LECTURE NOTES

For Geoscience Students

LECTURE 3
Introduction to Sociology and Ethics
in Petroleum Exploration and
Production.

Okullo Joseph.

Makerere University

Department of Geology and Petroleum Studies, P.O Box 7062, Kampala (U).

September 2021

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 SOCIAL THEORIES AND SOCIAL CONCEPTS

1- SOCIAL THEORIES

[A] Theory of Social Constructionism

The theory was introduced by :Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, 1966. The theory
focuses on the description of “institutions and actions” and not on analyzing “cause and effect”.
Social constructionism focusses on the way individuals and groups create their perceived
reality. Socially constructed reality is seen as an on-going dynamic process; reality is re-
produced by people acting on their interpretations of what they perceive to be the world
external to them.

Berger and Luckmann argue that; social construction describes both subjective and
objective reality i.e., no reality exists outside what is produced and reproduced in social
interactions.

Example of social constructionist thought:

Religion seen as a socially constructed concept, the basis for which is rooted in either our
psyche (Freud) or man's need to see some purpose in life or worship a higher presence.

[B] Theory of Integration

George Ritzer's Integration Model

This model is of particular use in understanding society because it uses two axes:
(1) ranging from objective (society) to subjective (culture and cultural interpretation);
(2) ranging from the macro-level (norms) to the micro-level (individual level beliefs).
The integration approach is particularly useful for explaining social phenomenon because it
shows how the different components of social life work together to influence society and
behavior. Four highly interdependent elements in his sociological model:
a) A macro-objective component (e.g., society, law, and bureaucracy),
b) A micro-objective component (e.g., patterns of behavior and human interaction),
c) A macro-subjective component (e.g., culture, norms, and values), and
d) A micro-subjective component (e.g., perceptions, beliefs).

George Ritzer's Integration Model depicts the different influences on the decision. For
instance, the model depicts that cultural norms can influence individual behavior. The model
also shows that individual level values, beliefs, and behaviors influence macro-level culture.

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[C] Modern Theories
The theory focuses on;
• Promotion of industrialization and transformation of rural area into modern developed
area
• Projects to be implemented by expatriate
• Use of modern technology

Limitations:
• Left out peoples participation.

[D] Empowerment Theory

The theory looks at;
• Giving people power to take decision concerning their development.
• Community to handle their affairs (social license)
• Community and non-community members are equal
• Community participation is a necessity and not a privilege and only way of
development
• Participation leads to ownership and sustainability of the program

[E] Post Modern Perspective

In post modern perspective, the focus is on;

• Industrialization, consumerism and global communications
• Societies are characterized by information explosion, the rise of consumer society and
the emergency of global village, in which people around communicate with each other
by electronic media.
• Social life is not an objective reality waiting for us to discover how it works but rather,
it is how we think about it.
• Distinguish between worlds of high and low countries

2- SOCIAL CONCEPTS

Social concepts are ideas expressed through certain words, which are understood to have a
particular meaning which defines the underlying reality. The vocabulary of sociology is called
sociology concept e.g. society, culture ethnicity, social interaction, socialization, social
structure, social stratification, civilization, roles, norms, values, institutions, group community,
function, dysfunction etc..
All sciences have a vocabulary which combines words invented for their own use or other
words which are used generally in the society though the latter may have a special meaning
for scientist e.g. use of brand names in medicine than their real scientific names.

Society
As we had seen in the previous chapters, the simplest definition of society is; a group of people
who share a defined territory and a culture. It is also the social structure and interactions of
that group of people. Social structure is the relatively enduring patterns of behavior and
relationships within a society.
Thus, a society is not only the group of people and their culture, but the relationships between
the people and the institutions within that group.

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Distinction between society and culture
Culture refers to the norms, values, beliefs, behaviors, and meanings given to symbols in a
society. Culture is distinct from society in that it adds meanings to relationships.
All human societies have a culture and culture can only exist where there is a society.
Sociologists distinguish between society and culture despite their close interconnectedness
primarily for analytical purposes. It allows sociologists to think about societal development
independent of culture and cultural even though societal change and development are
contingent upon culture.

