Soc prelim 3

What country did weber live in?

Germany

When and how did he die?

died at 52 of the spanish flu in 1920

Why did he have a nervous breakdown?

He insulted his father (who was overtly patriarchal and abusive towards his mother) then his father died shortly after

What were the sociological areas that his wife Marianne researched and why?

studied gender issues, especially the sociology of patriarchy. This interest was partly influenced by witnessing the unequal relationship between Max Webers parents

What famous American sociologist and activist did Weber meet when he visited the U.S.? Why

did they connect with each other so quickly and easily?

He met W.E.B. Debois at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. They connected because their sociological research explored similar ideas. Weber’s work on the protestant ethic and Du Bois’s research on the history of race in the U.S. shared important similiarities

What were the 3 clues he used to guide his famous study on The Protestant Ethic?

1. capitalism emerges in western europe

2. protestants were in the highest rungs of orginizations in modern society

3. most poeple work very hard in modern society

What is predestination in the Protestant religious worldview?

peoples eventual destiny in the afterlife is already determined at birth

What was the ‘sign’ of a person’s eventual destiny in the afterworld?

Material wealth

What were the 3 practices that Protestant’s engaged in their attempts to achieve ‘the sign’ of the

chosen?

1. they worked very hard (protestant work ethic)

2. they engaged in careful rational planning and calculation (rationalization)

3. they tried to build wealth (profit)

What happens when the “cloak” of religion falls away?

“disinchantment”: religion slips away and cold hearted rationalization remains

Why did Weber refer to the increasing rationalization in modern society as an “iron cage”?

He warned us that rationality can build an “iron cage” that traps us and prevents us from experiencing ourselves as independent creative humans capable of all kinds of emotions and special experiences. We all must live in the presence of bureaucratic authority and sometimes it feels quite oppressive.

What is the definition of worldview?

A set of beliefs about the world connected to a particular group of people

Weber’s study in authority began with a simple question. What was that question?

why do people obey?

What is the definition of authority?

The ability to make people do things

What is illegitimate authority?

making someone do something through illegal force, like violence or threats of violence

What are the 3 types of legitimate authority? Name, brief description, example for each type.

1. traditional: grounded in the traditional order of society (parents/children, teachers/students, caste system)

2. charismatic: grounded in a strong leader who develops a faithful following, often convinces followers to ignore traditional/bureaucratic forms of authority. They compete for authority (cult leaders, hitler, Jesus)

3. bureaucratic: relies on legal/rational frameworks of written rules and laws (attending cornell)

Which is the most powerful type of authority of the three in modern societies?

Bureaucratic (often wins the turf wars with the other types of authority)

What are the three core categories of human identity according to Weber? Why is this approach to understanding human life necessary?

class, status, and party; this approach is important because human identity cannot be explained by any single factor. Instead, our identities, personalities, and worldviews are shaped by our experiences across different social institutions and networks. Weber uses the concept of “life chances” to explain how these overlapping influences shape our opportunities, particularly our eventual occupations.

What are the ideal types?

Building models of social things, such as the model of the protestant ethic or the model of bureaucratic organization

What is “verstehen?”

approaching a research subject by practicing sympathetic understanding which involves trying to understand why a subject feels, acts, and behave from their particular perspective

How is Mills’ study similar to Weber’s study of the Protestant Ethic?

Both examine who holds power at the top of modern bureaucratic organizations and how they came to occupy these positions

Where is power located in the modern world according to Mills?

Power is concentrated in the highest levels of large bureaucratic organizations across three spheres: government, business corporations, and the military collectively known as the triangle of power

Who are the people that get to use this power?

the power elite

Where do they come from, and how do they learn how to be this type of person?

They often come from prestigious colleges and universities, particularly Ivy League schools, where they are socialized into the norms and worldview of the power elite through connections with other elites.

Mills uses ideal-type concepts like “higher circles” and “triangle of power” in his theory of power in society. Where and what are the “higher circles?” And what is the “triangle of power?”

The highest circles are the top leadership positions within large bureaucratic organizations, where elites make decisions that affect society (often in secret). The triangle of power refers to the three spheres where this power is concentrated: government, business, and the military.

Mills and lecture used 4 models of power across different historical social structures. How are the models useful for understanding this difference? What are the 4 models?

The models show how the location and distribution of power have changed across different historical societies.

