Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: Ritzer & Stepnisky Chapters 9-12

race

A social construction that classifies people according to phenotypic differences such as skin color, hair type, and eye shape

settler colonialism

A form of colonialism in which the colonizers establish permanent settlements in the colonies. Examples include the French colonies in what are now the United States and Canada and the British colonies in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

phenomenology

The philosophical study of subjective experience

dialectic of recognition

The intersubjective process through which people mutually recognize one another's identities, thereby creating self-consciousness; Works differently in different societies.

existentialism

A school of philosophy that emphasizes the importance of freedom and personal responsibility to human beings (Fanon).

racial-epidermal schema

A way of looking at and acting on people that prioritizes skin color and other so-called racial features (Fanon).

ideology

To Marxists and neo-Marxists, ideas that distract people from understanding the true causes of social inequality and human suffering

neocolonialism

The idea that even though most colonizing nations abandoned their colonies by the mid-20th century, the basic power structures of colonialism continue to operate under the form of neoliberal globalization.

postcolonial theory

A theoretical perspective that describes the cultural forces that enable postcolonial power and describes sources of potential resistance to that power.

discourse

A symbolic system that organizes and classifies the world. Texts can create reality. (Foucault/Said)

critical race theory

A perspective centered in the study of the law and its relationship to the perpetuation of racism and racial domination

differential racialization

The idea that different minority groups are racialized in different ways at different times (critical race theory)

critical theories of race and racism

A set of theories that have much in common with critical race theory but are centered in the social sciences rather than in the study of the law. These theories focus on the way that racism and racial domination are perpetuated through multiple social institutions.

postracial society

The idea that race no longer plays a significant role in the social life of a society; specifically, some claim that race has played little role in American social life since the civil rights era (1950s–1960s).

racial formation

The idea that the concept of race is not natural but rather a social construction that has been formed over long periods of time (Omi and Winant)

split labor market theory

The theory that racial and ethnic tensions develop when owning classes (the bourgeoisie) pit workers (the proletariat) from different racial categories against each other (Bonacich)

racialization

The process by which phenotypic differences are made to matter in a socially significant way (Omi and Winant)

racial field

The totality of racial identities that exist within a given society as well as their relationships to one another (Emirbayer and Desmond)

racial capital

The kind of capital, and therefore power, that comes from being a member of a particular racialized group (Emirbayer and Desmond)

racial cultural structure

The symbolic organization of racial life (Emirbayer and Desmond).

racial collective-emotional structures

The group organization of feelings about race (Emirbayer and Desmond)

reconciliation

Attempts to overcome the damage of the colonial past and to establish equitable and fair relations between colonizers and colonized

indigenous place-thought

The idea that land is not only a backdrop to human action but is alive and interconnected with human and nonhuman agents (Watts)

dispossession of land

The removal of Indigenous persons from their traditional lands as well as the division and definition of land on European terms (Coulthard).

resurgence

The reinvigoration and regeneration of Indigenous life through Indigenous culture and ideas (Alfred/Coulthard/Simpson)

postindustrial society

A society characterized by the provision of services rather than goods; professional and technical work rather than blue-collar, manual work; theoretical knowledge rather than practical know-how; the creation and monitoring of new technologies; and new intellectual technologies to handle such assessment and control (Bell)

governmentalities

The practices and techniques by which control is exercised over people (Foucault)

hiearchical observation

The ability of officials at or near the top of an organization to oversee all that they control with a single gaze (Foucault)

panopticon

A structure that allows someone in power (e.g., a prison officer) the possibility of complete observation of a group of people (e.g., prisoners) (Foucault)

disciplinary society

A society in which control over people is pervasive (Foucault)

normalizing judgments

Judgments made by those in power based on their decisions about what is normal and what is abnormal on a variety of dimensions. Those who violate the norms, who are judged abnormal, can then be punished by officials or their agents (Foucault)

examination

A way of observing subordinates and judging what they are doing. It involves checking up on subordinates and assessing what they have done; it is employed in a given setting by those in authority, who make normalizing judgments about what is and is not an adequate score (Foucault)

microphysics of power

The idea that power exists at the micro level and involves efforts to exercise it as well as efforts to contest its exercise (Foucault)

