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Chapter 1
An Introduction to Sociology in the Global Age
The Changing Nature of the Social World--and Sociology
Deeply rooted in history, sociology’s origins can be traced back to the 18 th and 19th century
Industrial Revolution. Marked by dramatic social change, the “industrial age” provided
opportunities for sociologists to analyze social change through the emergence of factories and
the production of goods and their effects on human behavior. This behavior analysis continues
through the 20th century and well into the “post-industrial age”, where increased emphasis is
placed on globalization and the behavioral and economic shift from factory/blue collar work to
office/white collar work. An extension of the “post-industrial age,” the “information age” is best
characterized by the use of technology to exchange information, knowledge, ideas, and
communication. This period emphasizes efficiency, productivity, and alternative ways to work
and manufacture goods. It is essential to understand that change never stops; our society,
human behavior, and social interaction continue to change.
Chapter Outline
I.
The Nature of the Discipline
a. Sociology: 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 world in which they exist; thus, the
scientific study of social behavior and human groups. Sociology stresses the
broader social context of behavior and provides a framework for understanding
the legitimacy of societal change; the motives associated with human behavior;
the emergence and maintenance of social phenomenon and social structures;
and the globalization of society.
b. The Butterfly Effect: The idea that a relatively small change in a specific location
can have far-ranging, even global effects, over both time and distance.
II.
The Changing Nature of the World – and Sociology
a. 18th and 19th centuries – the Industrial Revolution: Sociologists focused on
factories, production, and blue collar workers.
b. Mid-20th century – the Post-Industrial Age: Sociologists focused on offices,
bureaucracies, and white collar workers.
c. Present day - the Information Age: Sociologists focus on knowledge,
information, and technologies, with an emphasis on efficiency, productivity, and
alternative ways to work and manufacture goods.
d. (Checkpoint 1.1)
III.
Central Concerns for a 21st-Century Sociologist: Globalization (Figure 1.1)
a. No social change today is as important as globalization – the social process of
increasingly fluid global flows and the structures that expedite and impede those
flows. It provides opportunities for people to move between societies and
initiate population shifts, to have greater access to goods, services, and
information. Negative issues such as disease, global warming, and deviant
behaviors (drugs, human trafficking) flow more easily around the world under
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IV.
V.
VI.
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globalization. Globalization is arguably the most important instigator of social
change and affects all aspects of the social world.
b. Globalization is a central issue in sociology as well as the social world.
Central Concerns for a 21st-Century Sociologist: Consumption (Checkpoint 1.2)
a. Consumption - The process by which people obtain and utilize goods and
services. Consumption shapes culture and can become a cultural phenomenon –
the iPhone and the “app” revolution.
b. As consumption increased so did the proliferation of credit cards and,
predictably, credit card debt, leading in many ways to the economic collapse of
2008. Consumption and globalization are deeply intertwined. (Figure 1.2)
c. The McDonaldization of Society: the process by which the rational principles of
the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of
society and more societies throughout the world; leads to the creation of
rational systems that have 4 defining characteristics:
i. Efficiency: an emphasis on the quickest and least costly means to
whatever end is desired.
ii. Calculability: 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.
iii. Predictability: the consuming experience is identical from one geographic
setting to another. Accomplished through highly predictable rituals.
iv. Control: control of both employees and of consumers is ensured by
replacing unpredictable humans with machines that are simply
monitored by people.
v. Checkpoint 1.3
Central Concerns for a 21st-Century Sociologist: The Digital World (Figure 1.3)
a. Sociologists have always been interested in the social aspects of technology - the
interplay of machines, tools, skills, and procedures for the accomplishment of
tasks; the digital world refers to the emergence of new technologies, particularly
communication technologies.
b. Sociologists have tracked the evolution of technology, from assembly lines to
automated factories to the digital world (computers, cell phones, and the
Internet). Sociologists are, for example, interested in social networking as it is
conducted in the virtual environments of sites such as Facebook or MySpace.
Sociology: Continuity and Change
a. The Sociological Imagination - sociologists have a distinctive way of looking at
the world. It is the ability to view the social world from many different
perspectives.
i. American sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) described this type of
creative thinking as the ability to view one’s own society as an outsider.