• feudal monarchy: absolute power held by royalty and the church

• public/democracy: power held by citizens through public discussion and elected representatives

• mass society/power elite: power concentrated among elites who manipulate public opinion through mass media

• rise of the internet: examines how the internet changes the relationship between ordinary people, the public sphere, and powerful orginizations

What is the structure of the broadcasting model of the mass media?

A one way transmission system where a single source sends controlled information to many receivers, with no opportunity for feedback or discussion. this allows elites to manipulate public opinion.

How does the rise of the Internet disrupt the power elite system?

The document introduces the Internet as a new sphere that may change the relationship between the public and powerful organizations.

What is the definition of poverty?

Being extremely poor. A condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials necessary for a minimum standard of living.

Who is Arleen? What is her life like?

Arleen is a poor single mother in Milwaukee raising two sons. She struggles with housing insecurity, evictions, and poverty. Most of her welfare income goes toward rent.

Who is Sherrena? What is her life story? Her biography?

Sherrena is a landlord and real estate entrepreneur in Milwaukee. She was formerly a fourth grade teacher but left teaching to pursue real estate. She started by buying a home in 1999 and eventually built a profitable rental business with her husband quentin

When a person gets evicted they can choose between two methods for the eviction, what are the

two methods of eviction?

• Truck: belongings are removed and place into storage, which the tenant must pay to retrieve

• curb: belongings are placed on the sidewalk, where anyone can take them

What was the name of the homeless shelter where Arlene takes her children? Why is the name

Important?

The shelter was called the Lodge, a former motel. The name was used so children could tell others they were staying at the Lodge rather than admitting they were homeless.

What did Sherrena bring to Arleen the day Arleen moved in?

Sherrena brought Arleen groceries worth $40, which she purchased with her own money.

What are the bureaucratic organizations in the eviction industry?

Housing courts, sheriff's departments, moving companies specializing in evictions, storage facilities, and data-mining companies that provide landlords with tenant screening reports

What is the nickname of Sherrena and Quentin’s Chevy Suburban?

The “rent collector”

Why was it hard for Sherrena to evict Lamar?

Lamar was a disabled man who had lost both legs and had children. Sherrena felt sympathetic toward his circumstances, making eviction emotionally difficult, although she still needed to collect rent to cover her expenses.

Sherrena has another business connected to the prison system, what is that business? What is her

other business?

Prison business: Credit-repair and investment business? No—the prison-related business was Transport Connections LLC, which transported girlfriends, mothers, and children to visit incarcerated loved ones for $25–$50 per seat.

Other business: A credit-repair and investment business, alongside her rental properties.

What is DNS?

The Department of Neighborhood Services, a Milwaukee government agency responsible for inspecting properties and enforcing housing codes.

Why did Sherrena decide to evict the tenant? There was a legal complication, how did Sherrena

avoid the complication?

Sherrena decided to evict the tenant after the tenant's mother contacted DNS about unsafe housing conditions. Evicting someone in retaliation for reporting code violations was illegal, so Sherrena used the tenant's unpaid rent as the legal justification for eviction.

What happens when Sherrena and Quentin deliver an eviction notice to their tenant?

The tenant's stepfather confronts them, becomes aggressive, and threatens Quentin. Quentin retrieves his security equipment, including handcuffs and a baton, and the confrontation nearly turns violent before they leave.

How do the authors define people who live on “$2 A Day?”

People experiencing extreme poverty, living on $2 or less per person per day in cash income. The lecture specifically emphasizes that some have no cash income at all.

Who is Jennifer Hernandez? What is her life like?

Jennifer is a single mother of two, Kaitlin and Cole, living in extreme poverty in Chicago. She moves between homeless shelters, struggles to find stable employment, and faces constant housing and financial insecurity.

What are the rules for the program at La Casa shelter for the homeless?

Residents can stay for a maximum of three months and must have a job. Jennifer also received a temporary rental subsidy through the shelter.

What are low wage jobs like? What is Jennifer’s job like at Chicago City Custodial Services?

Low-wage jobs involve low pay, unpredictable hours, limited benefits, and demanding working conditions. Jennifer cleaned foreclosed homes and apartments for $8.75 an hour, often in unsafe conditions with inadequate supplies.

Why were there so many foreclosed houses that needed to be cleaned? What condition were

many of these houses in?

The 2012 foreclosure crisis left many homes vacant. Many were vandalized, filthy, damaged, and lacked electricity, heat, or running water.

Why did Jennifer quit her job?

She repeatedly became sick from cleaning cold, moldy houses. Her hours were also reduced dramatically, making the job financially unsustainable.

Why did Jennifer take her children to see a play put on by Chicago’s famous Shakespeare in the

Park troupe?

It was a free outdoor performance of Hamlet, allowing her children to enjoy an activity despite the family's extreme poverty.

Computer technology is embedded in the core societal structures. How does Jennifer get access

to computer technology? What does Jennifer use her cell phone for and why?

She uses the computer lab at La Casa shelter to search for jobs. She has a prepaid cell phone but cannot always afford to use it. Because she lacks a reliable phone, she gives employers the shelter's main number, making it difficult to receive interview calls.

The authors make a very important point about work and the poor. Poor people work!

Poor people work and often have strong work ethics. Many experience extreme poverty despite working because their jobs provide insufficient wages, hours, and stability.

What are EITC and SNAP? How do they run in opposite directions?

- EITC: Earned Income Tax Credit. Benefits increase with earnings at low income levels, but workers with zero earnings receive nothing.

- SNAP: Food assistance. Benefits generally decrease as earnings increase.

They operate in opposite directions because EITC initially rewards increased earnings, while SNAP assistance decreases as income rises.

What is the vision of a decent life described by these people?

A stable job paying around $12–$13 per hour, reliable housing, predictable work hours, and enough income to support their children. They also hope for benefits like healthcare and paid time off.

Why was Susan Brown late for her interview at the clothing thrift shop?

She got off at the wrong bus stop and had to walk a long distance in the heat. She arrived about 20 minutes late, sweating and exhausted.

What is Susan Brown’s educational history?

Susan became pregnant during high school and dropped out. She later earned her GED and enrolled in community college, hoping to eventually earn an associate's degree in early childhood education.

There are two IT-related things that cause Susan Brown a lot of anxiety when she applies for a

job? What are they?

Online applications: Long, complicated forms requiring extensive information.

Computerized personality tests: Questions designed to evaluate behavior and attitudes, where she struggles to determine what employers want.

What are the findings of the racial employment application process studies discussed in the

Chapter?

Black applicants received significantly fewer callbacks than equally qualified white applicants. One study found that white applicants with criminal records were more likely to receive callbacks than Black applicants without criminal records.

Why did these findings depress the paid research team?

The Black actors participating in the study repeatedly experienced discrimination and rejection, even though they knew the applications were part of an experiment.

Susan’s husband Devin got a job. Why are the sociological characteristics of this job?

Devin worked at a grocery store for $8.50 per hour, with approximately 30 hours of work each week. His hours and earnings were insufficient to lift his family out of poverty.

Was Rae McCormick very good at her job? Why did she like going to work?

Yes. Rae was an excellent Walmart cashier, twice earning the title of "Cashier of the Month." She liked working because it gave her a sense of stability, accomplishment, and escape from her difficult personal life.

She has an anger management challenge. Why is she so angry?

Rae experienced significant childhood trauma and abandonment. Her father died when she was young, and her mother abandoned her. These experiences contributed to her anger and difficulty controlling her emotions.

Why did she get fired from her job?

She lost her temper with a customer in a wheelchair during a self-checkout incident. After the confrontation, she was fired.

How did the 1996 Welfare Reform Act affect the structure of low wage jobs because of basic

economic theory of supply and demand?

Welfare reform pushed more single mothers into the workforce, increasing the supply of low-wage workers. This allowed employers to offer lower wages and worse working conditions because more people were competing for jobs.

What is the structure of low wage employment in the U.S.? Pay, weekly hours, benefits, expectations of availability.

Pay: Low hourly wages, often insufficient to support a family.

Hours: Unpredictable schedules, fluctuating weekly hours, and limited full-time opportunities.

Benefits: Often no health insurance, paid leave, or retirement benefits.

Availability: Workers are expected to maintain flexible or open availability, sometimes being called in or sent home with little notice.

What does the American dream look like for these people? What do they hope to get?

Their aspirations are modest: stable employment, decent wages, reliable housing, a car, and financial security for their families. They want to support their children without constantly worrying about basic necessities.

What is the definition of discourse?

a system of thought, knowledge, or communication that constructs our experience in the world

What is the repressive myth of sexuality? Was there one particular important influential figure that helped to foster this approach to human sexuality? What is the in-class example using clothing connected to this myth?

The belief that sex should be hidden, repressed, and not discussed. Queen Victoria helped promote this approach during the 19th century. Her clothing style, which covered nearly all exposed skin, reflected these restrictive sexual norms.

Why does Foucault disagree with the repressive myth?