deinstitutionalization

The process, begun in the 1960s and made possible by new drug treatments, in which many psychiatric institutions were closed and the vast majority of patients who were released were left to their own devices to survive in the larger society

biopolitics

The social control of life. It takes two forms: control over the individual human body and control over the population as a whole (Foucault)

postmodern sociology

A type of sociology that is heavily influenced by postmodern ideas and that adopts a nonrational approach to the study of society (Bauman)

sociology of postmodernity

A type of sociology that is continuous with modern sociology in that it is characterized by rational and systematic discourse and by an effort to develop a model of postmodern society. However, it accepts postmodern society as a distinctive and unique type and does not see it as an aberrant form of modern society (Bauman)

neotribalism

A postmodern development characterized by the coming of age of a wide array of communities that are refuges for strangers and, more specifically, for ethnic, religious, and political groups

consumer society

buying things, status

code

A system of rules that allows us to understand signs and, more important, how they relate to one another (Baudrillard)

needs

Those things that people require to survive and to function at a minimal level in the contemporary world. They are often used to explain why we consume what we do.

hyperconsumption

An extraordinary level of consumption associated with the contemporary world (Ritzer)

difference

An alternate explanation of consumption favored by postmodernists. We consume not because of needs but to be different from other people; this is defined by what and how we consume.

symbolic exchange

A reversible process of giving and receiving; a cyclical exchange of gifts and counter gifts associated with primitive societies (Baudrillard)

simulation

Fakes; to Baudrillard, the contemporary world is coming to be increasingly dominated by the inauthentic

hyperreal

Entirely simulated and, as a result, more real than real, more beautiful than beautiful, truer than true, and so on (Baudrillard)

means of production

Those things that are needed for production to take place (including tools, machinery, raw materials, and factories) (Marx)

means of consumption

To Marx, these are simply consumer goods, but to Ritzer, paralleling Marx’s sense of the means of production, these are the things that make consumption possible. As the factory makes production possible, the shopping mall enables the consumer and consumption.

new means of consumption

The set of consumption sites that came into existence largely after 1950 in the United States and that served to revolutionize consumption (Ritzer)

creative destruction

The process in which older structures are destroyed to make way for newer ones that function more effectively (Schumpeter).

implosion

The decline of boundaries and the collapse of things into each other; dedifferentiation as opposed to differentiation (Baudrillard)

dream world

make products appear more desirable, romantic, glamorous, and appealing. Inflame desires and feelings of consumers (Williams)

identity politics

Political activism that arises out of the efforts of marginalized groups to seek legitimacy and recognition for their distinct identities

deconstruction

An analytic technique used by poststructuralists to demonstrate the constructed nature of taken-for-granted social realities. In particular, it shows that social reality is created in the relationship between binary linguistic categories in which one of the elements in the category is treated as inferior

heterosexual matrix

A cultural framework that makes it appear as if heterosexuality is the natural form of sexuality (queer theory)

compulsory heterosexuality

A product of the heterosexual matrix, a social system in which the only viable, intelligible, and respectable form of sexuality is heterosexuality (queer theory)

epistemology of the closet

The idea that modern knowledge about sexuality and in particular homosexuality is connected to the public denial of homosexuality (Sedgwick)

homosexual melancholy

The persistent sadness that is part of a heterosexual culture in denial of its own homosexuality (queer theory)

cultural imperialism

The influence of a particular culture on a wide array of other cultures

globalization

set of processes involving multidirectional flows of objects, information, and structures. Global integration of products, services, and culture; cultures around the world are growing increasingly similar

globalism

the world is dominated by economic matters. The emergence of the domination of capitalist world market and neoliberal ideology (market value, skill)

globality

no closed systems, especially those associated with nations. Transnational actions (purchasing, selling, energy, culture, politics, etc.)

civilization

the broadest domain of cultures and cultural identities. Everything within a society (large culture)

McDonaldization

The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world; in the latter sense, a form of cultural imperialism (Ritzer)

efficiency

The effort to discover the best possible means to whatever end is desired; fast, cost-efficient, productive. A dimension of McDonaldization (Ritzer)

calculability

An emphasis on quantity, often to the detriment of quality;speed, time, margins, numbers. A dimension of McDonaldization (Ritzer)

predictability

An emphasis on things (products, settings, employees, customer behavior, etc.) being pretty much the same from one geographic setting to another and from one time to another; a dimension of McDonaldization (Ritzer)

control

The domination of technologies over employees and customers; automation, machines, timers. A dimension of McDonaldization (Ritzer).

