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Review Notes on  IS Lecture 1:  Introduction to the Social Sciences
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  The Sociological Perspective  
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      What is society?   
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      Sociology:  What is sociology?        See the  Characteristics of sociology  
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      Ways of understanding  
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             Sociological Insight:  Seeing the General in the Particular  
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            Sociological Imagination  
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            Paradigms  
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            Epistemology:  Subjective  & Objective knowledge  
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      The Social Sciences & the Structure of Knowledge  
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           Political Science perspectives  
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           Economics perspectives  
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           Psychology perspectives  
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           Social Anthropology perspectives  
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           Sociology:  Sociology has many commonalities w/ the other Social Sciences  
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 The Development of Sociology  
 
 The Sociology Paradigms:  Theories
 
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       Intro to Functionalism   
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       Intro to Conflict Theory   
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       Intro to Symbolic Interactionism   

 
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  Outline on What is Society?
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  SOCIETY IS A GROUP W/ IDENTITY, W/ SHARED AUTHORITY, W/ COMMON AREA, IN AN ENVIRONMENT   
  Society is the people & sum of inventions, institutions, relationships, created & reproduced by humans 
 
  SOCIETY HAS THE EIGHT QUALITIES OF GILAGECS  
  1.  SOCIETY IS MADE OF GROUPS   
  We will see the menagerie of social institutions, made up of groups.... 
And yet we see our culture as ONE 
In some respects, we are groups of groups of groups... a group is its own society 		  
  2.  SOCIETY HAS A DISTINCT IDENTITY   
  Self awareness is an important part of consciousness   
  A society, a culture must recognize itself before anyone else can recognize it   
  3.  SOCIETY HAS A COMMON LANGUAGE   
  Language once was one of the most powerful indicators of what society someone belonged to, but today, language is less & less important   
  The globe is experiencing a 'concentration of languages,' i.e. many languages are disappearing & a few are coming to dominate   
  4.  A SOCIETY HAS A SHARED AUTHORITY   
  Most societies rely on political authority, & there is a general transition from violent / authoritarian authority  to rule of law / democracy & bureaucracy   
  5.  SOCIETY HAS A COMMON GEOGRAPHIC AREA   
  Today, most societies have an  identity w/ national borders, but nations & societies are socially permeable, i.e. not exact   
  Geography & location is becoming less of a factor on societies as technology & transportation expand   
  We now have a "world society" in that some parts of society are known the world over   
  6.  SOCIETY IS IN, AS WELL AS SHAPED BY, THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT   
  While all species are shaped by the environment, there is wide debate on how much our environment shapes us   
 
 7.  SOCIETY HAS CULTURE WHICH IS THE MANIFESTATION OF KBVN   
  Society has culture which is the content of society & culture is made up of a society's shared knowledge, beliefs, values, & norms  ( KBVN )   
  8.  SOCIETY HAS SOCIAL STRUCTURE WHICH IS THE FORM OF SOCIETY AS MANIFESTED IN PF REG M CEML  
  The physical environment influences the nature of social structures in society      ( PF REG M CEML ) 
Peers Military
Family Charity
Religion Education
Economy / work  Media
Govt Leisure / recreation
 
  Below are three examples of how various social structures are located in particular geographic areas & are actually shaped by the physical environment 
Peers Races, ethnicities, regional types
Wk / econ H-G, Agriculture, Herding, Extraction, etc.
Leisure / recreation Swim, ski, etc.
 
  THE PRIMARY DIFFERENCE BTWN MODERN & NON MODERN SOCIETY IS RATIONAL & TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY, RESPECTIVELY   
  Modern society:
-  is relatively self contained
-  is aware of it's identity
-  has a common geographic area
-  has a shared authority, which is primarily rational authority		  
  Non modern society is essentially the same as modern society except it is smaller, more ethnocentric, & has traditional authority  
  The concept of society is an abstraction in that society is not something you can see or touch because is is not just people, but their relationships  

 
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Outline on  What is Sociology?
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 SOCIOLOGY STUDIES THE DYNAMICS OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS W/ EACH OTHER, & HOW THESE RELATIONS AGGREGATE TO FORM MASSIVE SOCIAL PROCESSES & STRUCTURES   
 
 Sociology is the
the systematic study of 
society, 
human social activity, &
social groups		  
 
 While the study of society has been in conducted since the 1600s, August Comte ( 1798 - 1857 ) coined the word 'sociology'  
 
 Sociological questions
How is society possible & how does it work?
How is the individual created in society?
How are groups, orgs, institutions, etc. created in society?
What is the nature of the relationship among individuals & the various parts of society?		  
 
 One of the greatest debates in sociology concerns the relative influences of the forces of change versus the forces of stability  
 
 The focus of sociology is on 
- society,
- social institutions ( family, church, work, education, etc. ) 
- groups
- individuals
-& reactions to these through culture, 
  i.e. by creating common  knowledge, beliefs, values, & norms 		  
 
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIOLOGY ARE THAT IS USES THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, IS HOLISTIC, & EXAMINES BOTH MACRO & MICRO LEVELS   
 
 a.  Sociology uses the scientific method of the processes theory construction, observation, generalization, & interpretation / theory validation  
  Prediction in sociology is based on probabilities  
 
 b.  Sociology is one of the social sciences & is the most holistic w/ an emphasis on human activity & social formations  
  A sociologist who wanted to know something about which marriages will succeed and which will end in divorce might look at the US Census to see what types of people get divorced, examining factors such as socioeconomic class, age when first we marry, and religion of both married and divorced couples  
 
 c.  Most sociology operates at the macro level of analysis; i.e., analysis of relatively large scale phenomenon, & is not focused on an individual, through there are some micro level sociological theories  
  The macro level analysis generally examines everything from groups to societies to the global level  
 
 d.  Micro level analysis generally examines everything from individuals to groups  
 