Because institutions were actually encouraging more discussion about sex, not simply suppressing it. Religion, government, education, and science increasingly studied and regulated sexuality.

Where is sex located? Two places that share something important in common.

In private physical spaces and the human mind. Both are private and largely invisible to outside observation.

How did the Catholic Church attempt to regulate human sexuality in the 17th century?

The Catholic Church attempted to regulate sexuality through confession, requiring individuals to disclose their sexual thoughts, desires, and experiences in detail. This allowed the Church to study, monitor, and regulate sexual behavior, including forbidding certain sexual acts.

How did youth boarding schools attempt to control sex in the 18th century?

Through rules governing sexual education, dormitory arrangements, nighttime behavior, and supervision of students.

Why did science proclaim that it was superior to religion for knowledge about the world?

Science claimed to offer objective, unbiased knowledge based on positivistic research, unlike religious knowledge, which it characterized as influenced by myths, beliefs, and institutional interests.

What happened to the simple village peasant Jouy?

In 1867, Jouy was caught playing a traditional, age-old youth sex game with a young girl. Her parents reported him to the police, and he was arrested. Although no laws explicitly prohibited the game at the time, a judge handed him over to medical authorities, who institutionalized him and studied his behavior, including through phrenology.

How did science change the sociological history of human sexuality?

A special new species-type of human was discovered (or invented), the sexualized human being. And this new discovery/invention was placed on a moral scale, it was very, very biased. It put the heterosexual model (male/female sex, and a normative marriage of opposite genders) on the normal side and everything else on the abnormal or deviant side. Science created a normal/deviant binary.

What is the normal/deviant binary of sexuality? Who is proclaimed to be normal? Who is

accused of being deviant?

A classification created through 19th-century scientific discourse that labeled heterosexuality, particularly opposite-sex marriage, as normal, while other forms of sexuality, including homosexuality, were classified as abnormal or deviant.

How did society treat same-sex desire before the 1960s?

Homosexuality was stigmatized, criminalized, and considered a mental illness. Gay people faced arrest, discrimination, and harmful medical treatments, and many concealed their sexuality.

What happened in NYC in the summer of 1969?

The Stonewall riots, when gay people resisted police action at the Stonewall bar. The lecture identifies this as the beginning of the modern Gay Liberation Movement.

What was the strategy used by the Gay Liberation Movement? For this answer you need to know the overall strategy and the 3 techniques that were used to reach the big goal.

The overall goal was normalization: overcoming the normal/deviant binary and gaining social acceptance.

1. Language: Replaced the stigmatized label "homosexual" with the more positive term "gay."

2. Civil rights: Campaigned against discrimination in housing, employment, marriage, and other areas.

3. Medical classification: Successfully pressured the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

Was this strategy successful?

Partially. The term "gay" became widely accepted, homosexuality was removed from psychiatric classifications of mental illness, and important civil rights protections were established. However, discrimination and opposition continued.

Who began to openly criticize gay liberation in the late 1970s? What was their discourse?

But beginning in the late 1970s a political backlash emerged on the right side of the U.S. political spectrum, at first pushed by religious conservatives who refused to accept the normalization thesis, and insisted on retaining the normal/deviant binary. They began to re-pollute gay identity and pushed back on gay rights and the positive discourse of gay communities. They invoked God and the bible as sources for their criticisms of gay life and especially used fears related to threats on the sacred status of the heterosexual based family as their rhetorical appeal.

What happened when AIDS emerged as a dangerous disease in the early 1980s?

AIDS became associated with gay communities and was initially labeled GRID (gay-related immune deficiency). Its emergence intensified existing debates about homosexuality, with different groups using the disease to advance their preferred views of sexuality.

How did the conservative right use AIDS?

AIDS clearly showed the immorality of gay life, because it was spread through casual sex. It was obviously sent as a message from God to punish the sexual sinners. Gay sexuality should be forbidden. Gay liberation should be stopped and turned back.

How did the heterosexual left use AIDS?

People had the right to experience same sex unions but they should avoid casual sex and instead copy the heterosexual model of becoming committed romantic based couples. It should be noted that this was impossible because of laws that forbid gay marriage and sharing private property and also that gender based roles (man/female) in the heterosexual model were not always available to gays.

How did gays use AIDS?

Gays 1: Gays celebrated their new freedom by having sex with each other. This was

central to their new collective identity. They built neighborhoods in major cities that

included bars, nightclubs, bath houses where they could gather and have sex together.

