sociology ch 2 – Flashcards
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social theories
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systematic ideas about the relation-ship between individuals and societies
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classical social theory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
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characterized by 4 key transitions: economy changed from farming to industry, people moved to cities, democracies became prominent, decline in religious influence
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Marx
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came up with the idea that the way humans produce things they need to live is the essential foundation of any society ; it's economic system and it's relationships between individuals and groups is the defining feature of how the society works
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classes
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those groups of people who share a similar set of economic interests (Marx)
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modes of production
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ancient societies based on slavery, feudalism characterized by large agrarian societies with a tiny group of land owners, capitalism which is economies organized around market-based exchange (Marx)
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forces of production
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each model of production consists of this; the technological and productive capacity of any society at a given time (tools) (Marx)
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social relations of production
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each model of production consists of this; the relationships and inequalities between different kinds of people within the economy (how people are organized to carry out tasks needed to produce things) (Marx)
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bourgeoisie
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possessed special resources called capital; could hire people to work for them (Marx)
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proletariat
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the working class; would overthrow capitalism in favor of a socialist society (Marx)
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socialist society
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the production forces of society are owned by everyone
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class struggle
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the idea that classes of people who are treated so differently by the economic system are inevitably going to be in conflict with one another
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social facts/ social forces
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those regularities and rules of everyday life that every human community has; they are social because they arise from human action and facts because we are born into a world with rules and customs that we obliged to obey to fit in
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Durkeim
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responsible for many contributions to sociology, namely: his development of the concept of the social fact, his analysis of the roots of social solidarity, and his analysis of religion as a force in modern life
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socialization
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the way we learn how to behave in society
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social solidarity
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two types: mechanical and organic; came about when Durkheim wondered where the shared moral and connections between individuals come from
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mechanical solidatiry
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dominant form of solidarity in "primitive" societies, which are built around extended families or clans linked into tribes; very minimal division of labor with an economic base consisting of hunting and gathering
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organic solidarity
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dominant form of solidarity found in modern societies; a very extensive division of labor and mutual dependence among people can be found
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mechanical solidarity versus organic solidarity
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in mechanical, people stick together because they were engaged in much of the same or similar activities and therefore had a shared worldview in organic, people stick together because society perceives freedom as an individual right so central that it becomes sacred
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sacred
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those objects, places, and symbols that are set apart from daily life and elicit awe and reverence, sustained by myths and rituals (did not require reference to the supernatural)
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interpretive sociology
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the idea by Weber that sociology is a science concerning itself with the interpretative understanding of social action
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types of social action
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instrumental rationality value rationality affectual motives traditional motives (Weber)
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power
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a person's ability to achieve his or her objective even if someone else wants to try to prevent it (Weber)
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authority
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Weber; the capacity to get people to do things because they think that they should abide by the commands of people above them (thru legitimacy)
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legitimacy
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Weber; when leaders have this, we obey them not because of force but because we believe obeying their orders is the right thing to do (traditional, charismatic, legal-rational)
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traditional authority
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legitimacy arising out of tradition. common in societies with rigid social structures
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charismatic authority
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legitimacy that arises out of the perception that a leader is endowed with special powers or gifts
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legal-rational authority
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legitimacy based on explicit rules. most obviously displayed in the rise of on of the pillars of modern life: bureaucracy
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charisma
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"gift of grace"; a charismatic figure possesses the power to break through traditional authority
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status groups
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Weber; groups of people with similar kinds of attributes or identities such as those based on religion, ethnicity, or race (more than just classes- includes religion, ethnicity, etc)
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stratification system
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those inequalities between groups that persist over time
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social closure
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the various ways that groups seek to close off access to opportunities or rewards; can be formalized in laws
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Georg Simmel
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believed that a key aspect is that any individual stands at the intersection point of overlapping social circles and societies are built upon these circles; social distance, network analysis, social networks
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Max Weber
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considered the role of individual action and behavior as a foundation for social order; interpretative sociology, power, authority, and legitimacy, status groups, stratification system
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social distance
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Simmel; a way of describing the importance of how close or distant the individuals in groups are, or groups themselves, are from one another "stranger" is someone who is a member of a group but never accepted as a full member, versus "outsider" who is never part of the group, "insider" who is fully part of the group
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network analysis
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Simmel; the study of how individuals are connected to other individuals and the consequences of those connections
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social networks
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Simmel; people (including strangers) who are tied together in ways they don't typically notice
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racism
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the assumption that members of a racial group are inherently inferior to other races
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Du Bois
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formed the NAACP; discussed the role of racism and how it impacted AA
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structural functionalism
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a theory of society in which individuals, groups, and the institutions of any society are guided by an overarching social system
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three critical ideas of structural functionalism
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1. enduring features of society can ultimately be explained in terms of their "functional" purpose 2. individuals are heavily shaped and constrained by the social system in which they are living 3. conflicts are minimized by the social system as individuals learn and accept their place
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natural selection
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advantageous traits were selected over traits that were not, generation by generation Parsons expanded this to how society evolved
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conflict theory
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a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources
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symbolic interactionism
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a theory of society which focuses on how people interact with one another and the role that symbols play in those interactions -understanding everyday social interaction (eating together) lies at the heart of understanding society
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impression management
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strategically organizing our behavior to communicate certain ideas about who we are
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neo-Marxism
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idea was to expand upon Marx's original ideas about politics to develop a theory of the capitalist state developed new understandings of how and why gov't in capitalist societies make policies in interests of capitalist class, and sometimes make concessions to the working class
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capitalist state
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the governing institutions of a capitalist society
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capitalist world system
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capitalism is an economic system that exists not just within countries but also exists in the economic relationship between countries (rich exploit poor)
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globalism
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the increasing flow of goods and services across national borders
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feminist social theory
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placed gender and gender inequality at the center of its theoretical lens challenging many of the assumptions of classical social theory
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patriarchy
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the idea that societies are set up to ensure that women are systematically controlled and devalued
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sex
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biological characteristic
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gender
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the social meaning attached to being a "man" or "woman"
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social constructions
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societies create gender categories, which are not natural outcomes of biological differences
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sex differences
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the different ways the world worked for men and women; social theories had ignored women and were based on male realities
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psychoanalysis
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the study of the conscious and unconscious individual mind and its influence on individual behavior
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intersectionality
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a focus on linkages among disadvantaged groups; ex: experience of gender is different for rich, or white, or minority women
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Foucalt's theory of how power operates
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we live in a disciplinary society; idea of the watch tower in the prison societies are structured so that we are subject to a disciplining power that we can't see but is all around us
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Bourdieu
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social theory attempted to combine ways in which individu-als behave in the context of class differences of which they are largely unaware. focused on class; habitus saw different forms of capital as providing different pathways into the class system (poor reputation might not matter if you're rich)
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habitus
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Bourdieu; differences in class emerge from the fact that each individual has these, which disposes us to act in certain ways in certain situations
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cultural capital
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according to Bourdieu, refers to knowl-edge about what is considered "high" or respected culture, expressed most clearly in certain people's capacity to be able to talk intelligently about art or literature; those who have cultural capital are those whom we judge to be "cul-tured."
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social capital
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Bourdieu; resources based on who you know and can call upon for help when you need it
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symbolic capital
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Bourdieu; your reputation
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middle-range theories
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theories that make spe-cific, researchable propositions about particular aspects of society that consciously connect social structure with individual action
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analytical sociology
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the idea that sociologists must study the relationship between the "macro" aspects of societies (e.g., institutions, organizations, the economy) and the "micro" aspects of how and why individuals make the choices that they do. define their approach as structural individualism
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structural individualism
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idea that societies rest on the choices and actions that individuals make, individually and together, even though these choices and the actions that follow from them are always con-strained by society as a whole
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self-fulfilling prophecy
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the idea that if you start to think or predict something will happen, it becomes more likely to actually happen than if you had not
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unanticipated consequences of social action
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the idea that the outcomes of any action we undertake may well be unanticipated, as for example when we get a dog for companionship but soon make new human friends we meet at the dog park
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mechanisms
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the processes in which one thing causes something else; "cogs and wheels" of social life