 Major areas of study in sociology 
( Those in red are requirements of the Sociology Major at UVaWise )
Criminology
Deviance
Environmental Sociology
Sociology of Gender 
      Feminist Theory
      Marriage & the Family
Sociology of Race
Social Psych
Organizational Sociology
Social Work
Social Theory
Social Methods
       Quantitative
       Qualitative
Popular Culture
Social Psychology
Social Work
Stratification
Urban Sociology		  
 
 Minor areas of study in sociology
One of Dr. Withen's Areas of Specialization:
Organizational Sociology
    Work & Occupations
           High Reliability Orgs
                 Firefighters
                       Wildland
                       Urban
                 Medical
                 Military
                 Some industry:  power, chemicals, airlines...
     Industrial Sociology
     Political & Economic Sociology		  
  THERE ARE THREE PARADIGMS (PERSPECTIVES) IN SOCIOLOGY, INCLUDING FUNCTIONALISM, CONFLICT THEORY, & SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM   
  a. Functionalism  
  b. Conflict theory  
  c. Symbolic interactionism  
  Each of the paradigms & areas of sociology may be classified as either  
  a. Academic sociology focuses primarily on teaching or research  
  b. Applied sociology solves problems, designs policy, and obtain information in order to make decisions  
  Applied sociology is the use of sociology to solve problems, design policy, and obtain information in order to make decisions  
  Sociology has SIX commonalities w/ the other Social Sciences   
  1.  THE COMMONALITIES OF PSYCH & SOCI ARE THE ENV, COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS, IMPRINTING, & HIGHER NEEDS   
  Sociology & behavioral psych both hold that we are "influenced," socialized, by the environment  
  Sociology & psychoanalytical psych both hold that there is a collective unconsciousness & it is more or less accessible to us all  
  Sociology and cognitive psychology both hold that we have behavior imprinted  
  Sociology & humanistic psychology both hold that we continue to develop as adults and have "higher needs" for achievement, etc.  
  2.  THE COMMONALITIES OF ECON & SOCI ARE AGGREGATION, DOMINATION BY SOC INSTITS, & REGULATION  
  Sociology & the pure capitalism of Adam Smith both note that individual behavior aggregates / interacts as a whole to develop unique characteristics  
  Sociology & the economist Karl Marx both hold that society is dominated by our social institutions   
  Sociology & the economist John Maynard Keynes both hold that we can regulate our social institutions  
  3.  THE COMMONALITIES OF POLI SCI & SOCI ARE A FOCUS ON CONFLICT & COOPERATION   
  Both political science and sociology hold that there is simultaneously conflict / struggle and cooperation in society   
  4.  THE COMMONALITIES OF ANTHRO & SOCI ARE THE EXAMINATION OF CULTURAL DETERMINATION & HISTL INFLUENCE   
  Sociology & anthropology note that culture "determines" behavior & we cannot understand our present if we do not understand our past  
  5.  THE COMMONALITIES OF CRIMINOLOGY & SOCI ARE THAT 'NORMALITY' IS DETERMINED BY SOCIETY 
 
  Criminology holds that we must understand the relationship btwn normal & abnormal behavior of which each is acceptable or not acceptable depending on your social position in society
 
  6.  THE COMMONALITIES OF CULTURAL GEOG & SOCI ARE THAT PHYS ENV IMPACTS SOCIETY, & SOCIETY IMPACTS PHYS ENV 
 
  Cultural geographers hold that we must understand our relationship to the land / the environment & that this relationship may best be understood as a dynamic feedback loop
 

 
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Outline on the Ways We Understand the World
External
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  -  Project:  The Common Sense Quiz 
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  SOCIOLOGY IS ONE WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD   
  Sociology is one of the ways of understanding the world which utilizes the methods of the social sciences  
  What are other ways of understanding? 
What are some ways we understand the world/ our existence?
 
 





















































 

  
  A.  COMMON SENSE UNDERSTANDING IS PRACTICAL COMPREHENSION THAT OFTEN IS NOT COMMON   
  Common sense is the ability to see & act upon what is obvious  
  Common sense is great for some things, but in many other situation it is totally inadequate  
  B.  RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING IS MORAL / ETHICAL COMPREHENSION OF SECULAR LIFE & A COMPREHENSION OF 'THE SACRED BEYOND'   
  Many people understand the world through "traditional religions" such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.   
  Many people understand the world through "non-traditional religions" such as Paganism, Wiccan, etc. or any form of "personal spirituality" or philosophy   
  Many people understand the world through superstition   
  Review:  World Religions:  some have different ways of understanding  
  C.  TRADITIONAL / AUTHORITARIAN UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WHICH IS ACCEPTED BECAUSE IT WAS HANDED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION   
  We understand the world based on what others traditionally believe & on what others 'force' us to believe   
  D.  UNDERSTANDING BASED ON EMOTION IS THAT FEELING OR SENSE THAT PROVIDES CERTAINTY OF KNOWLEDGE   
  Aesthetics the study of / understanding of life through poetry, literature, art, theater, etc.  
  The concept of the emotional quotient  ( EQ )  denotes that some people can sense or understand their own / another's emotion w/ great accuracy & clarity   
  Some people can sense the emotion of a large group of people   
  One way of understanding is religious ecstasy which is emotionally based religion  
 
