KU SOC 104 Exam #1

social construct

an idea that appears as obvious to those who agree and accept it as "real," but it is an invention of a particular culture or society.

social location

actions, life chances, and treatment of a person or groups of people due to placement in the social structure. affects access to resources and education.

social norms

rules and values considered acceptable in a group or society.

structure

factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, customs, etc.) that determine or limit a person and his or her decisions.

agency

the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.

structure vs. agency

how social structures control us vs. how we freely make make our own choices .

class stratification

the ranking of people according to their economic and social resources.

Emiel Durkheim

a founding figure in the field of sociology. "Father of sociology." credited with making sociology a science.

social solidarity

Durkheim's specialty. the integration of people into society through shared values, a common culture, shared understandings and social ties. the basis of moral and order in society.

mechanical solidarity

unity that people feel when performing the same tasks or sharing similar traits.

organic solidarity

a mutual interdependence characteristic of societies with a complex division of labor that results in people depending on each other's specific role in society.

functionalism

emphasizes society as an interconnected functioning whole. comparable to the organs within a human body.

function of crime/deviance according to Durkheim

to reinforce the collective conscience.

collective conscience

encompasses the common beliefs and values that bind a society together.

collective effervescence

social energy that emerges from crowd solidarity. this energy is provoked by group rituals and actions.

anomie

individual or group feelings of aimlessness or purposelessness, provoked by certain social conditions. feeling outside of a social network.

Pierre Bourdieu

developed the ideas of cultural, social and economic capital. he was primarily concerned with the dynamics of power in society.

economic capital

collection of money, property, and assets.

social capital

who you know defines the quality of your social networks. high social capital = friends bring you opportunities that help you in life.

cultural capital

the knowledge, habits, and tastes gained from our social location that individuals can use to gain access to valuable resources in society.

Bourdieu's forms of capital

all three types of capital are connected, they all help us obtain a higher status in society.

C. Wright Mills

described the importance of the sociological imagination when viewing the world, especially for people with power.

private problem

personal struggles or conflicts.

public issue

larger social problems that are beyond personal control and the range of one's inner life.

sociological imagination

awareness of relationship between personal experience and the wider society.

primary socialization

initial learning of acceptable actions and attitudes in our society. takes place during childhood, primarily through observation of our parents and other adults in close proximity.

secondary socialization

learning the appropriate behaviors as a member of a smaller group in a larger society .

generalized other

taking into account the norms, attitudes and perspectives of the general society

Karl Marx

created the theory that class conflict is the motor force driving historical change and development. often recognized as the father of communism. believed in a classless society. he believed in the rise of the proletariat.

class conflict

Karl Marx's term for the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class

conflict theory

social classes have different amounts of material and nonmaterial resources; social groups with more power use their power to exploit the groups with less power.

base/superstructure model of culture

base: the mode/force of production.

superstructure: grows out of the base. includes aspects such as culture, ideology, and social institutions.

cultural hegemony

the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class, who manipulates the beliefs and values of the society so that their beliefs and values become the social norm.

exploitation

the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.

bourgeoisie

the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.

proletariat

the working class. those who don't own the means of production.

primitive communism

hunter-gatherer societies based on social relations and common ownership. men held all things in common and there was no private property.

slavery

economic form of inequality in which some people are legally the property of others.

feudalism

a political and social system that developed during the Middle Ages; nobles offered protection and land in return for service.

capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

socialism

an economic and governmental system based on public ownership of the means of production and exchange.

communism

a political system in which the government owns all property and dominates all aspects of life in a country.