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SOCIOL 110 NU FUNDAMENTALS
OF SOCIOLOFY NOTES
What is sociology?
- Sociology is not the study of people, neither is it a method of doing research
- At the heart of sociology is the sociological imagination o Sociology often starts with questioning reality and the way the world is/commonsense explanations for why we do things o Begins with the “radical thesis” that the way the social world is put together in a given time and place is not the best way/ necessarily optimal
- The social construction of reality o Because we act on something as if it is real, it becomes real in the consequences o Reality is a product of ongoing social interaction in which knowledge of the world and behavior becomes reified [abstract and arbitrary divisions are treated as concrete and real, and thus become real] o The Blind – it is the impressions of people that fear them more than the blindness itself. Fear immobilizes us in the presence of challenge Love puts you in front of your fear so that you are able to overcome challenges “No one is actually blind” – it is just that everyone reifies that people are blind, thus in the end, people are categorized as blind. o By probing these reifications, sociology makes the familiar seem strange, and sometimes the strange seems familiar Things we take for granted for and seem natural may be arbitrary and done very differently elsewhere or at other times in own history. Families, race, gender, leisure
- Sociology concerns socially meaningful human behavior o For example, we don’t study sneezing. We study how people interpret or react to sneezing o Sneezing is an involuntary and inherently meaningless behavior – it’s something most mammals do But we attribute meaning to it, it is a social ritual Saying bless you is a taken-for-granted ritual that we perform It just means that you acknowledge that the other person is there o The sociology of sneezing must say something about social boundaries – who is an insider vs an outsider and who we consider worthy of respect, etc. o Darnton’s The Great Cat Massacre showed that killing cats as a good night’s entertainment was more common and accepted in the
18 th^ Century o Today, bullfighting, boxing and especially football are sources of entertainment and esteem.
Society as conflict
- Marx: Conflicts of social classes that drove social change (More of an economist than sociologist) o Society is conflict o History was an account of man’s struggle to gain control of and later dominate his natural environment o Conflict-based theory for society Communist based society o Each economic line had its own struggles o Social Stratification o Material world into history o Haves and Have-nots
- Weber: Verstehen (understanding): basis of interpretive sociology in which researchers imagine themselves experiencing the life positions of the social actors they want to understand rather than treating them as mere objects to be examined o Advancing Marx’s conflict-based approach o Broadens conflict beyond economic group Other social divisions – such as status groups, and political parties – also matter for understanding society and social institutions Power is a big part Brought ideas back into history o Understand the meanings people attach to their actions Positivism vs Interpretivism
- How college and occupational outcomes are related through the causal model
- Positivism: Cause and Effect (Scientific quantitative methods)
- What does it mean to go to college?
- Both causality and interpretation are necessary for a full understanding of human behavior
- Confirmation bias: tendency to search for information which confirms ones pre-existing thoughts/notions
- Interpretivism: Humanistic qualitative methods
- Positivism: o Macro o Deductive o Quantitative o Seeking generalizability
- Interpretivism: o Micro o Inductive o Qualitative o Seeking validity Four theories to explain the middle-range phenomena – the mechanisms of social inequality
- Individual-centered achievement theory
- Human Capital theory
- Social Capital theory o Connections made have important resources o Negative social capital is possible: people you are connected to have criminal records etc o Positive social capital: People who have important information/ important connections/ important job interviews
- Cultural capital theory o Each one of us has a set of symbols (e.g. clothing, the way we talk/walk, privileged person, elite background etc) Theories lead to research goals, which lead to methods Approach to research
- Positivists often wanted to test theories through the deductive approach o Starts with a theory o Develops a hypothesis o Makes empirical observations o Analyzes the data collected through observation to confirm, reject or modify the original theory