Types or Categories of Societies

Sociologists classify societies into various categories depending on certain criteria. One such
criterion is level of economic and technological development attained by countries. Thus, the
countries of the world are classified as First World, Second World, and Third World.
First World Countries are those which are highly industrially advanced and economically rich,
such as the USA, Japan, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, and Canada and so on. The Second
World Countries are also industrially advanced but not as much as the first category. The
Third World societies are thus which are least developed, or in the process of developing.
Some writers add a fourth category, namely, Fourth World countries. These countries may be
regarded as the "poorest of the poor" (Giddens, 1996).

Another important criterion for classifying societies may be that which takes into account
temporal succession and the major source of economic organization (Lensiki and Lensiki,
1995). Society can be classified based on subsistence systems of societies and their
political structures.
It is noted that Human groups begun as hunter-gatherers, move toward pastoralism and/or
horticulturalist, develop toward an agrarian society, and ultimately end up undergoing a period
of industrialization (with the potential for developing a service industry following
industrialization)
Not all societies pass through every stage. Some societies have stopped at the pastoral or
horticultural stage (e.g., Bedouin nomads), though these may be temporary pauses due to
economic niches that will likely disappear over time. Some societies may also jump stages as
a result of the introduction of technology from other societies.

Therefore, when societies modernize they transform from one form to another. The simplest
type of society that is in existence today and that may be regarded the oldest is that whose
economic organization is based on hunting and gathering. They are called hunting and
gathering societies. This society depends on hunting and gathering for its survival. The
second types are referred to as pastoral and horticultural societies. Pastoral societies are
those whose livelihood is based on pasturing of animals, such as cattle, camels, sheep and
goats. Horticultural societies are those whose economy is based on cultivating plants by the
use of simple tools, such as digging sticks, hoes, axes, etc.

The third types are agricultural societies. This society, which still is dominant in most parts
of the world, is based on large-scale agriculture, which largely depends on ploughs using
animal labor. The Industrial Revolution which began in Great Britain during 18th century, gave
rise to the emergence of a fourth type of society called the Industrial Society. An industrial
society is one in which goods are produced by machines powered by fuels instead of by animal
and human energy (Ibid.). Sociologists also have come up with a fifth emerging type of society
called post-industrial society. This is a society based on information, services and high
technology, rather than on raw materials and manufacturing.

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 Post-industrial societies are often marked by:
• An increase in the size of the service sector or jobs that perform services rather than
creating goods (industry)
• Either the outsourcing of or extensive use of mechanization in manufacturing
• An increase in the amount of information technology, often leading to an Information
Age
• Information, knowledge, and creativity are seen as the new raw materials of the
economy.

The highly industrialized which have now passed to the post-industrial level include the USA,
Canada, Japan, and Western Europe.

Types of society

Basic Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is organic and supra-organic: It is organic when we consider the fact that there is no
culture without human society. It is supra organic, because it is far beyond any individual
lifetime. Individuals come and go, but culture remains and persists.

2. Culture is overt and covert: It is generally divided into material and non-material cultures.
Material culture consists of any tangible human made objects such as tools, automobiles,
buildings, etc. Non-material culture consists of any non-physical aspects like language, belief,
ideas, knowledge, attitude, values, etc.

3. Culture is explicit and implicit: It is explicit when we consider those actions which can be
explained and described easily by those who perform them. It is implicit when we consider
those things we do, but are unable to explain them, yet we believe them to be so.

4. Culture is ideal and manifest (actual): Ideal culture involves the way people ought to behave
or what they ought to do. Manifest culture involves what people actually do.

5. Culture is stable and yet changing: Culture is stable when we consider what people hold
valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to maintain their norms and
values. However, when culture comes into contact with other cultures, it can change. However,
culture changes not only because of direct or indirect contact between cultures, but also
through innovation and adaptation to new circumstances.

