Sociology - A Global Introduction, 5Th Edition, Chapter 4

Front 1

What is a society?

Back 1

Society refers to people who interact in a defined space and share a culture.

Front 2

What is a sociocultural evolution?

Back 2

The process of change that results from a society's gaining new information, particularly technology (Lenski).
less complex technologically society -> slow change

Front 3

What are the 5 general types of society distinguished by their technology?

Back 3

1) Hunting and gathering societies
2) Horticultural and pastoral societies
3) Agrarian societies
4) Industrial societies
5) Post-industrial societies

Front 4

What are the 4 different kinds of technological determinism?

Back 4

1) Technology does not determine (bestimmen) societies (people shape technology)
2) Societies do not necessarily evolve (entwickeln) from one to the next (diff. types coexsist)
3) We must recognize the limits of technology; no quick fix (meaning & morality; can create problems/conflicts)
4) We are still depended on our physical environment

Front 5

What is Karl Marx' social conflict?

Back 5

It implies the struggle between parts of society over valued resources and involves clashes between social classes.
Capitalism is responsible for social inequalities and problems.

Front 6

What is meant by Proletariat?

Back 6

People who provide labour necessary to operate factories and other productive enterprises.

Proletarier können nur durch den Verkauf ihrer Arbeitskraft ihren überwiegenden Lebensunterhalt erzielen.

Front 7

What are social institutions?

Back 7

They are major spheres (Bereiche) of social life, or society's subsystems, organized to meet basic human needs (Essenstafel).

Front 8

What does Marx mean by false consciousness (Bewusstsein)?

Back 8

It explains social problems grounded in the shortcomings of individuals rather that the flaws (Mängel) of society (Integration/Bildung).

Front 9

What is the class conflict?

Back 9

Antagonism (Feindseligkeit) between entire classes over the distirbution of wealth and power in society.

Front 10

What is class consciousness?

Back 10

It is the recignition by workers of their unity as a class in opposition to capitalism itself.

Front 11

What does alienation mean?

Back 11

It is the experience of isolation resuting from powerlessness (proletarians).

Front 12

Name the 4 ways in which capitalism alienates workers? (p. 120)

Back 12

1) Alienation from the act of working (Routine & Wiederholung - turned humans into machines)
2) Alienation from the products of work (für die reichen Konsumer)
3) Alienation from other workers (Fabrikarbeit = wenig companionship)
4) Alienation from human potential (zu wenig gefordert- Fabrik)

Front 13

How did Weber see modern society?

Back 13

As a product of new technology, capitalism and new way of thinking (rational).
"Belief and values have transforming power"

Front 14

How did Weber describe differences in the ways people view the world (2)?

Back 14

1) Tradition
2) Rationality

Front 15

What is meant by tradition?

Back 15

Sentiments and Beliefs passed from generation to pre-industrial) generation - > traditional (r societies are guided by the past.

Front 16

What is meant by rationality?

Back 16

deliberate (absichtlich), matter-of-fact calculation of the most efficient means (Mittel) to accomplish a particular goal (modern societies)

Front 17

What is the rationalization of society? (p. 123)

Back 17

The historical change from tradition to rationality.

Front 18

What are the 7 traits of rational social organization in today’s social life?

Back 18

1) Distinctive social institutions
2) Large-scale organizations
3) Specialized tasks
4) Personal discipline
5) Awareness of time
•this in contrast with traditional societies
6) Technical competence
•people are judged on what they are (skills) instead of who they are (Verwandtschaft)
7) Impersonality

Front 19

What are sturctures (Emile Durkheim)?

Back 19

Patterns of human behavior = social facts that have an objective reality beyond the lives and perceptions of particular individuals

Front 20

What does Emile Durkheim mean by “Society is in ourselves”?

Back 20

Each of us builds a personality by internalizing social facts

Front 21

What is anomie?

Back 21

A condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals.

Front 22

What is mechanical solidarity?

Back 22

Social bounds, based on shared morality, that unite members of pre-industrial societies .
→ mechanical as in people have an automatic sense of belonging together (likeness)

Front 23

What is organic solidarity?

Back 23

Social bounds, based on specialization that unite members of industrial societies.

Front 24

What is the key dimension of chance?

Back 24

Society’s expanding division of labor (harte Arbeit)
= specialized economic activity.

Front 25

What are high-income countries?

Back 25

Nations with highest overall standards of living . (Germany)

Front 26

What are middle-income countries?

Back 26

Nations with a standard living of about average for the world as a whole. (Latin-America)

Front 27

What are low-income countries?

Back 27

Nations with a low standard of living in which most people are poor. (Africa)

Front 28

What are newly industrializing countrie?

Back 28

Lower-income countries that are fast becoming high-income ones (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore)