Sociological Imagination-the Sociological Big Picture

Sociological Imagination-â€Å"The Sociological Big Picture† C. Wright Mills wanted people to know that outside of ourselves and our personal problems, we are being shaped by the external forces that surround us in society. Whether people are aware of it or not, they are being influenced by society and its factors. The location in which one lives, the nation’s current economic standing, government affiliation, and more are all effecting people in some way.When living in a broadened social experience where things are all interconnected to one another, it has the power and potential of influencing our human behaviors and impulses that are not internally inherited as Mills suggests, but rather shaped by society. The location where a person lives helps bring meaning and shape the ideas of social acceptabilities. For example, in the Amazon basin of South America the Yanomamo Indians see very differently than people of America.This primitive tribe find normalcy among hallucin ogenic yopo trips, villages where peoples attire are loin cloths, and a society composed of hunters and gatherers. Whereas Americans who are surrounded by urbanization, consumerism, materialism and so on may find the Yanomamo way of living off-putting. Also, the nations economy can affect citizens like after keeping 350,000 students out of school for seven days, teachers in Chicago are ending their strike after some negotiation.The Chicago Teachers Union battling for their rights about their job security, teacher abilities, salary raises, and more. Union president, Karen Lewis, after not being able to reach compromise the first time a few days prior, has now settled on an official contract. Though the near from perfect contract still needs ratification, union members agree â€Å"It was time to end the strike† said Lewis who’s rights to petition and peacefully assembly helped union members and the Chicago’s delegates reach a settlement.Chinese artist, internet bl ogger, and activist, Ai Weiwei was detained by the Chinese government after trying to find the names of the thousands of victims lost in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake; which authorities were refusing to give out to civilians. This only fueled his dislike of the Chinese government, which he had a tendency to expose in his blogs and artwork. In China where the internet is monitored heavily by the state, unlike other places around the world, often Weiwei’s political opinions of China’s autocracy became censored.After three months of detention, Weiwei was released on bail. When society can influence people, one must be willing to pull themselves away from a narcissistic point of view and adapt to a perspective where you are able to evaluate the â€Å"sociological big picture†. Building a sociological imagination can create within oneself the ability to truly see what others see and why people act the way they do whether it be stone age indians, claimant mobs, or dissi dent artists: we are all shaped by society.

Part-Time Job Search Guide Everything You Need to Know

Part-Time Job Search Guide Everything You Need to Know Not every job search is for a full-time career path. Sometimes you want a second job to make ends meet, or something flexible to help you balance other parts of your life. Whatever the case, we’ve got you covered in your hunt for a part-time job! Determine What You WantFirst, figure out what you want out of your part-time job- what are your goals? Do you have specific needs? Do you need a job with benefits? Do you need a flexible or unusual schedule so you can have a second job or manage schoolwork? Are you juggling work and family obligations? Whatever your niche, we can help you find those targeted opportunities.Do you need to obtain benefits in addition to your normal paycheck?10 Companies That Offer Part-Time Jobs with BenefitsDo you have to fit your job into a life that’s already filled with lots of obligations?Top 12 High-Paying Part-Time Jobs with Good Work-Life BalanceBest Part-Time Jobs for Moms in 20175 Great Part-Time Jobs for College StudentsIf you have the flexibility to flip your schedule a bit from the typical setup, you could consider a night job.15 Great Part-Time Jobs for Night OwlsAnd if you’re homebound, or prefer to work from the comfort of your PJs, go for a work-from-home setup.What Are Some Part-Time Jobs You Can Do from Home?Find a Gig that Pays the BillsIf your main goal for your part-time gig is â€Å"money† (which is totally valid too!), then there are plenty of opportunities are out there, no matter the number of hours you have available to work every week.These Part-Time Jobs Can Earn You $75K a Year9 Part-Time Jobs That Pay Very Well10 Highest Paying Part-Time Jobs15 Part-Time Jobs That Pay More Than $40 Per Hour (And How to Get Them)21 Part-Time Jobs That Pay More Than $20 An HourPrepping Your Resume to Get the Job You WantOnce you’ve figure out what kinds of part-time jobs you want to pursue, it’s time to dig in and revamp your application package. As always, that starts with a good old- fashioned resume overhaul. Don’t rush through a proper resume just because you’re pursuing a part-time gig. Competition is always tough, and you want to put your best foot forward to let hiring managers know you’re serious about the job.10 Things You Should Remove From Your Resume in 2017Resume Format Guide: What Your Resume Should Look Like in 20178 Warning Signs You Need to Update Your ResumeWhat Is the Best Format for a Resume?11 Steps to Writing the Perfect ResumeHow to Create a Resume Packed with Action WordsGet Ready for the Interview ProcessNot all hiring processes are one-size-fits-all- your part-time job search may include interviews that seem more casual, or are slightly different from the standard interview suit/firm handshake/firing squad template. Basically, you should be prepared to be flexible and act fast to jump on opportunities.6 Part Time Job Interview Strategies You Must KnowAsk These 10 Questions to Impress Your Hiring ManagerThe Most Popula r Macy’s Interview QuestionsHow to Look Like a Star in Any Job InterviewHow to Prepare for a Remote InterviewTurn It Into Something More PermanentAnd after you’ve got your part-time job, you may decide it’s time to take it full-time. We’ve got your back on that, too! It’s common for companies to take on employees to see how they adapt into the company culture before hiring them on permanently. Also, it makes sense that you, if you find you’re gelling with your coworkers, manager, and the company culture, might want to stick around for a while, and for more hours a week.10 Tips for Turning Your Contract Job into a Permanent One10 Ways to Turn Your Part-Time Job into a Full-Time OneGood luck! If you have any tips or stories about your own part-time job hunt, we’d love to hear them.