They did not want to lose their community. Calls to cease or restrict their sexual practices

were seen as very threatening because sex was at the center of their group.

Gays 2: But gays also felt that the sex part of their identity had limited them and was

unhealthy because it was also connected to nightlife lifestyles connected to drinking and

drugging behaviors that were self-harming and damaging. So some gays argued that gays

should stop partying and stop the era of casual sex and instead fall in love and settle down

in committed relationships. Note, this model of gay life copied the typical model of

heterosexual coupling, especially including monogamy.

Why is this still relevant today?

Because the normal/deviant binary continues to influence debates about sexuality. The lecture points to contemporary controversies involving LGBTQ+ rights, education, gender identity, and political campaigns as examples of how society continues to debate which sexual identities and behaviors are considered acceptable.

What is the 3-sector system used by Daniel Bell to describe all societies?

primary/extractive: farming, mining, lumber, fishing

secondary/industrial manufacturing: industrial factories producing goods

Tertiary/postindustrial: all nonmanufacturing or non-extractive services. Knowledge is the basic ingredient for this sector. Educational attainment is a key factor to succes. Technological advances are also key.

Why was there trouble in Lakewood?

Factory closures and the decline of manufacturing jobs led to economic insecurity and hardship.

Why was there trouble in the communities in Louisiana that Hochschild studied?

Factory closures and industrial decline contributed to economic insecurity. The November 4 lecture specifically identifies factory closings as a shared problem in these communities.

What is the definition of demography?

The study of human populations, including changes in population size, composition, and distribution.

What is the stereotype of rural regions?

They are distressed places, the population who lives there is trapped, there are few to no jobs, the residents have low levels of education, and they suffer from a range of health issues including what are called “deaths of despair”, deaths due to alcoholism, drug abuse and/or suicide.

What are the 4d’s of rural communities studied by Lichter and Johnson?

Depopulation: Declining rural populations.

Deaths: High mortality rates and deaths of despair.

Diversity: Increasing racial and ethnic diversity.

Deprivation: Economic hardship, poverty, and limited resources.

What are the 2 ideal-type “tracks” for rural communities according to the authors?

1. Growth and renewal: Rural communities that attract new residents, often because of scenic amenities and economic opportunities. Successful growth can lead to their reclassification as metropolitan areas.

2. Stagnation and decline: Rural communities experiencing job losses, out-migration of young adults, aging populations, and declining services. These communities often remain classified as rural.

Key connection: This creates the demographic paradox: successful rural communities are often reclassified as metropolitan, leaving struggling communities behind in the rural category.

What are the reasons for depopulation in rural areas?

Mechanization and consolidation of farming, declining coal employment, competition affecting timber and manufacturing, and out-migration of younger residents. Population aging and declining birth rates also contribute.

What is a “natural decrease” in a rural population?

When the number of deaths exceeds the number of births, causing the population to decline naturally.

What are the reasons for rural death rates?

Aging populations, health problems, and deaths of despair associated with drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicide. Out-migration of younger residents also leaves behind an older population with higher mortality.

What are the reasons for increased diversity in rural regions?

1. Growth of minority populations: Hispanic, immigrant, and other racial and ethnic minority populations are growing in rural areas, partly because of employment opportunities.

2. Decline and reclassification of White populations: White rural populations are declining, while many growing, predominantly White rural counties are reclassified as metropolitan. This increases the proportion of minorities in the areas that remain classified as rural.

Key point: Rural diversity is increasing both because minority populations are growing and because disproportionately White, growing rural counties are being reclassified as metropolitan.

What are the reasons for deprivation in rural regions?

Loss of employment in agriculture, mining, and manufacturing; persistent poverty; unemployment; and limited economic opportunities. The reclassification of growing rural counties also leaves behind communities with fewer resources and weaker prospects for future growth.

What is “SVI?”

Social Vulnerability Index.

What is “rural gentrification?”

refers to the process in which wealthier newcomers move into rural communities, often attracted by scenic landscapes, recreational amenities, and quality of life. This can increase property values and transform the local economy, potentially making housing less affordable for longtime residents.

Where does the study take place? Is this an area of historic importance? If so how and why?

In Hudson, New York, in Columbia County, along the Hudson River Valley.

What is the conflict in the reading?

A proposal by St. Lawrence Cement (SLC) to build a new cement plant in Greenport, near Hudson. Supporters argued the plant would create jobs and stimulate economic growth, while opponents argued it would damage the environment, tourism, and quality of life.