where a country extends its national sovereignty over land beyond its borders. This is by establishment of settler colonies or administrative representatives in which the native populations are ruled directly or relocated.
The country that colonizes usually controls the resources, work force, and markets of the colonized country. Language, social-cultural, and religious structures may be imposed by the colonizers to the conquered territory.
The colonized group is made to change their ways of life and follow the practices of the colonizer which they are made to believe they are better.This is meant to create a physiological concept that the practices of the colonized countries are inferior, which aides in creating an oppressive regime in these territories (Peter 140).
Types of colonization
Settler colonies: An example of this is the thirteen states of the United States where people moved from their mother country and displaced the indigenous population to their permanent home.
Dependencies: this is where the colonizers move to another country as administrators over the native population. They usually control the population by use of force and threats. Example of this case is the British Raj and the Japan colonial empire.
Plantation: this is the case where the white colonies imported black slaves who later outnumbered them leading to minority rule in the territory. Examples include Jamaica and Dominguez.
Evaluation of colonization
The process of colonization is taking other peoples’ territory without their consent which makes this subject highly emotive. The people who support colonization argue that it helps in development of the colonized countries and its institutions.
They give example of country like Singapore United States of America and Canada that developed through colonization. Other theory like dependency theories argues that when a country is colonized there is net transfer of wealth from the colonized territory to the colonizer.
Critic’s are referring to the current abuses of economic and political powers as neo-colonization and consider them as continuous domination and exploitation by the former colonial powers.
Social class stratification
This is the study of how different groups in the society relate to each other. A certain group may posses and enjoys more economic resources than the other group; it may also have high self esteem or have the authority over the other group.
In the society there are the poor and the rich, there are family of leaders and others of commoners. The study of class stratification is first interested in understanding how these inequalities develop in the first place, how they have changed over time and their impacts in the social life (Paul 29).
In the society, there are different ways in which groups are stratified. In some societies they are based on gender. The inequalities between men and women may be found on the differences in the work they do, the opportunities which are open for them, and the chances of becoming a powerful leader.
It is also common to find stratification which operates between different races or ethnic groups; in this case some ethnic groups may enslave the other group and deny the other group economic and social privileges.
It is not only social classes that fall and rise relative to another but also the individual members in the social groups. The problem of employing this concept in sociology is that it does not capture the idea of individual movement between the groups.
Social inequalities
This refers to the categories of persons such as gender, social class, race and ethnicity, and how they are positioned in relation to access to various social goods. These include labor market, sources of income, education, and representation in the political arena.
The successive forms of social inequalities are fashioned by a variety of structural factors like geographical location, citizenship. These factors are determined by social cultural discourses.
A social inequality exists because of inadequate wealth in certain places which hinders these people from accessing goods, housing, and health care. The access to these facilities depends on wealth that is why social inequality is closely linked to economic inequality (Peter 49).
The study of social inequalities is concerned with how these inequalities arise, the changes and how these inequalities affect the social life in the community.
In most cases the social inequality aspect results into social classes in the society such that certain group of people can access certain things which the other group cannot access. The study is also concerned on the movement and the factors that hinder one group from accessing some given resources.
International development
This is the development of greater quality of life to individuals. It includes the issues of governance, gender equality, infrastructure framework, economics and health care. The international development institution aims at reducing the poverty levels and improving the living conditions of the world population.
International development is concerned in long-term solutions to problems affecting developing countries. The policies in international development are aimed at developing sustainable solutions to the problems faced by the third world countries (Peter 115).
The international development frame work has developed several institutions such as African development bank; these institutions are meant to avail funds to development projects for developing countries. These funds may be in form of loans and aid. The institutions are also responsible for analyzing the development needs in these countries.
The international development aims at raising the living standards of people in these developing countries. This is through the provision of social amenities such as health care and road infrastructure. This framework comes up with a program to provide universal health care to all citizens. This program helps the local communities to build hospitals and in provision of free medical supplies.
The other aim of international development is to deal with issues of governance and democracy. The framework is set to help the developing countries come up with a good political system which gives the people their democratic rights.
This is meant to give the people the power to make decisions that affects their lives. The result of good governance is good quality of life to the citizens of these countries. The international development concept is aimed at up lifting the living standards of the world population by giving attention to the poor nations in the world.
This is done by debt waiver and increasing the amount of aid to these countries. International development has helped in the growth and development of economies in some countries.
These are countries which had good governance and were able to put good economic strategies in place. This has led to countries referred to as emergence economies. The living standards of people in these economies have improved drastically and the GDP of these countries has risen considerably.
Works Cited
Paul, F. Pathologies of power: health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. California: University of California Press, 2008
Peter, S. Social class and stratification. London: Rout ledge, 1990