SOC 101

Sociology

Study of relationships between individuals, groups, and institutions in society.

Sociological Perspective

Understanding the connections between individuals and the broader social context in which they live.

Sociological Imagination

Ability to grasp the relationship between history and biography within society.

Culture

Collection of values, beliefs, knowledge, norms, language, behaviors, and material objects shared by a people.

Structure

Recurring patterns of behavior in social life that help accomplish goals but also constrain actions.

Power

Ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others.

Social Theory

Set of principles and propositions that explains the relationship among social phenomena.

Empirical Research

Systematic investigation based on observation and evidence, distinct from non-empirical inquiry.

Classical Theorists

Foundational figures in sociology, including Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Structural-Functionalism

Perspective focusing on consensus and cooperative interactions in society, emphasizing stability.

Conflict Theory

Perspective highlighting issues of contention, power, and inequality in society.

Symbolic Interactionism

Focus on how society emerges from people's use of shared symbols in everyday interactions.

Modernity

Historical period characterized by the rise of democracy, industrialization, and reliance on science.

Enlightenment

18th-century intellectual movement promoting reason, individual rights, and questioning of traditional authority.

Urbanization

Growth of cities resulting from industrialization and migration for new job opportunities.

Social Solidarity

Collective bonds that connect individuals through shared values and morals.

Anomie

State of normlessness in society, leading to confusion and lack of social guidance.

Double Consciousness

Concept by W.E.B. Du Bois describing the internal conflict experienced by marginalized groups.

Feminist Theories

Focus on inequalities between women and men, emphasizing women's experiences and advocating for gender equality.

Postmodernity

Historical period characterized by the rise of information-based economies and fragmented political beliefs.

Auguste Comte:

• French Intellectual 

• Invented the word sociology (in early 19th century)

• Wanted to establish soc. As science of society (modeled on natural sciences) w/ laws that govern human behavior 

Stability and Change

fields Fundamental Questions

• Social dynamics: How and why do societies change? 

• Social statics: What is the basis of social stability at a specific historic moment?

Theory abt historical progression of societies: theological (ruled by religion), metaphysical (ruled by philosophy), and positivism (ruled by science)

• Positivism: belief that accurate knowledge must be based on the scientific method

  • pov = positivism enables deeper understanding of human life & is key to solving persistent social problems.

Herbert Spencer

Society as a Social Organism  (society = organism)

• british sociologist,early  adopter of term soc.

• theory emphasized: overall structure of society, functions served by elements of society, and the interactions among these elements 

  • Thought society made of parts that work together to sustain organism (society) 

• believed in “survival of the fittest” (before charles darwin's work)

  • application of survival of the fittest to human society is today known as social darwinism

• also believed that society progresses as it evolves, so there should be no gov. Interference

Karl marx

Biography	1818-1883 German Writer and activist
Key issues and works	Nature of capitalism conflict and inequality capital = comprehensive analysis of hist. And dynamics of capitalism

Revolutionary thinker advocated radical change to help interest of workers

. Combined activism w/ writing

• Politically repressed, Exiled to london 

Analysis on capitalism

• Wanted to explain how & why so much wealth and productivity (wealthy few owners) (from industrial capitalism) could coexist with widespread poverty and misery (workers w/ Dangerous conditions living in poverty)

  • Marx’s answer = Dynamics of capitalism, encouraged owners to pay the lowest wages possible because lower labor cost means higher profits (thus creating simultaneous fortunes & poverty)

  • Wealth gave owners power, which they used to control gov. & cultural institutions 

• Marx said: capitalism has built in conflict b/w worker and owners, so one day the exploitation of workers will become so extreme, wage laborers will rise up and overthrow the capitalist system and replace it with socialism

  • Socialism puts major means of prod. (factories, railways, etc.) in public hands for gov. To direct its prod. Forces for public good. 

  • Socialism goal = create society w/o extreme inequalities of capitalism 

The revolutions that Marx had said would happen didn’t happen because instead of overthrowing capitalism it was reformed. 

Marx’s analysis of industrial capitalism was insightful in specifying the connection b/w wealth and poverty 

Accurately predicted:

• Cheap labor search leads to expansion of capitalism around world

• Growth of labor movements ended unregulated capitalism

Highlighted Core soc. Concepts:

1. Power

• Said: Economic power could be used to influence other aspects of social life: gov. & cultural instructions (schools, media)

2. People create the societies they live in and are in turn influence by them (Main Idea of Sociological perspective)

• Relationship b/w individual (how individual responds, action taken)  and broader social context (barriers faced, opportunities available they don’t control)

Emile Durkheim

1858-1917 French Academic

Nature of social solidarity shared values and morals Suicide = book

Thought that mechanical solidarity is based on similarity found in small communities, while organic solidarity is based on the diversity and differentiation found in larger communities

mechanical solidarity = social cohesion based on shared experience and common identity with limited individuality