Should You Send Old or New SAT Scores Expert Guide

Should You Send Old or New SAT Scores Expert Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've taken the old SAT and the redesigned SAT, you may be wondering which scores you should send to colleges. Should you send all your scores? Should you just send your results from the test with the highest average section scores? In this article, I'll explain the factors to consider when determining whether you should send old or new SAT scores. General Differences Between Old and New SAT Scores The old SAT was out of 2400 and the new one is out of 1600. The new SAT combines Reading and Writing into one section score out of 800. Reading and Writing were two separate sections on the old SAT, and both were out of 800. Also, the essay was a mandatory component of the Writing section on the old SAT. Now, the essay is optional- it's its own section and it doesn't impact your overall SAT score. Some schools will require the essay on the new SAT, so check the requirements of the colleges you're applying to. Here's a more thorough breakdown of the old SAT vs. the new one. Most Schools Accept Both the Old and New SATs For the classes of 2017 and 2018, the vast majority of schools will accept scores from the old SAT and the redesigned SAT, but make sure you check the specific policies for the schools you’re applying to. You have to send the scores that the school will accept, and while most colleges will accept scores from either version, some may only accept scores from the new SAT. For example, Yale will accept scores from the old SAT for the classes of 2017 and 2018, but will only accept scores from the new SAT for the classes of 2019 and beyond. Northwestern will accept scores from the old test for the class of 2017, but it's one of the few schools that won't accept scores from the old test for the class of 2018. Look at each school’s website to find its requirements. If you can’t find information there, call the admissions office. Some colleges may only accept scores from the new SAT. Why Does It Matter Which Scores You Send? If you’ve taken the old SAT and the current SAT, you may think that you can send scores from both tests and that colleges will just consider your highest section scores or your highest overall score. Actually, though, that may not be true. Most Schools Don't Superscore Between the Old and New SAT Superscoring is the process by which colleges consider your highest section scores across all dates you took the SAT. Even schools that do superscore are unlikely to do so between the old test and the current one. If you did better on Reading on the old test and better on Math on the new one, colleges probably won't consider both section scores when evaluating your SAT scores. New SAT Scores Are Slightly Inflated Also, schools most likely won’t just focus on the higher overall score between the two tests because scores on the new test are somewhat inflated. For example, an 1100 on the new SAT is equivalent to a 1020 on the Critical Reading and Math sections of the old SAT. Therefore, if you averaged 550 per section on the new SAT and a 520 per section on the old SAT, you actually did better on the old SAT despite having a higher score on the new one. What matters to colleges isn't your score but how well you did relative to other college applicants. What Should You Do? Here are the various options you have if you’re deciding between sending your old scores and new scores. Send Both You’ll have to use this option for colleges that require you to send all your scores. If you're given a choice, sending scores from the old test and the new one may be a good option if you did significantly better on Reading or Math on one test vs. the other, but your overall scores were comparable. Even if the school won’t superscore between the two tests, they’ll be less likely to think you have any skill deficiencies. For example, let’s say you got a 650 in Math on the old test and a 500 in Critical Reading. If, on the new test, you got a 620 on Reading and Writing and a 550 on Math, your overall scores would be similar, but the old test would show much stronger math skills and the new test results would show stronger reading comprehension. Therefore, you can send both if your section scores on the different versions of the test show different strengths or minimize your weaknesses. Also, you may want to send both if you reached your target scores on both the old and the new tests. If you got a 2300 on the old test and a 1590 on the new test, feel free to send both scores. Showing good scores on two different tests may be more impressive to colleges. Use Concordance Tables and Send the Best Score Remember that the scores on the new SAT aren’t equivalent to those on the old SAT; the scores on the new test are slightly higher. Therefore, the SAT has created concordance tables to convert new scores to old scores and vice versa. You can use these tables to determine which score is best and then send the best score. This option probably makes the most sense for the majority of students. Send the Old SAT The argument for just sending your scores from the old SAT is that colleges are much more familiar with the old SAT and may be able to more easily interpret your scores. This could be a good option for students who did the same or better on the old SAT. Because scores on the new SAT are slightly inflated, an equivalent score on the old SAT is more impressive. What's Next? If you've taken the ACT, check out this post for conversion tables from the ACT to the old and new SAT. If you're studying for the new SAT, learn why using Khan Academy isn't enough. Finally, check out this post to understand the importance of the SAT. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