 E.  SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING IS THAT BASED ON TRIAL & ERROR / EXPERIMENTAL TESTS 
 
  Science is the dominant approach to understanding reality in modern industrial societies   
  One of the major qualities of the modern age is understanding based on the modern invention of the scientific method  
  Many of the other methods of understanding utilize some aspects of science  
  See Also:   The Scientific Method  
  THE BRANCHES OF ACADEME / ALL KNOWLEDGE IS ORGANIZED INTO THE HUMANITIES, THE PHYS SCIENCES, & THE SOC SCIENCES   
  I.    Humanities  
  II.  Physical Sciences  
  III.  The Social Sciences  
        The Sociological Imagination  
  COMMON SENSE & SCIENCE ARE SIMILAR IN THAT TO SOME EXTENT THEY ARE BASED ON PRAGMATISM / TRIAL & ERROR  
  Common sense & science are very similar.  Science is simply more well reviewed than common sense  
  Common sense is "personal science"  
  Everyday we make our own hypothesis, tests, generalizations, etc.  
  Example:  Should I bring an umbrella today? 
Scientific opinion:  yes:  90% chance of rain 
--front coming in this afternoon 
Common sense:   no:  it's clear; hasn't rained in 3 days		  
  Sociology uses the scientific method to develop understanding  
  Sociology is often viewed as common sense, but as we saw on ways of understanding, common sense is untested, & unverified  
  Sociology is tested & verified  
  UNDERSTANDING CULTURE IS OFTEN DONE THROUGH THE SOCIAL SCIENCES & THE HUMANITIES, OFFERING INSTRUMENTAL & INTERPRETIVE KNOWLEDGE, RESPECTIVELY   
  To understand culture in everyday life, we usually use all of the methods of understanding above, except science  
  We utilize all the ways of understanding, our culture of understanding, which is composed of knowledge, Beliefs, Values, & Norms (KBVN) , but usually not science, to understand everyday life   
  People try to understand the new neighbors on issues from A to Z utilizing all of the types of understanding, usually, except science  
  Our way of understanding' determines our actions or behavior  
  The ways of understanding our culture, which is composed of our shared knowledge, beliefs, values, & norms ( KBVN ) & the immediate situation creates our basis for our action: our behavioral/ mental states of our attitudes, opinions, & interests ( AOI )  

 
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 Outline on  Sociological Insight
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  SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING IS GAINED THROUGH STUDY / REFLECTION & ACTING IN THE WORLD   
 
 Praxis is the process of combining sociological theory & practice 
 
 
 One gains sociological insight by practicing praxis 
 
  A paradigm is a theoretical framework as in the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time; e.g. "He framed the problem w/in the psychoanalytic paradigm"   
  In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in 1962 Thomas Kuhn emphasized the importance of the concept of the paradigm for the sciences when he noted that all of science is made up of competing paradigms which gain & lose influence over time   
  Social scientists such as Farley & Macionis prefer to use the term perspective instead of paradigm to denote the various theoretical models in sociology   
  The most important paradigms in sociology include symbolic interactionism, functionalism, & conflict theory   
  Developing sociological insight, praxis, is best accomplished by understanding all the sociological paradigms & by putting them into use in everyday life   
 
 SEEING THE GENERAL IN THE PARTICULAR IS THE MOST COMPLEX & USEFUL SOCIOLOGICAL SKILL 
 
 
 In 1963 Peter Berger described the sociological paradigm as as seeing the general in the particular, & conversely by seeing the particular in the general 
 
 
 In everyday, common sensible understanding praxis is seeing the forest for the trees & as the saying goes "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Reinhold Niebuhr
 
 
 Human, thinking, by its very nature is a process of categorization; people inherently categorize life; people stereotype people, things, events, etc. into logical categories as in men & women, children & adults, rich & poor, etc. 
 
 
 See Also:  Social Differentiation 
 
 
 Generally we see love & marriage as an individualistic, i.e. particular event in which we usually consider love & marriage but the sociological insight of the mature adult as sees factors such as gender, age, race, social class & more 
 
 
 Love,  from a sociological paradigm, is the feeling we have for others who match up w/ what society teaches us to want 
 
 
 SEEING THE STRANGE IN THE FAMILIAR IS AN IMPORTANT SOCIOLOGICAL AID TO GAINING A MULTI PERSPECTIVAL UNDERSTANDING
 
  Sociological insight also allows us to see the strange in the familiar 
 
  The use of the sociological paradigm via sociological insight means that we see the familiar & also see the strange or the factors influencing life w/ which we are not familiar or comfortable 
 
  Americans & those living in the industrialized, developed world in general are the most individualistic people in all of history, tending to see the world, their lives, more in terms of their own interests, values, & ideologies & less in terms of the interests, values, & ideologies of their community or society 
 
  Individualists tend to see their own lives as normal & right & see the lives of others as strange & not right 
 
  For example we can understand why couples tend to have 2 children but are confused & see it as strange that couples in India choose to have 3, couples in So Africa have 4, couples in Cambodia have 5, couples in Saudi Arabia have 6, & couples in Niger have 7   
  SEEING INDIVIDUALITY IN SOCIAL CONTEXT IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE ACT UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL FORCES
 
  In 1897 Durkheim wrote his book Suicide to demonstrate that even in the most individualistic act of suicide social forces are at work 
 
  Part of Durkheim's agenda in writing a book on the social forces involved in suicide was to establish sociology as a legitimate social science w/ a distinct sphere of inquiry from psychology 
 
 
 In the past & even today the act of suicide is typically thought of in psychological terms, but Durkheim demonstrated that the social forces of integration & regulation as manifested in gender, class, & religion interact to make one more or less likely to commit suicide 
 
