Sociology

Emile Durkheim

Found the first european department of sociology in france in 1890

when it became an academic displine

sociologist existed before this but they included theology and evolutionary ideas

Early Sociology

interested in social good

Sociology was developed as a way to study and try to understand the changes to society brought on by the industrial revolution

Western Europe in the 1800s

IR, SR, enlightenment, imperialism/colonialism, urbanization, no labor laws, public health concerns

Sociologies Cousins

econ, psych, geography, com, anthro, history, politics

Psych v. Soc

Psych→ in the brain/body

soc→ outside the body

both studies of hb from different perspectives

history v. soc

history: specifics on how things unfold over times

Soc: broad, looking for pattterns

ex: French Rev v. Revolution

Anthro v. soc

anthro: orginated from colonialism as European cultures came into contact with different cultures

soc: originated from Industrial and scientific revolution

Econ v. Soc

econ: people act in their best self interest

Soc: dont take that as a given; people can act irrationally

difference in how they interpret human behavior

Sociology

the study of how societies are organized and how the organization of a society shapes the behavior of the people living in it.

The sociological imagination

The capacity to think about our own personal experience in relation to a larger set of social forces that influence every aspect of our lives, whether they are visible to us or not.

troubles v. issues

troubles→ private challenges

issues → challenges that transcend local environments of the individual and his life

• social challenges

• macrolevel

why did the teenage wasteland tragedy occur

how the kids were labeled in the school and in media

how the community was structured

identity markers that they attached themselves to (rock music)

not prepared for future bc they were shot off from oppurtunities

Suicide in the US

more male than female deaths due to suicide

more female attempts but less deaths due to suicide

due to method use

• gender norms

• higher social risk if men dont succeed

What is the nature of society

well oiled machine→ functionalism

competing interest → conflict theory

group of people interacting→ symbolic interactionalism

macro paradigms

functionalism and conflict theory

micro paradigms

symbolic interactionalism