7 SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS ONLY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

7 SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS ONLY - Assignment Example (PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE YOUR OWN RESOURCES) 1. What is orthography and how does it differ from phonetic spelling? Explain why linguists use a phonetic alphabet to represent speech sounds instead of regular spelling. Include specific examples in your answer. (125 WORDS) Orthography means literally correct writing and it refers to the rules and conventions of the written language. It includes the way that letters are used to spell out a word, punctuation, and the use of capitals and lower case letters, as for example the use of capital letters for all nouns in German, but only for proper nouns in English. Orthography alone is not a good system for linguists because it does not represent accurately the actual sounds that are produced in spoken language. Two speakers from different parts of the United States might pronounce the same word differently and this is not recorded in orthography. A phonetic alphabet has one symbol for each sound and this allows accurate analysis of sounds. Suprasegmentals are a linguistic feature that can be found in the spoken language. Linguists look at the small segments of speech, such as vowels, consonants and syllables and analyze how these are formed and how they fit together into words and phrases. Suprasegmentals are features that transcend these tiny pieces and range over several syllables. An example of a suprasegmental is the way that intonation and stress patterns operate. It is important to identify these features because they can change the meaning of an utterance, for example a rising intonation can mean a question in English whereas a flat or falling intonation is a statement. Stress on a word can mean emphasis. The word â€Å"desert† has different meanings, depending on which syllable is stressed. Answer the following questions in your own words. Your answers need to be complete enough to demonstrate mastery of the lesson objectives. A brief paragraph (5 sentences)

How has automobiles made changes to our society and what do people Research Paper - 1

How has automobiles made changes to our society and what do people think about automobiles - Research Paper Example wever many firsts that were seen on the road to building a functional automobile that the modern world depends so much on, from one part of the present automobile to the next. Each part of the automobile has a rich history of invention from steam engines that pioneered, to electrical and gasoline driven engines that are seen today. Great men, from Karl Benz, the man to have come up with the first practical automobile to the pioneer of assembly line production in the industry, Henry Ford. Thanks to years of innovation, steam engines that first powered automobile prototypes were improved to the machines we use today to transport both ourselves and goods to different locations. All citizens of planet are affected by the automobile even in the most remote parts of the world where roads as we know them as non-existent. We are able to cover distances that would in the past take humanity months, in a matter of days thanks to the automobile. Help is able to reach the needy in remote locations because of the automobile. Every individual on the face of our planet is positively affected by the automobile to the last person alive. Like Henry Ford said: â€Å"I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work. Had I worked fifty or ten or even five years before, I would have failed. So it is with every new thing. Progress happens when all the factors that make for it are ready, and then it is inevitable. To teach that a comparatively few men are responsible for the greatest forward steps of mankind is the worst sort of nonsense.† The history of automobile is one of the most divisive subjects because it can be traced to the fifteenth century and was improved over centuries, which makes it very difficult to specifically spot its point of origin. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is within this entire division, credited with the first steam powered automobile in 1768. It was not until 1807 when Francois de Rivas came up with an

