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Developing a Sociological Consciousness
Ibn Kaldun 1300s Tunisia
Origins of Sociology
1.
Sociology emerged:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
with census taking in the Roman Empire
in the “dark ages” ….476 to 1000 AD
as a rebirth of consciousness during the
Renaissance
about the middle of the 1800s when observers
began to use scientific methods to test their ideas
the 1950s and early 60s
“…humans have had a long interest
 In understanding themselves and their social
arrangements” (3)
 YET it has only been in the last two centuries or
so that human beings have sought answers to
these and related questions through science.”
 Social sciences looked to the natural
sciences….
Invitation to Sociology
(Peter Berger)
 "People who like to avoid shocking discoveries, who
prefer to believe that society is just what they were
taught in Sunday School, who like the safety of the rules
and maxims of what Alfred Schuetz has called the
"world-taken-for-granted," should stay away from
sociology. …(Berger 1963, 24)
 Sociology…a “special kind of passion”
 “A demon that possesses on…” (11)
“…the Sociologist…
 is a person intensively, endlessly, shamelessly interested in
the doings of men. His natural habitat is all the human
gathering places of the world, wherever men come
together” (8)
 What is part, parcel and unchanging about Sociology as a discipline?
 How has the field changed over time?
 How does this passage reflect some of these changes?
Relation to other disciplines
exploring “social worlds”
Individual…society…culture
 “Culture”
 Ethnography
 Exotic/ familiar
 Culture shock
Argonauts of the Western Pacific,
Bronislaw Malinowski, 1922
Part 1: The Study of Sociology
Simmelsymbolic
interactionist
Mills- Conflict theorist
The Study of Sociology
 What do Sociologists do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdUtCAXAUM
 What do they study?
 Sociology as a Social Science
 Methodology
 Theory (theoretical perspective)
 Style of writing
Methods:
 a. secondary analysis
 b. ethnography….participant observation
 c. formal/ informal interviews…snowballing
 d. documents
 e. surveys
 f. experiments
Ethics
No harm to
subjects
 g. unobtrusive measures
 h. network analysis
 i. oral histories
 j. auto-ethnography
 k. visual ethnography
Informed
consent
Purpose of Sociology?
The Debate: Heuristic or Reform?
 Three theoretical perspectives:
 Functionalist
 Conflict theorist
 Symbolic Interactionist
Do you think a sociologist
should study society
dispassionately or get
involved…apply what they
know to reforming
society…or applying
knowledge to pressing social
matters of the day?
How did the authors address
this?
 Feminism (need attention to women’s perspectives and voices)
 Rational choice theory (self-interest)
 Postmodernism (pluralism in flux)
Main Theoretical Orientations
 Functionalism: This perspective stresses the maintaining of
social order, building consensus, social order, social
integration, social solidarity. Holism/ society as an organism.
Social “functions” keep groups and society in equilibrium)
 Conflict Theory: Groups compete for scare resources.
Alliances are “surface alliances” as underneath is a struggle for
power.
 Symbolic interactionism: Individuals evaluate their own
conduct by comparing themselves to “others” through
symbols, associations, labels, etc…(“Verstehen”)
Two Levels of Sociology:
 Macrosociology
 Microsociology
Macro or micro & why?
 Tally’s Corner (Elliott Liebow, 1967)
 19% of American children live in poverty (DeNavas-Walt,
Proctor and Smith, 2009)
 National study that conducts research on newest waves of
immigrants and how they are adjusting to relocation (five
cities)
 Examination of global patterns in low-wage
work…mobilities of migrant or immigrant workers from
one region of the world to another
What is “The Sociological
Perspective”?
 How would you “define” it?
 What did C. Wright Mills mean by it?
“Understanding
 human behavior by placing it within its broader social
context” (Glossary)
Bourdieu, “cultural capital” in
Delaney 284)
Sociology:
 Offers perspective; eg: a socio-cultural one
 Opens a window onto unfamiliar worlds;
 Offers a fresh look…
 A new vision….of social life.
 A place to “observe others”
 And to question one’s own assumptions (4)
The Sociological Perspective
 Allows us to grasp the connection between history
and biography” (CWM)
 What does this mean? What did he mean? And is that
“old” perspective (1959) or is it relevant for 2015?
“Men (and women) usually do not define the
troubles they endure in terms of historical change
and institutional contradiction” (13)
“Seldom aware of the intricate connection
between patterns of their own lives and
the course of world history”
“the Power
Elite”
Studies:
Micro or Macro?
According to Mill…..Questions for Social Study
1. What is the structure of this particular society
as a whole?
2. Where does the society stand in human history?
3. What varieties of men and women now prevail
in this society and in this period? (16)
Individual and Social Levels of
Problems
 Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the
sociological imagination works is between 'the personal
troubles of milieu' and 'the public issues of social
structure.' This distinction is an essential tool of the
sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work
in social science.
 Personal troubles
 Social issues
Personal problem or social issue?
 In these terms, consider unemployment. When, in a
city of 100,000, only one is unemployed, that is his
personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to
the character of the individual, his skills and his
immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50
million employees, 15 million people are unemployed,
that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its
solution within the range of opportunities open to any
one individual. The very structure of opportunities has
collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem
and the range of possible solutions require us to
consider the economic and political institutions of the
society, and not merely the personal situation and
character of a scatter of individuals. (CWM)
Think about the life problems faced by
your family, friends or self.
 Are any of them attributable to structural factors as
opposed to individual characteristics? (p. 6)
 Can you think of any contemporary issues where
structural changes and structural factors could
be considered an important factor as to what could
shape a person’s circumstances? Their behavior? Their
“personality”?
“Personal” experiences and issues vs public social
“structure”
“Individual” and “social”
(Criticisms of) “Power elite”
Sociological imagination
Key terms in Mills
Peter Berger (1963) and
C. Wright Mills (1959)
Peter Berger b. 1929
Georg Simmel ‘s
Main idea?
“The Stranger”
1. What do you think characterizes Simmel’s “Stranger”? Do
you think Simmel employs this term in a conventional way or
does this sociological concept present a paradox?
2. What are some of the attributes that Simmel posits as being
characteristic of the stranger? How would you summarize the
role of the stranger?
Insider/ outsider status
Simmel discusses the stranger in
terms of spatiality and sociality…in
“position as a full-fledged member” …inside the group and outside,
and as an insider has to a degree gained the trust and confidence of
the group ? Does commitment come into play in the role of the
stranger? Why or why not?
Can you think of any examples from people you’ve known or have
met who took on this role, or perhaps you’ve had this form of
relationship in a particular group; anything you would care to share
in class?
What do you think are some possible interactions between one who
is considered a “stranger” & an “insider”? (refer to the text and/or
brainstorm a list)
Questions? Comments? Anything
to clarify before moving on?
Is there a passage you’d like clarified something that you’d like to
better understand? What questions would YOU raise for in-class
discussion? Does this essay prompt any questions for you NOT
covered, here?
Next class: 6. “Telling the Truth about Lies Damned Lies and Social Statistics” (Joel Best) AND #7
.“Public Sociologies: Contradictions, Dilemmas, Possibilities (Burawoy)
Which essay (who) did you respond to
most, and why? (C.W.Mills or Georg
Simmel)
Do you think a sociologist should study society
dispassionately or get involved…apply what they know to
reforming society…or applying knowledge to pressing
social matters of the day?
How did the authors address this?
Emile Durkheim
(1858-1917)
“What makes sociology different?”
-Functionalist perspective
- “Social facts”
- Constraint
Works Cited:
Berger, Peter. Excerpt. “Sociology as an Individual Pasttime” from Invitation to Sociology. In
Readings for Sociology edited by Garth Massey. Sixth edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co,
2009: pp 3-12.
Best, Joel. “Telling the Truth about Lies and Damned Statistics” in Readings for Sociology pp:
53-59.
Brandt, Allan M. “Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” In
Readings for Sociology pp: 60-74.
Burawoy, Michael. “Public Sociologies: Contradictions, Dilemmas and Possibilities” in
Readings for Sociology pp: 27-33.
Durkheim, Emile. “What Makes Sociology Different”? In Readings for Sociology pp: 19-26.
Henslin, James M.”The Sociological Perspective.” In Essentials of Sociology: A Down to Earth
Approach. Seventh Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2006.
Hughes, Michael and Carolyn J, Kroehler. Sociology: The
2011.
Mills, C. Wright Mills. In Readings for Sociology pp: 13-18.
Core. 10th edition.McGraw-Hill,
IMAGES CITED:
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