- Inductive: They gather data and see if the data spoke to various theories o Empirical observations analysis theory Hypothesis Research Methods Research methods are standard rules that social scientists follow when they try to establish a relationship between social elements
- Quantitative methods seek to obtain information about the social world / converted to numeric form o Sacrifices a deep understanding of each case in order to make broad, generally causal, claims about a population
- Qualitative: information that cannot be readily converted to numeric form o Sacrifices being able to generalize its findings in order to have more valid insights about the case
- Generalizability and validity: tradeoff between number of cases and the detail gathered on each case o Generalizability: infer from a sample of population to a population: sample is representative Often are people but could be larger groups (cities) or events (riots) Accurately predicting beliefs and behaviors of individuals the researcher did not study o Validity Concerned with accurately explaining and representing a given part of the social world
- Positivism – Causality
The sociology of culture
- Culture can be loosely defined as a set of beliefs, traditions and knowledge. o Material culture: set of objects that is part of a constructed environment such as books, universities Restrains movements and actions Row of seats facing the same direction to streamline learning o Nonmaterial culture: encompasses values, beliefs, behaviors and social norms Universal, individual’s pursuit of knowledge Sociologists are particularly interested in this area of culture
- Ethnocentrism o “Beliefs that one’s own culture or group is superior to others, and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own”
- Using the sociological imagination o Sport is part of most cultures and often helps socially construct key societal categories (gender, tribe, etc)
- Conflict theories of culture o Karl Marx thought the dominant ideas of a given era are the ideas of the dominant group/class Ideas that benefit the dominant class Education, democracy o Culture is a weapon in the group struggle for power, prestige and legitimacy o Culture of consumption Capitalism fosters feelings of inadequacy and a desire for things E.g. buying things
- Manufactured needs o Orwell’s 1984 or (uxley’s Brave New World o Dominance and control through pleasure of pain o Mass culture theory Consolidation of industry – little overall competition Popular culture is like a factory, cranking out cookie-cutter goods to appease the masses Industries are more monopolized o Popular culture creates “false needs” In order to satisfy capitalist system of production True needs of happiness, freedom, creativity, etc are folded into the mass culture industry Criticism: Cultural dupes – having no agency
- Weberian society o Weber saw status groups as based on the consumption of goods and sharing a certain “Style of life” Culture is not simply a reflection of the economic system
There are multiple lines of fragmentations
- Thornstein Veblen (1857-1929) o American sociologist Rough mannered son of Norwegian farmers Felt out of place in academia o Not a Marxist but a conflict theorist highly critical of the wealthy Our natural instinct for workmanship is transformed into efforts to outdo one another in accumulating symbols of economic achievement o Private property becomes the basis of esteem, not how much we can bring to the group Self-esteem based upon material possessions Not possible to be satisfied “since the struggle is substantially a race for reputability on the basis of invidious (basis of resentment or anger in others) comparison” o Conspicuous leisure Consuming time non productively because work is unworthy (characteristic of the old aristocracy) Demonstrates one’s wealth As does “the knowledge of dead languages and the occult sciences; of correct spelling; of syntax and prosody; of the various forms of domestic music and other household art Showing that you don’t have to work Replaces conspicuous leisure in most modern societies Wasting money on the best things Throwing lavish parties Not intentional waste of time and money – but in attempting to conform to social pressure we basically show off our material position and misrecognize other’s wealth as personal prestige Talking about your extensive knowledge of roan poetry and your many visits Conspicuous consumption We mistake money for status We mistake price for taste: e.g. wine We mistake waste for femininity o Ornamental – as opposed to work and productivity o Tied to being “useless but expensive” o Clothing that “hampers the wearer and incapacitates” o Shows the females are not fit for work What is socialization?