How can theories of the social construction of technology (SCOT) help Essay

How can theories of the social construction of technology (SCOT) help inform the innovation processes by which novel technologie - Essay Example And, dialectically speaking advancements in one become the development of the other. It could happen in the other way around too; regressive societies could not only hinder technological reconstruction but also gave birth to regressive technologies as happened in Fascist Germany. The paper intends to analyze the complex paradigm in which social construction of technology and innovation and creativity in technological development go hand in hand. Social Construction of Technology, Innovation and Smart Technology Social reality must be identified as inherently pluralist. Berger and Luckmann note that â€Å"pluralism encourages both skepticism and innovation and is thus inherently subversive of the taken-for-granted reality of the traditional status quo. One can readily sympathize with the experts in the traditional definitions of reality when they think back nostalgically to the times when these definitions had a monopoly† (Berger and Luckmann, 1966, p. 115). Social construction of technology changes according to the nature of the prevailing paradigms of knowledge production. According to Thomas Kuhn, scientific development is no miraculous leaps by great scientists because â€Å"a new theory, however special its range of application, is seldom or never just an increment to what is already known. Its assimilation requires the reconstruction of prior theory and the re-evaluation of prior fact, an intrinsically revolutionary process that is seldom completed by a single man and never overnight† (1996, p.7). Certainly, many great technological interventions are known with name of individual scientists. However, every scientists work within a paradigm which is collectively constructed. Therefore, it is possible to argue that technologies are socially constructed. For instance, computer logarithms are the product of late capitalism but it would not have been possible without the ancient Indian invention of zero. Here, it is important to remember that scie nce is not supreme or infallible. Science and technology are necessarily social constructs and social products. Moreover, â€Å"science emerges as very human and – by necessity – constrained enterprise, even if its findings are subsequently presented as canonical† (Irwin, 1995, p.49). The terminology and language related to the technological discourses are crucial for understanding the social construction of technology. Therefore, Berger and Luckmann argue that â€Å"the common objectivations of everyday life are maintained primarily by linguistic signification. Everyday life is, above all, life with and by means of the language I share with my fellowmen. An understanding of language is thus essential for any understanding of the reality of everyday life† (1966, p.37). Language plays a major role in the social construction of technology as technology is a cultural product too. And, technology, on the other hand, changes language. For instance, social netw orking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have caused a metamorphosis in the way people use English language. Social construction of technology challenges the monopolistic claims by science and scientific community on the production of technologies. Non-deterministic â€Å"accounts of artifacts and technologies show that scientific knowledge plays little direct role in the development of even many state of the art technologies. Historians and other theorists have argued that there are

