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Ch. 1-An Introduction to Sociology in the Global Age
I.
What is Sociology?
The study of human society. The scientific study of human social
behavior; a scientific way of thinking about society and its influence
on human groups; why do people do the things they do.
The systematic study of the ways in which people are affected by, and
affect, the social structures and social processes that are associated
with the groups, organizations, cultures, societies, and the world in
which they exist.
II.
The Sociological Perspective
a. The Sociological Imagination-C. Wright Mills
The connection between the individual and larger social
institutions
How societal patterns influence individual and group
life
A unique perspective that gives sociologists a distinctive
way of looking at data and reflecting on the world around
them.
Troubles vs Issues
b. Butterfly Effect: The far-ranging or even global impact
of a small change in a specific location, over both time
and distance.
c. Peter Berger- seeing the general in the particular
General patterns in the behavior of particular people;
categories of people; society shapes individual
experience
Making the familiar strange
Society shapes what we think and do
Debunking-Peter Berger-Invitation to Sociology
An Introduction to Sociology in the Global Age
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Study of the everyday world we take for granted
Be skeptical of conventional explanations of social life
Be curious about everyday life, understand forces behind
behavior
Question ideas and actions usually taken for granted
“things are not what they seem”
social reality has many layers of meaning
c. Seeing personal choice in social context
III.
Factors That Increase Sociological Awareness
Travel-encountering diversity
Globalization: The increasing fluidity of global flows and the
structures that expedite and impede those flows. Most important
instigator of social change.
Positives: greater access to goods, services, and information
throughout the world.
Negatives: Undesirable things (diseases, illegal drugs, sex trafficking)
flow more easily around the world.
Consumption: The process by which people obtain and utilize goods
and services. As consumption increased so did the proliferation of
credit cards and predictably credit card debt. Consumption and
globalization are deeply intertwined.
McDonaldization: The process by which the rational principles of the
fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more of society
and more of societies throughout the world. McDonaldization leads
to the creation of rational systems that have 4 defining characteristics:
Efficiency- an emphasis on the quickest and least costly means to
whatever end is desired.
Calculability-Control includes a focus on quantity as representing
quality, and that tasks are done under pressure, where the quality of
the job is measured not in the way it is done, but in how quickly it is
done.
An Introduction to Sociology in the Global Age
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Predictability-Uniformity the consuming experience is identical from
one geographic setting to another. Accomplished through highly
predictable rituals.
Control- Control of both employees and of consumers is ensured by
replacing unpredictable humans with machines that are simply
monitored by people.
The Internet: social aspects of technology-interplay of machines,
tools, skills, and procedures for the accomplishment of tasks. Social
networking and multitasking are of particular interests to sociologists.
Digital divide- differential access to technological advances
IV.
Major Topics of Sociological Interest
a. Socialization-lifelong process by which we learn our culture,
develop our sense of self and become functioning members of
society
b. Social Stratification-structured social inequality
c. Social Institutions-a group of social positions, connected by
social relations, performing a social role. A predictable,
established way to provide for one or more of society’s basic
needs. Any institution in a society that works to socialize the
people or groups within it.
d. Social Change
V.
The Development of Sociology
a. Historical Development of Sociology
Industrial Revolution (see Ch.14, pp. 484-485)
Four major changes:
Technology
Growth of cities
Change in political ideas
Colonization-exposure to diverse cultures
An Introduction to Sociology in the Global Age
Mid-Twentieth Century-Post-Industrial Age: white collar
work, bureaucracies, growth of service sector
Twenty-first Century-Information Age-increased
participation of women in work force, growth of unpaid
labor, effects of computer technology on society and
individuals. Focus on knowledge, information, and
technologies.
VI.
The Uses of Sociology
a. Improving Society
b. Making a Living
c. Making Life Choices
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