Sociology 101 Exam 3 terms (Ch. 14, 15, 18, 19)

Work vs. Occupation

Work: The activity by which people produce from the natural world and so ensure their survival. Work should not be thought of exclusively as paid employment. In traditional cultures, there was only a rudimentary monetary system, and few people worked fo money. In modern societies, there remain types of work that do not involve direct payment (housework).

Occupation: Any form of paid employment in which an individual regularly works.

Division of labor

The specialization of work tasks by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system, All societies have at least some rudimentary form of division of labor, especially between the tasks allocated to men and those performed by women. With the development of industrialism, the division of labor became vastly more complex than in any prior type of production system. In the modern world, the division of labor is international in scope.

Family capitalism

Capitalistic enterprise owned and administered by entrepreneurial families

• Early US capitalism / Entrepreneurs succeed / families—Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie // Koch Brothers, Walton, Newhouse, Murdoch

Managerial capitalism

Capitalistic enterprises administered by managerial executives rather than owners

• Businesses managed by professional / CEOs / publically owned / often transition from family capitalism

Welfare capitalism

The practice by which large corporations protect their employees from the fluctuations of the economy

• Corporations take care of their worker - benefits / robust employment during hard times, etc.

Institutional capitalism

Consolidated networks of business leadership in which corporations hold stock shares in one another, resulting in increased concentration of corporate power

• Emerging – Networked Capitalism – integrated ownership / financial influence

  • Interlocking Directorates – old and new – greater control of the corporate landscape

Global capitalism

The current transnational phase of capitalism, characterized by global markets, productions, and finance; a transnational capitalist class whose business concerns are global rather than national; and transnational systems of governance (such as the World Trade Organization) that promote global business interests.

Oligarchi Capitalism

Kleptocracy // most dictatorships. Russia – Prime Example

State-Guided Capitalism

• China, had opened its economy, returning to Anti Capitalism?

  • India is becoming more capitalistic from state-guided (mixed economy now / 2015) 

High trust systems

Organizational or work settings in which individuals are permitted a great deal of autonomy and control over the work task

Low-trust systems

Organizational or work settings in which people are allowed little responsibility for, or control over the work task

Taylorism

A set of ideas, also referred to as scientific management, developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, involving simple, coordinated operations in industry

Taylorism – late 1800s Frederick Taylor

• Breakdown work – skilled to unskilled

• Time-motion-management studies

• Factory layout / planning of work

• Training & incentives

• Ultimate rationalization (Max Weber)

• Goal – eliminate worker dissatisfaction

Effects of Taylorism

• Destruction of Craftsmanship

• Deskilling of Work and Workers

• Workers as machines / wage slavery

• Worker alienation increased

• Unions expanded

Fordism

The system of production pioneered by Henry Ford, in which the assembly line was introduced

• Application of Scientific Management

• Low-Trust Work System

• Vertical Integration

  • raw resources to finished goods

• Manufacturing technology

• Assembly Line

• Rise of Modernization (Mass Industrialization)

• Mass production & consumption

Increased wages – Why?

• Ford $5/day (doubled current pay)

• Foundation of a consumer-driven economy

Post-Fordism

The period characterized by the transition from mass industrial production, using Fordist methods, to more flexible forms of production favoring innovation and aimed at meeting market demands for customized products.

More automated

• Amazon Fulfillment Center

• Auto Manufacturing

Alienation

The sense that our own abilities as human beings are taken over by other entities. The term was originally used by Karl Marx to refer to the projection of human powers onto gods. Subsequently, he used the term to refer to the loss of workers’ control over the nature and products of their labor

Cultural bazaar

A metaphor for a diverse social space where different cultures meet, interact, and exchange ideas, leading to the mixing, borrowing, and transformation of cultural practices and identities.

Knowledge economy

A society no longer based primarily on the production of material goods but instead on the production of knowledge.

Affective individualism

The belief in romantic attachment as a basis for contracting marriage ties

Cohabitation

Two people living together in a sexual relationship of some permanence without being married to each other

Divorce

The legal and social dissolution of a marriage, often involving changes in living arrangements, finances, and family roles, and influenced by cultural norms, economic factors, and relationship dynamics.

