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• Sociology: The scientific study of social behavior in human groups. • Sociology encourages us to see individuality in social context, such as: Professor David M. Long [email protected] • A sociological perspective allows us to look beyond the outer appearances of our social world and discover new levels of reality – The material world is comprised of systems, and at each level of complexity, new properties emerge that are irreducible to the components existing on preceding levels – Society exists on a scale that transcends the human system • Reciprocity – Basis of social ties and other relationships – Increases perceived interdependent utility • Relevance – Individual’s are motivated by a desire to achieve or maintain relevance. – Relevance involves both personal and social recognition, as well as a capacity for empathy • Roles – Expected actions and beliefs based on one’s social status/position – Increases perceptions of predictability and homophily – How relationships influence people’s attitudes and behavior – How societies develop and change – How society is divided into groups and cultures – Detecting cultural patterns in the behavior of particular individuals – Assessing both opportunities and constraints in our own lives • Humans are conscious in a manner unlike other animals, i.e., we are self aware and communicative • Human society is a complex game in which agents (i.e., people) engage in a constant exchange of symbols and objects • Agents often have different motivations and abilities when interacting • The value of products exchanged is determined by intersubjective agreement • Three major social changes during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries are important to the development of sociology: 1.The rise of a factory-based industrial economy – Industrialization: The process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries • Process initiated by the Industrial Revolution in 1760 and continuing through the end of the Nineteenth century • Many agricultural workers needed to relocate from their deeply embedded social relationships in rural communities to seek employment in cities as workers in the factories owned by the emerging industrialists 1 2. The emergence of great cities in Europe – Urbanization: The process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas • Most people shifted from being producers to being consumers • Wage labor and rental lodging become standard • Social problems become prevalent, such as overcrowded housing, poverty, crime, disability, lack of sanitation, and dangerous working conditions 3. Political changes, including a rising concern with individual liberty and rights – The French Revolution symbolized this dramatic break with political and social tradition • Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) – Profoundly affected by upheavals during the French Revolution – Developed the philosophy of Positivism • Society is moving through stages of increased technological sophistication, and technology improves society • Auguste Comte (1798–1857) – Student of Saint-Simon – Was the person who coined the term “sociology” – Theorized that societies contain both social statistics (forces for the social order and stability) and social dynamics (forces for conflict and change) – Comte saw sociology as the product of a three-stage historical development: 1.The theological stage, in which thought was guided by religion 2.The metaphysical stage, a transitional phase 3.The scientific stage • Georg Hegel (1770-1831) – Developed the concept of the dialectic as underlying principle of social change • Thesis generates antithesis, which combine through a process of negation to form synthesis • Immanence = Physical reality • Transcendence = Ideological reality • Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) – Emphasized an evolutionary perspective on social order and social change known as “social Darwinism,” which thought that attempts at social reform were always flawed • Theorized that society (similar to a biological organism) is composed of interdependent components that stabilize society and promote improvements • Theorized that societies develop through a process of “struggle” (for existence) and “fitness” (for survival) and equated the Darwinian process of natural selection with ideas of progress • For most of human history, the vast majority of people lived in small, isolated groups – By 2050, however, nearly three of every four people in the world will live in urban settings • The development of technology, especially tools for improving communication and travel, continues to alter our basic expectations and understanding of human life • Globalization affects all of us every day, both as individuals and as members of nation-states, economic markets, and more. • Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) – Influential French sociologist, educator, and public official. – Student of Saint-Simon and Comte – Behavior must be understood within larger social context, i.e., social institutions. – Introduction of statistical techniques in social research and intercultural comparison, – Studied the ties that bind society together, particularly social and moral order as major concerns: • Mechanical Solidarity: Traditional societies are united by social similarities (superstitions & tribalism). • Organic Solidarity: Modern societies are united by interdependence rational thought & modernism). • Anomie: Loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior becomes ineffective because of rapid social changes • Karl Marx (1818-1883) – German philosopher, writer, and social critic – Personally involved in social change movements and believed social scientists should help to improve society – According to Karl Marx, the motivating force in history is the manner in which men relate to one another in their struggle to wrest their livelihood from nature in order to take care of primary needs • Unlike other animals species, humans use technology to produce sustenance from the environment and thereby “make history.” • Social theory had to deal with more than just ideas, it must be grounded in “the existence of living human individuals,” who have material needs that must be satisfied through production 2 • Since production technologies are periodically improved, they constantly yield more plentiful and better quality consumer goods – Thus, the processes of production and consumption always feed back on each other in a cumulative fashion, so that as one set of needs is satisfied, a new set of needs emerges – These forces shape society into distinct social classes that develop through a process of material dialectic • Social change is driven “materially” & “economically,” not ideologically – Struggle occurs between owners and workers – Capitalist owners will oppress ordinary people – People become alienated and lose control over their lives • The division of society into classes gives rise to one’s views of the world; views which express existing class relations and tend either to consolidate or to undermine the power and authority of the dominant class. • The Chicago School were a group of sociologists associated with the University of Chicago (where the first department of sociology in the United States was established in 1892) who dominated sociology for the first half of the 20th century and were noted for study of urban problems and cities – George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) • Mind develops from an understanding of symbols, primarily language – Jane Addams (1860-1935) • Combined intellectual inquiry, social service work, and political activism – Charles H. Cooley (1864-1929) THE MATERIAL DIALECTIC THESIS NEGATION SYNTHESIS NEW THESIS ANTI THESIS • Max Weber (1864–1920) – German scholar who studied wide variety of topics – Like other sociologists of the time, he studied the impact of industrialization on peoples’ lives – Support for value free studies and objective research • Rationalization – Traditional societies emphasize emotion and personal ties – Modern societies emphasize calculation, efficiency, self control – Personal ties decline and people become “disenchanted” • Verstehen: To comprehend behavior, one must learn the subjective meanings people attach to actions • In the United States, sociology and the modern university system rose together, and was generally optimistic and rooted in a belief in progress, the value of individual freedom, civility, and concern for the welfare of others • Exceptions to the general optimism of most American scholars were the works of W.E.B. DuBois and Ida Wells-Barnett, both of who used research in the field to take sociology out of the university • Used sociological perspective to examine face-to-face group 3 • W.E.B DuBois (1868-1963) – Emphasized an analysis of everyday lived experiences that focused on explicating processes of power and inequality – Revealed social processes that contributed to maintenance of racial separation – Double Consciousness: The term is used to describe an individual whose identity is divided into several facets • Ida Wells-Barnett (1862–1931) – Argued that societies can be judged on whether the principles they claim to believe in match their actions – Used her analysis of society to resist oppression • Intellectual analysis requires introspection and retrospection. • C. Wright Mills described sociological imagination as providing: – An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. – The ability to see our private experiences and personal difficulties as being entwined with the structural arrangements of our society and the times in which we live. Sociology is an intellectual endeavor, comprised of both theory and practice • Science: Body of knowledge obtained by methods based on systematic observation – Physical Sciences: Study of physical features of nature and the ways they interact and change – Social Sciences: Study of social features of humans and the ways they interact and change • Theory: Set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behavior – Effective theories have explanatory and predictive power. – Theories are not the final statement about human behavior. – Theories are not “true,” they seek to guide us toward truths • Sociological Imagination is similar to Weber’s idea of verstehen, which can be loosely translated as “contextual understanding.” – Understand social marginality, which is the state of being excluded from social activity as an “outsider.” • People at the margins of social life are aware of social patterns that others rarely think about • Meaningful understanding also requires the concept dasein, wherein one seeks an authentic sense of “being there.” • Epistemology: A type of theory about how our knowledge of reality is made • Ontology: A type of theory about the basis of reality and being • Rational: Process of analysis independent of one’s instincts, emotions, personal preferences, traditions • Logical: Process of analysis that seeks to maximize consistency, soundness, and completeness between evidence and result 4 • Deduction: Process in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the premises presented, so that the conclusion cannot be false if the premises are true • Induction: Process of estimating the validity of conclusions applied to an entire group based on observations made from only a single example of that group • Paradigm: An innovative perspective or approach to reasoning that radically differs from all prior conceptions of the world , and profoundly changes subsequent social and scientific thought – Examples: Positivism, Material Dialectic, Psychoanalysis, et al. • All contemporary sociology is guided by four distinct perspectives, referred to as meta-theories 1.Structural-Functionalism 2.Critical-Conflict Theory 3.Symbolic-Interactionism 4.Social Exchange Theory • Each meta-theory can also be placed within the context of macrosociology (structural functional and critical conflict) or microsciology (symbolic interaction) – Macrosociology: Concentrates on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations – Microsociology: Stresses study of small groups, often through experimental means • A meta-theory does not have the breadth or depth of a paradigm, but it does allow sociologists the means by which to build a coherent framework to analyze complex social phenomena – The sociological meta-theories each provide a different emphasis on how society and groups operate – One gains broadest understanding of society by drawing on all three perspectives, noting where they overlap or diverge. – A researcher’s work is always guided by a theoretical viewpoint • The structural-functional theory is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system of connected parts, each of which helps maintain the system as a whole by promoting solidarity and stability – Individuals are guided by social structures (relatively stable patterns of social behavior) – Institutions cause individuals to perform social functions through norms and roles – Social change in predictable and conflict is rare and easily corrected 5 • Each social structure has social functions (i.e., consequences) for the operation of society as a whole – Manifest Functions: The recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern – Latent Functions: Largely unrecognized and unintended consequences that may reflect hidden purposes of an institution – Dysfunctions: Undesirable consequences of a social pattern that may disrupt a social system or its stability • Key figures in the development of this paradigm include Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton • While Structural Functionalism has historically been the most dominant meta-theoretical framework in sociology, its influence has declined since the mid-Twentieth century. • It has been generally criticized for its overemphasis on social stability, thereby minimalizing issues of social inequalities related to class, race, and gender STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST MODEL • Framework for building theory that suggests social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict and change caused by the tension between groups competing for scarce resources – Stratification leads to hierarchy, and subsequent social inequalities • Formal Stratification Categories: Gender, sex, race, ethnicity, age, socio-economic status… • Informal Stratification Categories: Attractiveness, intelligence, frugality, fashion sense, style… – Power allows some to dominate others and authority is maintained through force – Dominance leads to conflict Conflict and change are inevitable – Conflict holds society together as new alliances are formed and others fail • Most sociologists who favor the critical conflict perspective attempt to not only understand society, but also to reduce social inequality • This theoretical perspective has come to dominate sociology since the mid-Twentieth century, but has some weaknesses: – It ignores social unity based on mutual interdependence and shared values – Since it is explicitly political, it is difficult to claim scientific objectivity. – Like the structural-functional paradigm, it envisions society in terms of broad abstractions. • Major sociologists in this tradition include Karl Marx, W.E.B. DuBois, and Anthony Bourdieu • Social Inequality: Condition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power • Hegemony: Concept that describes and explain how a diverse society can be dominated by one subgroup – Dominance is accomplished by the ruling group acquiring some degree of consent from the subordinate group (as opposed to dominance purely by force). – The ability of the dominant class to persuade other classes to see the world in terms favorable to the dominant group’s own ascendancy. – Everyday practices and shared beliefs provide the foundation for complex systems of domination 6 • A framework for building theory in which humans are viewed as living in a world of meaningful objects, in which individuals construct a “self” or “identity” • Individuals construct the nature of their social world through interaction with others in society – The meaning of things is derived from (or arises out of) the social interaction – Social life is possible only because humans can communicate through symbols • Juniper Street → Courtland Street • Argonne Ave → Central Park Place • Charles Allen Drive → Parkway Drive • Monroe Drive → Boulevard • Glen Iris Drive → Lakeview Avenue • Briarcliff Road → Moreland Avenue • All human communications take place through the perception and interpretation of symbols – How people define situations is important, and there is a general consensus on how to define situations – We do not respond directly to reality but to the symbolic meanings we attach to the world – Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things • Key figures in the development of this perspective include George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, George Homans, and Peter Blau • Explains social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties • Social behavior is an exchange of goods, material goods but also non-material ones, such as the symbols of approval or prestige • Human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis • The basic concepts addressed in social exchange theory are: Cost, Benefit, Outcome, Comparison Level, Satisfaction, and Dependence 7 • Benefits: Include things such as material or financial gains, social status, and emotional comforts. • Costs: Generally consist of sacrifices of time, money, or lost opportunities. • Outcome: Defined to be the difference between the benefits and the costs • Comparison Level: Refers to the fact that since individuals have different expectations of relationships, an individual's satisfaction with a relationship depends on more than just the outcome – Satisfaction is formalized as the difference between the outcome and the comparison level – For any two people with the same outcome, their level of satisfaction may differ based on their expectations • Whether an individual remains in a relationship is determined by the set of alternate relationships available • Dependence is formalized as the difference between the outcome and the comparison level of alternatives – If there are many alternatives available, then an individual is less dependent on the current relationship – Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect the set of people available to an individual for forming an alternate relationship, and thus affect the level of dependence of the individual on the current relationship – Other considerations include factors such as the investments that an individual has made in the relationship or barriers to leaving the relationship 8