Chapter 1: The Sociological Perspective

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Sociology

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the systematic study of human society and social interaction;

particularly interested in contemporary social organization, relations, and social change

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Why is sociology systematic?

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sociologists apply both theoretical perspectives and research methods (or orderly approaches) to examinations of social behavior

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Anthropology

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primarily concentrates on human existence over geographic space and evolutionary time, meaning that it focuses more on traditional societies and the development of diverse cultures

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society

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a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations (ex. US, Mexico, Nigeria)

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global interdependence

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a relationship in which the lives of all people are intertwined closely and any one nation's problems are part of a larger global problem

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Peter Berger

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sociologist; sociological inquiry helps us see that "things are not what they seem"

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commonsense knowledge

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guides ordinary conduct in everyday life (many are myths)

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myth

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a popular but false notion that may be used, either intentionally or unintentionally, to perpetuate certain beliefs or theories even in the light of conclusive evidence to the contrary

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sociological imagination

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C. Wright Mills; the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society

helps distinguish between personal troubles and social/public issues

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Personal troubles

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private problems that affect individuals and the networks of people with which they regularly associate; must be solved within individual social settings

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public issues

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problems that affect large numbers of people and often require solutions at the societal level (ex. widespread unemployment or nationwide consumer debt)

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high-income countries (industrial countries)

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nations with highly industrialized economies; technologically advanced industrial, administrative, and service occupations; and relatively high levels of national and personal income (ex. US, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Western European countries)

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middle-income countries (developing countries)

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nations with industrializing economies, particularly in urban areas, and moderate levels of national and personal income (ex. Eastern European & Latin American countries)

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low-income countries (underdeveloped countries)

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primarily agrarian nations with little industrialization and low levels of national and personal income (ex. nations of Africa & Asia, particularly China and India(

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Race

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a term used by many people to specify groups of people distinguished by physical characteristics such as skin color

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Ethnicity

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refers to the cultural heritage or identity of a group and is based on factors such as language or country of origin

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Class

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the relative location of a person or group within the larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other valued resources

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Sex

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the biological and anatomical differences between males and females

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gender

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the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with sex differences (femininity/masculinity)

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scientific revolution

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along with the Enlightenment (Age of Reason) marked the beginning of a rapid change in social thought in the 17th century

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philosophes

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dominated the Enlightenment in France; believed that if people were free from the ignorance and superstition of the past, they could create new forms of political and economic organizations such as democracy and capitalism

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revolution types that took place in the 18th century

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-intellectual revolution: how people thought about social change

-political revolution

-economic revolution

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Industrialization

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the process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries; during Industrial Revolution 1760-1850

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Urbanization

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process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas; many people shifted from being producers to consumers

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Social problems with urbanization

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inadequate housing, crowding, unsanitary conditions, poverty, pollution, crime; wages so low even small children had to work

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Auguste Comte

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"founder of sociology"; theory that societies contain social statics (forces for social order & stability) and social dynamics (forces for conflict and change); philosophy= positivism

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positivism

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(Comte)

a belief that the world can be best understood through scientific inquiry;

two dimensions:

1) methodological- the application of scientific knowledge to both physical and social phenomena and

2) social and political- the use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of different policies so that the best one could be chosen

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law of three stages

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(Comte)

-theological: explanations based on religion and the supernatural (kinship most important)

-metaphysical: explanations based on abstract philosophical speculation (state=prominent unit)

-scientific/positive: explanations are based on systematic observation, experimentation, comparison, and historical analysis (industry= prominent structural unit in society)

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Harriet Martineau

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-made Comte's work more accessible to other scholars; translated & condensed it

-studied the social customs of Britain & the US, and analyzed consequences of industrialization & capitalism

-examined religion, politics, child rearing, slavery, and immigration in the US

-"A Vindication of the Rights of Women" (equality)

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Herbert Spencer

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-major contribution: evolutionary perspective on social order and social change

-Theory of General Evolution

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Theory of General Evolution

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(Herbert Spencer)

society has various interdependent parts (family, economy, government) that work to ensure the stability and survival of the entire society

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social Darwinism

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(Herbert Spencer)

the belief that those species of animals, including human beings, best adapted to their environment survive and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out

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Emile Durkheim

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-people are a product of their social environment

-behavior cannot be fully understood in terms of individual biological and psychological traits

-limits of human potential are socially based

-"the critical figure in the development of sociology as an academic discipline [and as] one of the deepest roots of sociological imagination"

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social facts

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(Emile Durkheim)

patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside any one individual but that exert social control over each person

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anomie

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(Emile Durkheim)

condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and of a sense of purpose in society
-Durkheim: most likely to occur during a period of rapid social change