6. Culture is shared and learned: Culture is the public property of a social group of people
(shared). Individuals get cultural knowledge of the group through socialization. However, we

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 should note that all things shared among people might not be cultural, as there are many
biological attributes which people share among themselves (Kottak, 2002).

7. Culture is symbolic: It is based on the purposeful creation and usage of symbols; it is exclusive
to humans. Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. Symbolic thought
is the human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate
that meaning Symbols are the central components of culture. Symbols refer to anything to
which people attach meaning and which they use to communicate with others. More
specifically, symbols are words, objects, gestures, sounds or images that represent something
else rather than themselves. Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture.
It is the human ability to give a thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate
that meaning. There is no obvious natural or necessary connection between a symbol and
what it symbolizes (Henslin and Nelson, 1995; Macionis, 1997).

Culture thus works in the symbolic domain emphasizing meaning, rather than the
technical/practical rational side of human behavior. All actions have symbolic content as well
as being action in and of themselves. Things, actions, behaviors, etc, always stand for
something else than merely, the thing itself.

Implications of society Development on individuals and society

• Increase is surplus and standard of living; one additional outcome of surplus that is
included in the diagram is inequality.
• Bureaucracy in the society (Max Weber); society driven by rational ideas into culture;
rationalization of resources management
• Less self-realization or self-actualization brought about by meaningful work due to
capitalism (Marx).
• Specialization which brings Less Solidarity, solidarity maintained through organic
structure(Durkheim )
• How does globalization fit into existing views of societal development and social
change? As societies continue to alter, modify, and transform with changing times,
they offer new objects of study for sociologists in which prevailing theories can be
improved.

Social Culture
Basic assumptions that;
• the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal
integration,
• The group has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught
to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those
problems.

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Components of culture:
• Ideology: Ideas and values shared by human beings e.g. scientific, religion, legends
etc.
• Technology: All material items that members of society have and use as well as non-
material things such as skills
• Organization: Means by which members of society coordinate and interact. Where two
or more coordinate to achieve a specific task.
• Culture relativism: Culture is relative depending on the society. What is considered
acceptable as moral in one culture may not be moral in another culture. Culture differ
from one another because of their efforts to meet the needs of their particular people.
• Culture lag: The gap between the different parts /systems of culture to change

Functions of culture:
a) Culture provides a sense of identity to members and increases their commitment to
the community, society and organization
b) Culture provides orientation and directs behavior towards certain lines of action and
away from others
c) Culture reinforces the values of the community, society and organization; provides
collective representations to inspire sentiments of unity and mutual support.
d) Culture serves as a control mechanism for shaping behavior and maintains order as
the result of shared understandings and meanings of things.
e) Culture can also function to create and sustain social inequalities. According to Collins,
cultural notions of race, class, gender, and sexualities may be used to explain and
justify societal level patterns of oppression and privilege by allowing social beings to
believe existing inequalities simply reflect the way things have always been.
f) As a result, efforts for social justice and equality must often overcome cultural patterns
that lead dominants and subordinates to blindly accept existing social orders as natural
or inevitable.
Following Collins, sociologists thus explore whether or not the shared understandings
and meanings maintained via cultural practice resist and / or reproduce the ongoing
subordination of minority groups.

Culture Variability and Explanations

Cultural variability refers to the diversity of cultures across societies and places. As there are
different societies, there are different cultures. The diversity of human culture is remarkable.
Values and norms of behavior vary widely from culture to culture often contrasting in radical
ways (Broom and Sleznki, 1973). For example, Jews do not eat pork, while Hindus eat pork
but avoid beef. Cultural diversity or variability can be both between societies and within
societies. If we take the two societies, Ethiopia and India, there are great, sharp cultural
diversities between the two societies. On the other hand, within both societies, there is
remarkable cultural variability. Cultural variability between societies may result in divergent

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health and disease conditions. For example, variations in nutritional habits are closely linked
to the types of diseases. The prevalence of tapeworm among raw-meat eating people may be
a case in point.

