For Foucault and Weber the modern state is organised in such a way: Criminology Essay, UCC, Ireland

PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

1. For Foucault and Weber the modern state is organised in such a way as to ensure social control.  Compare Foucault’s concept of the disciplined society with Weber’s notion of bureaucratisation. Reflecting on your own lived experience and observations of contemporary society, explain which of the two theorists, in your view, has greater explanatory power. Please provide sociological evidence to support your position.
2. Drawing on supporting evidence, account for the rise in surveillance across society. Explain the nature of the relationship between technology and social control and assess its consequences for democracy.
3. While Ireland has moved to legalise abortion in recent years, other jurisdictions are going in the opposite direction, limiting women’s access to reproductive rights. Drawing on a social control perspective, write an essay on why reproductive rights are so contested and so contingent in the twenty-first century.
4. Consider the two-year pandemic period from March 2020 to March 2022, when major constraints were imposed by government to safeguard the population from coronavirus.  Explain the nature of the social control that was exercised, and the consequences for both the individual and society.  In what ways was resistance to pandemic social control measures expressed?