Religion, Social Theory and Ideology

Anomie

when social bonds collapse

mechanical bonds

bonds that persist due to social coercion

Organic bonds

Bonds that persist due to voluntary association

Totem

Elements of religion- animal or object that a group of people consider to be a symbol of their social group’s connection to the natural world or ancestors with spiritual or religious significance

Ritual

Elements of religion- a repetitive set of actions or words performed within a community to reinforce social bonds, express shared values, and mark significant events or transitions

Sacred and profane

Elements of religion- things set apart and revered are sacred, versus ordinary, everyday things are profane. Sacred - objects, practices Durkheim argued this is socially constructed to maintain social cohesion

Profane- ordinary mundane aspects of life that are not sacred

Taboos

Elements of religion- strong social prohibition or restriction against a specific behavior, action, or topic, often rooted in cultural beliefs or values where violation results in social consequences or disgust

Rites of passage

Elements of religion- ceremonies or rituals that mark a significant transition in a persons social status or life such as birth, puberty, marriage, or death

Ideology

a system of ideas, beliefs, and values that shape how individuals perceive and interact with the world, often influencing social structures, power dynamics, and collective consciousness

Commodity

an economic good, often a resource, that is subject to market exchange and has full or substantial fungibility

Fetishism of commodities

refers to the perception of economic relationships as inherent to commodities themselves, rather than the social relations of production and exchange that create them, obscuring the human labor involved

This fetishism masks the social relations of production, making it seem as if value is inherent in the commodities, rather than a result of human labor and social organization

Symbolic interactionism

a sociological perspective that focuses on how individuals create meaning through social interactions, emphasizing that symbols and language shape our understanding of the world and ourselves

Principles of social interactionism

Here are the four key principles of symbolic interactionism:

• Humans act toward things based on the meanings they ascribe to those things:

  People's actions are not simply responses to stimuli, but are based on the meanings they attach to objects, events, and other people. 

• These meanings arise out of social interaction:

  Meanings are not inherent in things, but are created and negotiated through interactions with others. 

• These meanings are processed through an interpretive process:

  People don't just passively receive meanings, but actively interpret and modify them based on their experiences. 

• Social action results from a fitting together of individual lines of action:

How humans act in the social world, putting up a front or social identity in order to project a certain image of themselves and create an impression for the benefit of others and ultimately themselves as actors on a stage

The eternal feminine

• De Beauvoir rejects the idea that there's a fixed, inherent "femininity" or "eternal feminine" that defines all women. She famously stated, "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman," emphasizing that femininity is a social construct, not a biological one. 

• The Myth of the Eternal Feminine:

  De Beauvoir argues that the concept of "the eternal feminine" is a myth used by men to define and confine women within specific roles and behaviors. This myth, she argues, takes many forms, such as the sanctity of the mother, the purity of the virgin, and the fecundity of the earth and womb, all of which serve to deny women's individuality and trap them within unrealizable ideals

social constructs of self

posits that our sense of self, identity, and personality are not innate but are formed through interactions with others and shaped by social, cultural, and political contexts

Contradictory social roles

occur when a society or group holds multiple, conflicting expectations or norms regarding appropriate behavior, values, or beliefs

Gender Performance

refers to the idea that gender is not an inherent quality but a social construct actively performed and maintained through everyday interactions and behaviors, rather than simply "being" something

Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)

refers to institutions and systems that, unlike the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA), maintain power and social order through ideology and cultural influence rather than direct coercion or force

State legitimacy

the belief that a rule, institution, or leader has the right to govern. And provides the basis for rule by consent rather than coercion