Sociology- Unit 1

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Social Solidarity

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refers to the degree to which group members share benefits and values, and the intensity and frequency.

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Social Structures

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are relatively stable patterns of social relations

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Microstructures

Back 3

are the patterns of relatively intimate social relations formed during face-to-face interaction Families, friendship circles, and work associations are examples of microstructures.

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Macrostructures

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are overarching patterns of social relations that lie outside and above a person's circle of intimates and aquaintances. Macrostructures include classes, bureaucracies, and power systems, such as patriarchy.

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Patriarchy

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is the traditional system of economic and political inequality between women and men.

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Global Structures

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are patterns of social relations that lie outside and above the national level. they include international organizations, patterns of worldwide travel and communication and economic relations between countries.

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Sociological Imagination

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is the quality of mind that enables a person to see the connection between personal troubles and social structures.

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Scientific Revolution

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began about 1550. It encouraged the view that sound conclusions about the workings of society must be based on solid evidence, not just on speculation.

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Democratic Revolution

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began about 1750. It suggested that people are responsible for organizing society and that human intervention can, therefore, solve social problems.

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Industrial Revolution

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often regarded as the most important event in world history since the development of agriculture and cities, refers to the rapid economic transformation that began in Britan in the 1780's. It involved the large-scale application of science and technology to industrial processes, the creation of factories, and the formation of a working class.

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Theories

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are tentative explanations of some aspect of social life that state how and why certain facts are related.

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Research

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is the process of systematically observing reality to assess the validity of a theory.

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Functionalism

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stresses that human behavior is governed by relatively stable social structures. It underlines how social structures maintain or undermine social stability, emphasizes that social structures are based mainly on shared values or preferences, and suggests that re-establishing equilibrium can best solve most social problems.

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Values

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are ideas about what is good and bad, right and wrong.

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Dysfunctional

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consequences are effects of social structures that create social instability.

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Manifest Functions

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are obvious and intended effects of social structures.

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Latent Functions

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are non-obvious and unintended effects of social structures.

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Conflict Theory

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generally, focuses on large macro level structures and shows how major patterns of inequality in society produce social stability in some circumstances and social change in others.

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Class Conflict

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is the struggle between classes to resist and overcome the opposition of other classes.

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Cultural Hegemony

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involves the control of a culture by dominant classes and other groups to the point where their values are universally accepted as common sense.

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PostStructuralism

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a school of thought that originated in mid-twentieth-century France, denied the stability of social relations and of cultures, their capacity to always shape how people think and act, and their neat categorization of social and cultural elements as binary opposites.

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Protestant Ethnic

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is the belief that religious doubts can be reduced and a state of grace ensued if people work diligently and live ascetically. According to Weber, the protestant work ethic of increasing savings and investment, and thus stimulating capitalist growth.

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Symbolic Interactionism

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focuses on interaction in micro-level social settings and emphasizes that an adequate explanation of social behavior requires understanding the subjective meanings people attach to their social circumstances.

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Social Constructionism

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argues that apparently natural or innate features of life are often sustained by social processes that vary historically and culturally.

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Queer Theory

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Argues that people's sexual identities and performances are so variable that such conventional labels as male. female, gay, and lesbian fail to capture the sexual instability that characterizes the lives of many people.

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Feminist Theory

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claims that patriarchy is at least as important as class inequality in determining a person's opportunities in life. It holds that make domination and female subordination are determined not by biological necessity but by structures of power and social convention. It examines the operation of patriarchy in both micro and macro settings. And it contends that existing patterns of gender inequality can and should be changed for the benefit of all members of society.

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Postindustrial Revolution

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refers to the technology-driven shift from manufacturing to service industries and the consequences of that shift for virtually all human activities.

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Globalization

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is the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures become increasingly aware of their growing interdependence.