F

FAMILY. A group of individuals related to one another by blood ties, marriage or adoption. Members of families form an economic unit, the adult members of which are responsible for the upbringing of children. All societies involve some form of family, although the form the family takes is widely variable. In modern industrial societies the main family form is the nuclear family, although a variety of extended family relationships are also found.

FAMILY OF ORIENTATION. The family into which an individual is born.

FAMILY OF PROCREATION. The family we create through marriage.

FECUNDITY. The number of children which is biologically possible for a woman to produce.

FEE-FOR-SERVICE MEDICINE. The provision of medical services in return for a monetary fee.

FEMININITY. The characteristic behaviors expected of women in a given culture.

FEMINISM. Advocacy of the social equality of the sexes.

FERTILITY. The average number of liveborn children produced by women of childbearing age in a particular society.

FETISHISM. Obsessive attachment or sexual desire directed toward an object.

FIRST WORLD. A term now rarely used that refers to the group of nation-states that possess advanced industrial economies.

FORCES OF PRODUCTION. Marx's term to refer to the technology used to produce economic goods in a society.

FORDISM. The assembly line system of production pioneered by Henry Ford. It should be pointed out that not all industrial processes are based on the assembly line.

FUNCTIONS. The ways in which a socio-cultural trait contributes toward the maintenance or adaptation of the entire socio-cultural system.

FUNCTIONALISM. A theoretical perspective that focuses on the way various parts of the social system contribute to the continuity of society as well as the affect the various parts have on one another.

FUNDAMENTALISM. A commitment to, and a belief in, the literal meanings of scriptural texts.

FUTURISTS. Those who attempt to forecast the broad parameters of social life usually from the study of present day trends.

G

GANG. An informal group of individuals that engage in common activities, many of these activities may be outside the law.

GEMEINSCHAFT According to Tonnies, social organization based on close and personal ties and traditional norms and values.

GENDER. Socially defined behavior regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex.

GENETIC ENGINEERING. The genetic manipulation of organisms in an effort to produce desirable characteristics.

GENOCIDE. The systematic, planned annihilation of an ethnic, racial or political group.

GENTRIFICATION. The renovation of poor and working class urban neighborhoods and the displacement of the original residents.

GESELLSCHAFT. According to Tonnies, social organization based on loose personal ties, self interest, rationalization, and impersonality.

GHETTO A section of a city occupied predominantly by members of a single racial or ethnic group, usually because of social or economic pressure.

GLOBALIZATION. The development of extensive worldwide patterns of economic relationships between nations.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT. The accumulation of gasses in the atmosphere that act like the glass roof of a greenhouse, letting sunlight in but trapping the radiant heat.

GREEN REVOLUTION. The tremendous increase in farming productivity that occurred beginning in the 1950s with the application of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and the development of plant varieties especially bred to respond to these chemical inputs.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP). The total value of all goods and services produced within the boundaries of a particular country in any given year.

GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (GNP). The total value of all goods and services produced by nationals of a particular country in any given year. GDP is now the preferred measure of the wealth of nations, though GNP is often used in historical comparison.

GUERRILLA MOVEMENT. A non-government military organization that engages in fighting or harassment.


H

HETEROSEXUALITY. An orientation in sexual activity towards people of the opposite sex.

HIDDEN CURRICULUM. Behavior or attitudes that are learned at school but which are not a part of the formal curriculum. For example, aspects of classism can often be "unintentionally" conveyed in learning materials.

HIGHER EDUCATION. Usually refers to education beyond high school level, often in colleges or universities.

HIGH-TRUST SYSTEMS. Work settings in which individuals have a great deal of autonomy and control.

HISTORICAL MATERIALISM. Marx's interpretation that processes of social change are determined primarily (but not exclusively) by economic factors.

HOMOSEXUALITY. Having sexual preference for persons of the same sex.

HOUSEWORK (DOMESTIC LABOR). Unpaid work carried on in and around the home such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. Studies show that the bulk of this labor is carried out by women despite the predominance of dual-income families.

HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIETIES. Societies whose subsistence is based primarily on hunting animals and gathering edible plants.

HYPOTHESIS. A tentative statement about a given state of affairs that predicts a relationship between the variables, usually put forward as a basis for empirical testing.

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The kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. He indeed is able to do all things. -Quran, Al-Imran, Surah 3:189

Somayya