Vid Lecture 2

Social Theory

““- Ideas about how humans live and interact

• highlights different aspects

• use different theories and develop new ideas

Classical Theorists

Marx

• not communism lol

• conflict theorist

  • the heart of society is conflict

  • saw history as the history of class struggles between the oppressed and the oppressors

• transition into capitalism was inevitable

  • ultimately, tension and conflict, which lead to revolution

• focus on economic relations and materialistic concepts within society/history

• it all boils down to economic relations

  • economics was the key

• diferent from anarchism

  • big difference is that Marxism is rooted in economics and Anercism is rooted in government (government is the central crux)

Two Classes

The Bourgeoisie- the capitalist class who own the means of production

• the oppressors, and have an interest in maintaining control

• land, factory, tools, capital

• increase in economic power = increase of political power

The Proletariat- the working class who sell their labor for wages

• the oppressed, with the lack of consciousness of themselves as a class to revolt

• concerned with working conditions

  • exploitation

    • child labor

  • long work hours

  • low wages

  • age and sex determine the expense of labor

The middle class cannot compete and isn’t sustainable.

• oppression of workers built into capitalism

  • wealth generates more wealth

• middle class supports Bourgeoisie in order to keep wealth

Margin of Exploitation

Labor is always worth less than what they pay.

• source of profit

• substance, ability to produce another generation

• reproduction of oppression and inequality

Margin of Exploitation- the difference in what labor is worth and what is actually paid

• workers became the “appendage of the machine

• ”

• workers alienated from…

  • products from their work

  • other workers

  • human potential

    • self

False consciousness- we do not recognize ourselves as a class

• believed workers had to unify and break through false consciousness in order to overthrow power

  • why he wrote the communist manifesto

Social Change

Marx anticipated the fall of capitalism at the hand of the proletariat coming together in a revolution (think France)

• Only the proletariat can be revolutionary

• secret “dangerous class” that was brought in to take the place of the strikers

  • you’re not working? we got people to take your place

• requires class consciousness

Max Weber

Rationalization/Disenchantment

Moving away from traditions passed down to calculated rationality

Why did capitalism develop in Western societies? It’s because of an attitude or moral outlook. Our beliefs change our economy.

• flips Marxism

Protestant Ethic

Calvinist Predestination- it is predetermined whether you are going to heaven or hell

• the LIST

• sign of one’s salvation might be found in one’s conduct

  • if you’re a religious person, you are bound to be the type to go to heaven

The world is filled with temptation

• Asceticism- if fun = not good

Temptation and Profit

Suppose you were to do everything a good Christian and religious person is to do. In that case, you are to have more excess to fun things in life as a reward i.e. money

• accumulation of wealth is not based on greed, but seen as morally riotous

  • you can’t keep your money, how can you spend your money? TEMPTATION is everywhere so you spend it on your business and hire a worker. You can’t pay your workers much money because that leads to temptation, so you accumulate more and more money, and you invest it more and more into your business.

Disenchantment

Weber believes this type of thinking kicked off capitalism. Even if you weren’t a Calvinist, you are likely to partake in similar acts because you have to compete with other businesses. It might be popular, but it was built into the country.

• disenchanted

• accumulation isn now for accumulation's sake

• transition from value to rational

Weber and Class

Class- one’s relationship to production

Status- lifestyle, relationship to consumption

Party- voluntary organizations that people enter together to make voices heard collectively

• like political parties

The Bureaucracy

Ideal Type- abstract statement of essential characteristics f any social phenomenon

• not good or best

Bureaucracy is another more towards efficiency and “rationality”

• ahead of his time for thinking of it

Alienation and Rationalization

Alienation is the result of increased rationalization.

Iron Cage- the concept of how individuals become trapped in systems of rationality, leading to a loss of autonomy and individuality.

• an utterly dehumanized and mechanized world

• limit our freedom and autonomy

  • we are locking ourselves away from humanity

Emile Durkheim

He believed sociology could be studied with the same objectivity as other sciences.

• Social Facts- established patterns of human behavior

Social Cohesion

Integration- how connected we feel to social life

Regulation- the amount our individual freedoms are constrained

Integration and regulation hold society together. Previously, he believed there was a shift from mechanical to organic solidarity.

• Mechanical Solidarity- little differentiation between people

  • individuality nonexistent

  • shared beliefs and norms

• Organic Solidarity- increased differentiation of tasks, responsibilities with industrialization, and interdependence

  • individualistic society of different people and background

  • interdependence is what’s holding us together

    • Collective Consciousness- developed agreements about what behavior is expected

Durkheim and Crime

Deviance exists in all societies because all societies have to have behaviors that are allowed and behaviors not allowed

• serves a function