Upon reading the first chapter of this
text, I couldn't help but to analyze the countries that were provided as
examples in a sociological perspective. Everything that occurs within these
countries/states seems to all be connected. Such as the revolutions that occurred
in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen. I am right now thinking of two specific sociological
theories which are the exchange theory and the conflict theory.
The
conflict theory is the belief that conflict will eventually happen and is
natural and is an important cause of social change (Basirico, 52). With this
being said these counties prove this theory because of the issues they faced,
such as the mass being young. Younger people tend to be more open to change
since they like to point out flaws in older systems such as the political
systems that are within these countries. The exchange theory explains social
behavior in terms of cost and reward. This theory can be seen I the populations
youth and their employment rate. They are either underemployed or not employed at
all which would cause tension since the majority of its citizens is under 30
and have a higher education than the people who have high paying jobs compared
to them. This would create factor on why the countries in this chapter decided
to create a revolution.
In
the Washington Post the Ukraine created riots because “Yanukovych refused to sign a long-planned trade agreement with the
European Union. Instead, he sought a closer relationship and loans from Russia.
That angered the Ukrainians who wanted a closer alignment with Europe and
accused Yanukovych of falling under Russia’s sway.” The reason why they
want to join the EU is because they want to make sure they can stay as a free country
which is what the union can provide compared to Russia. The fear that the
people of Ukraine have is that they will fall under the rule of Russia as it
did in World War 2. This follows the same pattern that the countries did in
terms of the exchange theory as described previously.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-ukraine-protesters-appear-to-be-preparing-for-battle/2014/01/20/904cdc72-81bd-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html?tid=up_next
Victor, I totally am on the same page with your last paragraph! The only way for the Ukraine to stay free is to be a part of the EU. What I am curious about is what was so appealing about Russia that made Yanukovych want to work with them? Is it a quest for dictatorship? Does he dislike the EU and does not want to be involved with them? It most likely boils down to the fact that he most likely wants the Ukraine to not be free so he can take over.
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