 
 See Also:  Durkheim on Suicide   
  For Durkheim most victims of suicidal tendencies even experience them in individualistic, psychological terms in that we feel suicidal   
  For Durkheim in order to understand the individualistic, psychological feelings that manifest themselves in suicide, we must put our individuality in a social context, & use sociological insight to see what is beneath the surface & grasp why men commit suicide much more than women, why the extremely rich & the extremely poor commit suicide more than people in other classes, & why people in particular religions  have lower suicide rates   
  CW MILLS DEVELOPED THE CONCEPT / METHOD OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION WHICH REQUIRES SEEING ONE'S BIOGRAPHY / LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF HISTL FORCES  
  One of the most powerful summations of the meaning of sociological insight was developed by C Wright Mills through his concept of the sociological imagination  
  See Also:  The Sociological Imagination   
  For Mills using the sociological imagination allows one to understand their individualism or biography in terms of the social forces of history   
  Another component of the sociological imagination is distinguishing personal experiences from social issues   
  SOCIOLOGICAL INSIGHT MUST BE EXPANDED TO COMPREHEND THE FORCES OF GLOBALIZATION  
  Today sociological insight must be expanded to a global scale because while in the past social forces may have been largely limited to the village in which one lived, today national events & world events have come to touch our everyday lives   
  For example, in the past all of our acquaintances were probably from the village in which we lived while today we may have regular contact w/ people from anywhere on the globe   
  In the past what happened somewhere else had little impact on us & we may never have even hear about it while today any event such as an outbreak of flu in a village may impact the food we eat & the way we travel & we probably hear about it in days if not hours   
  Throughout hist, where we lived & whom we interacted w/ were important features in channeling social forces, but globalization has magnified these social forces   
  a.  Location shapes our lives   
  b.  Societies are increasingly interconnected; individuals are increasingly interconnected in many ways while disconnected in other ways   
  c.  Social forces, i.e. social problems & opportunities, manifest themselves through very close relationships such as family & friends as well as through very impersonal relationships such as the global econ & transportation   
  d.  As we understand more about the world around us, i.e. globalization, we understand more about ourselves   
  For Macionis, one important factor in understanding the world is understanding the globalized stratification system   
  Stratification is the social process where scarce social & physical resources such as wealth, income, power, status, etc. are non randomly distributed among members, groups, classes etc. of society   
  See Also:  Stratification   
  According to Macionis, there are three different types of nations in the world, including the world's 
a.  high income countries are industrialized nations in which most people have relatively high incomes 
b.  middle income countries have limited industrialization and moderate personal income 
c.  low income countries have little industrialization and most people are poor 		  
  Macionis' view of global strat is vastly oversimplified because each country has poor people & for exam in the US while our poor are "much richer" than mid income people in middle income nations, the US poor are much worse off, some having conditions similar to the poorest of the world's poor   

 
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Outline on the Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills
External
Links
  -  Project:  Sociological Imagination:  Marriage & Divorce 
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  -  Video:   Social Insight: Families 
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  -  Project: Video:   Social Insight: Families 
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  A SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION IS THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE FORCES OF BIOGRAPHY & HISTORY ON ONE'S OWN LIFE & ON SOCIETY   
 
 C. Wright Mills developed the concept of the sociological imagination (Soc Im )
 
  Mills described how sociology helps us to see how social situations shape our private realities.
He called this the sociological imagination		  
  What factors influence our lives?
 
  We each have individual experiences of common patterns in life
 
  Individual experiences of
  common patterns of life: 

      family life 
      parents lifestyle 
      educational experience 
      regional setting 
      etc., etc., etc... 

  History

  
  We each live our life as bounded by a particular history
 
 
 For Mills, the sociological imagination can be thought of as the intersection of biography & history
 
  Our biography, our life is set w/in a history / social conditions over which we have very limited power   
  If we are caught up in a world event such as a war, disaster, major econ event, etc., then our life may be totally inundated by these forces   
  For many Westerners, our lives exist partially w/in / or are influenced by histl forces, but a large portion appears to exist outside of these forces   
  For a very few people, there is little or no impact of histl / social forces on their lives, though this is rare as in the case of a hermit or a very independent person   
 
 THE SOC IMAGINATION IS THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND ONE'S BIOGRAPHY / LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF HISTL FORCES 
 
 
 The sociological imagination is the quality of mind which helps each person 
-  use information 
-  to develop reason 
-  in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on 
-  in the world
-  and what is happening in themselves
 
  The sociological imagination is an understanding, a feeling of the impacts of social forces shaping peoples' behavior  
 
 The sociological imagination is the insight that is gained through sociology  
  There are questions to ask to develop your sociological imagination  
  a.  WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE?   
       What components? 
     How are they related? 
     How does it compare to other social orders? 		  
  b.  WHERE DOES THIS SOCIETY STAND IN HUMAN HISTORY?   
      Top?  Bottom? Middle?   
  c.  WHAT VARIETIES OF MEN & WOMEN NOW PREVAIL IN THIS SOCIETY?   
      Farmers, industrial workers, hep cats, tech workers, soccer moms, yuppies...  
  d.  WHAT VARIETIES OF PEOPLE ARE COMING TO PREVAIL?   
      Who are the people & what are their lifestyles that are "behind the times?"  Dinosaurs?   
      Who has embraced the new... & is running w/ it?   
  SOC IMAGINATION CONCEPTS ALLOW ONE TO SEE THE GENERAL IN THE PARTICULAR; TO UNDERSTAND HOW SOCIAL FORCES IMPACT EVERYDAY LIFE 
 
  In using the sociological imagination, we learn to distinguish personal trouble from social issues  
  1.  TROUBLES ARE 'PERSONAL PROBLEMS'   
  Troubles are considered to be a private matter, a personal or individual problem in the sense that both the cause & the solution of the trouble lie w/in the control of a person  
  2.  ISSUES ARE PUBLIC / SOCIAL / POLITICAL PROBLEMS   
  Issues are considered to be a public matter, a social or group problem in the sense that both the cause & the solution of the issue lie w/ societal level action  
  Issues are also known as contradictions or social contradictions  
  In using the sociological imagination, we learn to distinguish excuses from explanations  
  3.  EXCUSES ARE RATIONALIZATIONS FOR 'PERSONAL PROBLEMS' 
 
  Excuses are reasons presented by individuals for a default of a duty or obligation, i.e. a trouble, as a defense, a pretext, or an apology  
  Only troubles may have excuses because responsibility lies only w/ the individual  
  4.  EXPLANATIONS ARE THE MAKING CLEAR OF THE REASONS FOR PUBLIC PROBLEMS   
  Explanations are reasons presented by groups or representatives of societies or segments of societies for a default of a duty or obligation, i.e. an issue, as a defense, a pretext, or an apology  
  Only issues may have explanations because responsibility lies only w/ groups, segments of societies or societies  
  5.  INDIVIDUALIZING IS THE ERROR OF TREATING ISSUES AS PERSONAL PROBLEMS   
  Individualizing is the personalizing of issues which have a social force component  
  A person who is individualizing views an issue as a trouble  
  In modern society, which is the most individualistic society in history, many people look only to the personal level for all problems  
  Many people look only at themselves:
Where did I go wrong?
Why did my spouse treat me that way?		  
  6.  COLLECTIVIZING IS THE ERROR OF TREATING PERSONAL PROBLEMS AS ISSUES   
  A person who collectives tries to avoid responsibility for a personal trouble by blaming it on social forces  
  Collectivizing is the socializing of troubles which have a person component  
  Since the 1960s there has been a trend away from individualizing toward collectivizing  
  7.  FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE ERROR LIVING ONE'S LIFE W/ NO CONCEPTION OF HISTL / SOCIAL FORCES   
  The opposite of a sociological imagination is false consciousness  
  False consciousness occurs when we live out a biography w/o seeing  impact of history or society  
  While the idea of false consciousness can be compared to the sociological imagination, Marx first developed the idea of false consciousness when he was trying to determine why workers support an oppressive system or tyrant  
  Today, many social scientists try to understand the phenomenon of false consciousness as seen when the people of Bosnia support Milsovic when the US was bringing him down in the early 1990s; or the people of the Middle East supported Sadam Hussein  
  False consciousness results in the inability to distinguish personal troubles from social issues  
  In using the sociological imagination we learn to distinguish personal troubles from social issues  
  EXAMPLE:  WE OFTEN INDIVIDUALIZE UNEMPLOYMENT, SEEING THE ISSUE OF NO JOB AS A PERSONAL PROBLEM   
 
 Unemployed 1929 & 2004--  is it an issue or a responsibility? 
 
Link
 Mills' quote on unemployment  
  War creates recognizable personal troubles that most people can easily link to the impersonal social forces of war, though many veterans suffer because of the tendency to individualize their issues:  medical & mental health care  
  Economic downturns create social issues that are more difficult to recognize & most people view these issues as troubles, thus individualizing the problem
 
Link
 Can one of our most intimate relationships, marriage, be affected by social forces?
Or is marital bliss or marriage on the rocks attributable only to individual causes?
 
  What are some of the factors affecting marriage & divorce?
 
Link
 Differing social forces affected marriage & divorce in the 50's & the 00's
 
  "College Women Faculty & Household Work in the US & China"
 
  Using the sociological imagination, we can see that the US & China are very different, but housework is divided similarly in both countries in that wives do about 65% of housework with the rest being done by men & hired help  
  Using the sociological imagination, we can see that many gender relations transcend cultures supporting feminist claims that understanding gender relations is essential to understanding society  

 
Top  

   C. Wright Mills

"In these terms, consider unemployment. 
When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed,
that is his personal trouble, 
and for its relief we properly look 
to the character of the man, 
his skills, and his immediate opportunities. 

But when in a nation of 50 million employees,
15 million men 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."


 
Top  
Differing social forces affected marriage & divorce in the 50's & the 00's
1950s:  2.5 divorces per 1000 married women
1970s:  3.5 divorces per 1000 married women
1980s:  5.2 divorces per 1000 married women
1990s:  4.5 divorces per 1000 married women

 
Top  
Factors affecting divorce

Some factors change everyone's risk of divorce:
   1. newly married
   2. lower income
   3. young
   4. wife earns more than husband
   5. different social backgrounds
   6. divorce is less ostracized by society


 
Top
Using the Sociological Imagination: 
   "College Women Faculty and Household Work in the US and China" 

  The US & China are very different, but housework is divided similarly in both countries w/ women:  wives do about 65% of housework with the rest being done by men and hired help. 

  Many gender relations transcend cultures:  this supports feminist claims that understanding gender relations is essential to understanding society.


 
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Outline on  Paradigms: Shifting & Competing
Internal
Links
  -  Project: Paradigms
Link
  -  Video:  Sociological Perspectives
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  INTRODUCTION: THE SCIENTIFIC CULTURE OFTEN ACTS AS IF THERE ARE NO ANOMALIES   
 
 The scientific culture often acts as if there are no anomalies  
  The values / beliefs of science include the ideas that: 
a.  there is progress
b.  science is cumulative, "brick by brick" we construct science base upon agreed on facts		  
  Theories are the infrastructure, But people are working on different buildings, i.e. paradigms  
  And all the bricks (facts) must be used  
  Facts that do not fit a theory are called anomalies  
  All theories have anomalies:  i.e. they cannot explain everything  
  The scientific culture often acts as if there are no anomalies  
  A PARADIGM IS A SET OF THEORIES   
  Paradigms are sets of theories & assumptions that shape & underlie explanations, especially scientific explanations, including the general images & assumptions of reality which shape those theories  
  A paradigm is a set of assumptions that shape and underlie explanations of why society is the way it is  
  A paradigm or perspective can be defined as an overall approach or viewpoint toward a subject which includes the following aspects:  
  a.  a set of questions to be asked about the subject  
  b.  a general theoretical approach explaining the nature of the subject  
  c.  a set of values relating to the subject  
  d.  a set of theories concerning a common theme  
  There are many ways to understand something / reality, including common sense, religion, tradition / authority, emotion, & science and different paradigms generally have a focus utilizing one or two of these ways of understanding  
  PARADIGMS COMPETE W/ EACH OTHER -- TO ESTABLISH 'TRUTH'   
  Competing paradigms often shape & represent the competition of ideas within or between societies  
  Astronomy: collapsing universe vs. expanding universe
Paleontology:  great comet vs. predation cold blooded vs warm blooded dinosaurs
Biology:  Darwinians vs. evolutionary shock
Sociology:  Functionalism vs. Conflict Theory     vs. Symbolic Interactionism		  
  PARADIGM SHIFTS OCCUR AS PARADIGMS 'WIN OR LOSE' & A NEW 'TRUTH IS ESTABLISHED'  
  Paradigm shifts occur when large groups, segments of societies, or societies see the old in a new light & see new things, period  
  Examples: 
- world views changed from geo centric to helio centric
- polytheism to monotheism
- flat to round world
- earth centric to helio centric
- magic to science
- demons to mental illness
- creationism to evolution
- Newtonian physics to Einsteinian physics		  
  Paradigms are also known as perspectives, schools, school of thought, etc.  
  Science does not embrace "one truth" because human truth is always contested & relative, rather, what is true is constantly changing, but we act as if science is one truth  
  Because there is no absolute truth, & because people have competing ideas on what  is closest to truth, we have paradigms  
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 Chart on Paradigms, Theories, Laws, & Disciplines  
 
 Sociology is a multiple paradigm science:  functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism
 
  Theories & paradigms provide a conceptual formulation that provides a logical explanation or framework for all the facts, i.e. the objective info gained through observation & experiment  
  Theories must be validated in the same way that a hypothesis is validated  
  SCIENTIFIC LAWS ARE FOUND W/IN FEW PARADIGMS   
  Paradigms & laws are not validated in the way that theories & hypotheses are validated  
  Paradigms & laws are validated when the consensus of the scientific community, when the preponderance of theoretical evidence supports them  
  While a single experiment or piece of evidence may serve to validate a theory of hypothesis, it takes evidence, theoretical validation, & the consensus of the scientific community to validate a paradigm or law  
  NATURAL LAWS APPEAR TO HAVE NO ANOMALIES  
  Basic principles or natural laws are theories that stand out as precisely predictable with no known exceptions:  gravity, laws of thermodynamics, etc.   
  There seems to be only tenuous/contentious theories in the social sciences, but also in some physical sciences such as env science  
  Principles or laws are limited to those of chemistry, physics, etc.  
 
 FOR KUHN, PARADIGMS SHIFTS ARE 'SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS' THAT CHANGE PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY  
  Thomas Kuhn wrote about paradigm shifts wherein a veritable scientific rev occurs that essentially deposes an old paradigm, such as Newtonian physics, & replaces it w/ a new one, i.e. Einsteinian physics  
  Kuhn wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 1962, in which he held that new paradigms displace old paradigms altering our significant portions of truth as defined by science, & possibly the general populations view of everyday existence   
  See Also:  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions   
  A paradigm shift is a new set of theories that comes along & explains all facts to a superior degree, displacing the old paradigm  
  An example of a paradigm shift is seen in where Einsteinian physics replaced Newtonian Physics because it could explained nuclear fission better & other anomalies better  
  As of the present there have been no paradigm shifts in the social sciences nor in some newer physical sciences such as ecology, though each has multiple, competing paradigms  

 
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Chart on Paradigms, Theories, Laws, Disciplines
Paradigm
Set of theoretical assumptions that shape & underlie explanations of why society/the world is the way it is
Examples: 
The Expanding Universe
Functionalism
Theory
Explanation of cause & effects that encompasses relationships btwn 2 or more facts
Examples: 
Suicide is caused by isolation/lack of integration
Racism is taught/learned
Crime is caused by frustrated expectations
Poverty is caused by the concentration of wealth
Law
Theory or part of a theory that is well established & therefore has greater acceptance by the scientific community 
There are no laws in the social sciences
Examples: 
Nothing can move faster than light
To every action, there is an equal & opposite reaction
Discipline A recognized area of academic exploration
Examples: 
sociology
biology
literature

 
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Outline on  Epistemology & the Sociology of Knowledge
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  INTRO:  EPISTEMOLOGY & THE SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE ARE AN EXAMINATION OF WHAT KNOWLEDGE IS; HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW?  WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE / TRUTH? 
Social sciences, humanities & even the physical & life sciences struggle to understand how & what we understand: 
What is knowledge? 
What is the value of knowledge?
Is there a difference btwn truth & knowledge?
How do know something is knowledge?  correct?  "the truth?" etc.		  
  EPISTEMOLOGY IS THE THEORY OR SCIENCE OF THE ORIGIN, NATURE, & LIMITS OF KNOWLEDGE 
 
 
 Epistemology is the theory or science of the origin of knowledge:  how is it created?  What are its fundamental components? 
 
