Understanding Society and Social Theory

Sociology originated in Europe during the 19th century with the ambition to create a "science of society."
  - Aim: To develop a systematic understanding akin to the sciences like physics or biology, grounded in observable facts.
  - Prominent figure: Émile Durkheim, who sought to establish a formal and objective understanding of societal functions.
     - Focus: Examination of measurable, large-scale patterns and forces operating independently of individual motives or will.
Key Characteristics of Systems Theories:
- Societies viewed as external entities, not influenced by individual experiences.
- Notable limitation: Individuals have agency and can change in response to sociological analyses, leading to the notion that society is both an external reality and a subjective experience influenced by socialization.

Contrary to systems theories, some sociologists, such as Max Weber, emphasized understanding the subjective meanings behind social actions.
- Importance: Contextual examination of shared motives to adequately address social issues.
- Dominant in later developments of interpretative, interactionist, and constructionist perspectives.

Durkheim's Organic Metaphor:
- Concept: Societal systems adapt and adjust to maintain equilibrium.
- Emphasis on integration in society to prevent disintegration.
Talcott Parsons and Structural Functionalism:
- Shifted from an evolutionary schema.
- Proposed that systems do not inherently self-correct.

Tasks for discussion:
  - Identify objective social factors beyond individual opinions involved in a contemporary social issue.
    - Examples: social structures, institutions, measurable social behaviors, classes, identity categories.
  - Identify subjective meanings, motives, or constructs shown in media cases relevant to actions concerning the social issue.

Contextual background:
  - Post WW1 Europe faced devastation; the social sciences moved to the United States.
  - America’s different historical and cultural context impacted sociology’s evolution:
    - Features included colonial history, revolutionary war, slavery, little commerce restriction, and a backdrop of free enterprise.
  - Pre-WWI: More liberal democracy and economic equity; Post-WWI shifted towards pragmatism.
New intellectual culture:
  - Practical, results-oriented approach to addressing social problems used through empirical research methods.
  - Prominent developments included the use of ecological models of cities reflecting social grievances from local surveys (Chicago School dominance 1895-1930).
  - Optimism: Faith that capitalism was fundamentally sound.
  - Shift: The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 shook this optimism.

Parsons' view of social systems:
  - Defined as bounded sets of integrated parts forming a cohesive whole held together by a consensus on societal norms and values.
  - Structural integration criteria:
    - Internalization of values promotes compliance (socialization).
    - Institutionalization of norms through sanctions ensures social control.
  - Identified four "Systems of Action":
    1. Cultural System
    2. Social System
    3. Personality System
    4. Organic System

Fundamental contrasts highlighted:
  - Social Action: Systematic versus lived experience.
  - Interpretation of Meaning (Verstehen):
    - 1950s and 1960s marked by a shift away from the ambition for purely objective methods akin to natural sciences toward a subjective framework.
    - Reaction against scientism that emphasized the subjective experience of individuals.

Methodological Limitations:
  - Natural science methodologies are inadequate for social studies.
  - The concept of relativism:
    - Truth is relative, constructed by individual or group decisions rather than universal.
Symbolic Interactionism and Ethnomethodology:
- Highlight the potential misrepresentation of social life through abstract theoretical frameworks.
- Advocacy for more nuanced depictions of actual social conduct in context.

Discussion Prompt: Compare constructs of the social system with the case study "Children of Sanchez."
  - Value Creation Sub-dimensions:
    - Site design, ease of access, browsing efficiency.
  - Goal Attainment Sub-dimensions:
    - Information accessibility, thematic organization, quality of visual content.
  - Latent Pattern Maintenance Sub-dimensions:
    - Identity, originality, coherence, and integration within the community.