Sociology midterm 26

what does the sociological imagination do

a mental attitude that allows apparently different and distant planes of thoughts to be related with each other

troubles (sociological imagination)

private matters

issues (sociological imagination)

deal w society as a whole

what is sociology

the study of social groups/ societies as a whole and teaches that much that appears natural/ inevitable may not be so

society

a group of people in a bounded territory who share common cultural features

microanalysis vs macroanalysis

micro: illuminates the details of broad institutional matters

macro: illuminates institutional backdrop of everyday life

uses of sociology (3)

1. allows us to see the social world from a different perspective

2. helps us assess the results of policy initiatives

3. provides us w self enlightenment (forming our own opinions about the world)

what is Durkheim’s social fact

rules that constrain/ channel human behavior

moral solidarity

what it is that binds society together

robert merton

created a meso level for middle-range theories

what does the sociological approach ask

WHY something is the way it is

C. Mills ideology

Sociological imagination

what is the distinction made by in the sociological imagination

personal troubles and public issues

what are the two parts to the sociological imagination and what are they

1. human agency: an individual’s actions

2. social structure: society beyond an individual’s control that sets limits

two ways of doing something and what they are

1. act: making a decision that has meaning for you

2. execute: following a prescribed procedure, doing what is required

two main defining periods of modernity

1. industrial rev: rise of capitalism, urbanization, poverty, inequalities, rationalization, migration

2. democratic rev: from feudalism to democracy, political systems, equality in citizenship

modern meaning

a condition in which individuals organize and account for their being in the world and w others w/o relying on external sourcescof authority and discipline

the social

the force that can coordinate the behavior of many individuals

2 theoretical approaches to sociology

1. middle-range theory: an approach that connects the gap btwn the abstract grand theories and small scale research

2. grounded theory: builds new theories from real world data, not hypotheses

3 basic sociological perspectives

1. functionalism

2. conflict theory

3. interactionism

functionalism

society as a complex system whose various parts work together

conflict theory

society as a set of domination processes and conflicts (ex: struggles btwn classes)

interactionism

society in the mind itself (the self)

emile durkheim

pioneered positiism and functionalism

why did durkheim value data

to make phenomena seen when it could otherwise be hidden

division of labor main thinker

durkheim

what was durkheim concerned abt in the division of labor

against the idea that social order relied on a social contract btwn individuals of opposing interests as this contract was not stable

solidarity

set of shared rules and values to keep society stable

two types of solidarity

1. mechanical: society characterized by similarity (PREMODERN)

2. organic: society characterized by diversity (MODERN)

main thinker of anomie

durkheim

anomie

lack of rules/norms for a society

does society need organic or mechanic solidarity

BOTH

what two things need to be balanced in society (durkheim found this through his study on suicide)

1. integration

2. regulation

4 types of suicides (Durkheim)

1. altruistic

2. egoistic

3. fatalistic

4. anomic

altruistic suicide

TOO MUCH INTEGRATION (individuals see themselves as worthy solely in relation to their role assigned by society)

egoistic suicide

NOT ENOUGH INTEGRATION (individuals disconnected from groups that compose society)

fatalistic suicide

TOO MUCH REGULATION (individuals feel so oppressed by social norms that they lose their “sense of future”)

Anomic suicide

NOT ENOUGH REGULATION (individuals lose their sense of limitaiton and suffer the consequences)

what are social phenomena

consist of manners of acting/thinking distinguishable through special characteristics that are influential on the consciousness of individuals

what is a social constraint

pressure placed by society on the individual to conform to the established ways of behavior

degree of crystallization

shows that social facts are not fixed or rigid, they exist along a continuum

low crystallization meaning

fluid, changing, more loosely defined

high crystallization meaning

stable, fixed, more rigidly defined

what are morphological social facts

highly crystallized aspects of social structure

what are the two categories of religious phenomena and what are they

1. beliefs: states of opinions consisted in representatives

2. rights: determined modes of aciton

durkheim’s moralism

the moral aspect of the division of labor

rules for the division labor (2)

1. must have similar external & binding character as religious ones do to the individual

2. must provide the individual w a desire to belong to the social group

elementary forms of religious life

durkheim, to understand modern religious he followed the manner in which they were progressively composed in history

durkheim’s definition of religion (3)

1. distinction between sacred & profane

2. role of practice & rituals

3. collective dimension

what type of study did durkheim conduct for the elementary forms of religion

ethnographic study (research made by anthropologists)

what is the most simple and primitive religion

totemism

durkheim’s distinction between religion and magic

religion: collective

magic: individual

what consolidates a religious group (2)

1. totems as they have symbolic value attributed to them by the group

2. rituals (collective effervescence)

collective effervescence

refers to the perception/feeling of energy felt by people in a group

→ feeling of unity when people unite to do thte same thing (ex: processions)

civil religion

society needs shared religion as a glue & rituals necessary due to fragility of society

what are theories

abstract interpretations to explain the evidence collected by sociologists

why is historical perspective good for sociology

it encourages us to avoid trying to reinvent the theoretical wheek when there is no need to do so

who was the basis to positivist philosophy in the sciences

isaac newton

who named ‘sociology’

auguste comte

limits to functionalism (6)

1. favored consensus over conflict

2. favored order over change

3. organic metaphor (need to establish the science of sociology)

4. ignoring agency & inequality

5. too abstract

6. identifying functions does not equal causal explalnation

structural functionalism

shifts the foundations of social cohesion from Durkheim (values, rituals, regulations) to social structures

3 stages of parson’s work

1. action theory (influenced by WEBER)

2. structural functionalism (towards DURKHEIM)

3. systems theory

hobbesian problem of order

if individuals are purely self-interested and atomized, what holds society together?

what is the conclusion of parsons’ structure of social action

individuals are neither determined by material circumstances nor completely free to invent their purpose

5 pattern variables

1. affectivity vs affective neutrality

2. self orientation vs collectivity

3. particularism vs universalism

4. ascription vs achievement

5. diffuseness vs specificity

pattern variables (parsons)

different social roles require different normative orientations

double contingency

ego’s action will depend on what ego expects alter ego to do and viceversa

two things a system must be (parsons)

1. open (dependent on exchanges w the environment)

2. boundary-maintaining (remains identificable as a distinct system

is both at the same time

what is systems theory (parsons)

how social systems are maintained over time even though internal roles change consistently

solution from AGIL system (parsons)

every society must address functional imperities

AGIL system (parsons)

1. adaptation (must adapt to environement when necessary)

2. goal attainment (define collectively binding goals to be achieved)

3. integration (integrating diff sub-systems into one community)

4. latency (society must keep up arrangement over time & transmit values across generations)

what did merton distiguish btwn

manifest (intended) vs latent functions (not apprehended)

who came up with the strain theory

robert merton

strain theory

tension when goals individuals are wandering towards due to limited means

youth culture significance to parsons

rites of passage are not present anymore in moderen society so youth culture has taken over their role in society

operational autonomy (Luhmann)

can produce internally all elements needed as long as they have some interaction w/ the environment

ex: how plants make their own food through photosynthesis

autopoetic system (Luhmann)

produces its own types & rules of communication

functional differentiation (Luhmann)

each function system operates according to its own logic

what did Niklas Luhmann focus on

how social systems are possible and how they can function over time

difference btwn parsons and luhmann

P: concern of social balance/equilibrium (HAS A MASTER SYSTEM: AGIL)

L: systems must exist and be maintained over time (DOESN’T HAVE A MASTER SYSTEM)

social differences

differences that persist through generations and become social stratifications when hierarchy is achieved

social mobility

movement of an individual from one layer to another

2 types of social mobility and how they work

1. horizontal mobility: same level of layers

2. ascending/descending mobility: different levels of layers

difference btwn durkheim and parsons in functionalism/social stratification

D : spontanous division of labor → society moving towards equality but considers differential achievement

P: society moving froom ascription → achievement (individual judged by their talent/efforts)

rewards system basis of inequalities (2)

1. stratification: different opportunities

2. meritocracy: equal opportunities + selection according to merit

what was the main idea of marx in the eigteenth brumaire of louis bonaparte

the coup failed bc class consciousness was missing to unite the working class

bourgeoise vs proletatiat (marx manifesto)

B: pushed profit at the center of social life & revolutionary bc they changed the previous feudal order

P: modern working class (undervalued & underpaid)

empirical objections of marx’s economic theory of capitalism

1. keyanism

2. capitalistic class: owners v managers

3. working class: rise of a new middle class

keyanism (marx)

state intervention smoothens economic crisis

fordism

through mass production & increasing wages, workers can buy their products

rosa luxemburg (1871-1919)

polish, adopted marxist ideas and became an activist in the socialist worker’s party

leader of radical wing of german socialists

difference between revolutionary political movements in the past and those in modern society

today they aim to change the government, not dismantle the state

communist manifesto (1848)

explored the imbalance of power throughout time as a “motor of history”

2 elements of capitalism

1. capital

2. wage-labor

what is capitalism according to marx

a class system (capitalists vs proletariat)

what does conflict theory highlight

highlight the importance of social divisions (means potential for conflict is omnipresent)

main actors of conflict theory (3)

1. weber: conflict seen as stable/permanent part of social life

2. marx: rooted in capitalism

3. simmel: conflict can have positive functions

main events that determined marx’s thinking (3)

1. persistent anti-semitism in germany

2. failure of 1848 revolutionary movement

3. was at serice of a rising organized working class

why did marx criticize bauer (author of antisematic text)

bauer confused political emancipation w human emanciption bc the method he described would not have eliminated discrimination

4 essentials to marxist sociology

1. historical (looks at modern society from a historical perspective)

2. economism (economy drives society)

3. macro (analysis of modern capitalistic society as a whole)

4. critical (union of theory and revolutionary practice)