It demonstrates the connection between history and biography, connects
personal experiences – “troubles” – to larger social patterns – “social
issues.” (Figure 1.4)
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ii. The sociological imagination allows us to look beyond a limited
understanding of things and people in the world, and allows for a broader
vision of society. For instance, individual’s increasing consumption and
accumulation of personal debt (private trouble) morphed into a near
collapse of the global economy (public issue). (Figure 1.4)
b. The Micro/Macro Relationship – American origins
i. Micro - small scale - individuals and their thoughts and actions. Also
small group interactions.
ii. Macro - large scale - social phenomena such as groups, organizations,
cultures, societies and the world, as well as the relationships between
them
i. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was interested in what workers thought
and did (micro) and the capitalist economic system (macro) in
which workers existed.
ii. Randall Collins (2009) has sought to develop a theory of violence
that links individuals skilled in violent interactions (micro) with the
material resources needed by violent organizations (macro).
iii. Pages 24 & 25: There is a continuum that runs from the most microscopic
to the most macroscopic of social realities, with phenomena at roughly
the mid-point of this continuum best thought of as meso- (middle or
intermediate) realities.
c. The Agency-Structure Relationship – European origins – complex continuum
that resembles the micro-macro comparison.
i. Agency – individual social power and capacity for creativity
a. Agency is the micro level; structure is the macro level.
b. Agency gives priority to the agent having power and a
capacity for creativity.
c. Agents both create and are constrained by social and
cultural structures.
ii. Structure – places greater emphasis on “structures” that are
autonomous and able to sustain themselves over a long period of
time without disruptions from individuals; they are long-term,
often society-wide patterns of relationships, norms, values, and
other social phenomena that are centered on fundamental social
tasks and include the family, education, media, the state, and the
economy.
d. The Social Construction of Reality: This approach argues that agents (people at
the micro level) create social reality through their thoughts and actions. Their
reality takes on a life of its own and becomes a structure within which those who
create the structure exist. It is a process of human creation that becomes
invisible and relatively unquestioned the deeper it is embedded in peoples’
social practices. For example, designers (agents) create the world of fashion,
which is then taken up by corporate interests, produced in factories around the
world, and sold in outlets that have both a local effect and a global effect – such
Ritzer, Introduction to Sociology, 2nd Edition
VII.
VIII.
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as Walmart. Very few people question fashion norms-such as men wearing
pants - although they choose incidental features such as pants in particular
fabrics and styles.
e. Social Structures and Processes
i. Social structures are enduring and regular social arrangements, such as
the family and the state. These change very slowly.
ii. Social processes are the dynamic and ever-changing aspects of the social
world, such as the patterns of consumption demonstrated at a specific
historical moment. These change rapidly.
iii. Globalization can be divided into structures (such as the United Nations)
and a variety of specific social processes (such as the migration of people
across national borders).
iv. Checkpoint 1.4
Sociology’s Purpose: Science or Social Reform? (Checkpoint 1.5)
a. A long-standing debate within sociology is whether the discipline is best
described using scientific principles. Comte believed that society was governed
by laws and it was sociology’s task to uncover these laws (positivism). He also
believed it was sociology’s task to instigate social reform, arguing reform could
be achieved through the implementation of scientific principles, which led to this
debate.
b. The scientific view states that examining the relationship between structure and
process should be a purely scientific endeavor. Those supporting sociology as a
science suggest it is best to understand how the social world operates before it
can be changed.
i. Ethnomethodology is a sociological practice focused on what people do
rather than on what people think. It is a method used by sociologists to
understand common forms of social behavior.
c. The social reform view states that as these relationships are discovered, this
knowledge should be used to solve social problems. Those supporting social
reform argue that sociology is best served by pointing out social problems, then
proposing ways to fix those problems through subjective analysis.
i. Public sociology focuses on contemporary social issues from a
sociological perspective, using sociological knowledge to propose
solutions.
Sociology, the Other Sciences, and Common Sense
a. Sociology, with its emphasis on studying various aspects of the social world, is
one of the social sciences. Sociology, generally speaking, is the broadest of these
fields – it is multi-faceted as a discipline, and encompasses elements from the
following disciplines:
i. Anthropology: studies cultural aspects of societies around the world.
ii. Communications: studies mediated and non-mediated communication
across the globe.
iii. Economics: examines production, distribution, and consumption of
resources through markets across the globe.
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iv. Geography: mapping of spatial relationships on a global scale.
v. Political Science: focus on nation-states, particularly the ways they relate
to one another around the world, and have grown increasingly unable to
control global flows.
vi. Psychology: ways in which individual identities are shaped by awareness
of the rest of the world.
b. It is also important to understand how sociology deals with the gap between
common sense and social scientific knowledge, especially when analyzing the
perceptions that are widely held, such as the association between the rich and
the poor in the United States. Common sense and media culture gives
Americans the impression that wealth is evenly distributed; scientific data
reveals that the wealthy (the top 20% of US population) actually controls 84% of
the total wealth in the US. While common sense is essential to our
understanding of social phenomena, it is important for us to use systematic
scientific principles to understand the social world as well. (Figure 1.5)