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Emile Durkheim books

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-"The Rules of Sociological Method": societies are built on social facts

-"The Division of Labor in Society": preindustrial societies held together by strong traditions and members' shared moral beliefs and values. as they industrialize, more-specialized economic activity became the basis of the social bond

-"Suicide": relationship b/t anomic social conditions and suicide

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Karl Marx

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-believed that conflict is necessary to produce social change and a better society

-most important changes were economic; capitalist economic system was responsible for overwhelming poverty in London at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

-one of the most profound sociological thinkers; combined ideas derived from philosophy, history, and the social sciences into a new theoretical configuration

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class conflict

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(Marxian framework)

-the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class

-Marx predicted that the working class would become aware of its exploitation, overthrow the capitalists, and establish a free and classless society

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bourgeoisie

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(Marxian framework)

the capital class; comprises those who own and control means of production--the tools, land, factories, and money for investment that form the economic basis of a society

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proletariat

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(Marxian framework)

the working class; composed of those who must sell their labor because they have no other means to earn a livelihood

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alienation

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(Marxian framework)

feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from themselves

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fetishism of commodities

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situation in which workers fail to recognize that their labor gives the commodity its value and instead come to believe that a commodity's value is based on the natural properties of the thing itself

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reasons workers did not rebel

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1) falsely believed what capitalists did was for their own best interests as well

2) believed that the products they produced had a value in the marketplace that was independent of anything the workers did

3) came to view ownership of the commodities as a desirable end in itself and to work longer hours so that they could afford to purchase more goods and services

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Marx view

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society should not just be studied but should also be changed because the status quo (the existing state of society) involved the oppression of most of the population by a small group of wealthy people

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Max Weber

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-acknowledged that economic interests are important in shaping human action and that economic systems are heavily influenced by other factors, such as religion, in a society\

-sociologists cannot be totally value free

-rational bureaucracy, rather than class struggle, was the most significant factor in determining the social relations among people in industrial societies

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value free

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-research should be conducted in a scientific manner and should exclude the researcher's personal values and economic interests

-Weber emphasized value-free inquiry and understanding how others see the world

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verstehen

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(Weber)

-German for "understanding" or "insight"

-sociologists should employ it in order to gain the ability to see the world as others see it

-incorporated into the idea of sociological imagination

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rationalization

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(Weber)

-the process by which the modern world has come to be increasingly dominated by structures devoted to efficiency, calculability, predictability, and technological control

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Calculability

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-demonstrated by scorecards that allow lenders to score potential borrowers based on prior statistics of other people's performance in paying their bills

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predictability

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(of credit cards)

if the cardholder is current on paying bills and the merchant accepts that kind of card, the cardholder will not be turned down on a purchase

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technological control

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range from the computerized system that determines whether a new credit card will be issued to cards embedded with computer chips, ATM machines, and online systems that permit instantaneous transfer of funds

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Georg Simmel

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-theorized about society as a web of patterned interactions among people

-purpose of sociology= examine social interaction processes within groups

-distinguished b/t forms of social interaction (ex. cooperation vs conflict) and the content of interaction in different social contexts (ex. leaders vs. followers

-analyzed the impact of industrialization and urbanization on people's lives and concluded that class conflict was becoming more pronounced in industrial societies

-predicted an increase in individualism

-assessed costs of "progress" on the upper-class city-dweller

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Georg Simmel books

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-wrote over 30 books and numerous essays

-thinking influenced members of the "Chicago School"

-"The Sociology of Georg Simmel": analyzed how group size influences social interactions and concluded that interaction patterns differ between a dyad (2 people) & triad (3 people)

-"The Philosophy of Money": sheds light on consumerism; stresses that money takes on a life of its own as people come to see money and the things that it can purchase as an end in themselves; people become blase, losing the ability to differentiate between what is really of value and what is not

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formal sociology

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(Simmel)

-approach that calls attention to the universal recurring social forms underlying the varying content of social interaction (the "geometry of social life")

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The Chicago School

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-first department of sociology in the US est. at the University of Chicago

-faculty was instrumental in starting the American Sociological Society (now American Sociological Association)

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Robert E Park.

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(Chicago School faculty)

-urbanization had a disintegrating influence on social life by producing an increase in the crime rate and in racial and class antagonisms that contributed to the segregation and isolation of neighborhoods

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George Herbert Mead

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(Chicago School Faculty)

-founded the symbolic interaction perspective

-emphasis on importance of studying the group rather than starting with separate individuals

-importance of shared communication among people based on language and gestures

-insights on how we develop our self-concept through interaction with those persons who are most significant influences in our lives

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Jane Addams

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-best known early women sociologists in the US

-founded Hull House (famous settlement houses)

-lectured at numerous colleges, was a charger member of the A.S.S., published articles and books

-one author of Hull-House Maps and Papers (used a methodological technique employed by sociologists for the next 40 years)

-won a Nobel Prize for assistance to underpriviliged

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W.E.B. Du Bois

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-founded second department of sociology at Atlanta University

-created a laboratory of sociology, instituted a program of systematic research, founded and conducted regular sociological conferences on research, founded 2 journals, and est. a record of valuable publications

-noted that dual heritage created conflict for people of color

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"The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study"

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-based on research into African American community

-stressed strengths & weaknesses of a community wrestling with overwhelming social problems

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double-conciousness

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-identity conflict of being both black and an American

-although people in US espouse values such as democracy, freedom, and equality, they also accept racism and group discriminations

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theory

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a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and occasionally predict social events

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perspective

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-an overall approach to or view-point on some subject

-theories help interpret reality in a distinct way by providing a framework in which observations may be logically ordered (called perspective)

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theoretical perspectives

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major:

1) functionalist

2) conflict

3) symbolic interactionalist

other:

-postmodernism

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functionalist perspectives

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(functionalism/structural functionalism)

-based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system

-society is composed of interrelated parts, each of which serve a function and contributes to the overall stability of the society

-societies develop social structures (family, edu, gov, religion, economy) that persist because they play a part in helping society survive; if anything adverse happens to one or parts all others are affected & system no longer functions properly

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societal consensus

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(functionalist perspective)

-majority of members share a common set of values, beliefs, and behavioral expectations

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Talcott Parsons

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-most influential contemporary advocate of the functionalist perspective

-stressed that all societies must provide for meeting social needs in order to survive

-division of labor between husband and wife is essential for family stability and social order (husband/father performs instrumental tasks: leadership & decision-making responsibilities in home & working to support family; wife/mother performs expressive tasks: housework, childcare, emotional support)

-other institutions must function to assist the family & work together to preserve the system

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Robert K. Merton

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-further refined functionalism, distinguished b.t manifest and latent functions of social institutions

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manifest functions

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-intended and/or overtly recognized by the participants in a social unit

-of education: transmission of knowledge and skills from one generation to the next

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latent functions

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-unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged by participants

-of education: establishment of social relations and networks

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dysfunctions

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-undesirable consequences of any element of a society

-of education: perpetuation of gender, racial-ethnic, and class inequalities (may threaten capacity of a society to adapt and survive)

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conflict perspectives

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-groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources

-conflict may take the form of politics, litigation, negotiations, or family discussions about financial matters

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brances of conflict perspective theory

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-neo-Marxist approach: views struggle between classes as inevitable and as a prime source of social change

-second branch focuses on racial-ethnic groups

-third branch (feminist perspective) focuses on gender issues

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C. Wright Mills

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-key figure in the development of contemporary conflict theory; encouraged sociologists to get involved in social reform

-look beneath everyday events to observe major resource and power inequalities that exist

-most important decisions made behind the scenes by power elite (a small clique composed of the top corporate, political, and military officials

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Feminist approach

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-directs attention to women's experiences and the importance of gender as an element of social structure

-women and men are equal and should be equally valued and have equal rights

-assumes that gender is socially created, rather than determined by one's biological inheritance

-several feminist approaches

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patriarchy

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system in which men dominate women and in which things that are considered male or masculine are more highly valued than feminine or female things

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Thorstein Veblen

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-"The Theory of the Leisure Class": early wealthy industrialists engaging in conspicuous consumption

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conspicuous consumption

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(Veblen)

the continuous public display of one's wealth and status through purchases

-in order to attract public attention, the wealthy often engage in consumption and leisure activities that are highly visible & wasteful

-widely accepted at all income levels

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inconspicuous consumption

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some of today's wealthiest people engage in it perhaps to maintain a low public profile or out of fear for their own safety or that of other family members

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conflict theorists belief

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-economic gains of the wealthiest people are often at the expense of those in the lower classes, who may have to struggle to have adequate food, clothing, and shelter for themselves and their children

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macrolevel analysis

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examines whole societies, large-scale social structures, and social systems

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microlevel analysis

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focuses on small groups rather than on large-scale social structures

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symbolic interactionist perspectives

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-society is the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups

-focus on the process of interaction and the part that symbols play in giving meaning to human communication

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subjective reality

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-each person's interpretation or definition of a given situation

-acquired and shared through agreed-upon symbols, esp. language (ex. shouting Fire!)

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postmodern perspectives

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existing theories have been unsuccessful in explaining social life in contemporary societies that are characterized by postindustrialization, consumerism, and global communications