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UnderstandingSocietyLecture1–WhatisSociology(29/2/16) Whatissociology? • “thescientificstudyofhumanlife,socialgroups,wholesocieties,and thehumanworldasawhole” • “thesystematicstudyofthewaysinwhichpeopleareaffectedby,and affect,thesocialstructuresandsocialprocessesthatareassociatedwith thegroups,organizations,cultures,societies,andworldinwhichthey exist” • the‘sociologicalimagination’–howweconnectprivatetroubleswith publicissues–C.WrightMills • “thesociologistisconcernedwithunderstandingsocietyina disciplinedway”–Berger,1963 • therelationshipbetweenhistoryandbiographyinsociety • thecapacitytoswitchfromoneperspectivetoanother,fromsmall-scale tolarge-scaleandexaminetherelationshipbetweenthetwo • “connectprivatetroubleswithpublicissues”–Mills(e.g.private–a personlosingtheirjob,public–ariseintheunemploymentrate) • “linkingwhathappensinindividuallivestothelargersocial,politicaland economicdimension” • “bydrawingonmodernsociology’s200-yearhistorywhilelookingtothe future,today’ssociologistshavethetoolsandresourcestounderstand betterwherewehavebeen,whereweare,and,perhapsmore importantly,wherewearegoing”(Ritzer,2013) UnderstandingSocietyLecture2–Foundations(3/3/16) Socialcapital–resourcesembeddedinsocialnetworks(socialties,notsocial media)e.g.businessconnections,friendships,family. Theory–amodelthatweusetoexplainsomething,makesenseofthings. WIKIPEDIAISNOTAGOODENOUGHSOURCEFORANACADEMIC ASSIGNMENT Therootsofsociologicalthinkingliein19thcenturyEurope.Fourofthemain thinkersfromthisperiodwere: • AugusteComte Born1798,inventedthetermsociologytodescribethegenerallawsof thesocialworld.Lookedateventsoccurringaroundhim(French Revolution,inequality)andtriedtounderstandwhytheywereoccurring. Byinvestigatingtheselawsandstudyingsocialtrendsandpatterns, Comtebelievedsocietycouldbeimproved. Positivism(positivescience)–scienceshouldbeconcernedonlywith observableentitiesthatareknownfromexperience.Sociologybeganas anattempttoapplytheprinciplesofstudyinphysics/chemistryetc.to society. LawofThreeStagestracksthedevelopmentofsocietyovertime throughthreestages: o Theological–societyisseenasamanifestationofGod’swill o Metaphysical–beliefinaconcreteGodisdiscardedbutreligionis stillseenasthecreatingforcebehindsociety o Positive–scientificexaminationbasedonreasonandlogic (teachingsofGalileo,Copernicusetc.) • ÉmileDurkheim o BuiltonalotofComte’sideasthathefeltweren’texpressedclearly enough o Believedsociologyshouldstudysocialfactsnotindividual behaviour. o ‘SocialFacts’–aspectsofsociallifethatshapeouractionsas individuals.Socialfactsaremanifestedthroughindividuals,butare biggerthananysinglecase. o Durkheimstudied‘socialfacts’withascientificattitude,toremove preconceptions. o Analysedsocialchange–typesofsolidarityinrelationtothe divisionoflabour: MechanicalSolidarity(Pre-Modern)–solidaritydrawn fromcollectiveconsciousnesse.g.feudalsocietywhere labourwasdividedevenly,everyonedidabitofeverything OrganicSolidarity(Modern)–solidaritydrawnfrom inter-dependence,specialisedoccupationswithan expandeddivisionoflabour.Allowssocietytobeanalysed asanorganism,madeupofseparatefunctioningparts. Anomie–feelingsofaimlessness,dread,anddespaircausedby modernsociallife. Functionalism–theideathatsocietyisacomplexsystemwhose differentpartsworktogethertocreatestabilityandsolidarity. Structuralfunctionalism(ParsonsandMerton)–sawsocietyas existinginastateofequilibrium • KarlMarx o Notasociologist,butpossiblythemostinfluentialofthefour ‘founders’ofsociology. o Materialisticviewofsociety,whereeconomicandsocialclassrelatedissueswerethemostimportant o MarxsawCapitalismasaclasssysteminwhichclassrelationsare characterisedbyconflict o Workersandcapitalistsaredependentoneachother,butitisan unbalancedrelationshipinwhichtheProletariatareexploitedand alienated.InMarx’sview,socialchangewouldbepromptedby economicinfluences. o “LettherulingclassestrembleataCommunisticrevolution.The proletarianshavenothingtolosebuttheirchains.Theyhaveaworld towin.WorkingMenofAllCountries,Unite!” o Marxismrejectsfunctionalism’sideasofsocialequilibrium,as therearealwaysgroupswhichdominateothers(e.g.Bourgeoisie dominatingproletariat) o Moderntimes–newconflictperspectivesemergingasadifferent