SOC 101

Module 1 (Croteau Chapters 1 and 2): The Sociological Perspective:

Sociology = study of relationships b/w individuals, groups, and institutions in society 

SOC 101 Reading Notes:

Chapter 1:

Soc born in late 1800s to early 1900s when rapid industrialization & urbanization resulted in the need to study impact of changes on ppl.’s families, living conditions, and the way ppl. Supported themselves

Sociology Definition = systematic (organized) study of the relationship between individuals and society

Sociological perspective (sociological imagination) = understand the connections between individuals and the broader social context in which they live

• Heart of Sociological perspective = Your identity (identity =​​ race, ethnicity, class, gender, and nationality) and the social environment we live in  (social environment = family, neighborhood, country, culture, and historical period) influence who you are and who you can be

• Sociological perspective and sociological imagination = same thing

The Sociological Perspective:

C. Wright Mills - provided the most famous interpretation of sociological perspective/sociological imagination

C. Wright Mills Sociological perspective/sociological imagination description =  sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society 

• “Soc, iological imagination enables us to understand societies forces and individuals and the relations between the two within a society” is the most famous description of sociological imagination aka sociological perspective, it was  provided by C. Wright Mills

Though we like to think we are responsible for our own lives, characteristics and circumstances influence who we are and the options we have, and as social conditions change so do the lives of people. 

Mills & other sociologist not arguing that ppl are victims of social circumstances cuz as sociological perspective says interaction b/w social conditions that shape out lives

• Interactions = actions we take, response to circumstances (individually and collectively)

• Conditions = barriers we face, opportunities available to us, 

Society is getting more diverse (cuz of communication, immigration, media, and travel)  so it's not enough to just see world from ur pov. to understand others

Sociologists combine the sociological perspective with variety of research methods to study in a systematic way how our actions shape and are shaped by broader social forces

Sociology is a social science

• Social science = group of research based disciplines that gather and evaluate evidence to study human society 

  • Social sciences include political science, economics, psychology, and anthropology 

• Natural science = focus on physical aspects of nature (sociology is NOT a natural science)

Sociologist emphasize the interaction between individuals and larger social formes, and also

study the interactions between various social institutions such as government, economy, media, schools, and family 

Sociologist have many interests and there are many areas of  specialization in sociology: 

• Medical soc.

• Soc. of family

• Soc. of religion

• Political soc

• Soc. of race and ethnicity

• Soc. of work

• Soc. of gender.

• Soc. of media

the 18-19th century is known as the modernity period  in europe. Modernity was characterized by growth of democracy, personal freedoms, increased reliance on reason and science to explain the natural and social words, and a shift toward an urban industrial economy, 

• Modernity brought about many changed and soc. Wanted to study the changes, their consequences, and how to solve social problems that resulted from the changes

During the middle ages the church controlled intellectual life by controlling the # of books, schools and libraries, cuz they wanted the religious doctrine to be the social thought, anyone who questioned/said otherwise were persecuted/killed making an unfriendly environment for science.

Science = uses logic and systemic collection of evidence to support its claims about the world

The church was slowly losing its power, so at this time enlightenment thinkers started to use this time to promote enlightenment, which sought to question and examine and test claims to knowledge. Emphasis of reason and science created cultural conditions needed for emergence of sociology

Enlightenment = 18th century intellectual movement combined a belief in individual freedom and respect for individual rights with the logic of natural science

Enlightenment thinkers believed:

• Physical & social world should be open to questioning & examining thru reason

• Claims to knowledge should be subject to testing through the collection of evidence 

• Explanations should be on: natural cause and events

• Believed that open debate of ideas and the application of reason and science to questions of social significance would promote tolerance, freedom, individual rights, equality,and democracy 

Basically the enlightenment way of thought made the perfect conditions for sociology to be born 

Immanuel Kant summed up enlightenment revolution way of thinking (Immanuel Kant Motto = Dare to Know) 

Political Revolution: The Rise Of Democracy 

Enlightenment ideas provided intellectual basis for revolutions (french &us) & european uprisings the revolutions stimulated the desire for a more equal society + improved living conditions.

• Conservative pov = enlightenment was a threat to stability, traditional values, social order

• Debate abt social orders natur and desirability vs social change  = early soc. Topic addressed 

Enlightenment = an intellectual movement that combined a belief in individual freedom and respect for individual rights with the logic of the natural sciences.

Industrial revolution (19th century) = collection of developments that shifted rural agricultural societies to urban industrial societies

• Shift started in great britain 

Industrialization = the use of large scale machinery for mass manufacturer of consumer good

Basically Industrialization required Capitalists which lead to capitalism, capitalism, resulted in  wages, and consumerism

• Capitalists = ppl. Who pursued profits by investing in and owning business

• Consumerism = way of life that depends on purchase and use of commercial goods and services 

• Capitalism = economic system in which machinery used for production is owned privately, workers are paid a wage, and markets facilitate the exchange of goods and services 

Economic changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution fueled changes in social life. Many people left their rural homes and traveled to newly emerging cities for entirely new types of jobs in hopes of better lives. 

• Rural life = live and die in hometown, same jobs as descendants, spread out in rural villages

• Industrial economy = many workers living close to e.o near factories/mills\

Urbanization = growth of cities

Rise in urbanization resulted in lots of inequality and growing social problems (disease, gap b/w rich and poor, etc.) modernity  showed that fate of individuals was tied to broader social changes beyond their control and human action could transform the world through new ideas, political reform, and technological innovations

• Social thinkers applied reason + scientific techniques to study how society could improve under the dramatic transformation (their resulting ideas = foundation of soc.) 

Foundations of Sociological Thought

Sociology today has its roots in ideas developed by early sociologists from 1 century + ago, their works on changing the world of late 18th-early 19th century provide insight into our social world today  

Defining the Terrain of Soc: Comte and Spencer

Auguste Comte (1798-1857) and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) helped establish the idea that the social world could be subject of systemic, scientific investigation. 

Auguste Comte:

• French Intellectual 

• Invented the word sociology (in early 19th century)

• Wanted to establish soc. As science of society (modeled on natural sciences) w/ laws that govern human behavior 

Auguste Comte: Stability and Change

Comte’s fields Fundamental Questions

• Social dynamics: How and why do societies change? 

• Social statics: What is the basis of social stability at a specific historic moment?

Comte's Theory abt historical progression of societies: theological (ruled by religion), metaphysical (ruled by philosophy), and positivism (ruled by science)

• Positivism: belief that accurate knowledge must be based on the scientific method

  • Comte pov = positivism enables deeper understanding of human life & is key to solving persistent social problems.

Herbert Spencer: Society as a Social Organism  (society = organism)

• Herbert spencer = british sociologist,early  adopter of term soc.

• Spencer theory emphasized: overall structure of society, functions served by elements of society, and the interactions among these elements 

  • Thought society made of parts that work together to sustain organism (society) 

• Spencer believed in “survival of the fittest” (before charles darwin's work)

  • Spencers application of survival of the fittest to human society is today known as social darwinism

• Spencer also believed that society progresses as it evolves, so there should be no gov. Interference

While spencer & comte defined the terrain of soc. They aren’t in the list of key founders of soc.

Key Founders = Karl Marx, Enile Durkheim, Max Weber, and W.E.B Du Bois

Karl Marx: The Effects of Capitalism

Karl marx:

• Revolutionary thinker advocated radical change to help interest of workers

• Combined activism w/ writing

• Politically repressed, Exiled to london 

Marx’s analysis on capitalism

• Wanted to explain how & why so much wealth and productivity (wealthy few owners) (from industrial capitalism) could coexist with widespread poverty and misery (workers w/ Dangerous conditions living in poverty)

  • Marx’s answer = Dynamics of capitalism, encouraged owners to pay the lowest wages possible because lower labor cost means higher profits (thus creating simultaneous fortunes & poverty)

  • Wealth gave owners power, which they used to control gov. & cultural institutions 

• Marx said: capitalism has built in conflict b/w worker and owners, so one day the exploitation of workers will become so extreme, wage laborers will rise up and overthrow the capitalist system and replace it with socialism

  • Socialism puts major means of prod. (factories, railways, etc.) in public hands for gov. To direct its prod. Forces for public good. 

  • Socialism goal = create society w/o extreme inequalities of capitalism 

The revolutions that Marx had said would happen didn’t happen because instead of overthrowing capitalism it was reformed. 

Marx’s analysis of industrial capitalism was insightful in specifying the connection b/w wealth and poverty 

Marx accurately predicted:

• Cheap labor search leads to expansion of capitalism around world

• Growth of labor movements ended unregulated capitalism

Marx Highlighted Core soc. Concepts:

1. Power

• Said: Economic power could be used to influence other aspects of social life: gov. & cultural instructions (schools, media)

2. People create the societies they live in and are in turn influence by them (Main Idea of Sociological perspective)

• Relationship b/w individual (how individual responds, action taken)  and broader social context (barriers faced, opportunities available they don’t control) 

Emile Durkheim: Social Solidarity 

Emile Durkheim (gen. After marx)

Emile Durkheim Interested in:

• Understanding social change in the modern world. 

• Role of religion in social life

• Scientific study of morality 

Durkheim = person most responsible for establishing soc. As academic discipline

Durkeim’s contributions to Soc:

• Wrote book w/ methods of soc as a discipline (The Rules of Sociological Methods)

• Established respectic academic journal for soc.

• Held 1st academic position in soc

Durkheim was interested in Social Solidarity, the collective bonds (durkheim pov: shared cultural values and morals promoted thru customs and traditions and law = collective bonds) that connect individuals.

Durkheim core theory proposed: 

• society held together by shared cultural values promoted thru custom and tradition and laws, 

• Shared values and morals become the foundation for social solidarity 

Social Solidarity = collective bonds that connect individuals 

Durkheim thought that mechanical solidarity is based on similarity found in small communities, while organic solidarity is based on the diversity and differentiation found in larger communities

mechanical solidarity = social cohesion based on shared experience and common identity with limited individuality

• Mechanical solidarity Ex: have the same job, religion, customs, and experiences across generations (farmers in rural communities)

Organic solidarity = new form of social cohesion based on interdependence (characteristic of modern industrial societies)

• Interdependence leads to social cohesion cuz for society to keep operating we need the multiple of different specialized components 

• Permits balance b/w individuality & gp commitment

Suicide by Durkheim = argued suicide is not purely individual act, sociological perspective could help explain how individuals are affected by the quality of their relationship with larger social groups which could lead them to commit suicide

• 1 of his most influential works

•  One of First show potential of sociological perspective + systemic research 

Suicide by Emile Durkheim:

• Suicide  = subject of 1st soc. Study to use large scale data analysis

• Explained too much or too little social integration or social regulation wuld increase likelihood of suicide 

• Identified 4 types of suicide: egoistic, anomic, altruistic, fatalistic

  • Egoistic = result from too little social interaction, committed by lonely detached from society ppl. 

  • Altrustic suicides = result from too much social integration, leading individuals to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the collective

    • Kamikaze pilots in WWII suicide bombers 

  • Anomic suicide = result of absence of social regulation

    • EX: after natural disaster, entertainers overnight success 

  • Fatalistic suicide results from too much social regulation

    • Ex: slaves

Social integration = strength of social ties that allow people to feel they belong in a group 

Social regulation = strength of social norms that control people’s behavior  

 Social Solidarity, the collective bonds  that connect individuals.

Crime is a jab at collective conscience that disrupts social solidarity, w/o constraints provided by collective conscience durkheim argues society would become chaotic cuz it wouldn’t have  s moral guidance or standard (anomie)

• Anomie = social normlessness, social moral guidance or standards

• Collective conscious = shared norms, beliefs, and values in a community 

Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic and Rationalization of Modern Life

• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: cultural beliefs could influence economic development.

• Tradition versus rationality; and a “dark side” of rationality

Protestant Ethic: 

weber said Protestant belief that wealth acquired thru hard work was a sign of God’s favor motivated people to work hard, invest, and accumulate wealth which are requirements for success in capitalist economy  

Weber used verstehen (understanding) viewing from pov of actors to understand why ppl. Behave the way they do to understand the broader culture in which the action takes place

Weber Contributions to sociological theory:

• Verstehen = important precursor to soc. Theory forced on how people make meaning of social world

• Worked on explaining the shift from traditional to rational action

Tradition = beliefs and customs charged with emotional significance passed from gen. To gen.

Rationality = use of reason and logical calculation to achieve a goal as efficiently as possible (influenced ppl.’s action in capitalist societies)

Weber argued that social change that was occurring in his time was occurring because of the cultural change of Rationalization of society

• Rationalization of Society = the long term historical process by which rationality replaced tradition as the basis for organizing social and economic life

Ex: weber argued = rationality responsible for creation of bureaucracies, government agencies, political parties, industrial companies 

Weber pov = “dark side of rationality” = rationalization is productive for society cuz it pursues efficiency but as rationalization infiltrated all aspects of social life it would create cold & impersonal society 

Rationalization continues to pervade our lives at home, school, and work in a variety of ways

W.E.B. Du Bois: Racial Inequality:

In W.E.B Du Bois lifetime his academic work was marginalized cuz racism

 W.E.B Du Bois contributions to soc. = Groundbreaking Research on race in america, all his works explored complexity of race relations in turn-of-the century American Society 

• Also promoted racial justice 

got phd from harvard (1st black) moved to philadphia's black neighborhoods to do research and collect data abt. social life (education, health)

W.E.B Du Bois Soc work:

1. The Philadelphia Negro

Du Bois published the first sociological study of a black community (The Philadelphia Negro) containing his findings which were:

• black communities  harsh social conditions (crime, poverty, and addiction) were the result of racial discrimination from stable working & middle class jobs

His studies elevated inequality to place of prominence in soc. (eventually)

The Philadelphia Negro was follwed by:

2. The Souls of Black Folk which provided social analysis & commentary, in it W.E.B used term Double Consciousness 

• Double consciousness = simultaneously possessing a view of oneself and a view of how the world views them (resonates w/ oppressed gps) 

3. Established dept. Of soc. In 1897 & developed more rigorous standards for research methods @ atalanta U 

After Racist incident (lynching & exhibition of black guy) he shifted from scholar to activit & civil rights leader, cuz “ppl had not only to know, but to act”

W.E.B. Du Bois Activism work:

• Founded NAACP (national association for advanced colored people) = leading civil rights org. Of 20th cent. 

• Founded NAACP magazine The crisis

• Tried to unify black ppl. Around the world

• Participated in: 1900 world fair with the exhibit of american negros & 1st pan african conference  

Recovering Women’s voices: Harriet Martineau and Jane Addams

Harriet Martineau: Gender Discrimination

Harriet Marineu = Considered the first female sociologist, focused on gender discrimination and topics ignored by white male sociologists (slavery)

Martineau impt. contribution to soc = translating Auguste Comte’s work for English speaking audiences

Martineau work:

• @ start: Wrote magazine articles 

• Cont to: Books  geared toward general public over academic audience

Books:

• Society in America = critique of US failing to live up to democratic promise in treatment of enslaved ppl & women

• How to Observe Morals and Manners = methods of social research

• Translated Auguste Comte to english

Jane Addams: Urban Social Problems

Jane Addams Activist work:

• Social reformer

• Hull House Founder

  • hull house provided social services to chicago’s poor immigrant communities  & was model for settlement houses

• 1st US Women NOBEL Peace Prize winner (for building international women coalition promoting peace & war prevention)

• Social reform contributions 

Jane Addams Soc work:

• Impt soc contribution = her Chicago’s south side social life research significantly influence urban sociology development

• Believed addressing social problem (social theory & research) should come with a call to action  promoting social change helping her contribute to Social reform while testing theories abt. How society worked

• Encouraged sociologists to pay attention to social complexities of gender by criticizing male sociologists cuz they made generalizations about society based on mens experience only 

Sociology’s Diverse Theories:

Understanding Theory:

Theory = tries to explain an observation

Theories answer “why” question and help explain the data

Social theory = a set of principles and propositions that explains the relationship among social phenomena 

Sociological theories can be broad questions or narrowly defined questions

Approaches to sociological theory refer to broad explanations sociologist have for why society operates the way it does

Theory characteristics:

• A theory is not just a hunch or personal opinion. 

  • Theories need to be tested, & be consistent with evidence

• Theories evolve and are sometimes rejected, leaving the most useful to survive.

  • Theory repeatedly constricted by evidence => revised or discarded

• Multiple theories often give us a more complete picture than any single one.

  • Cuz give variety of possible explanations & range of factors that can contribute to it 

Key dimensions of theory:

Different sociological theories focus on various dimensions of social life 

Each dimension = continuum 

Understanding where theories lies on continuum help you understand how it fits into the larger picture of sociological thought 

Theories vary along key dimensions: (things that theories vary on)

• Consensus and Conflict (dimension of social life)

  • Conflict = tensions and disputes in society, often resulting from unequal distribution of scarce resources, which contribute to social change 

  • Consensus = solidarity and cooperative interactions due to shared values and interests which can contribute to social stability

  • Conflict and consensus coexist in all social life (insitions, organizations, societies) 

• Objective and Subjective Reality (dimension of social life)

  • Objective conditions = material aspects of social life (physical environment, social network, and social institutions)

    • Objective conditions exist outside of us and collectively make up objective dimensions of social life 

  • Cultural aspect of social life = Subjective conditions = social life’s world of ideas: sense of self, social norms, values, and belief systems

Both objective physical world and subjective interpretation of it significantly impact our lives and society 

• Micro-Level and Macro-Level Analyses  (dimension of social life)

  • Micro-level analysis = theories that focus on small scale, usually face-to-face, social interactions

  • Macro level of analysis = focus on large scale social systems and process such as the economy, police, and population tends 

  • Meso level analysis = theories that focus somewhere between large and small scale social phenomena (companies and organization) 

Often sociological work focus on interactions b/w various levels of social life 

Major theoretical Traditions:

Since mid-twentieth century sociologists have sometimes grouped varied sociological theories into three broad categories: structural functionalist theories, Conflict theories, and symbolic interactionist theories 

Main sociological perspectives 

1. Structural-Functionalist theories (aka functionalist theories) : focus on consensus and cooperative interactions in social life, emphasizing how different parts of society contribute to its overall operation  

• functionalist theories Roots = Spencer (society = organism) & Durkheim (social solidarity) roots 

• Dominant in the US in mid. 20th century. : leading proponent Talcott parsons = society is interdependent parts working to produce social stability

• Social institutions must meet a need of the system as a whole; institutions that do not contribute either adapt or disappear 

• Social organization must perform key functions to survive: teach group members core community values, integrating member intro productive participation in life 

• Impt contribution (Robert. K. Merton) to Functionalist theory distinguished: manifest functions = recognized and intended consequences, latent functions = largely unintended and unrecognized consequences, reminded that longstanding phenomena can be dysfunctional

  • Dysfunctional = inhibiting or disrupting the working system as a whole

2. Conflict Theories:

Conflict theories = focus on issues of contention, power, and inequality, highlighting the competition for scarce resources 

• Emphasized that ppl. Try to acquire scarce & valuable resources to meet their basic need (food, housing, good job)  ppl. Have to compete for them cuz these resources are limited which brings different groups into conflict 

• Conflict theories Root: Marx (workers) , Weber (cultural beliefs influence economic development) , Du Boids (racial discrimination) , Martineau (gender discrimination & slave discrimination), and Addams (urban soc.)

• Conflict theories useful for studying diff forms of inequality: sexism, classism, racism

Even if conflict not visible it present but repressed by powerful

Conflict theories say, see power at the core of social life

power  = enables some people to gain advantage over other and acquire more resources, more resources give them more power

Conflict theories applied to families = unequal power b/w wife and husband

3. Symbolic Interactionist Theories:

Symbolic interactionist theories = focus on how society emerges from peoples use of shared symbols in the course of their everyday interactions

Symbolic Interactionist theories explain social life by highlighting that social world is based on interactions between ppl using cultural symbols (words, nonverbal body language) 

• Thru interactions ppl develop sense of self & create shared understanding of reality w/ others 

  • Symbolic interactionist theories explain social life by highlighting the active role people take in constructing shared understandings of social reality  and creating society

    •  Make society by coming to shared understanding of reality which produces pattern of behavior and structure 

    • These interpretations are not static and can change 

Symbolic Interactionist theories strongly associated with subjective (social lifes world ideas: sense of self, values, norms, beliefs) and micro-level (small scale) dimensions of social life

Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the process by which individuals create culture

• Symbolic interactionist theories fully developed in US

• Groundwork for symbolic interactionist theories: Georg Simmel, Weber (versten) 

Ex: symbolic interaction @ family lvl. Interactions develop understanding of who they are and what their roles are within family 

Feminist Theories and Theoretical Diversity: (don’t fit into 3 older & broader categories)

Newer perspective often do not fit into older (3 broad) categories 

Feminist theories

Feminist theories = focus on inequalities between women and men

• Also focus on women's body as social struggle involving sexuality, beauty norms, violence, reproductive right, health

Feminist theories  = contemporary perspective

• Could be considered conflict theories

• Could be symbolic interactionism = how inequalities created and reinforced in daily interactions 

No single feminist theory; instead there's a variety of feminist theories that emphasize importance of women's experiences, analyze gender inequality, and advocate gender equality 

The women's movement (1960’s 1970’s) created space for feminist scholars who had till then been marginalized in academia as was the case w/Harriet Marineau and Jane Addams in soc. 

• Feminist scholars transformed academic fields (+ soc. ) challenging male assumptions about the wold & how research should be done: (ex:)

  • Historically Men dominated social life analysis, & assumed that their understanding and perspective applied to everyone, feminist standpoint theory emphasized that all knowledge is constructed from a particular perspective and that women's different experiences need to be included to produce accurate understanding of social life

    • Standpoint theory was then extended to women's experiences that varying based on: race, class, and sexual orientation the 

Intersectionality = gender, class, race, and sexual orientation intersects in shaping social life

Women's lives vary across different societies

Feminist work has informed work on men (masculinity = socially constructed), gender (inequalities) and sexuality

Sociology’s Common Ground:  Culture, structure, and power

Culture:

Culture = the collection of values, beliefs, knowledge, norms, language, behaviors, and material objects shared by a people and socially transmitted from generation to generation 

Culture is a way of life because it operates at all levels of society

Tend to to take culture for granted since have internalized its basic customs and assumptions (EX: ideas of respect and courtesy)

Culture is not “natural” or biological because it must be taught and learned through process of socialization

Ppl must reproduce culture for it to survive, so ppl can also change culture by adopting new values, beliefs, and behaviors and abandoning older one 

Cultural Evolution can create conflict:

Conflict: ppl holding more traditional values vs new ideas

Structure:

Structure = recurring patterns of behavior in social life

• Structures range: informal (friends hang out routine) - formal organizations (government, school)

Structure helps accomplish goals, but also constrains what people can do.

Social structures  influence how people act

People act thereby creating, reproducing, or changing social structures 

• People may comply with the rules (reproducing structure) or work to change them thus modifying the social structure

Structure must be reproduced through contributing patterns of behavior or they can be changed through changes in behavior.

Ex: of structure changing as behavior changes = 6 day work weeks became 5 day work weeks

Power

Power: the ability to bring about an intended outcome, even when opposed by others 

 Power operates at all levels of society  (families, organizations, international relations, empowering self to get degree)

Power can also be used to influence thinking and behavior of others and even to dominate others

More economic, political (make rules and decisions), and cultural (define reality) resources means more power

• Inequality = Systemic and unequal distribution of resources among various groups of people

Paying attention to power allows us to see connections and similarities between different forms of inequality

Intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality has proven to be important in understanding power and inequality 

Social life is ever changing => culture, structure, and power can also change they are all ongoing social processes

Culture is reproduced and changed through socialization (cuz culture is learned and taught)

Structures are created and altered through action (ppl. Action can reproduce, create, modify structure)

Power can be used to produce or reduce inequalities, which in turn can alter the distribution of power 

Social change impacts the lives of individuals and communities alike 

A Changing World:

Sociology emerged during the start of the 18-19th century in a period known as modernity, as ppl. (sociologist) wanted  to explain the transition and the social turmoil (culture, power, structure) 

Modernity associated w/ rize of: industrialization, democracy science

Todays is transition to  postmodernity 

Postmodernity = historical period beginning in the mid-twentieth century characterized by the rise of information-based economies and the fragmentation of political beliefs and ways of knowing

• Postmodernity is still happening so not completely sure about all of it

Ten features of Postmodern Society:

1. Media expansion & commercial culture

Technology has created new communion method + new problems, In a postmodern society there has been an increase in sources of media (tv, phones, internet, etc) . These forms of media are constantly surrounding us with content designed to encourage us to consume more. This content plays a key role in driving greater consumerism, as it promotes and normalizes the idea of constant consumption

2. The Threat to the natural environment

Increase production of consumer goods has seriously affected the environment (pollution, climate change, resource depletion)

3. US cities decline and Suburbs rise

Postmodern era = industrial manufacturing jobs went  US cities to overseas for low wage workers, resulting in poverty, unemployment and crime in urban cities and rise of suburbs 

4. The global economy:

Postmodern society = economy becoming more global & interconnected making every1 part of global system of production & consumption => transforming societies around world 

5. Aging Population:

Postmodern society: ppl living longer & healthier cuz of improvements in medical knowledge & tech => aged (aging) population to adjust to 

6. Changing Family:

What families look like is changing (divorce, blended families, two wage earner families, single parent families, surrogate parenting)

7. Troubled political institutions:

Established Democracies face declining trust in gov., growing cynicisms, partisan gridlocks Nowadays

8. Increased diversity and multiculturalism 

9. Violences changing nature and warfare:

Postmodern era: presence of lethal weapons, threats of violence and political and military stalemates

10. Changing role of religion

Wealth industrialized nations became more secular BUT some places still very religious so much so religion now fuels major conflicts