Towards Understanding North American Human Ecology and Urban Dynamics
- Written by: Mohammad Momin Khawaja
Theoretical Insight
A primal characteristic found in the theory of Human Ecology is that society itself has and is defined by a pathology. Such a view of society at the social level has existed within social qualitative inquiry and sociology from the late 1890’s. Such theories and insights formed the basis for ideas which give meaning to social deviance in the interactionist, control, and the social learning theory. (1) Philosophers and social scientists were not at odds with each other over whether or not social conditions were the source of influence over the behaviors of people, rather they were preoccupied with contemplation over what social institutions and forms of government went towards a higher or better social moral code and public order. (2)
Historical changes in societies had consequently resulted in concentrations of social deviance among people in particular social classes and groups. The Industrial Revolution brought about new classes of people in society including the working middle class, and the unemployed, poor, criminal, and sometimes dangerous class. This precarious class of people lived in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. The overcrowded slums of major cities contended with unhealthy physical conditions, along with social conditions which promoted immorality and deviance. (3)
Scientists at the time had used the survey method in order to determine that urban masses were ignorant, undisciplined, and irreligious. The danger in this was that were this class of people influenced by radical socio-economic and religious ideas, they could become a danger to their society.(4)
Collective Understanding of Ecology and Urban Dynamics
Organizations in various social institutions made efforts in order to better understand these cultures and subcultures. Religious organizations, humanitarian philanthropists, journalists, public health and welfare officials, and social reformers were among those leading social research and survey studies about these classes within society. (5) Sociologists from the Chicago school of thought adapted many ideas from ecology in order to foment a new urban social ecology which was presented as a theory of urban dynamics. (6) Human ecology was a study about various forms of human relations in society wherein there is competition for space and resources between individuals in the domains of class, ethnicity, culture, and other dynamics.° From human ecology, scientists were able find structure in concepts which gave definition to a social ecology of humans in relation to various human dynamics.
The Chicago School of Thought and Dynamics of Social Change and Order
A main theory which emerged from the Chicago school was that rapid social change results in a breakdown of common values and functional regulation in various domains of society. A consequence of this is manifest in mental illnesses and disorders, and even in aggravating forms of deviance such as suicide.(7) However, scientists recognized that the dissolution of one social order provided a basis for the growth of a new one. The meaning of this disorganization theory represented that the social dynamics and elements of stable small-town life were negative and pathological in comparison and contrast to those elements and dynamics germane to social disorganization. These elements of change in the social order included urbanization, migration, immigration,industrialization, and technological change. (8) What scientists and theorists in the early period of research were oblivious to was that disorganization really meant that the social ecological lifecycle of one order was going extinct, while the foundation for another social order was being laid. In retrospect, it was the beginning of a distinct human social order and ecological lifecycle. (9)
People across North American societies understand and accept that there is existential and progress-based competition for space and resources. This competition continues among individuals in the domains of class, ethnicity, culture, and other urban dynamics everywhere. Understanding human ecology, however, is about knowing how diverse people of needs from various cultures and ideas are able to live in harmony, cohesion, and value-based coexistence. (10)
An important step in this is finding structure in concepts which give meaning, context, and belonging in relation to various human dynamics. For those that are distraught by war and famine, this may mean safety, food, water, and shelter. For developing nations, this may include socio-economic functions and national institutions known for integrity and those which provide good education, jobs, and health and general wellbeing. In developed nations, this has come to represent social conditions and policies which provide wellbeing for the working poor, universal education and healthcare, affordable housing, and resolving major social issues such as drug addictions and gun violence. (11) In retrospect, our need for space and resources as an existential and progress-based determinant ought not to become a determinant which poses an existential threat to our humanity. Much of our existence and wellbeing depends on understanding human ecology and urban dynamics which go towards a world in harmony, cohesion, and value-based co-existence.
References
1. Deutschmann, L., “Deviance and Social Control”, 3 edition, Nelson Thomson Learning, 2002, pp.200-224.
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Ibid.
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bid.
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bid.
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Ibid.
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Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10 Khawaja, M., “North American Longing to Cultures and Subcultures”, The Times, August, 6, 2023,
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Ibid.
Mohammad Momin Khawaja is a Sociologist and a Journalist: Member of the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA), and Member of the International Center for Journalism - ICFJ Global Network, Washington, D. C. USA. A graduate of Laurentian University in Sociology, he writes on current issues of social justice, criminology, philosophy, ethics, history and problems of social welfare system and human development. He is author of numerous publications including, Women in the Ancient World (Lambert Academic Publication, 2023), and his latest academic book just published: Philosophy and Ethics - Dilemmas of Modern Philosophy and Ethics. He recently published: “North American Colonization of Indigenous People, Cultures and System of Social Welfare.”