waytoanalysesociety–feministtheory,postmoderntheory, queertheory,criticaltheory • MaxWeber o Focusedonsocialaction–influencedbyMarxbutcriticisedsome ofhisideas(historicalmaterialism) o Believedeconomicinfluenceswereimportant,butideasand valuesalsohadabearingonthecourseofsocialchange o “…thesciencewhoseobjectistointerpretthemeaningofsocial actionandtherebygiveacausalexplanationofthewayinwhichthe actionproceedsandtheeffectswhichitproduces.By“action”inthis definitionismeantthehumanbehaviourwhenandtotheextentthat theagentoragentsseeitassubjectivelymeaningful” o StudiedCapitalism,andit’soriginsinreligiousvalues o Rationalisation(developmentofscience,moderntechnologyand bureaucracy) o Weberwasnotafunctionalistoraconflicttheorist,hebelieved thatsociologyneededtodevelopit’sownmethodsofstudying society,differenttothatusedinthestudyofindividualpeopleand otherphenomena. o Symbolicinteractionism–concernwithlanguageand symbolism,focusoninterpersonalinteractionsineverydaylife OtherHistoricalSociologists • IbnKhaldun–wrote‘Muqaddimah’(1378)callingfora“scienceof socialorganisation”toexplainsocietaltraits • HarrietMartineau–firstfemalesociologist,translatedComte’s‘Positive Philosophy’toEnglishin1853 Martineaubelievedintheimportanceoffactoringinissuessuchasgender, raceandethnicityintothestudyofsocialpatterns,aswellasidentifyingnew issuessuchasmarriage,familyrelationsandracerelations. SociologicalProblemsvs.SocialProblems(FromTheSociologicalQuest, Willis,1999) o Asociologicalproblemisatheoreticalqueryposedbyasociologist, usuallydrivenbycuriosityovertheoriginorfunctioningofasocial phenomenon.E.g.thetypicalpatterninwhichpeopleenteran elevator(firstpersonstandsbythecontrols,nextstandsinthe oppositecorner,nextfilluptheothercornersandsoforth). o Asocialproblemisanobservablesocietaltraitwhichisdisrupting thesmoothfunctioningofsociety,andneedstoberectified.E.g. unemployment,smoking(creatinghealthcareexpenses) Socialandsociologicalproblemsareobservableatfourlevels: • • • • Individual–thequalityofbeingastranger(Micro) Community–quittingsmoking(Meso) Societal–nationalidentity(Meso/Macro) Global–economicintegration,migration(Macro) Reflexivity–‘theabilitytoconsiderone’splaceinthesocialworld,notasan isolatedandasocialindividual,butasaconsequenceofone’sexperienceofthe membershipofsocialgroups’ Keysociologicalquestions: • • • • • What’shappening? Why? Whataretheconsequences? Howdoyouknow? Howcoulditbeotherwise? SocialConstruction–sociologistsseethesocialworldasnotsimplybasedon biology,butbuiltupbyhistoricalattitudestoanissueaswellascontemporary ideasandpractices(e.g.genderroles).Languageplaysabigpartinsocial construction.Whetheranameforaphenomenonexistsatall,andhowitis definedinfluencessocietalperceptions.Forexample,theterm‘childabuse’came aboutinthe1960stodescribephysicalassaultagainstachild,andonlytookona sexualconnotationinthe1980s.Toanextent,somethingcanonlyexistinthe socialworldifithasbeensociallyconstructed. StructureandSystem–theconceptofsocialstructureexpressestheideathat socialformations(classesetc.)existandendureovertime,actingasaconstraint onpeople’slives.Assoonasweareborn,weareexpectedtoconformto arrangementsthatdictatethewaywecanbehave.Theideaofsocialstructure wasimperativetotheearlystructuralistsociologicalperspective,whichstates thathumanactionsshouldbeanalysednotinisolation,butasaproductof underlyingsocialstructure.Thissocialstructureismadeupofsystemsof education,politics,economics,religion,familycomposition,mediaandlaw. SocialFacts–‘waysofacting,thinking,andfeeling,externaltotheindividual, andendowedwithapowerofcoercion.’(Durkheim,1938) Culture-'thesymbolicandlearned,non-biologicalaspectsofhumansociety, includinglanguage,customandconvention,bywhichhumanbehaviourcanbe distinguishedfromthatofotherprimates'(Abercrombieetal,1994).Culture influencesthevaluesandnormsseeninasociety.Valuesidentifywhatpeople areexpectedtoaspiretoinlife,suchasagoodeducation,startingafamily,etc. Normsareatranslationofvaluesintorulesofbehaviour,suchasnotkilling otherhumansorneglectingchildren.Valuesandnormsareanabstractconcept notbindingruleslikelaws,andthuspeopleoftenactinawaythatcontradicts theirvalues.Thestudyofwhypeopleactagainsttheirvaluesisanimportant topicofsociologicalresearch.