  Epistemology is the theory or science of the nature of knowledge:  what makes something knowledge or a representation of the truth?   
  Epistemology is the theory or science of the limits of knowledge:  what can knowledge not tell us, for example about beauty, happiness, etc.?   
 
 THE CULTURE OF SCIENCE IS SUCH THAT IT EMPHASIZES ITS OBJECTIVITY & DENIES ITS SUBJECTIVITY 
 
blank In the West, the culture of science is such that  science has become "all powerful" in our society, making its anomalies difficult to acknowledge   
  In our culture of science, we are socialized to believe that truth / knowledge is absolute  
  But the study of epistemology makes it is apparent that science  / knowledge is not absolute or certain  
  People often confuse objectivity & subjectivity assuming they mean, respectively, certain & uncertain, just & unjust, true & false  
  Objectivity & subjectivity are distinguished simply by the way of understanding that creates it  
  Objective knowledge is almost always created via science  
  Subjective knowledge is usually created through common sense, emotional understanding, etc.  
 
 SCIENCE ITSELF HAS A SIGNIFICANT SUBJECTIVE COMPONENT 
 
 
 For most social sciences, knowledge is objective & subjective 
 
 
 Knowledge is not just facts, it is theories, & conjectures too
 
  We often do not keep the "levels" of facts, theories, conjectures straight, we often confuse them  
  Facts are never as independent of theory as we would like them to be especially in the social sciences  
 
 Because even scientific knowledge has both an objective & subjective component, there are no absolute facts
 
 
 Example:  THE "Standard Kilogram" is made up of a brick of platinum & iridium, but it was found in the summer of 2003 that the Standard Kilogram seemed to be losing weight & this weight loss could not be explained
 
  Example:  Unemployment is 5.4%
The definition of "unemployed" frequently changes because it is a politically & socially sensitive measure.  You cannot be unemployed if you are a student, out of work for more than 6 mos., a housewife, etc. 		  
  Subjectivity remains in science because knowledge is framed by the FOUR conditions of:
a. ideas
b. the senses
c. paradigms
d. social / political conditions		  
  a.  KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON IDEAS   
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 One of the conditions of subjectivity is that knowledge is based on ideas  
  While facts are considered to be objective, theories, paradigms & conjectures are subjective, & yet the line btwn them is never clear  
  The line btwn the objective & subjective aspects of knowledge are not clear because facts are dependent for definition on theory  
  b.  KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON THE SENSES  
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 One of the conditions of subjectivity is that knowledge is based on the senses  
  Because of illusions & misperceptions, a researcher cannot trust the senses, & instruments affect what they measure  
  c.  KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON PARADIGMS   
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 One of the conditions of subjectivity is that knowledge is based on paradigms  
  We saw earlier that after a paradigm shift, many fundamentals of knowledge change  
  d.  KNOWLEDGE IS BASED ON SOCIAL & POLITICAL CONDITIONS   
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 One of the conditions of subjectivity of knowledge is that social & political conditions affect the composition of knowledge  
  The subjectivity of knowledge can be seen in that the definitions of unemployment, marriage, race, etc. are always influenced by the soci historical politico context of that time, & thus change  
  The soci historical politico context of science does not necessarily affect sciences' validity, but it may be used as a cover for bias  
  Bias affects subjectivity & objectivity through THREE processes of preexisting culture, the stratification of knowledge, & the control of knowledge  
 
 THREE ANTIDOTES TO BIAS 
 
  a.  QUESTION ALL KNOWLEDGE  
  A particular socio historical political context impacts what people in a society will & will not accept as knowledge or truth because of pre-existing knowledge, beliefs, values, & norms, i.e. culture  
  Do you believe in multiple dimensions?  ghosts?  UFOs?  the Earth goes around the sun?  
  The antidote to socio historical political bias is to question knowledge itself, have no blind faith in science;  Keep on Questioning   "Question Authority"  
  b.  WHO BENEFITS FROM KNOWLEDGE?  
 
 A particular soci historical politico context stratifies the value of knowledge
 
  The knowledge about a stock may be of value to Martha Steward
The knowledge of how to make a gun full auto may be of value to the Crips
The knowledge of particular birth control methods is of value to women		  
  Knowledge is controlled based on its value to conflicting groups in society  
  The antidote to the stratification of knowledge is to ask, "Who benefits from a given bit of knowledge?"  
  c.  WHO CONTROLS A PARTICULAR SET OF KNOWLEDGE?  
  A particular soci historical politico context puts particular people, groups, societies in the position to create, destroy, control knowledge  
  The antidote to particular groups controlling knowledge is to ask:  "Who controls or creates that knowledge?"  
  As a result of his extensive travels, Montesquieu recognized that knowledge was 'contextual'   
  The precautionary rule is a caveat to the scientific methods which holds that because evidence of harm is uncertain, & error costs are very high, it is acceptable to take precautionary action  

 
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Examples:  Knowledge is based on ideas
Facts are "objective"    256,000 mi to the moon:   planet orbiting black hole:  space is bent 
        Economics:  unemployment   5.4% as defined by who? 
Theories, paradigms & conjectures are subjective       Life begins at conception, 3 mos., viability, birth, 1 week
     Religion v. science / evolution

 
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Examples: Knowledge is based on the senses
Hume:  Cannot trust senses:    Stick looks bent in water 
Cannot trust instrument readings:  Measuring life on Mars:  chemical reaction
  Instruments may not measure what we think they measure
  Instruments affect / impact / change what they measure:  measuring cellular life, atomic events changes them
Observing people changes their behavior:  from heart rate & BP to dating behavior

