StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Social and political in the 19th century - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Karl Marx, Charles Darwin and Changing Gender Relations Instructor name Date Near the turn of the 20th century, social scientists became heavily influenced by scientific discoveries and new realizations regarding the behavior of human societies…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.4% of users find it useful
Social and political in the 19th century
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Social and political in the 19th century"

Download file to see previous pages

As a result of his care, though, his discoveries were well-founded and difficult to disprove especially as others were also making similar discoveries at the time. Another great thinker that had a significant impact on cultural attitudes and beliefs was Karl Marx. Marx focused his attention on the ways in which different societies worked, paying particular attention to how conflict between the classes helped to shape the way the society was organized. His predictions and writings were so influential that they have helped to found entire governmental systems.

The new ideas these two men introduced to the world had an impact not only on how we understand the world around us, but also how we understand one another including changing common concepts of gender relations. It was the mid-1800’s when Charles Darwin took his famous trip to the Galapagos and witnessed tangible evidence for his theory regarding the origin of all species. The 13 islands of the Galapagos chain are relatively close to each other geographically but are vastly different environmentally.

Some of the islands offer desert-like conditions, others more tropical, some sandy, some rocky. Attempting to catalog the various species he found, Darwin realized many of them had originated as one species, but had evolved adaptations needed for survival according to the different conditions on the different islands. He hypothesized adaptations to new environments would take place over long periods of time, millions of years, through the process of natural selection. Natural selection works when an animal is born with a specialized new trait that helps it survive in its environment.

This animal thrives and produces offspring that carry the same inherited trait so they live longer and have more babies. Eventually the new type ‘wins out’ over the old and a new species is started. It didn't take long for these concepts to be applied to human development. Darwinian anthropology suggests that behavior is shaped by the needs and expectations of the social environment and is also based on best fitness to survive. Therefore, “the way to look for adaptations is not to try to find ancient mental mechanisms but to look at current behavior in relation to local environmental conditions” (Cartwright).

Instead of inborn traits and physical attributes, Darwinian anthropology suggests people strive to adapt their behavior based upon new learning and new skills to cope with their social environment. This is proven to some extent in the case of immigrants. Although first generation immigrants usually struggle to incorporate into their new society, successive generations develop the adaptive tools necessary to survive with greater success within the same environment. Under the umbrella of Darwinian anthropology, “culture should be viewed a part of a fitness maximization program.

Humans are flexible opportunists and so optimality models can be used” to predict behavior (Cartwright). These types of realizations led to a new consideration regarding the supposed helplessness and presumed handicaps of women during this age. People began questioning whether the problems were culturally rather than biologically ingrained. This line of

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Social and political in the 19th century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1423345-social-and-political-in-the
(Social and Political in the 19th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1423345-social-and-political-in-the.
“Social and Political in the 19th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/environmental-studies/1423345-social-and-political-in-the.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Social and political in the 19th century

16th Century U.K. Epidemics and its Impact on the British

This paper discusses the impact of epidemics upon the British people in the 16th century (1500-1600) with reference to three common diseases.... he second part is on England before and during the 16th century to show why it became prone to epidemics… The third part is on epidemics of malaria, influenza, and the plague in 16th century England and its effects on the English people and their history.... n epidemic is an outbreak of a contagious disease that affects an unusually large proportion of people or involves an extensive geographical area This paper discusses the impact of epidemics upon the British people in the 16th century (1500-1600) with reference to three common diseases....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Iranian Carpet Industry

And consequently, any turmoil (be it social, economic, political or other wise) will also affect the carpet industry of Iran (thus, affecting its entire economy).... In 1985, with political difficulties at home, Iran had only a 16% share, with India taking the lead....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Assessment of the State of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Eastern Europe

The end of Communism unleashed a brief springtime of ethnicity in Eastern Europe, and a tentative ethnic, cultural, and political revival followed the collapse of Soviet power.... hellip; Spared the larger devastation of the Black Death in the 14th century, and by curious default bypassing any substantial cultural rebirth in the 15th century Renaissance or the Reformation in the 16th century, and then rediscovered, so to speak, in all its quaintness by the rest of Europe in the 18th century Enlightenment, the Eastern European population was ruthlessly repressed through forty years of isolation under the Iron Curtain as the cultural and linguistic currents that had shaped the region largely stagnated....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Development of London in the Roman Period

Londinium attained its peak in the second century, replacing Colchester which at that time was the Capital city.... Open-minded change as well as the fall from the 3rd century and beyond, equally, generated a slow-moving turn down.... Towards the edge of the third century, the Londinium was trapped on numerous occasions by Saxon bandits.... The Roman Empire began to sink in the 5th century, and by 410 AD the Roman occupation of Britain came to a dead end, subsequently, the roman city declined very fast and by the end of the century the city was almost empty....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Islamic Ceramics Traditions

slamic ceramics and pottery have been traced to the 8th century, developing in key Middle Eastern civilization centers such as Iraq, Persia, and Syria.... However, by the late 8th and the early 9th century, glazing became a common practice and there was a significant increase in artistic competencies which included the introduction of lusterware production.... This level of interaction would only be augmented once more in the 15th century peaking during the Tang dynasty (Meri & Bacharach, 2005; Fehervari, 2000)....
6 Pages (1500 words) Report

Brazil, Russia, India and China as the Key New Players in the Global Economy

Despite the BRIC countries are not a political alliance as the European Union or formal trading association as ASEAN, their cooperation and combined actions are directed toward improving the political cooperation to confront the increasing influence of the United States in the major trade accords....
8 Pages (2000 words) Coursework

Tributary States

olitical revolutions are transformative processes that bring changes in the social, economic, and political atmospheres of a nation.... During the 18th century, there was a rapid marriage between man and machines.... The tributary system refers to a political, social, and economic relationship between a subordinate state and a superior state.... The paper "Tributary States" discusses tributary states as political organizations or communities that were submissive to more powerful political communities....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Catalan Language

This work "Catalan Language" describes the history of Catalan Language and its development.... The author takes into account the aspects of this language problem transformation in enhancing the theoretical and questionnaire indications relating to the linguistic mobility of many different individuals in the linguistic markets....
9 Pages (2250 words) Research Proposal
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us