RS 1000

1
RS 1000

• Class Business
• Exam 1

• The Case of Burundi
• Division of Labor
• Solidarity
• Mechanical Solidarity
• Organic Solidarity
• Attribution Theory

1
2
The Context and Content of Social Interaction
Social Interactions Everyday interactions in whic
h people communicate through language and
symbolic gesture to affect one anothers behavior
and thinking
Context The larger historical circumstances t
hat bring people together
Content The cultural frameworks that guide be
havior, dialogue, and interpretations of events
2
3
Division of Labor

• Work that is broken down into specialized tasks,
  with each task being performed by a different set
  of persons
  
• a. population size and density
• b. increased demand for resources
• c. efficient methods for producing goods and
  services adopted (technology, concentration of
  labor and capital)
  
• European colonists were seeking natural
  resources lower cost or free labor (slaves) in
  Africa.

3
4
Solidarity The ties that bind people to one
another

• Mechanical solidarity-social order and cohesion
  based on a common conscience or uniform thinking
  and behavior.
  
• Organic solidarity-social order based on
  interdependence and cooperation among people
  performing a wide range of diverse and
  specialized tasks. Specialization and
  interdependence mean that every person
  contributes a small part in creating a product or
  meeting a social need and that people are more
  interdependent on others for their survival.

4
5
Attribution Theory

• People assign a cause to a behavior in an effort
  to make sense of it.
  
• Dispositional traits Personal or group traits,
  such as motivation level, mood, and inherent
  ability.
  
• Situational factors Forces outside an
  individuals control, such as environmental
  conditions or bad luck.

5
6
Contemporary Burundi

• Geography-A Maryland-sized, mountainous,
  landlocked country in Africas Great Rift Valley,
  nestled between Tanzania and Zaire
  
• Population-five or six million (all statistics
  are today little more than informed guesses)
  
• Hutu 85
• Tutsi 14
• Twa 1
• Economy-desperately poor and declining, based on
  subsistence farming, with coffee the principal
  export, and a primitive physical infrastructure
  

6
7
Contemporary Social Context In Burundi

• Ruled by the
• Tutsi Army
• A key instrument of power is weapons
• A key instrument of government control is
  influence over limited media and communications
  facilities.
  

7
8
Historical Context in Burundi

• Pre-Colonial Period
• Kingdom more or less within present boundaries
• What about Congo boundaries?
• No evidence of large-scale ethnic killings during
  the pre-colonial period

• Colonial Period
• Berlin West Africa Conference (1885)
• Colonized first by Germany at the end of the
  nineteenth century
  
• Colonized by Belgium
• Tutsis privileged over Hutus by colonizers

8
9
Historical Context in Burundi

• 1962 Burundi Rwanda Independence from Belgium
• Burundi minority (14 Tutsi) control country
• 1965 Cycle of coups in Burundi began
• 1972 Genocide in Burundi of Hutus by Tutsis.

• 1988 President of Burundi began putting in place
  plan for the first democratic elections.
  
• 1993 Elections held and a Hutu (85 of the
  population is Hutu) won.
  
• 1993 New President was killed.

9
10
Historical Context in Burundi

• 1994 the plane that the Hutu Presidents of
  Burundi and Rwanda were on was shot down by a
  rocket and they were both killed.
  
• Genocide followed in Rwanda.
• Sporadic violence began in Burundi and
  continued.
  

• Catholic Church brokered a settlement and a new
  Hutu President was named with many Tutsi holding
  high offices in government.

10
11
Present Day Burundi

• Stability appears to be within reach after years
  of bloody conflict.
  
• The government and the last active rebel group
  agreed a ceasefire in September 2006

• President Pierre Nkurunziza (Former Hutu Rebel
  Leader)
  
• He was the sole candidate in the August 2005 vote
  in the National Assembly and the Senate after his
  Force for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) won
  parliamentary elections in June.

11
12
The Social Construction of Reality in Burundi

• Through 35 years of independence, Burundi Tutsis
  have pointed to Rwanda to say see, thats what
  will happen to us if the Hutus ever get power.
  With equal force, Rwandan Hutus point to Burundi
  and say see, thats what the Tutsis will do to
  us if they ever regain power here.

12