Societies: facts and challenges
Positive Normative analysis
Positive descriptive analysis Normative prescriptive analysis
- addresses factual questions - addresses questions that involve value judgements
- How is the reality? - How should things be?
- Ex. If we raise minimum wage, how would that - Ex. Is society better off with a higher minimum wage?
affect employment?
Correlation Causation
Correlation Causation
statistical association between variables (they covary) change in one variable causes a change in another variable
correlation does not imply causation ! → pitfalls:
- A third (confounding) variable may have an effect on both variables
o Ex. ice cream sales and sweating are correlated because hot temperatures affects both
variables separately
- Reverse causality
o Ex. poverty and low self-esteem are correlated: does poverty cause low self-esteem or
does low self-esteem cause poverty?
Implications for policy advice
Formulating policy recommendations requires:
1. Descriptive analysis: good understanding of society
2. Causal understanding: especially of complex causal webs
3. Normative position: conditional on value judgements which may be disagreed upon
→ Which society do we want?
Policy advice should be done with care
Lecture 1: Setting the scene – A conceptual framework
The multilevel structure of societies:
- Local society (community): ex. Antwerp
- Regional society: ex. Flanders
- National society (nation state): ex. Belgium
- Supranational society: ex. European Union
- Global society: the world
Members of a society
- A society consists of individuals (its members)
- Membership of a society (or citizenship) entails rights (Marschall – 1950)
o Civil rights: rights necessary for individual freedom
▪ Ex. freedom of speech, thought and faith, … (18th century)
o Political rights: right to participate in the exercise of political power
▪ Ex. universal suffrage (19th century)
1
, o Social rights: right to live the life of a civilised being according to the standards prevailing
in the society
▪ Ex. protection against poverty (20th century)
European Pillar of Social Rights
- Ratified in 2017 by EU member countries
- Contains 20 social rights in 3 categories:
o Social protection and inclusion
▪ Ex. healthcare, minimum income, long-term care, housing and assistance for the
homeless, unemployment benefits, childcare and support to children
o Equal opportunities and access to the labor market
▪ Ex. gender equality, education, training and life-long training, active support to
employment
o Fair working conditions
▪ Ex. wages, work-life balance, healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment and
data protection, social dialogue and involvement of workers
- Action plan: 2021
Three basic institutions of society
The members of a society are not isolated atoms + form basic (social) institutions
Institution Formality Profit Public/private
1. Family Informal Non-profit Private
2. Government Formal Non-profit Public
3. Firm Formal Profit private
1. The family
Why do humans form families?
- To create new members
- To care after these new members
- To provide mutual assistance and help
- To collaborate
- To pool resources
Organized informally
Cognitive Revolution (±70,000 years ago): Homo sapiens develops language → opens new
possibilities:
- Collaboration in larger groups
- Creation of an imagined reality
- Sharing of myths, beliefs, legends,…
- Development of culture and religions
- Exchange and trade
2
,Case pre-historic care: Romito 2 (earliest known care)
- Location: "Grotta del Romito" (Italy)
- Died ±11,000 years ago
- Male, 17–20 years old, 120 cm tall
- Suffered from dwarfism, compromised mobility, restricted forearm extension
- Could NOT meet normative demands of his community
- Received care at different stages of life → evidence of early social support
Significance: care is NOT modern → it's ancient human practice
Agricultural revolution (±10,000 years ago)
- Homo Sapiens develops farming and agriculture
- 5 consequences:
1. ↑ Food production per m²
2. ↑ Larger societies possible
3. Specialization: some do other things than hunting/gathering
4. Social hierarchies and inequality emerge (extreme ex. Slavery)
5. Writing systems develop
2. The government (the state)
- Larger societies require a more formal organisation
- Definition: some members of the society are given the power to rule over others
- Two essential functions:
1. Create and enforce laws
2. Collect and spend taxes
Case study 1: Codex of Hammurabi (±1776 BC, Babylonian legal code):
- inscribed on a 7.5-foot stone stele
- features 282 case laws governing daily life, including economic, family, and criminal law.
- Law #175: limits inheritance of slave status
- Law # 196: lex talionis (eye for an eye)
- Law #236: contract law; liability for negligence
Case study 2: taxes in Ancient Egypt:
- Genesis 47:24: "Give a fifth of the crop to Pharaoh. Four-fifths you may keep as seed for the
fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."
3
, The Great Enrichment: dramatic, sustained increase in living standards measured by GDP per
capita
Measuring economic growth:
- GDP is a metric of a society’s total economic output: measures the market value of all the
final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by country
- GDP per capita is obtained by dividing the GDP of a society by the total number of
inhabitants of that society
3. The firm
Origin: Industrial Revolution (±1800, UK, Belgium, ...) → Homo Sapiens invents steam engine
consequences:
1. Economies of scale: productivity ↑
2. Shift from putting-out system to factory system
3. Urbanization: migration to large cities (where firms are located)
4. Societies deeply transformed
The firm emerges:
- (Large) firms use production means (capital + labour) to produce goods
- Laborers paid by hour worked
- Conditions worsen: uncertain living conditions + ↑ inequality + ↑ poverty
The “social question” = widespread social problems from industrial capitalism
Commodification of human labour (Marxist notion):
- = transformation of things (goods, services, labour) into commodities sold on market
- 2 consequences after industrial revolution:
1. Individuals must sell their labour to avoid poverty
2. Individuals face labour market dependency
The fourth institution debate:
- Civil society (=voluntary associations, non-profit organizations, charities) can be argued to
be a fourth basic institution:
o Formal
o Non-profit
4
Positive Normative analysis
Positive descriptive analysis Normative prescriptive analysis
- addresses factual questions - addresses questions that involve value judgements
- How is the reality? - How should things be?