• Mechanical solidarity Ex: have the same job, religion, customs, and experiences across generations (farmers in rural communities)

Organic solidarity = new form of social cohesion based on interdependence (characteristic of modern industrial societies)

• Interdependence leads to social cohesion cuz for society to keep operating we need the multiple of different specialized components 

• Permits balance b/w individuality & gp commitment

Suicide by Durkheim = argued suicide is not purely individual act, sociological perspective could help explain how individuals are affected by the quality of their relationship with larger social groups which could lead them to commit suicide

• 1 of his most influential works

•  One of First show potential of sociological perspective + systemic research 

Suicide by Emile Durkheim:

• Suicide  = subject of 1st soc. Study to use large scale data analysis

• Explained too much or too little social integration or social regulation wuld increase likelihood of suicide 

• Identified 4 types of suicide: egoistic, anomic, altruistic, fatalistic

  • Egoistic = result from too little social interaction, committed by lonely detached from society ppl. 

  • Altrustic suicides = result from too much social integration, leading individuals to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the collective

    • Kamikaze pilots in WWII suicide bombers 

  • Anomic suicide = result of absence of social regulation

    • EX: after natural disaster, entertainers overnight success 

  • Fatalistic suicide results from too much social regulation

    • Ex: slaves

Social integration = strength of social ties that allow people to feel they belong in a group 

Social regulation = strength of social norms that control people’s behavior  

Social Solidarity, the collective bonds  that connect individuals.

Crime is a jab at collective conscience that disrupts social solidarity, w/o constraints provided by collective conscience durkheim argues society would become chaotic cuz it wouldn’t have  s moral guidance or standard (anomie)

• Anomie = social normlessness, social moral guidance or standards

• Collective conscious = shared norms, beliefs, and values in a community 

Max Weber

1864-1920 German Academic

Decline of tradition Rationalization of society The protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism = books

The Protestant Ethic and Rationalization of Modern Life

• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: cultural beliefs could influence economic development.

• Tradition versus rationality; and a “dark side” of rationality

  
  

  Protestant Ethic: 

• weber said Protestant belief that wealth acquired thru hard work was a sign of God’s favor motivated people to work hard, invest, and accumulate wealth which are requirements for success in capitalist economy  

Used verstehen (understanding) viewing from pov of actors to understand why ppl. Behave the way they do to understand the broader culture in which the action takes place

Contributions to sociological theory:

• Verstehen = important precursor to soc. Theory forced on how people make meaning of social world

• Worked on explaining the shift from traditional to rational action

  
  

  Tradition = beliefs and customs charged with emotional significance passed from gen. To gen.

Rationality = use of reason and logical calculation to achieve a goal as efficiently as possible (influenced ppl.’s action in capitalist societies)

Argued that social change that was occurring in his time was occurring because of the cultural change of Rationalization of society

• Rationalization of Society = the long term historical process by which rationality replaced tradition as the basis for organizing social and economic life

Ex: weber argued = rationality responsible for creation of bureaucracies, government agencies, political parties, industrial companies 

Weber pov = “dark side of rationality” = rationalization is productive for society cuz it pursues efficiency but as rationalization infiltrated all aspects of social life it would create cold & impersonal society 

Rationalization continues to pervade our lives at home, school, and work in a variety of ways

W.E.B. Du Bois

1868-1963 American Scholar and actavist

Race and discrimination  Co-founder of NAACP The Philadelphia Negro; The Souls Of Black Folk = ooks

Du Bois: Racial Inequality:

In his lifetime his academic work was marginalized cuz racism

Contributions to soc. = Groundbreaking Research on race in america, all his works explored complexity of race relations in turn-of-the century American Society 

• Also promoted racial justice 

  
  

  got phd from harvard (1st black) moved to philadphia's black neighborhoods to do research and collect data abt. social life (education, health)

  
  

  Soc work:

  1. The Philadelphia Negro

  Du Bois published the first sociological study of a black community (The Philadelphia Negro) containing his findings which were:

  • black communities  harsh social conditions (crime, poverty, and addiction) were the result of racial discrimination from stable working & middle class jobs

  His studies elevated inequality to place of prominence in soc. (eventually)

  
  
  

  The Philadelphia Negro was follwed by:

  
  
  

  2. The Souls of Black Folk which provided social analysis & commentary, in it W.E.B used term Double Consciousness 

  • Double consciousness = simultaneously possessing a view of oneself and a view of how the world views them (resonates w/ oppressed gps) 

  3. Established dept. Of soc. In 1897 & developed more rigorous standards for research methods @ atalanta U 

  
  
  

  After Racist incident (lynching & exhibition of black guy) he shifted from scholar to activit & civil rights leader, cuz “ppl had not only to know, but to act”

  
  
  

  Activism work:

  • Founded NAACP (national association for advanced colored people) = leading civil rights org. Of 20th cent. 

  • Founded NAACP magazine The crisis

  • Tried to unify black ppl. Around the world

  • Participated in: 1900 world fair with the exhibit of american negros & 1st pan african conference  

  
  
  

  
  

 

Harriet Martineu

Biography	1802-1876 English Writer and activist (for women’s suffrage & expansion of women's rights in england) Self taught excluded from academic appointment
Key issues and work	Gender, slavery, and discrimination  Society in america = book

Harriet Martineau: Gender Discrimination

Harriet Marineu = Considered the first female sociologist, focused on gender discrimination and topics ignored by white male sociologists (slavery)

Martineau impt. contribution to soc = translating Auguste Comte’s work for English speaking audiences

Martineau work:

• @ start: Wrote magazine articles 

• Cont to: Books  geared toward general public over academic audience

Books:

• Society in America = critique of US failing to live up to democratic promise in treatment of enslaved ppl & women

• How to Observe Morals and Manners = methods of social research

• Translated Auguste Comte to english

Jane Addams

1860-1935 American  Scholar and Activist

Urban social problems Hull house founder Hull house Maps and papers = chronicles life in immigrant communities, & prod. Data to promote reform

Jane Addams: Urban Social Problems

Activist work:

• Social reformer

• Hull House Founder

  • hull house provided social services to chicago’s poor immigrant communities  & was model for settlement houses

• 1st US Women NOBEL Peace Prize winner (for building international women coalition promoting peace & war prevention)

• Social reform contributions 

  
  

  Soc work:

• Impt soc contribution = her Chicago’s south side social life research significantly influence urban sociology development

• Believed addressing social problem (social theory & research) should come with a call to action  promoting social change helping her contribute to Social reform while testing theories abt. How society worked

• Encouraged sociologists to pay attention to social complexities of gender by criticizing male sociologists cuz they made generalizations about society based on mens experience only

Theory characteristics:

• A theory is not just a hunch or personal opinion. 

  • Theories need to be tested, & be consistent with evidence

• Theories evolve and are sometimes rejected, leaving the most useful to survive.

  • Theory repeatedly constricted by evidence => revised or discarded

• Multiple theories often give us a more complete picture than any single one.

  • Cuz give variety of possible explanations & range of factors that can contribute to it

Key dimensions of theory

Different sociological theories focus on various dimensions of social life 

Each dimension = continuum 

Understanding where theories lies on continuum help you understand how it fits into the larger picture of sociological thought

Consensus and Conflict (dimension of social life)

• Conflict = tensions and disputes in society, often resulting from unequal distribution of scarce resources, which contribute to social change 

• Consensus = solidarity and cooperative interactions due to shared values and interests which can contribute to social stability

• Conflict and consensus coexist in all social life (insitions, organizations, societies)

Objective and Subjective Reality (dimension of social life)

• Objective conditions = material aspects of social life (physical environment, social network, and social institutions)

  • Objective conditions exist outside of us and collectively make up objective dimensions of social life 

• Cultural aspect of social life = Subjective conditions = social life’s world of ideas: sense of self, social norms, values, and belief systems

Micro-Level and Macro-Level Analyses  (dimension of social life)

• Micro-level analysis = theories that focus on small scale, usually face-to-face, social interactions

• Macro level of analysis = focus on large scale social systems and process such as the economy, police, and population tends 

• Meso level analysis = theories that focus somewhere between large and small scale social phenomena (companies and organization) 

Often sociological work focus on interactions b/w various levels of social life

Major theoretical Traditions:

Since mid-twentieth century sociologists have sometimes grouped varied sociological theories into three broad categories: structural functionalist theories, Conflict theories, and symbolic interactionist theories

Main sociological perspectives 

1. Structural-Functionalist theories (aka functionalist theories) : focus on consensus and cooperative interactions in social life, emphasizing how different parts of society contribute to its overall operation

• functionalist theories Roots = Spencer (society = organism) & Durkheim (social solidarity) roots 

• Dominant in the US in mid. 20th century. : leading proponent Talcott parsons = society is interdependent parts working to produce social stability

• Social institutions must meet a need of the system as a whole; institutions that do not contribute either adapt or disappear 

• Social organization must perform key functions to survive: teach group members core community values, integrating member intro productive participation in life 

• Impt contribution (Robert. K. Merton) to Functionalist theory distinguished: manifest functions = recognized and intended consequences, latent functions = largely unintended and unrecognized consequences, reminded that longstanding phenomena can be dysfunctional

  • Dysfunctional = inhibiting or disrupting the working system as a whole

2. Conflict Theories:

Conflict theories = focus on issues of contention, power, and inequality, highlighting the competition for scarce resources

• Emphasized that ppl. Try to acquire scarce & valuable resources to meet their basic need (food, housing, good job)  ppl. Have to compete for them cuz these resources are limited which brings different groups into conflict 

. Conflict theories Root: Marx (workers) , Weber (cultural beliefs influence economic development) , Du Boids (racial discrimination) , Martineau (gender discrimination & slave discrimination), and Addams (urban soc.)