- Process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, norms of a given society and learn to function as a member of that society
- A note on human nature o Just because a behavior is common, does not mean it is natural o People have common drives, but how these manifest in behaviors is driven by culture
Not everything that’s taught in a classroom is from a book, there is a lot of socialization that occurs Agents of socialization - Peers Friends can help reinforce messages taught by family or school o Every social class has an adolescent society, but they differ significantly between e.g., the ruling class vs. the working class Peer groups often develop their own sets of rules and expose one another to distinct pressures Oppositional cultures from less advantaged groups (working class kids) o Kids may “disqualify” themselves from getting ahead o Groups can form around resentment of the dominant culture/class o These are also called counterculture groups, e.g., punk rock culture Peers socialization & cultural capital Agents of Socialization - Media The media, especially advertisements , play a large role in the maintenance of consumerism : the belief that happiness and fulfillment can be achieved through acquisition of material possessions Redux - Agents of Socialization Family, peers, schools, and media o Human behavior is always an interplay of instinct & socialization o Even when well-meaning, agents often dull or actively suppress our sociological imaginations! o Human behavior is some part biology/”nature”, but mostly large doses of “nurture” Social Interaction To understand socialization better, we need to understand everyday interactions, especially face-to-face behaviors Socialization doesn’t just stop when we are “grown up” - it happens every day through moment-to-moment social activity Structure, Culture, and Interaction Social structures, cultural practices, and individual/collective agency have bidirectional relationships among them and overlap with each other Sociology compares humans to jazz musicians, we know the score but change things here and there by our own personal agency Social Structure Robert Merton’s role theory provides a way to describe social interaction A status is a position in society o Ascribed statuses we are born with E.g., gender, race o Achieved statuses we earn through individual effort or have imposed by others, can be positive or negative E.g., high school graduate, felon Roles are the behaviors expected from a particular status Statuses and roles vary widely across societies and over time o We are socialized into them The Social Construction of Reality o People give meaning or value to ideas or objects through social interactions o An ongoing process that is embedded in our everyday interactions
o Together, we recreate the reality through our interactions Theories of Social Interaction Symbolic Interactionism is a micro-level theory based on the idea that people act in accordance with shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions that are the product of socialization Erving Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory views social life as a theatrical performance in which we are all actors on stages with roles, scripts, costumes, and sets o Interactions that are recreating a sense of collaborating Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis are rigorous micro-level approaches to how reality is a fragile proposition that needs constant (unconscious) upkeep Symbolic Interactionism Charles Horton Cooley o The “looking-glass (mirror) self” Theorized that the self emerges from our ability to assume the point of view of others and imagine how those others see us o If we didn’t have others to tell us who we are, what social categories we fit into, we wouldn’t know who we are George Herbert Mead A theory about how the social self develops over the course of childhood Infants know only the “ I ,” but through social interaction they learn about “ me ” and the “ other ” o The “I” is our ongoing awareness of the world o The “me” is the part where you store all of your reflected appraisals, e.g., “you are smart,” “you were born in 1997,” “you are good at telling jokes,” “you are black” o The “other” is the self that you can see by looking back at yourself through the eyes of others We start to develop this through attempting to see through the eyes of “significant others,” e.g., “am I making mom happy?” “is dad mad at me?” They develop a concept of the “ generalized other ,” which allows them to apply norms and behaviors learned in specific situation to new situations (i.e., how “one” behaves) Mead stressed the importance of imitation , play, and games in helping children recognize one another, distinguish between self and other, and grasp the idea that other people can have multiple roles Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory “All the world’s a stage…” Taking turns to talk is indicative of a good conversation People try to find a common footing/belonging, and a shared rhythm, We all have our parts (roles), and we play them on different stages (social contexts) In modern societies, the self becomes an important totem (we worship it through various acts of deference - framework ) E.g. Gender Roles o Behavioural norms associated primarily with males or females o Gender roles can be more powerful Speed-date interaction ritual o Initial romantic bonding is an outgrowth of a gendered performance where both the male and female play their parts in a coordinated way