- Ex. If we raise minimum wage, how would that - Ex. Is society better off with a higher minimum wage?
affect employment?
Correlation Causation
Correlation Causation
statistical association between variables (they covary) change in one variable causes a change in another variable
correlation does not imply causation ! → pitfalls:
- A third (confounding) variable may have an effect on both variables
o Ex. ice cream sales and sweating are correlated because hot temperatures affects both
variables separately
- Reverse causality
o Ex. poverty and low self-esteem are correlated: does poverty cause low self-esteem or
does low self-esteem cause poverty?
Implications for policy advice
Formulating policy recommendations requires:
1. Descriptive analysis: good understanding of society
2. Causal understanding: especially of complex causal webs
3. Normative position: conditional on value judgements which may be disagreed upon
→ Which society do we want?
Policy advice should be done with care
Lecture 1: Setting the scene – A conceptual framework
The multilevel structure of societies:
- Local society (community): ex. Antwerp
- Regional society: ex. Flanders
- National society (nation state): ex. Belgium
- Supranational society: ex. European Union
- Global society: the world
Members of a society
- A society consists of individuals (its members)
- Membership of a society (or citizenship) entails rights (Marschall – 1950)
o Civil rights: rights necessary for individual freedom
▪ Ex. freedom of speech, thought and faith, … (18th century)
o Political rights: right to participate in the exercise of political power
▪ Ex. universal suffrage (19th century)
1
, o Social rights: right to live the life of a civilised being according to the standards prevailing
in the society
▪ Ex. protection against poverty (20th century)
European Pillar of Social Rights
- Ratified in 2017 by EU member countries
- Contains 20 social rights in 3 categories:
o Social protection and inclusion
▪ Ex. healthcare, minimum income, long-term care, housing and assistance for the
homeless, unemployment benefits, childcare and support to children
o Equal opportunities and access to the labor market
▪ Ex. gender equality, education, training and life-long training, active support to
employment
o Fair working conditions
▪ Ex. wages, work-life balance, healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment and
data protection, social dialogue and involvement of workers
- Action plan: 2021
Three basic institutions of society
The members of a society are not isolated atoms + form basic (social) institutions
Institution Formality Profit Public/private
1. Family Informal Non-profit Private
2. Government Formal Non-profit Public
3. Firm Formal Profit private
1. The family
Why do humans form families?
- To create new members
- To care after these new members
- To provide mutual assistance and help
- To collaborate
- To pool resources
Organized informally
Cognitive Revolution (±70,000 years ago): Homo sapiens develops language → opens new
possibilities:
- Collaboration in larger groups
- Creation of an imagined reality
- Sharing of myths, beliefs, legends,…
- Development of culture and religions
- Exchange and trade
2
,Case pre-historic care: Romito 2 (earliest known care)
- Location: "Grotta del Romito" (Italy)
- Died ±11,000 years ago
- Male, 17–20 years old, 120 cm tall
- Suffered from dwarfism, compromised mobility, restricted forearm extension
- Could NOT meet normative demands of his community
- Received care at different stages of life → evidence of early social support
Significance: care is NOT modern → it's ancient human practice
Agricultural revolution (±10,000 years ago)
- Homo Sapiens develops farming and agriculture
- 5 consequences:
1. ↑ Food production per m²
2. ↑ Larger societies possible
3. Specialization: some do other things than hunting/gathering
4. Social hierarchies and inequality emerge (extreme ex. Slavery)
5. Writing systems develop
2. The government (the state)
- Larger societies require a more formal organisation
- Definition: some members of the society are given the power to rule over others
- Two essential functions:
1. Create and enforce laws
2. Collect and spend taxes
Case study 1: Codex of Hammurabi (±1776 BC, Babylonian legal code):
- inscribed on a 7.5-foot stone stele
- features 282 case laws governing daily life, including economic, family, and criminal law.
- Law #175: limits inheritance of slave status
- Law # 196: lex talionis (eye for an eye)
- Law #236: contract law; liability for negligence
Case study 2: taxes in Ancient Egypt:
- Genesis 47:24: "Give a fifth of the crop to Pharaoh. Four-fifths you may keep as seed for the
fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."
3
, The Great Enrichment: dramatic, sustained increase in living standards measured by GDP per
capita
Measuring economic growth:
- GDP is a metric of a society’s total economic output: measures the market value of all the
final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by country
- GDP per capita is obtained by dividing the GDP of a society by the total number of
inhabitants of that society
3. The firm
Origin: Industrial Revolution (±1800, UK, Belgium, ...) → Homo Sapiens invents steam engine
consequences:
1. Economies of scale: productivity ↑
2. Shift from putting-out system to factory system
3. Urbanization: migration to large cities (where firms are located)
4. Societies deeply transformed
The firm emerges:
- (Large) firms use production means (capital + labour) to produce goods
- Laborers paid by hour worked
- Conditions worsen: uncertain living conditions + ↑ inequality + ↑ poverty
The “social question” = widespread social problems from industrial capitalism
Commodification of human labour (Marxist notion):
- = transformation of things (goods, services, labour) into commodities sold on market
- 2 consequences after industrial revolution:
1. Individuals must sell their labour to avoid poverty
2. Individuals face labour market dependency
The fourth institution debate:
- Civil society (=voluntary associations, non-profit organizations, charities) can be argued to
be a fourth basic institution:
o Formal
o Non-profit
4