We use the concept of subculture to denote the variability of culture within a certain society.
Sub culture is a distinctive culture that is shared by a group within a society (Stockard, 1997).
We call it sub culture, because groups (with their sub cultures) exist within and as a smaller
part of the main, dominant culture. Examples of subculture could be the distinctive culture of
university students, street children and prostitutes in Addis Ababa, the culture of medical
professionals, etc.
Why cultures vary from society to society? Sociologists, anthropologists, cultural geographers
and other social scientists have studied the causes for cultural variations among (between)
societies. Various arguments have been provided the variation, including geographical factors,
racial determination, demographic factors, span of interest and mere historic chances. Those
who argued for racial determination believe that cultural variation is genetically determined.
Geographic factors include: climate, altitude, and so forth. Included in demographic factors are
changes in population structure, population increase, etc., whereas by span of interest is meant
cultures vary as people's interest in life also varies. Cultural variation is due to mere historical
chances; a particular group of people may develop a culture as it is exposed to certain historical
circumstances and opportunities.

However, no one explanation is sufficient by itself; anthropologists now reject particular

deterministic explanation such as those based on race; rather cultural variations are accounted
for by more holistic explanations.

Culture and Change

The belief that cultures is symbolically coded and can thus be taught from one person to
another means that cultures, although bounded, can change. Cultures are both predisposed
to change and resistant to it.
Thus, culture is not static. It is vulnerable to change, sometimes at a slow pace that is less
visible and sometimes at a fast pace that is much more observable.
For example, in the advent of globalization in recent years, there is some evidence that India
has been moving towards greater consumption of beef and beef products. Only time will tell
whether or not there will be a dramatic shift in Asian Indian culture with regard to its perception
and treatment of cows due to globalization.

Causes of Cultural change.

Among others, it includes;
a) the environment,
b) inventions, and
c) contact with other cultures.
For example, the end of the last ice age helped lead to the invention of agriculture
• Effects of cultural changes?

Question:
• Discuss the effects of societal cultural changes.

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Socio-cultural considerations in Petroleum Exploitation
• Taking and Understanding of People’s Norms and Values
• Regard for Man’s basic means of Livelihood such as land and environment.
• Provision of adequate and relevant Mechanism for Social Control and Management
• Provision for displaced persons in safer and appropriate areas.
• Regard for historical places of importance
• community participation-local content

Benefits of Community Participation

Through community participation, some benefit will be both to the local people and the oil firms.
a) Benefit to the oil firms includes:
• appropriate and effective incorporate on of traditional,
• indigenous experience and
• greater understanding of local conditions.
b) Benefit to the local population:
• Individuals stand to be empowered through increased knowledge, awareness
and the development of new skills through participation.
• Besides, there will be increased sense of responsibility and control over oil
activities going on in their area.

Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism and Culture Shock

Ethnocentrism

We often tend to judge other cultures by comparison with our own. It is not logically possible
and proper to underestimate or overestimate or judge other cultures on the basis of one's
cultural standard.
Ethnocentrism, in general, is an attitude of taking one's own culture and ways of life as the
best and the center of all and on the other hand, regarding other ethnic groups and cultures as
inferior, bad, full of errors, etc.
It is the tendency to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of
people raised in other cultures. It is a cultural universal. People everywhere think that familiar
explanations, opinion, and customs as true, right, proper and moral. They regard different
behavior as strange or savage (Macionis, 1997; Hensllin and Nelson, 1995).

Thus,
Ethnocentrism is the tendency for people to think of their groups as the best, centering
attention to their ethnic or racial group. Ethnocentrism is the tendency to look at the world
primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. Many claim that ethnocentrism occurs in
every society; ironically, ethnocentrism may be something that all cultures have in common.
William Graham Sumner, a social evolutionist and professor of Political and Social Science
at Yale University. He defined it as, "The sentiment of cohesion, internal comradeship,
and devotion to the in-group, which carries with it a sense of superiority to any out-
group and readiness to defend the interests of the in-group against the out-group”

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 Ethnicity is a tribal or a racial group of people bound together by common culture or biological
ties.
The group attitude includes:
• Unique value of own group
• Solidarity, loyalty or cooperation within group
• Judges others with their own standards
• Ignorance of interest in other groups
• Hostility to other groups
• Discriminates others

Major Aspects of Ethnocentrism

a) Prejudice/preconception /prejudgment: Hostile feeling towards others
b) Attitude towards strangers: Strangers looked down upon and not trusted
c) Racism: Hatred towards a group of people distinguished by physical appearance i.e.
color of hair or Skin, Shape of hair or body build etc. compare with Xenophobia in South
Africa.

