Sociological perspectives

I have been observing the disposalal events of numerous countries as they unfold. Among the most enthr bothing of all was that in Kenya, a nation in Africa which drew caution of the whole world after being senior high civilizelighted as a go away of the post election violence. I watched the sewerdidature rallies as they were captured by the TV stations that were mainly dominated by three political parties the orangeness democratic Movement (ODM), the Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Movement of Kenya (ODM K).I then focused on the whole country as a social system and finally narrowed checkmate my observation to the close competitors who eyed for the presidential seat( http//video. google. com/videoplay? docid=-8434875422533573659 ) This paper examines all my observations as pertaining to the above highlighted situation through a sociologist eyes. As I watched the campaign rallies, I noticed that among the major political parties, at that place were co mmon agenda. This were privation reduction, job creation, fight against tribalism and inequality.In my quest to know more intimately the reason behind having common agendas, I realized that this country was bedded into different groups based on tribes, religious background and scotch status. Economically, there were ii major groups, the poor and the rich. The poor blamed the rich for accumulating outsize amounts of wealth through corrupt deals. They pointed out few major scandals that lead to poor economic growth which resulted to increased poverty in the country. Examples of much(prenominal) corruption scandal include the golden berg and the Anglo leasing.The poor claimed that they were ill-used by the rich, a situation that they said guide to marginalization of some people and widened the gap betwixt rich and the poor. The rich were supporting the political regime that existed at that time and they supported chairperson Mwai Kibaki whom they said was the lift out p resident that people should support if they intend to achieve a high economic growth rate. Of course these were the owners of means of production and they intended to maximize on increasing their wealth. The poor were supporting Mr.Odinga who unveiled his plan to abridge poverty and inequality something that the wealthy class in the country termed as a threat to investment( http//video. google. com/videoplay? docid=-4385739074127652954 ) These two groups divided the countrys population into two loth(p) groups and initiated conflict between themselves. The campaign took a different dimension when two tribes in this country came came out to out do each early(a) and muscle out their way to compeat for the prestigious political position, the presidency.These tribes included Kikuyu and the Luo(http//video. google. com/videoplay? docid=6778777698786778125) As a result a debate for introduction of Majimbo system what can be referred to a Federal politics came up. The two groups were o nce in another conflict since those behind PNU did not support a Majimbo government while those behind ODM and ODM -Kenya did( http//video. google. com/videoplay? docid=-5553237563976614777&q=kenya+politics+on+tv-+kibaki+and+raila&total=22& lift off=10&num=10&so=2&type=search&plindex=5&hl=en . As the election neargond, another conflict came up.This time round, it was the Muslim community versus the Christian community where the Muslims wanted to get freedom to exercise their Sharia Laws. They claimed that they were never effrontery freedom like the Christians who are the majority in the country. The Muslims therefore chose to support the ODM leader, Raila who had promised to address their grievances. The Christians rejected Mr. Raila s proposal and threatened to demand their Christian laws to be enacted into state laws if the Muslims were given that Special treatment ( http//video. google. om/videoplay? docid=-1185250696841707886 This reminded me of the social conflict theory whic h holds that no gild can exist without conflict (http//www. allfreeessays. com/student/Consensus_Conflict_Perspectives_in_social_theory. html ) As I watched the political campaigns, it was clear that these political leaders wanted to create a positive image of themselves in order to win many votes. In the Front branch as Erving Goffman calls it in his theory of impression wariness or dramatical approach to social action, they gave all sorts of good promises.They promised to create jobs, nullify poverty, fight tribalism and inequality. In the backstage they would go to their tribes and call for their support, promise their tribes how they would profit more than the other Kenyans and how they will appoint people from their tribes in government offices, something which was contrary to what they were promising the citizens in general. Challenging each other in political arenas and their respective credentials further worsened the relationship between the actors When chaos erupted in the country and things seemed to run out of control, the former UN escritoire General, MR.Koffi Annan together with Graca Machele and Benjamin Mkapa led Mediation duologue. The two political leaders, Mr. Odinga and President Kibaki appeared in Televisions as a way to inform the Kenyans that they were not enemies and were operative together to put things in place. This was just a front stage since later on they both accused each other for what was fortuity in the country and clearly brought out a good experience of the back stage. These kind of actions by Mr. Odinga and President Kibaki is what Goffman said was analogously equated to hypothetic drama. In this case, Mr.Odinga and President Kibaki together with their close supporters were the actors while Kenyans became the audience. This is the theory of symbolic interaction ism(Herman N, Reynolds L, pp. 76) Kenya is a society that is made up of individuals and groups of people who interact with each other and espouse a sens e of we feeling. They share many things in common including laws, the presidency among others and they all work together to break their welfare and the country as a whole. Within the system there are sub systems which include political system, religious system, education and economic system among others.All these have a function to perform in order to ensure the social system functions properly. It is outstanding to note that all societies consist of social structures which play different roles but must front on one another. In the case for Kenya, the disputed election results led to chaos. This paralyzed all sectors of the economy. Many families were forced to break especially where the Luo intermarried with the Kikuyu. This was a state of anarchy and anomie that led to high levels of insecurity and deaths of thousands of not guilty Kenyans.All learning institutions were closed down churches were burnt down and in general there was social disorganization in the country. All str uctures that perplex Kenya as a society were weakened and if it were not for the mediation talks led by the international society Kenya would have been torn apart. I observed it and the theory of structural functionalism crossed my mind. According to the structural functionalism school of thought, any society comprises of social structures. These social structures play specialized and important functions that bind the members of the society together. (Robinson W, pp 314)