SOCIOLOGY
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Sociology
“The scientific study of the social
interactions and of social organization.”
Pursues the study of social interaction and group
behavior through research governed by the rigorous and disciplined collection of data and analysis of facts.
Powerful tool both for acquiring knowledge about
ourselves and for intervening in social affairs to realize various goals.
C. Wright Mills (1959)
‘The ability to see private experiences, personal difficulties, and achievements as, in part, a reflection of the structural arrangements of society and the times in which we live’
Microsociology : detailed study of what
people say, do, and think moment by
moment as they go about their daily lives.
Macrosociology: study of large-scale and
long-term social processes of organizations, institutions, and broad social patterns,
including the state, social class, the family, the economy, culture and society.
Auguste Comte ( 1798-1857)
The Founder of Sociology
Coined the term ‘Sociology’ in 1838 Believed that sociology held the
potential to improve human society and direct human activity.
Laws govern the relationships among
phenomena in the world, including its social elements.
Law of Three Stages
Social Statics Vs. Social Dynamics
1. Theological Stage
2. Metaphysical Stage 3. Positivist Stage
Social Statics
Focus on how order is maintain in the
society.
Social Dynamics
- Focus on how society change over time.
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
1st female sociologist
Concerned with developing theories that
were specific to particular institutions in society. ( subfields of sociology)
Society in America (1837)
How to Observe Manners and Morals
(1838)
First book on the methodology of social
research
Compared Western women and
American Slaves (Feminist)
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Compared society to a biological
organism
Static societal institutions are like
organs
‘Social Darwinism’
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Founder of political / economic
theory of socialism
Economic Determinist
Considered the founder of the
conflict perspective
Communist Manifesto (with
Friedrich Engels)
‘Dialectical Materialism ‘
The notion that development depends on
the clash of contradictions and the
subsequent creation of new, more advanced structures.
‘Superstructure’: political ideologies,
religion, family organization, education and government – dominated by the class that control the critical means.
Émile Durkheim (1858-1916)
Focused on how societies hold
together and endure.
‘Social Integration’ :
The density of social relationships (number
of relationships that exists among a collection of people)
The more connected to one another
stronger and more meaningful bonds.
Required for the maintenance of social
order and for the happiness of individuals.
‘Social Solidarity’ ‘Social Facts’
Mechanical Solidarity
Cohesion through shared values
and common symbols (engage in similar tasks)
Organic Solidarity
- Cohesion through
interdependence (division of labour)
Social Facts
Aspects of social life that cannot be
explained at the individual level.
Material Social Facts
Things we CAN see (directly observable)
(Forms of religious rituals, family,
housing patterns, etc.)
Nonmaterial Social Facts
Things we CAN’T see
(Social rules, moral principles, meaning
of symbols, etc.)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Individuals have the ability to act freely and to shape the
future. (Human motivation and ideas were the forces behind change)
‘Verstehen’
The study of human subjectivity
‘Value-Free Sociology’
‘Ideal types’: Focusing on principal
characteristics and ignoring minor
differences of a subject
Critical Theory
: An approach to challenge and destabilize
established knowledge.
E.g. Mass culture as a tool to suppress and
pacify people who might otherwise see
important contradictions and inequalities in their lives.
Feminist Theory
: Not a single theory, but a set of perspective
to develop theories grounded in the
experiences of women that can be used to expose oppressive social relations.
Postmodernism
:- Assumption that western society is now a society which produces information and images rather than goods. Culture is an amalgamation of images, symbols and ideas
Functionalist Conflict
Interactionist
Attention to the functions performed by a
system’s parts, especially organizations, groups, institutions and cultural elements.
Each part of the social structure has a function
which contributes to the whole to survive.
Like a human body
Manifest Vs. Latent Functions
Manifest Functions: consequences that are
intended and recognized by the participants in a system.
Latent Functions: consequences neither
intended nor recognized.
Social Consensus
Hold the society together.
The members of the society agree upon,
and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole.
Achieved through social learning process.
ADVANTAGE:
A useful perspective for describing
society and its structural parts.
Identify the functions of the parts at
a particular point in time.
DISADVANTAGE:
Difficult to explain social change.
Overemphasis on consensus.
Critics argue that it supports existing
arrangements.
Highlights the importance of divisions in
society.
Focuses upon the interests that divide
different groups within the society.
Inequality is built in to the system.
Disagree with the notion of ‘consensus’. Social unity is an illusion that rests upon
coercion.
Main source of conflict:
Society is made up of individuals competing for limited
resources.
E.g. wealth, prestige, power
Power:
The ability to control the behavior of others, even against
their will- determines who will gain and who will lose.
Change occurs through conflict rather than adaptation
(revolution not evolution)
ADVANTAGE:
Deals with history and change
DISADVANTAGE:
Can’t explain stable or integrated
societies
The shared understandings of the world
emerge from social interaction and form the basis for social life.
The actions and interactions of humans can
only be understood through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols.
Humans communicate
by means of symbol
Symbol
Something that stands
for a particular meaning.
Social interaction is
possible because people share meanings
SOCIETY.
SYMBOLIC-INTERACTIONIST
ADVANTAGE:
People are active agents – not just
passively responding to prescribe social rules and institutional arrangements.
DISADVANTAGE:
Ignore the larger issues of power and
structure within society and how they serve to constrain individual actions.
Can only focus on narrow aspects of
social life. (Not the big picture)
