Lesson 21: Perspectives on the Economy


Attention

 

Manufactured Demand - The Story of Bottled Water


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Apply the Sociological Perspectives to specific local and regional economic policy

Teaching

Economics takes on a personal sense when we participate in the marketplace as buyers (and as producers in our world).

From this vantage point we can apply the 4 different perspectives of Sociology to our own experiences in our own economics.

Functional Perspective

  • Consider the ROLE you play in the economy both as a consumer and a producer
  • How are our expectations both met and frustrated by the facts of our economy?

Conflict Perspective

  • How does our economic structures maintain inequality?
  • How are we told what we need and how to get it so that we are "OK"?

Post Modern Perspective

  • Consumerism is a huge part of our modern perspective on our economy...we measure our personal economies through our ability to buy what we want to buy.
  • How has technology changed this perspective? (Ebay, Amazon, iTunes)

Interactionist Perspective

  • Our own personal experiences, values, judgements, etc.
  • How have changes in larger economic structures impacted us on a day-to-day basis?

Assessment

Possible Class Discussion

Review the video in the lesson and the different perspectives. First post about your response to the video and the manufactured demand for bottled water...then consider other aspects of your personal economy that may be "manufactured" in the same way.

In addition, post comments about your own thoughts on any of the questions that I pose in the teaching section related to the different Sociological perspectives we can have on our own personal economies.