Notes on Twentieth Century Sociological Developments to 1935. LECTURE 2

Charles Horton Cooley used a sociological perspective to study face-to-face groups such as families, gangs, and friendship networks.
Jane Adams co-founded Hull House.
Robert Merton developed key theory to explain deviant behavior and emphasized the need to bring together micro-level sociological approaches.
Macrosociology focuses on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations.
Microsociology focuses on small groups.
Meso-sociology studies formal organizations and social movements.
Global sociology makes comparisons among nations.
Pierre Bourdieu (the transcript notes as “Perry Borden”) wrote about different forms of capital, including cultural capital, and non-economic goods that are reflected in knowledge of language and the arts.
Social capital is the collective benefit of a social network which is built on reciprocal trust.
Major theoretical perspectives most widely used in sociology: Functionalist perspective, Conflict perspective, and Interactionist (Interactionism/Symbolic Interactionism).

Emphasizes how the parts of society are structured to maintain social stability.
Talcott Parsons was a key sociologist in the functionalist perspective.
He viewed society as a network of connected parts; each part helps maintain the social system.
Manifest functions: the intended and obvious functions of institutions.
- In the notes: "It was intended and obvious". \text{Manifest functions} = \text{intended and obvious functions of institutions}.
Latent functions: unintended consequences of an institution, often hidden.
- In the notes: "Latent functions unintended consequences of an institution". \text{Latent functions} = \text{unintended and often hidden functions of institutions}.
Dysfunctions: elements or processes of society that can disrupt the social system or reduce stability.

Assumes social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources.
Forms of tension include labor negotiations, party politics, competition for religious group memberships, and budget disputes.
Marxist influence: Conflict is viewed as part of everyday life; conflict theorists focus on social institutions that maintain privilege and subservience of different groups; emphasize social change and redistribution of resources; more radical than functionalist.
Feminism is situated within the conflict perspective as well.
- Feminist perspective emphasizes equality and that gender is central to all behavior and organization.
- Focus tends to be on micro-level women's subordination in capitalist societies.
- Intersections are conceived as an interlocking matrix of domination (often noted as intersectionality).

Studies society from the perspective of a broad spectrum of sexual identities, including heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality.
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick argued that analyzing society is incomplete without including sexual identities.

Also referred to in the transcript as Interactualist Perspective (note: the standard term is Symbolic Interactionism).
Generated focus on everyday forms of social interactions to explain society as a whole.
Humans are seen as living in a world of meaningful objects (e.g., material things, actions, other people, relationships, or symbols).
Nonverbal communication plays a crucial role; gestures, facial expressions, and postures all express meaning.
Founders and key contributors:
- George Herbert Mead (listed as
  "George Herbert Med" in the transcript) – founder of the Interactualist/Symbolic Interactionist perspective; emphasized micro-level behavior.
- Irving Goffman – developed a dramatic approach in which people are seen as performers in everyday life.

Applied sociology: the use of sociology with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organizations.
Clinical sociology: dedicated to facilitating change by altering social relationships or social institutions.
Basic sociology: seeks more profound knowledge of the fundamental aspects of social phenomena.

Scale of analysis in sociology: micro (small groups), meso (formal organizations and movements), macro (large-scale social systems), and global comparisons.
Capital forms (Bourdieu’s concept): cultural capital, other forms of capital, and how knowledge of language and the arts contributes to social advantage.
Social capital and reciprocal trust as a benefit of social networks.
Three core theoretical lenses (functionalism, conflict, interactionism) provide complementary explanations for how society maintains stability, undergoes change, and produces everyday social meaning.
The integration of perspectives allows analysis of both structure (macro-level stability and change) and agency (micro-level interactions and meaning).
Ethical, philosophical, and practical implications include examining how power, gender, sexuality, and identity shape social institutions, access, and opportunity.

Manifest functions: \text{Manifest functions} = \text{intended and obvious functions of institutions}
Latent functions: \text{Latent functions} = \text{unintended and often hidden functions of institutions}
Intersectionality (interlocking matrix of domination): a framework to analyze overlapping systems of oppression and privilege across gender, race, class, sexuality, etc.