The History of Relationship between the Women and the Unions Research Paper

The History of Relationship between the Women and the Unions - Research Paper Example Historical researchers indicate that the U.S has always witnessed the tumultuous relationship between women and unions. Kessler –Harris termed the unions to be ‘agents of social closure.’ Studies by Kessler – Harris show that the unions were indifferent towards working women. Kessler – Harris says that unionists considered this available ‘nimble and cheap’ women labor as competition. Women were considered as a weak link in the labor movement as they were a part of unskilled workers and were looked upon. Unionist’s considered women a threat as they thought that the women would not be able to represent men in the union. A study by Brenner and Rams suggests that wages and graduation at work were the two aspects which made the unions exclude the women from being a part of it. As said earlier women were a part of unskilled labor and worked at a very low rate as compared to the men. So including the women into the unions meant the decli ne in the wages as well as degradation of the work which threatened the economic position of the working men. The historical, as well as the sociological literature, suggests that the relationship between the women and the unions was particularly strained because of the dual nature of the unions: commitment to small-scale bread-and-butter gains on one hand and working women own reliance on their status as different on the other. As per the studies of Kessler – Harries, women presented themselves as a â€Å"weaker† sex to obtain protective laws for short hours, better pay and better working conditions. It was particularly after World War I that the trade unions started believing that for their own economic gains they need to create â€Å"unified† front which meant women were in direct competition with the men for jobs. But however, they were conveniently excluded from the union memberships. But this did not stop women from unionizing. Women unionized in the femal e dominant trades like garment but again did not hold any position of leadership.

Theories in Sociology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theories in Sociology - Essay Example According to Herbert Spencer, in this world only those can continue to exist, who are the finest and frail creatures have no right for existence. He believes in the theory of survival of the fittest. Spenser has presented a social evolution theory that can be stated as society undergoes transformation and this transformation is for the betterment of society. This transformation will go on until the society creates a hindrance before it. Emile Durkheim presented the theory of collective conscience that states that the society exists in a collective form because of the collective thoughts, principles and objectives of its contributors. According to Durkheim, society is interdependent on its various components for its working similar to a machine, which has inter-reliant parts for successful running. According to Max Weber, a society is composed of diverse people who have varied objectives in their lives and it is only because of these varied objectives that society has many different aspects. The performances of people depend on their varied objectives. Weber identifies rational and irrational attitudes of people. Rational attitude is reasonable and sensible for the society while irrational attitude has no objective at its root and is insensible and unreasonable. According to Karl Marx, society is composed of two kinds of classes, which are working class and aristocratic class. Working class depends on aristocrats and lacks all kinds of possessions while aristocratic class possesses enough resources. It is only because of the difference of possession between these classes that creates social discrimination. Marx gives magnitude to authority and resourcefulness that form the aristocratic class. Sociology emerged as a discipline in the 18th century because of the works of Auguste Comte, Max Weber, Karl Marx and Herbert Spenser as they are believed to be the initiators of