Marriage

A socially approved sexual relationship between two individuals. Marriage historically had involved two persons of opposite sexes, but in the past decade, marriage between same-sex partners has been legalized in a growing number of states and nations basis of a family of procreation—that is, it is expected that the married couple will produced and bring up children

Nuclear family

A family group consisting of two adults and dependent children

Extended family

A family group consisting of more than two generations of relatives living either within the same household or very close to one another

Families of origin

The family in which a person is born and raised, typically including their parents or primary caregivers and siblings;

Families of procreation

The family a person forms through marriage or long-term partnership and, if applicable, through having or adopting children; it is the family created in adulthood, distinct from the family in which one was raised.

Matrilocal

Husband lives with the wife’s community

Patrilocal

Wife lives with the husband’s community

Functionalism (instrumental vs. affective roles; personality stabilization)

Functionalism: A sociological perspective that views the family as fulfilling essential functions for society, such as socializing children, maintaining social order, and providing emotional support.

Instrumental roles(Talcott Parsons): The role focused on providing material support, authority, and decision-making—traditionally associated with the breadwinner (often the father in Parsons’s model).

Affected roles(Talcott Parsons): The role focused on emotional support, nurturing, and caregiving—traditionally associated with the homemaker (often the mother).

Personality Stabilization (Talcott Parsons): The idea that the family helps stabilize adult personalities by offering emotional security, support, and a place to relieve stress from the outside world—primarily through the marital relationship.

Symbolic interactionism

Gender identities are created through everyday meanings and stories. Narratives can maintain traditional gender roles, reverse them by challenging expectations, or mix elements of both to fit modern, flexible identities.

Feminist theories (the feminine mystique)

Argue that patriarchy structures society so women often earn less and are expected to do emotional, time-intensive, unpaid homemaking, leading to gendered inequalities in both work and family life.

Social determinants of health

The social and economic conditions—such as income, education, housing, employment, social support, and access to healthcare—that shape people's health outcomes and create inequalities in well-being.

Complementary vs. alternative medicine

Complementary medicine: Health practices used alongside conventional medical treatment (e.g., acupuncture + standard care).

Alternative medicine: Health practices used instead of conventional medical treatment.

Procreative technology

Techniques for influencing the human reproductive process

Functionalism (the sick role)

A term used by the functionalist Talcott Parsons to describe the patterns of behavior that a sick person adopts to minimize the disruptive impact of their illness on others

Symbolic interactionist (illness work; stigma)

Views illness as shaped by social meanings. Illness work refers to the everyday tasks of managing symptoms, treatment, and identity, while stigma arises when society labels certain illnesses negatively, affecting how individuals see themselves and are treated by others.

Demography

The study of populations

Demographic transition

A theory that shoes how birth and death rates are related to stages of industrial development, with high birth and death rates transitioning to low birth and death rates as a country transitions from a preindustrial to an industrialized economy

Urbanization

The movement of the population into towns and cities and away from rural areas

Gentrification

A process in which older, deteriorated housing and other buildings are renovated as more affluent groups move into an area

Classic vs. environmental sociology

Classic sociology: Focuses on social structures, institutions, inequality, and how societies function and change, often treating nature as separate from social life.

Environmental Sociology: Examines the relationship between society and the environment, including how social behaviors cause environmental problems and how environmental conditions shape social life.

Sustainable development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Environmental justice issues: Climate change, global warming, food security

Climate Change: Unequal exposure to extreme weather, displacement, and health risks.

Global Warming: Disproportionate impacts on low-income and vulnerable communities.

Food security: Access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets the needs for an active and healthy life.

Malthusianism

A doctrine about population dynamics developed by Thomas Malthus, according to which population increase comes up against “natural limits,” represented by famine and war

Stigma

Any physical or social characteristic that is labeled by society as undesirable

Corporate Capitalism

Much of economy owned by corporations, e.g. , US, Japan, S. Korea

Entrepreneurial Capitalism

Small tech companies // start-ups to mom & pop stores

Laissez-Faire Capitalism

Libertarian’s dream – few regs/taxes / max freedom / chaos

Anti Capitalism—Communism

Total state control - society + economy, e.g. N. Korea

Fordism vs. Post Fordism

Fordism:

• Bureaucratic- ridged / vertical hierarchy

• Mass production

• In-company work / self production

• Job security/high wages/advancement

Post Fordism:

• Flexible /horizontal hierarchy

• Mass customization

• Outsourced work – global supply chains

• Job insecurity/ low wages/ benefits / part-time / unlikely advancement