o Structures from actions Classical balance theory forbids any violations of 1 - 4 A friend of a friend is a friend A friend of an enemy is an enemy An enemy of a friend is an enemy An enemy of an enemy is a friend Imbalance, interpersonal tensions, and sentiments conversion Interpersonal tensions motivates sentiment conversion Balance theory, homophily, and tie strength suggest a social macro-structure Strong ties: cliques – people are the same, same interest, same group Weak ties: ties you to further parts of the social structure where they may not necessarily have the same interests and are different from you – leads to social capital Social capital: The information, knowledge of people or ideas, and connections that help individuals enter pre-existing networks or gain power in them Individuals and groups can have more or less High amounts of social capital in a community generally means that the community is tightly knit and can come together to face challenges and make improvements Information flow to you with the weak ties
- Social netowrks: takeaways o The formal properties of relationships (network size, density, shape) and one’s position in this structure matter o A way to characterize and often quantify the properties of the water of other peoples influences in which we swim but also make currents o Unites individual agency (Actions, motivations, strategies) within the constraints of social forces and structures (social context we operate in)
Deviance
- Social deviance is any transgression of socially established norms o Minor transgressions of these norms can be described as informal deviance o Formal deviance or crime involves the violation of laws
- Formal and informal deviance are socially constructed o Vary from time to time, place to place o Little basis in biological instincts, drives, etc. Some likely exceptions (incest taboo, within-group homicide) o E.g straight cat massacre – now it is not acceptable
- Why isn’t there more deviance? o Normative compliance is the act of abiding by society’s norms or simply following the rules of group life o Social control is the set of mechanisms that create normative compliance in individuals o Informal social sanctions: Are uncodified rules and expectations about people’s behavior Help maintain a base level of order and cohesion in society and form a foundation for formal social control We are all simultaneously agents and objects of social order o Conflict theories of deviance What is considered deviant is determined by a dominant group in society in order to serve their interests Weak bonds bridge ties Deviance or social control is one way of controlling people who are possibly responsible of exploitation o Deviance and Social Cohesion Emile Durkheim theorized that social cohesion is established either through: Cooperation are coerced Mechanical solidarity– based on the sameness of society’s parts or members o Slime mold – cells are same and held together by being the same o Interchangeable parts hold together Organic solidarity – interdependence of specialized parts or members o As society becomes more complex with specializations and become more diverse o We need each other o What holds the body together is the integration of different parts which serve different functions o Like modern society Punitive justice is focused on making the violator suffer and thus defining the boundaries of acceptable behavior
Innovation: Reject means Retreatism: Reject all Rebellion: New means and new goals like ISIS Watch LA Gang: In terms of cultural goals, they wanted to accept and have a status where they felt like a family but they rejected the institutionalized means (couldn’t afford the opportunity to join so they created their own) – innovation o Symbolic Interactionism: Micro view of society, examining the beliefs and assumptions people bring to their everyday interactions to find the causes or explanations for deviance We develop a self, we socialize with each other into becoming the self Deviance is formed through socialization Making the strange familiar Reefer Madness Only someone who is sick would smoke pot People who are deviance come to learn to accept that they are deviant o Interactional approaches to deviance Labeling theory People see how they are labeled and accept the label as being true People behave the way that they think someone with their label should behave Stigma Negative social label that changes your behavior toward a person: also changes that person’s self- concept and social identity Has serious consequences in terms of the opportunities made available – not available – to people in a stigmatized group Can’t join the military, jobs etc Broken windows theory of deviance (Zimbardo) Explains how social context and social cues impact the way individuals act Depends on the environment: If lack of control, then people may be more deviant Depends where the behavior seems more permissible Two cars: one with broken window, one without o Car with broken window had tires taken off, graffiti, etc Symbolic interactionism in environment: whether there are forces of social control that are deployed o If environment is dirty: shows people that that’s where shit goes down