Democracy Enable And Disable Social Movements Politics Essay

Democracy Enable And Disable Social Movements Politics Essay Democracy has been one of the greatest aspirations of Modernity and one of its greatest disappointments. The passing of centuries between the collapse of the Ancient Greek precursor and the reestablishment of democracy as a viable system makes its recent globalisation all the more remarkable. The revival of democracy was achieved in part through the victories of social movements over entrenched interests. (Esche 2001: 17) It is true that social movements were determinant for the implementation of democratic systems throughout the world. However, the question concerning this paper is whether democracies are determinant to social movements. Therefore this paper will explore in which ways does democracy enable and/or disable social movements. It will conclude that although democracy is, in theory, the system more prone to the appearance of social movements it is also a regime that, in practice, can prevent and restrict them. The first section of this paper will briefly overview the concepts of democracy and social movements in order to provide a framework for the argument. The second will explore in what ways democracies have provided spaces for social movements to occur. The third, will discuss the opposite. That is, how democratic systems, intentionally or unintentionally, have constrained the rise of associational forms. Both arguments will be illustrated with case studies from experiences within the developing countries. Finally, some concluding remarks will be offered in the end. As Tilly (2003) explained democracy as oligarchy, autocracy for example is a kind of regime and that means that it is a set of relations between a government and persons subject to that governments jurisdiction (p.25). Democracy can also take many dimensions and forms and they differ greatly from one another. For instance, there are liberal democracies and there are representative democracies; there are pluralistic democracies and there are constitutional democracies. This is relevant for the argument because the level of democracy, being the liberal democracy the most flexible one, might have an impact on the creation or restriction at the civil society level. Nevertheless, although they might differ in their construction they also share common values. One of the most important is that it should serve the best interests of their constituents echoing Abraham Lincolns ideal of government of the people, by the people, for the people. In other words, a democracy allows for debate and for decisions to be made according to the will of the majority. It also allows for the creation of spaces between the private sphere and the state. These spaces are the ones where mediation is made between the state and the people or formally known as civil society: Civil society could be viewed as but one form of the political relationship between state and society. [It is] an intermediate associational realm between state and family populated by organisations which are separate from the state, enjoy autonomy in relation to the state and are formed voluntary by members of society to protect or advance their interests and values (White 1996: 181-2). From this definition an important characteristic is worth pointing out. Indeed, an independent civil society is the one who can truly voice peoples discontent. This is because any association with the state can severely undermine their intentions. Without an independent civil society the balance of power can never be challenged; the level of accountability cannot be increased and the chances of having grievances transformed into favourable legislation will be impossible. Furthermore, if the civil society is not independent there is the risk of social movements becoming institutionalised as it will be discussed in a further section. Now that both democracy and social movements it is time to look at the main argument and explore in what ways democracy promotes or disables democracy. It was with the introduction of democracy that the world has seen a dramatic increase in social mobility levels, in more opportunities for education and above all a feeling of individual freedom allied with the right to associate without fear of persecution. Stories from North Korea or China stand to make the argument that democracy is the most open and flexible system. It was with the advent of democracy that previously unrepresented groups began to have both political representation and protection in the form of legislation. One of the most visible social movements throughout history has been the womens movement. Seeking to have representation in the political world women have been fighting in traditional patriarchal societies for their equal place in society. In Ghana the transition to democracy opened a space for women to target their grievances by mobilising women to engage in political activity. This was due to two main factors. First, the pre-democratic regime made impossible for women to even consider the debate of their situation. As soon as democracy was installed women were quick to mobilise and bring the issue into public debate. Second, if a democracy means representation of different groups in society surely women had to be also part of the political life of Ghana (Fallon 2008). This is, however, problematic and sometimes even undesirable. If all groups demand representation then it will be harder to reach consensus, especially in countries with a large number of different ethnicities or religious beliefs. Another feature of democracy, besides the right of freedom of association, is accountability. That is, people have the right to question and protest against any measure or action taken by their government. A key feature for the success of social movements is working governments institutions such as an independent judicial system where everyone, including the government itself, is not free from obeying the law. This was the case in Brazil where President Lulas government faced corruption charges due to misuse of public money. A free press, independent from the government, led the people in searching questions and demanding answers (Flynn 2005: 1260). However, accountability is not only related to the rule of law. It is also attached to a governments position on certain issues as previously mentioned. For instance, the United States (US) war on terror has created much discontent within their own borders and caused an anti-war movement due mostly to unilateral decisions such as going to war with Iraq and Afghanistan ironically in the name of democracy and as leaders of the free world. In 2002, Kellner recommended that the war should be fought not on military terms but by a global movement condemning terrorism. Since then there has been a movement, or several, but condemning US use of violent means. Perhaps the best example on how a democratic system allows for social movements lies in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. In a country with high-levels of inequalities both between classes and between regions the city of Porto Alegre, with an alternative model of participatory democracy, exhibits a high level of social re-distribution (Ponniah and Fisher 2003: 181). There are, however, several ways in which democracy or the process of democratisation disabling or restricting social movements. The first one has to do with the transition from any kind of authoritarian rule to democracy. A transversal problem across several transitions in the developing world is the fact that the same power structures and elites remain in place (Garretà ³n 1997, Gibbon 1997, Prevost 2006, White 1996). Usually, movements that attain power are not organised or powerful enough to constitute a secure government. Therefore they have to make concessions with old power structures such as the military in order to form a government. In South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) had to accept that: [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the old government bureaucracy would have to be maintained. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] It did not have the people to fully replace the existing government bureaucracy both in terms of their sheer number and out of a lack of appropriate skills in a wide range of areas (Prevost 2006: 170). As a consequence the same kind of policies and reluctance in accepting a black majority rule prevented in specific the actions of the black movement to be fully realised and in general democracy to be deepened. In South Korea a similar pattern, of restrictive democracy, emerged in the late 1980s. With democracy a large number of organizations entered civil society causing some social and political unrest. However, the political elite joined the two opposition parties into the government and formed a new hegemonic party. White (1996) explains the advantages of forming the latter. First, it absorbs opposition leaders. Second, by doing that the established elites maintain their power and influence in decision-making. The second way in which democracies disable social movements happens when democracy is already in place. If the movements were focused on one aim to overthrow the government then when they achieve it they lose their main thrust and, eventually, become fragmented. As mentioned, democracy opens spaces for unrepresented groups and because within any society there are so many different groups demanding political representation it becomes difficult to mobilise any kind of collective action as there is not a coherent and unique grievance (Melucci 1988, Menon 2000). In some cases, and because there is not a wider movement to support it, some forms of protest are not organised and are destined to fail (Dong 1997). Furthermore, movements might actually compete with each other which further weaken the movements (John 2000, White 1996). A third way in which movements might be disabled is when they become institutionalised (Berger 2003, Flynn 2005, Melucci 1988, Prevost 2006). Becoming institutionalised is when movements lose their independent status. This can happen in three ways. Firstly, in order to have access to power, or resources, social movements might need to associate with mainstream political parties (Houtzager 2000). Secondly, governments in order to gain support but also to avoid contestation co-opt key community leaders into the political system (Prevost 2006: 169). By doing so they are eliminating the radical and influential individuals from their natural habitat the civil society. Both the ANC in South Africa and President Lulas Partido Trabalhador (PT) have used this tactic to gain acceptance and to diminish to possibilities of social movements to mobilise. But movements can also be co-opted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Disillusioned with the lack of political space offered by the gover nment and lacking funds, movements often resort to NGOs for support. Eventually, this relationship turns into dependency and because of that they have to accept external policies from NGOs which in turn restricts organizations agenda-setting as this becomes set by western donors priorities. In Guatemala, the womens movement known as Guatelmatacas became a provider of social services replacing governments functions. This was in part because they were representing the interests of NGOs and not their own. As Berger (2003) described it womens groups in due course shifted from a strategy of confrontation to one of conciliation (p. 205). A fourth way that accelerates the weakening of social movements is the advancement of capitalism and its instrument neo-liberalism. Esche argued that capitalism and democracies have developed a special relationship, that it to say that capitalism prefers democratic environments and that democracy favours the introduction of capitalism. He also argued that this simple account of democracy and capitalism should be avoided mainly because capitalism is also able to penetrate in authoritarian governments. However, Roberts (1998) points out that capitalism and market forces at work in democracies accelerate the fragmentation and weakening of popular collective subjects, the labour movement in particular and that neo liberalism has the remarkable capacity to neutralise and dissolve its opposition (p. 270). Capitalism thrives on inequalities and therefore these have to be maintained in an elegant way by governments. This shows that governments and for that matter democracy itself are unable to protect the interests of their citizens. To finalise the argument on how democracies disable social movements it is important to explore the role of the media. One might think that media and specifically the internet, is only used as a propaganda tool in authoritarian countries but the fact is that it is also used in democracies such as the US. In other words, internet technology can be used [..] for democratic or non-democratic means (Hand and Sandywell 2002: 212). If the internet is restricted and controlled in China it is also used as a propaganda tool for democratic countries. The war on terror ideology of good versus evil, the election of Barack Obama as president of the US have shown how democratic countries can also use the internet as a political tool. More recently the Tea Party movement is using the internet to mobilise a grassroots movement with vested interests pro-corporate, anti-tax, anti-regulation. (Monbiot 2010: 29) However, in the context of social movements this is to ignore the fact that it is also a to ol for movements to mobilise groups and create networks of activity beyond the physical world. It is true that the internet is not at the moment a democratic arena but like the majority of the transitions to democracy it will take several social movements to democratise it. This paper has shown that democracy can enable and disable social movements. These possibilities are dependent on the type of democracy but also on how much the civil society sphere can remain autonomous from governments apparatus. If it remains truly autonomous then it is possible to alter the balance of power. As an enabler it was discussed in this paper that democracies allow for the creation of a space between the state and the private sphere. It also allows, on the one hand, for people to associate and express their grievances and, on the other hand, for previously represented groups to engage in political activities. One would say that these two allowances should be enough to guarantee success for all movements. However, there are several ways in which democracy disables movements. First, the transition to democracy does not mean that old elites and power structures are removed meaning that although the terminology has evolved maybe the ways of doing politics have not. Second, on the instalment of democracy movements become fragmented. Movements fight different, smaller, and unfocused battles and this lead to either their extinction or their relevance. As democracies mature so do their governments. In order to control possible future movements, governments co-opt leaders and thus, movements lose their autonomy. This is aggravated with western NGOs advocating westernised ideals. Finally, the spread and level of capitalism penetration in developing countries means that no means are excluded in order to maintain both inequalities and special interests in place. Regarding the media, and with special attention to the internet it was explained that it can work as a force for both democratic and non-democratic fields but above all it allows for the creation of virtual transnational networks of social movements.