Functions of Ethnocentrism
• Promotes unity, solidarity and stability within group
DYSFUNCTIONS
• Results in national , tribal or religious conflict and suffering of the outer group

Cultural Relativism

Every society has its own culture, which is more or less unique. Every culture contains its own
unique pattern of behavior which may seem alien to people from other cultural backgrounds.
We cannot understand the practices and beliefs separately from the wider culture of which
they are part. A culture has to be studied in terms of its own meanings and values. Cultural
relativism describes a situation where there is an attitude of respect for cultural differences
rather than condemning other people's culture as uncivilized or backward (Stockard, 1997).

Respect for cultural differences involves:

• Appreciating cultural diversity;

• Accepting and respecting other cultures;

• Trying to understand every culture and its elements in terms of its own context and logic;
• Accepting that each body of custom has inherent dignity and meaning as the way of life of one
group which has worked out to its environment, to the biological needs of its members, and to
the group relationships;

• Knowing that a person's own culture is only one among many; and
• Recognizing that what is immoral, ethical, acceptable, etc, in one culture may not be so in
another culture.

Cultural relativism may be regarded as the opposite of ethnocentrism. However, there is some
problem with the argument that behavior in a particular culture should not be judged by the
standards of another. This is because in its extremeness, it argues that there is no superior,
international or universal morality.

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To sum up the issues of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism, the concepts involve difficult
choices, dilemmas and contradictions regarding cultural exchanges and relationships between
and within societies. The dilemmas and contradictions become clear when we see that the
traditional anthropological position maintains that every cultural beliefs and practice, including
for example the ones which are termed as “harmful traditional practices” in Ethiopia, are part
and parcel of the general cultural system of a society and therefore they should not be judged
and undermined by any outsider. On the other hand, the dilemma is taken to the extreme
cultural relativism appears to entail a fallacy, in that it implies that there are no universal cultural
or moral standard by which actions and beliefs have to be judged. Yet still, even cultural
anthropologists accept the idea that there are some cultural standards which are universally
found everywhere, expressed for example in the world’s major religions.

In any case there may be no ready made solutions to this dilemma; however, what we can at
present maintain is that cultural diversity has to be respected and yet international standards
of justice and human rights have to be taken into account.

Culture Shock

Culture shock is the psychological and social maladjustment at micro or macro level that is
experienced for the first time when people encounter new cultural elements such as new
things, new ideas, new concepts, seemingly strange beliefs and practices. No person is
protected form culture shock. However, individuals vary in their capacity to adapt and
overcome the influence of culture shock. Highly ethnocentric people are exposed widely to
culture shock. On the other hand, cultural relativists may find it easy to adapt to new situations
and overcome culture shock (Henslin and Nelson, 1995).

Cultural Alternatives and Specialties

There are many different options for doing the same thing. For example, care for a patient is a
universal aspect of cultures; but the way people care for patients varies. There are many
diverse ways of doing the same thing. This is called cultural alternative. In other words, cultural
alternatives refer to two or more forms of behavior in a particular society which are acceptable
in a given situation. These alternatives represent different reactions to the same situations or
different techniques to achieve the same end. Cultural alternatives are (also) the types of
choices that allow for differences in ideas, customs and lifestyles. Modern industrialized
societies offer far more cultural alternatives than had many societies of the past.

On the other hand, cultural specialties refer to the specific skills, training, knowledge, etc. which
is limited to a group or specific members of society. They are those elements of culture which
are shared by the members of certain social groups but which are not shared by the total
population. Cultural specialties cause behavioral differences among people as opposed to
cultural universals.

The Concepts of Culture Lag and Culture Lead

Culture is dynamic. When culture change occurs, the change is usually not evenly distributed
across material and non-material dimensions of culture. The rate of change is not balanced.
Material culture may change at a faster rate than non- material culture. The growth in science
and technology in western, industrialized societies for example, does not seem to be matched
by the necessary changes and appropriate adjustment of adaptive culture. That is non-material
culture changes slowly. This condition is termed as culture lag. Associated with the rapid
growth in material culture are usually crisis in the realm of amorality, social and cultural

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dilemmas, which in turn result in various social pathologies such as extreme form of
individualism, alienation, the state of normlessness, suicide, etc (Team of Experts, 2000).

On the other hand, in some less developed societies, the change of non-material culture may
outpace the material culture. When this occurs, it is called culture lead. Due to the effect of
globalization and rapid assimilation processes, people in the Third World are accustomed to
the ideology and cultures of the Western World, though their material culture is not changing
keeping pace with non- material culture.

Global Culture and Cultural Imperialism

Before closing this chapter, it may be important to note few things on the issues of cultural
exchange in today’s globalizing world. One of the main aspects of globalization is that a
relatively uniform world culture is taking shape today in the world. The global culture may entail
all speaking the some language, share the same values and norms, and sustain common und
of knowledge as of residents of the same community (Kottak 2002). Global culture may also
be associated with cultural imperialism, the unequal cultural exchange in the global system
whereby western material and non-material cultures have come to occupy a dominating and
imposing roles over the indigenous cultures of the Third World peoples.

The global culture is often promoted by:

- The global spread of capitalism

- Consumerism and the consumer culture

- The growth of transnational media, particularly electronic mass media such as BBC,
CNN, etc.

The transnational media have often promoted the aggressive promotion that its value system
is superior and preferable to those of other non–western cultures

Summary
The concepts of society and culture are central to sociology. A society is an autonomous
grouping of people who inhabit a common territory, have a common culture (shared set of
values, beliefs, customs and so forth) and are linked to one another through routinized social
interactions and interdependent statuses and roles. Societies may be conceptualized as
having different levels: at global, continental, regional, nation-state and ethic group levels.
Depending on various criteria, societies may be classified in to various categories, such as
First World, Second World, Third World and Fourth World Societies (based on economic
development and overall socio-economic status); and hunting and gathering, pastoral,
agrarian, industrial and post industrial societies (based on temporal succession and major
means of livelihood).

The term "culture" refers to the whole ways of life of the members of a society. It includes what
they dress; their marriage customs and family life; art and patterns of work; religious
ceremonies; leisure pursuits and so forth. Culture has various dimensions such as material
and non-material, implicit and explicit, organic and supra organic, ideal and actual, dynamic
and static and overt and covert. The essential elements of culture include symbols, language,
values and norms. Other important aspects of culture such as culture variability; ethno-
centrism, cultural relativism and culture shock; cultural universals, alternatives and specialties;
and culture lag and lead are discussed.

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Assignment 1
Discuss the social impacts in rural communities and oil boomtowns affected by rapid
the natural resource development in Uganda.
(write 2pages, with 15 points well explained including the intros)

Submission is 2 weeks from today.

Review Questions
1. Define the term "society".

2. "In a broader perspective, the people of the planet earth maybe regarded as a
society." Explain.
3. Mention the criteria for classifying societies into different categories. Where would you
put Ethiopia as a society according to both criteria? Why?

4. Define the term "culture".

5. List and discuss the elements of culture.

6. Discuss the main characteristics of culture.

7. Why do cultures vary between societies?

8. What are subcultures? How are sub-cultures created? Think of a certain heath service
rendering set up. Mentions some of the examples of sub-cultures in such set up

9. What are cultural universals? Why and how do cultural universals condition behavioral
similarities among persons of a similar society or social group?

10. Why and how does culture shock occur?

11. Discuss the examples of culture lead and culture lag in our contemporary Ethiopian
culture.

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