Eyes on the street “Jane Jacobs” Informal social control of neighborhood and community Produce and reproduce the social norms They are there and they will tell people to go somewhere else Enforce social norms
- Major Divisions Re-appear o Conflict vs Cooperation o Macro vs Micro o Positivism vs Interpretivism
o Equality of condition Idea that everyone should have an equal starting point from which to pursue his or her goals Everyone is born with the same resources Game does not favor anybody o How good is inequality? o For most sociologists, inequality is from a conflict view of society o Varieties of Human Stratification Systems Inequality is recent in human history (less than 1% of our time here on earth) Inequality increased and has only recently decreased with perturbations o Forms of Stratification Systems The estate system is a politically based system of stratification characterized by limited social mobility European Feudal System: Kings, Nobles, Knights, Peasants Slave systems: Elite Group and Slaves Caste System is a system of stratification based on hereditary notions of religious and theological purity and generally offers no prospects for social mobility Strata is based on religious and status and not just economic status Class System is an economically based system of stratification with somewhat loose social mobility based on roles in the production process rather than individual characteristics How prestigious, how much were you paid for the job? Income, wealth and status – socioeconomic status Marx: Upper class, middle class and lower class – pyramid style o Income gap between high income and low income individuals has increased over the last 30 years Globalization from 1980s Shift in political regimes and ideology in 1970s
- Social mobility: movement between diff positions within a system of social stratification in society, can be either horizontal or vertical that take place on individual or group level in ones lifetime or inter-generationally o Strata: To what extent can you move up and down/ laterally in the group o Main stratification in this capitalist society is occupation o Inter/Intra generational: extent to which people move up or down by the socioeconomic status of the job they retired with. o Lateral: Retiring at Macs even though you start at KFC o Mobility table: Captures stratification system Social reproduction: Son has the same operation as the father There’s more upward mobility than downward mobility o American Dream lives on in Denmark o Structural Mobility: Inevitable from changes in the economy, such as the expansion of high-tech jobs in the past 20 years Pulls people up when the number of good positions in society expands
o Exchange Mobility: People essentially trade positions – the number of overall jobs stays the same, with some people moving up into better jobs and others moving down into worse ones Gender
- Men and Women are inherently different because of biology e.g. testosterone and endorphins
- This would be using biological reductionism to explain complex social behaviors o A form of gender essentialism o Gender and race are the product of power and differences
- Sex refers to the natural or biological differences that are used to distinguish bodies into types, physical vice
- Sexuality refers to desire, sexual preference, sexual identify and behavior
- Gender consists of a set of social arrangements and role expectations that are built around sex, most prolonged history of empirical work. Have to understand how it relates to Sex and Sexuality
- All are at least partly socially constructed realities
- Many believe that there are inherently only two sexes – that all people fall into one group or the other
- However the two-sex model is a recent scientific “discovery”
- Evidence suggests that we need to embrace a more expansive definition of sex that goes beyond two rigid and distinct categories o There are some who are female genotypically and male phenotypically o Sex is more of a continuum (genotype and phenotype) o Doctors and parents socially construct a two-sex split by correcting “mistakes” (e.g. if they anticipate a boy won’t pee standing up or penetrate sexually)/ sex reassignment o Unwillingness to accept this underlying ambiguity o Model Hanne Gaby Odiele reveals she is intersex to break taboo Movement to show that people do not fall so neatly into either male or female
- Sexual practices vary across time and place, supporting the notion that sexuality is as much a social construct as gender o Differences between “gay” and “Straight” sexuality are not as clear as many people assume
- What does it take to be a woman? o Gender roles are sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as a man or female o Change over time (e.g. the ideal man of 1700s would be a kind intellectual with a taste for poetry) o Ethnomethodology: not being able to see if male or female o Gender roles are applied broadly to many things in “gender devaluation” of female-typed things (sports, college majors, even scientific phenomena)
- Media plays a huge role in socialization o When women enter male dominated societies – there is a backlash Title 9 Female sportscasters and sexism (#morethanmean)