• Conflict theories useful for studying diff forms of inequality: sexism, classism, racism

  
  

• Even if conflict not visible it present but repressed by powerful

Conflict theories say, see power at the core of social life

power  = enables some people to gain advantage over other and acquire more resources, more resources give them more power

Conflict theories applied to families = unequal power b/w wife and husband

3. Symbolic Interactionist Theories

Symbolic interactionist theories = focus on how society emerges from peoples use of shared symbols in the course of their everyday interactions

Symbolic Interactionist theories explain social life by highlighting that social world is based on interactions between ppl using cultural symbols (words, nonverbal body language)

• Thru interactions ppl develop sense of self & create shared understanding of reality w/ others 

  • Symbolic interactionist theories explain social life by highlighting the active role people take in constructing shared understandings of social reality  and creating society

    •  Make society by coming to shared understanding of reality which produces pattern of behavior and structure 

    • These interpretations are not static and can change

Symbolic Interactionist theories strongly associated with subjective (social lifes world ideas: sense of self, values, norms, beliefs) and micro-level (small scale) dimensions of social life

Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the process by which individuals create culture

• Symbolic interactionist theories fully developed in US

• Groundwork for symbolic interactionist theories: Georg Simmel, Weber (versten) 

Ex: symbolic interaction @ family lvl. Interactions develop understanding of who they are and what their roles are within family

Feminist theories

focus on inequalities between women and men

• Also focus on women's body as social struggle involving sexuality, beauty norms, violence, reproductive right, health

Feminist theories 

• contemporary perspective

• Could be considered conflict theories

• Could be symbolic interactionism = how inequalities created and reinforced in daily interactions

• no single theory

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Sociology’s Common Ground

 Culture, structure, and power

Culture

the collection of values, beliefs, knowledge, norms, language, behaviors, and material objects shared by a people and socially transmitted from generation to generation 

Culture is a way of life because it operates at all levels of society

Tend to to take culture for granted since have internalized its basic customs and assumptions (EX: ideas of respect and courtesy)

Culture is not “natural” or biological because it must be taught and learned through process of socialization

Ppl must reproduce culture for it to survive, so ppl can also change culture by adopting new values, beliefs, and behaviors and abandoning older one 

Cultural Evolution can create conflict:

Conflict: ppl holding more traditional values vs new ideas

Structure

recurring patterns of behavior in social life

• Structures range: informal (friends hang out routine) - formal organizations (government, school)

  
  

  Structure helps accomplish goals, but also constrains what people can do.

  
  

  Social structures  influence how people act

  
  

  People act thereby creating, reproducing, or changing social structures 

• People may comply with the rules (reproducing structure) or work to change them thus modifying the social structure

Structure must be reproduced through contributing patterns of behavior or they can be changed through changes in behavior.

Ex: of structure changing as behavior changes = 6 day work weeks became 5 day work weeks

Power

the ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others 

 Power operates at all levels of society  (families, organizations, international relations, empowering self to get degree)

Power can also be used to influence thinking and behavior of others and even to dominate others

More economic, political (make rules and decisions), and cultural (define reality) resources means more power

• Inequality = Systemic and unequal distribution of resources among various groups of people

Paying attention to power allows us to see connections and similarities between different forms of inequality

Intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality has proven to be important in understanding power and inequality 

Social life is ever changing => culture, structure, and power can also change they are all ongoing social processes

Culture is reproduced and changed through socialization (cuz culture is learned and taught)

Structures are created and altered through action (ppl. Action can reproduce, create, modify structure)

Power can be used to produce or reduce inequalities, which in turn can alter the distribution of power 

when did sociology emerge?

Sociology emerged during the start of the 18-19th century in a period known as modernity, as ppl. (sociologist) wanted  to explain the transition and the social turmoil (culture, power, structure)

Modernity

associated w/ rise of: industrialization, democracy science

Postmodernity

= historical period beginning in the mid-twentieth century characterized by the rise of information-based economies and the fragmentation of political beliefs and ways of knowing

Ten features of Postmodern Society:

1. Media expansion & commercial culture

2. The Threat to the natural environment

3. US cities decline and Suburbs rise

4. The global economy

5. Aging Population:

6. Changing Family:

7. Troubled political institutions:

8. Increased diversity and multiculturalism

9. Violences changing nature and warfare

10. Changing role of religion

Standpoint theory

women's different experiences need to be included to produce accurate understanding of social life, extended to women's experiences that varying based on: race, class, and sexual orientation the