SOCIOLOGY

-is the SYSTEMATIC study of HUMAN SOCIETY

-special point of view: sociological perspective

Sociological Perspective
-seeing the general in the particular (Berger, 1963)
-look for general patterns in the behaviour of particular people
-people are categories (e.g. social class, age group, sex, race, etc.)
and each category have their own ways of doing things
-Application: Lillian Rubin (1976) Women Marriage Expectations Study
-seeing the strange in the familiar
-sociology is present in our everyday decisions, even the most
personal ones like suicide
-catalyst situations to sociological enlightenment: living on the margins
of society and living through a social crisis
-Application: Jay-Z and his songs against social inequality
-Application: Sociology of C. Wright Mills during the Great Depression
of the 1930s: sociological imagination ~> social change of the system

Global Perspective
-study of the larger world and our societys place in it
-the worlds nations in three categories: (global stratification)
1.) high-income countries: the nations with the highest standards
of living
2.) middle-income countries: nations with a standard of living
about average for the world as a whole
3.) low-income countries: nations with a low standard of living in
which most people are poor
-reasons behind disparities among nations:
1.) Where we live shapes the lives we lead. (Geography)

2.) Societies around the world are increasingly interconnected.

(Technology)
3.) Many social problems that we face in the United States are far
more serious elsewhere.
4.) Thinking globally helps us learn more about ourselves.
(Personal)

Application:
(guides many laws and policies that shape our lives),
-sociology and public policy: Lenore Weitzman research on divorce
and claims to marital property

(leads to important personal growth), and

-sociology and personal growth:
1.) The sociological perspective helps us asses the truth of
common sense.
2.) The sociological perspective helps us see the opportunities
and constraints in our lives.
3.) The sociological perspective empowers us to be active
participants in our society.
4.) The sociological perspective helps us live in a diverse world.

(excellent preparation for the world of work)

ORIGINS of Sociology
-three important events (social change) that brought the study of
society into the world: a.) a new industrial economy (manufacturing); b.) the
heightened growth of cities (enclosure movement -> impersonal and social
world); & c.) political change (personal liberty & individual rights: French
Revolution): INDIVIDUALISM
SCIENCE & SOCIOLOGY

Auguste Comte [1798 1857: French social thinker] - coined

the term sociology in 1838 to describe a new way of looking at society
he treated sociology as the product of a three-stage historical
development: a.) theological stage: from beginning of time to Middle Ages
where society focused on Gods plan; b.) metaphysical stage:
Renaissance where society was seen as natural rather than a supernatural
system; & c.) scientific stage: Copernicus and his contemporaries change
the view of society by unearthing the laws of physics and the universe.
Comtes approach is called POSITIVISM, a way of
understanding based on science.
Confucius [551 479 BCE], Plato [c. 427 347 BCE],
Aristotle [384 322 BCE], Marcus Aurelius [121 180], Saint Thomas
Aquinas [c. 1225 1274], Christine de Pisan [c. 1363 1431], and
William Shakespeare [1564 1616] all wrote about the workings of the
society, albeit mostly on the ideal or utopian societies.

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY
(Theory: a statement of how and why specific facts are related)
-main goal: to explain social behaviour in the real world (e.g.
Durkheims social integration theories)
(Theoretical Approach: a basic image of society that guides thinking and
research)
-3 main theoretical approaches in sociology:
(macro-level orientation: a broad focus on social structures that
shape society as a whole)
(micro-level orientation: a close-up focus on social interaction in
specific situations)
a.) structural-functionalist approach: a framework for building
theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to
promote solidarity and stability
(social structure: any relatively stable pattern of behaviour)

(social functions: the consequences of any social pattern for

the operation of the society as a whole)
-main proponent: Auguste Comte (social physics; social
statics v. social dynamics; tradition as social adhesive), Emile Durkheim
(social order; social division of labour; social solidarity: mechanical and
organic), Herbert Spencer (society as human body, social harmony and
progress)
-Rober K. Merton [1910 2003]: expounded on social
functions: a.) manifest functions: the recognised and intended
consequences of any social pattern & b.) latent functions: the
unrecognised and unintended consequences of any social pattern
he also propounded the idea of SOCIAL
DYSFUNCTION: any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of the
society
-main critique: it ignore the inequalities of social class, race,
and gender causing tension and conflict: too conservative
b.) social-conflict approach: a framework for building theory that
sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change
-main proponent: Karl Marx [1818 1883] and Max Weber
[1864 1920]. Marx: The philosophers have only interpreted the world in
various ways; the point, however, is to change it.
(gender conflict approach: a point of view that focuses on
inequality and conflict between women and men)
(feminism: support of social equality for women and men)
(race-conflict approach: a point of view that focuses on
inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic
categories)
-main critique: it ignores how shared social values and
interdependence unify members of a society; it pursues political goals that
they cannot claim scientific objectivity; too broad in it painting society by
groups
c.) symbolic-interactionist approach: a framework for building

theory that sees society as the product of everyday interactions of

individuals
(meanings: we create reality by making symbols in order to
shape our identities)
-main proponent: Max Weber [1864 1920: German
sociologist] emphasised the need to understand a setting from a point of
view of people in it
-George Herbert Mead [1863 1931] explored how our
personalities develop as a result of social experience
-Erving Goffman [1922 1982] propounded the idea of
dramaturgical analysis: people resemble actors on a stage as they play
their various roles: while George Homans and Peter Blau developed the
social-exchange analysis: social interaction is guided by what each person
stands to gain or lose from the interaction
-main critique: overlooks the widespread influence of culture,
class, gender, race, among others