irrationality of rationality

rationality can often lead to its opposite. Ex. long lines, dehumanizing work environments. Inevitably accompanies McDonaldization (Ritzer)

grobalization

imperialistic ambitions of nations, corporations, and other powers to expand into new geographic areas (to grow). Uniformity. Capitalism. Americanization. McDonaldization. Spread of empty culture (Ritzer)

nothing

Largely empty forms; forms devoid of most distinctive content (Ritzer)

glocalization

blending of the global with the local. Results in unique outcomes across different geographic regions. Cultural hybridization. (Robertson)

hybridization

increasing diversity associated with unique mixtures of the global and the local (Pieterse)

creolization

combining of cultures that were previoulsy separate from one another. Blending of the traditions, languages, customs, cultures, ethnicities, etc.

ethnoscapes

mobile groups of people (movement of people). Refugees. Tourists. one of Appadurai’s landscapes (global flows)

technoscapes

flow of technology and information around the globe. One of Appadurai’s landscapes (global flows)

financescapes

money moving around the nation and world at great speed. One of Appadurai’s landscapes (global flows)

mediascapes

production and dissemination of images and stories around the world. Social media, TV, movies, news. One of Appadurai’s landscapes (global flows)

ideoscapes

political goals and ideologies being spread around. Produced by the state (government) to reinforce ideologies, and by counter ideologies (groups) seeking to gain more power. one of Appadurai’s landscapes

neoliberalism

combines political commitment to individual freedom with economic commitment to free markets

transnational corporations

dominate the contemporary global economy and the actions of which are largely unconstrained by the borders of nation-states (ex: Disney, Amazon)

transnational capitalist class

its members do not neccesarily own means of production. Four types: corporate (executives, corporations), state (politicians, bureaucrats), technical (globalizing professionals), and consumerist (merchants, media executives)

culture-ideology of consumerism

global mood created to benefit media conglomerates, transnational corporations, and other financial interest. Mass media, advertising, consumer goods. Affects people all around the world.

imperialism

control and exploitation (usually economic) of a range of regions around the world by a nation (or nations) at the center (power core)

empire

(postmodern Marxian perspective). Exertion of power around the world based on values, belief in what is right, norms, truth, etc. Intervention is believed to be just (humanitarian efforts). Force “peace” on others, even if they resist it. Juridicial power (administration of justice)

multitude

collection of people around the world who sustain empires through their labor. Also sustain it by consumption and believing in the culture-ideology of consumption. Also has the power, at least potentially, to overthrow empire

international relations

focuses on the relations among and between the nation-states of the world. Trade, tariffs, products, conflict, debt, agreements, etc.

political realism

premise that international politics is rooted in power, organized violence, and war. Military issues, power on a global level. National/state interests, world politics

complex interdependence

views nation-states relating to one another through multiple formal channels (ex: military). Emphasizes how informal channels also serve to connect societies to one another (ex: multinational corporations)

evolutionary sociology

views human behaviors as evolved strategies that maximize chances for the individual to reproduce. Derived from evolutionary theory and Darwinism

critical realism

emphasizes the analysis of layers of reality (ex: group, biological layers) and their relationship to human society. Looks at deeper, more permanent aspects of the social

emergence

interactions among entities in one layer of reality can lead to new kinds of entities and processes in the layer of reality above (ex; individual behavior changing larger social institutions)

affect theory

emphasizes how bodies affect and are affected by one another (ex: biology plays role in construction of society)

affect

biological forces that energize and bring vitality to life

new materialism

emphasizes the materiality of all social phenomena. Materiality of human bodies and the objects to which they relate (economic production as well)

reductionism

Theoretical and scientific approaches that try to explain one kind of phenomenon by reducing it to the mechanisms and processes of another

nonconscious processes

processes that occur outside of human awareness

collective effervescence

shared energy that emerges out of collective rituals, songs, dances, etc., in which group members participate (Durkheim)

social contagion

affect directly travels from body to body. May drive irrational group behavior

atmosphere

shared feelings of place that shape human feelings and action and that people create through their interactions