Development of Sociological Thinking and Modern Theoretical Approaches

Vocabulary flashcards defining foundational sociological terms, theories, and concepts from the provided textbook reading.

Social facts

According to Émile Durkheim, the aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, which can be studied scientifically as things.

Organic solidarity

According to Durkheim, the social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole.

Social constraint

The conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members, regarded by Durkheim as one of the distinctive properties of social facts.

Division of labor

The specialization of work tasks by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system.

Anomie

A concept first brought into wide usage in sociology by Durkheim to refer to a situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior, leading to feelings of aimlessness or despair.

Materialist conception of history

The view developed by Karl Marx according to which material, or economic, factors have a prime role in determining historical change.

Capitalism

An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit.

Bureaucracy

A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full-time, salaried officials.

Double consciousness

A concept introduced by W. E. B. Du Bois to describe identity through the lens of the experiences of African Americans, capturing the feeling of always measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.

Rationalization

A concept used by Max Weber to refer to the process by which modes of precise calculation and organization, involving abstract rules and procedures, increasingly come to dominate the social world.

Symbolic interactionism

A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbert Mead that emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements of all human interaction.

Symbol

One item used to stand for or represent another—as in the case of a flag, which symbolizes a nation.

Functionalism

A theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform—that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society.

Manifest functions

The functions of a type of social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved in the activity.

Latent functions

Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by the members of a social system in which they occur.

Conflict theory

A sociological perspective that emphasizes the role of political and economic power and oppression as contributing to the existing social order.

Marxism

A body of thought deriving its main elements from the ideas of Karl Marx that combines sociological analysis with a program of radical political reform.

Power

The ability of individuals or the members of a group to achieve aims or further the interests they hold, even when others resist.

Ideologies

Shared ideas or beliefs that serve to justify the interests of dominant groups.

Feminist theory

A sociological perspective that emphasizes the centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the uniqueness of the experience of women.

Feminism

Advocacy of the rights of women to be equal with men in all spheres of life.

Rational choice approach

The theory that an individual's behavior is purposive and guided primarily by self-interest under existing opportunities and constraints.

Postmodernism

The belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress, resulting in a highly pluralistic and diverse society with no 'grand narrative' guiding its development.

Microsociology

The study of human behavior in the context of face-to-face interaction.

Macrosociology

The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems.