Intro Sociology Chapter 10-13

SUBCULTURES

a small culture within another culture that has its own set of norms, values, and symbols often defined in opposition to those of mainstream society. A subculture is distinct from the dominant culture but still retains elements of that dominant culture

SUBCULTURAL CAPITAL

Knowledge of a subculture that demonstrates a person's authentic membership (insider status) in it. Authenticity is key. 

Subcultural knowledge is “cool”: sometimes originated by marginalized groups and defined by defiance, and adopted by powerful groups.

NOTHING depletes subcultural capital more than trying too hard. 

BODY WORK

work done by the self (and/or hired workers) to manipulate and manage the body in order to conform to cultural norms

STIGMA

a deeply devaluing attribute: viewed as both different and undesirable

HOMOPHILY

 tendency to form bonds with people with similar cultural characteristics

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

A microsociological perspective; social world is created through everyday relationships and interactions.  

CONTENT ANALYSIS

Documenting frequency of a particular message (word, trait) in a large grouping of texts (print, photographs, music, film etc.)

Means: developing codes to describe and analyze messages.

Goal: discover cultural patterns that are not apparent through casual observation.

WHITE PRIVILEGE

Advantages that white people experience as a result of their race. May be invisible to those who experience it.

OLIGOPOLY IN MUSIC INDUSTRY

A small number of sellers dominate a market.

HEGEMONIC BEAUTY STANDARDS

When ideological beliefs become part of our everyday common sense.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

A method for interpreting the sociological significance of a text, and can be used to investigate the meaning of music.

PATH DEPENDENCE

Once society adopts a certain course of action, early decisions, like building highways and gas stations. It can be self-reinforcing and can have a great deal of influence on later decisions.

FORDISM (1910-70)

An assembly line, workers stay in one place performing uniform tasks at high speeds on goods that move along a line. The wide-scale, efficient implementation of this technique revolutionized industrial manufacturing and allowed Ford to expand production and bring down the cost of cars.

POST-FORDISM (1970s-Today)

Characterized by flexible production and niche consumption. Instead of mass-produced cars with superficial styling differences, manufacturers have come to offer a greater number of cars that are fundamentally different in structure and engineering. In consumer terms, an economy offers a massive amount of product differentiation, providing plenty of opportunities to distinguish oneself through consumption.

SHARING ECONOMY

People use mobile devices and internet connections to temporarily access consumer durables like cars or living spaces, rather than owning the goods themselves.

CONTROL AND CONSUMPTION OF MUSIC INDUSTRY

Music industry in consumption is production shapes consumption, the music industry decides what music is made available to consumers.

While also consumption shapes production, the music industry uses consumer data to decide what music to make available.

Music industry in control, Sociologist Victor Rios writes about the youth control complex to highlight the multiple institutions that work to penalize, stigmatize, and eventually criminalize youth of color. He conducted ethnographic research with black and latino boys in Oakland, California, and found that school disciplinary practices such as labeling a student “at risk” can subject boys of color to heightened surveillance, restricting the opportunities available to them as they are placed under scrutiny within schools, the community, and the criminal justice system. 

Self

Our understanding of who we think and feel we are as individuals, distinct from others.

Sociological Perspective

Self is experienced at a personal level; but our sense of self is developed in relation to others. Self is a social creation.

Looking Glass Self (Cooley)

Sense of self is always relational: it develops through imagining how others perceive and evaluate us.

We are often who we think others think we are. Without the mirror of the social world, we cannot fully understand ourselves.

The “I”

The impulsive part of a self, one’s likes and wants. The sole motivator of young children.

The “Me” is The Socialized Self

Developed through socialization. Able to take the perspective of others and situation-specific.

The “Me” Initially Develops in The Relation to Significant Others

People whose approval we desire. As we grow up, we no longer need their constant guidance, because we mature.

Generalized Other

Internalized social expectations (norms) that enable us to act appropriately in a variety of contexts.

Goffman: Dramaturgical Theory

Individual sense of self is performed for others.

Impression Management

Work necessary to manage the self we display, presentations of self differs between frontstage (public and how you behave in public) and backstage (private and how you behave at home).

Identity

A sociological concept that refers to different aspects of our self.

Consumption

Used to create a coherent identity in a fragmented postmodern society. We can create and recreate our identities.

Creative Consumer

Culture liberates individuals from constraints of their social locations.

Social Locations

Continue to shape both our identities and our consumption options.

Corporatized

Profit-driven markets generate dissatisfaction with selves and a treadmill of consumption.

Symbolic Boundaries

We signal who we are by distancing ourselves from brands and companies we dislike.

Brand

Use of culture to draw lines of inclusion and exclusion that distinguish some individuals and groups from others (insiders from outsiders)

Self-Branding

Building a meaningful, impressive, and recognizable presentation of the self that will catch the attention of potential employers, customers, romantic partners, social media followers.

Ideology

Ideas that are to some degree distorted in order to disguise and/or justify inequality or exploitation, and sustain domination.

Trickle Down

Elites initiate trends, but must find new ones once the trend is copied by the masses.

Trickle Up

Lower-status groups and subcultures initiate styles.

Lifestyle

An individual or group way of living, expressed through attitudes, behavioral patterns, and consumption choices. Drives and organizes one’s fashion choices.