Sociology: chapters 3, 7, 8, 9, 15 & 17 by Giddens & Sutton
Decolonising Sociology and Postmodernity
Postmodern Theory: Baudrillard emphasises the media's domination of social life (originally television). A central question is whether this theory maintains relevance in the age of social media.
Decolonisation Critique: Sociology is criticised for being Eurocentric and for often ignoring the impact of colonialism on knowledge production.
Missing Revolution: Scholars like Bhambra (2007) and Connell (2018) argue that colonial relationships are central to modern societies but are neglected in standard accounts of the Industrial or French revolutions.
Disciplinary Division of Labour: Late nineteenth-century academic structures assigned ‘modern’ societies to sociology and ‘pre-modern/traditional’ societies to anthropology.
Orientalism: Edward Said (1978) argued that Western accounts of the ‘East’ created an exotic ‘Other,’ establishing a discourse of Western superiority that supported colonial regimes.
Gender and Sexuality
Gender Identity vs. Biological Sex:
Sex: Refers to physical characteristics (genitalia, reproductive organs).
Gender: Concerns social, cultural, and psychological differences (masculinity/femininity) shaped by social processes and power relations.
Terminology:
Transgender: Individuals whose gender identity diverges from that assigned at birth.
Cisgender: Individuals whose assigned gender coincides with their self-identity.
Non-binary: Identifying as neither exclusively male nor female (e.g., Sam Smith).
Statistics: Referrals to UK gender identity centres rose by per year since 2010. Referrals for under-18s increased from 678 in 2014-15 to 2,590 in 2018-19.
Social Constructionism: The dominant sociological approach, viewing gender not as a fixed essence but as a social creation. Lived bodies are constructions shaped by exercise, dieting, surgery, and social norms.
Gender Socialisation: The process of learning gender roles through family, media, and toys.
Media Bias: Smith and Cook (2008) found only of speaking characters in G-rated films (1990–2005) were female.
Essentialism: The belief that complex human behaviour is explained by fixed biological natures. Sociologists generally reject this (e.g., critiquing LeVay’s brain studies for conflating identity with behaviour).
Researching Sexual Practices
Alfred Kinsey (1940s–50s): Revealed a massive gap between public values and private behaviour in the US.
Findings: of men and of women had premarital sex; of men had visited prostitutes.
Foucault (1978) argued that ‘homosexuality’ as a medicalised identity only emerged in the 1860s; previously, ‘sodomy’ was a prohibited act but not a defined personality type.
Heteronormativity: The social assumption that heterosexuality is the only ‘normal’ orientation.
Feminist Perspectives on Inequality
Liberal Feminism: Focuses on legal and political reform (e.g., Equal Pay Act 1970). Critics say it doesn't address the root systemic causes.
Marxist/Socialist Feminism: Engels argued that capitalism intensified patriarchy by relying on women’s free domestic labour and defining them as consumers.
Radical Feminism: Views patriarchy (male dominance) as universal. Focuses on male violence and the appropriation of women’s bodies/reproduction.
Black Feminism & Intersectionality: Kimberlé Crenshaw and bell hooks argue that gender cannot be separated from race and class. ‘Intersectionality’ is the methodology for analysing these overlapping oppressions.
Postmodern/Queer Theory: Rejects the category ‘woman’ as essentialist, celebrating ‘otherness’ and deconstructing binary language (e.g., male/female).
The Gender Order (Raewyn Connell)
Three Realms of Gender Relations:
1. Labour: Sexual division in the home and market.
2. Power: Social relations like authority and violence.
3. Cathexis: Personal and emotional/intimate dynamics.
Gender Hierarchy:
Hegemonic Masculinity: At the top, associated with heterosexuality, toughness, and authority.
Complicit Masculinity: Men who don't embody the ideal but benefit from the ‘patriarchal dividend.’
Subordinated Masculinities: e.g., Homosexual masculinity.
Emphasised Femininity: Complementary to hegemonic masculinity; characterised by compliance and nurturance.
Race, Ethnicity, and Migration
Scientific Racism History: XVIII/XIX-century taxonomists (Linnaeus, de Gobineau) illegitimately imputed social traits to skin colour. Modern science views ‘race’ as a thoroughly discredited biological concept.
Key Terms:
Ethnic Group: An ‘imagined community’ based on shared ancestry, language, and culture.
Racialization: Classified individuals based on physical features (historically used for domination).
Ethnocentrism: Evaluating other cultures based on one's own.
Institutional Racism: ‘The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate service’ (Macpherson Report 1999 on Stephen Lawrence).
Atlantic Slave Trade Data: Between 11 and 13 million Africans were traded (1441–1870).
to Brazil.
to the Spanish Empire.
Employment Discrimination in the UK: 2016–17 research showed callback rates for white applicants vs. for ethnic minorities with identical CVs.
Models of Integration:
1. Assimilation: Immigrants abandon original customs for majority norms.
2. Melting Pot: Different cultures blend to form new patterns.
3. Multiculturalism/Cultural Pluralism: Groups exist separately but participate equally in political/economic life.
Migration Models: Classic (nations of immigrants), Colonial (favouring former subjects), Guest Worker (temporary entry), and Unauthorised.
Stratification and Social Class
Social Stratification: Structured inequalities between social groups.
Historical Systems:
1. Slavery: People owned by others. ILO estimates million victims of modern slavery globally.
2. Caste: Status ascribed at birth and beliefs in ‘purity’ (e.g., India’s Dalits/Untouchables).
3. Estates: Feudal strata with legal rights/obligations.
4. Class: Fluid boundaries, achieved positions, economically based, and large-scale.
Marxist Class: Relationship to the means of production creates two camps: the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Exploitation via ‘surplus value.’
Weberian Class: Adds ‘Status’ (social honour) and ‘Party’ (organised power) to economic class.
Social Mobility:
Vertical: Up or down the scale.
Intragenerational: Changes within one's own career.
Intergenerational: Changes between generations.
Bourdieu’s Forms of Capital:
Economic: Assets/Income.
Cultural: Knowledge of lifestyle, education, and ‘taste.’
Social: Networks/Contacts.
Symbolic: Reputation.
Work and the Economy
Fordist System: Mass production of standardised goods and a high degree of unionisation.
Post-Fordism: Flexible production, mass customisation (e.g., Dell), and ‘just-in-time’ delivery.
Feminisation of Work: The UK employment rate for women rose from in 1971 to in 2019.
Occupational Segregation:
Vertical: Men at the top.
Horizontal: Women clustered in the ‘5Cs’ (Cleaning, Catering, Caring, Cashiering, Clerical).
The Gig Economy: Characterised by platforms (Uber, Deliveroo) treating workers as independent agents. Results in high job insecurity and ‘precarity.’ Only of UK workers are on zero-hours contracts, but the sector is growing.
Unemployment Statistics: UK rate fell to in 2019. Youth unemployment is often much higher (e.g., for UK 16–24s in 2015).
Families and Intimate Relationships
The Transformation of Intimacy (Giddens):
Plastic Sexuality: Choice over sex untied from reproduction.
Confluent Love: Active and contingent love, replacing the ‘forever’ of romantic love.
Pure Relationship: Held together by mutual benefit and communication rather than duty.
Family Diversity: Rise in single-parent households ( of EU households), cohabitation ( of all UK families), and bean-pole families (long-thin multigenerational structures due to longevity).
Dark Side of the Family:
Domestic Violence: million UK women and men experienced abuse in 2017–18.
Global: of women globally have experienced violence from a partner.
Family Practices (David Morgan): Focus on what people do that they perceive as family-like, rather than defining family as a rigid structure.