 
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Examples:  Knowledge is based on paradigms: 
Allegiance to a paradigm tends to blind one to anomalies:  facts that don't fit the paradigm
    Theories of flat Earth actively suppressed any info that challenged it
    Conflict theorists see mostly conflict & little cooperation       Conflict can advance a group's interests
    Functionalists see mostly cooperation & little conflict          Conflict is dysfunctional

 
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Examples:  Knowledge is based on social & political conditions: 
The health of the economy is constantly redefined by parties, politicians, business leaders, etc.
The value of wolves in the wilderness is seen differently by different groups of interest:  environmentalists, hunters, wilderness, etc. 
Our knowledge of maleness & femaleness & our roles in society 

 
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Outline on the Social Sciences
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  -  Project:  Most Interesting Social Science 
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  THERE ARE 3 MAJOR AREAS OF STUDY INCLUDING THE HUMANITIES, NATURAL SCIENCES, & SOCIAL SCIENCES   
  THE CATEGORIZATION OF ACADEME:
Phys Sci Soc Sci Humanities
Phys Poli Sci Phil
    Physics Econ Hist
    Chemistry Psych Arts
Life Anthro Literature
    Biology Soci
    Medicine Cul Geog
 
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 a.  There are SIX branches of the humanities  
  -  Philosophy
-  History
-  Art
-  Literature
-  Languages
-  Communication		  
  b.  There are TWO branches of the natural sciences & many disciplines
-  Physical sciences
    Chemistry
    Physics
-  Life sciences
    Biology
    Zoology		  
  c.  There are SEVEN branches of the social sciences  
  -  Political science  
  -  Economics  
  -  Psychology  
  -  Anthropology  
  -  Criminology  
  -  Cultural Geography  
  -  Sociology  
  THE 5 COMMONALITIES IN THE SOC SCIENCES INCLUDE:  THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, PATTERNS, FACTS, LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, VARIOUS METHODOLOGIES   
  a.  All use the scientific method, as do the natural sciences
     The humanities do not use the scientific method, though some are adopting similar methodologies		  
  b.  All look for patterns in human behavior, as do the natural sciences & the humanities  
  c.  All are based on systematic observation, generalization, & interpretation of social facts as are the natural sciences  
  d.  All study different levels of human behavior    (micro, middle, macro, grand, meta-)  
  e.  All may use different methods, but each has its most widely used methods  
  Many of the social sciences have considerable methodological & theoretical overlap  
  The methods of the social science are based on the historically new belief that human behavior can be studied scientifically  
  The complexity of human behavior makes social sciences somewhat more difficult to study than the natural sciences   
  THE SOC SCIENCES ALL USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, BUT ALL HAVE SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT METHODS VARYING ON HOW THEY ARE DONE, & THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA   
  Sciences are, in many ways, defined by their methods & thus a social science is one in which the methods of science are used in order to study human social behavior  
  - Sociology uses the methods of the survey, census data, systematic observation  
  - Psychology uses the methods of systematic observation, interviews, analysis  
  - Political science uses the methods of polls (surveys), census data  
  - Anthropology uses the methods of field work (archeological digs), observation  
  - Economics uses the methods of data gathering & analysis  
  - Criminology uses the methods of statistical analysis  
  - Cultural geography uses the methods of field work (archeological digs), observation
 
  Cultural geography is the study of the spatial organization of human activity & of people's relationships w/ their environments.  All human activities have a spatial organization  
  While each discipline in the social sciences is considered distinct, the disciplines do overlap  
  The two types of science include the physical sciences & the social sciences  
  Even though a given project or scientist may strive to be one of these types or subtypes of the social sciences, various interests may appropriate or "use" their work as they please   
  PURE SCIENCE IS MORE OFTEN DONE IN THE LAB & HAS OBJECTIVE RESULTS WHILE APPLIED SCIENCE IS DONE IN THE FIELD & RESULTS ARE MORE OPEN TO INTERPRETATION   
  In both the physical sciences & social sciences, research may be more theoretically oriented or more practically oriented, & historically the former has garnered more status & research funding while the latter has produced more results  
  1. Pure or academic sci is done largely by university research institutes but more is done in biz labs, e.g. Bell Labs, every day  
  2. Applied sci is sci done in biz, by govt, for use or guidance  
  There are several subtypes of applied sci:  
  1. Policy analysis develops, implements & assesses a policy, strategy, plan of action, etc. related to a given product, issue, institution, etc.  
  Sci is a tool of competing pol & econ interests who often control funding  
  2.  Assessment or evaluation research seeks to determining the effectiveness of a product, policy, procedure, institution, etc.  
  3.  Risk assessment is the assessment of the risk & its mitigation  
  Science makes large assumptions on many issues & frequently can only give a probability of an event occurring  
  4.  Cost benefit analysis examines the financial implications of a given product, issue, institution, etc. & may or may not include spill over costs & benefits  
  Science can function properly in each of the modes of physical or social, pure or applied, policy analysis or risk assessment  

 
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Outline on    Political Science Paradigms
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  POLITICAL SCIENCE IS THE STUDY OF CITIZENS, THE STATE, & THE PROCESS OF GOVERNANCE WHICH INVOLVES POWER, CONFLICT & COOPERATION   
  Introduction:  Political science is the oldest social science
One of the oldest social institutions in society is a political body, the tribe, & thus political science predates history		  
  The pre- political science paradigms were religion & tribe based  
  Many political science paradigms predate the modern era  
  The variety of political bodies is immense & includes the
-  tribe
-  city state
-  nation
-  world systems		  
  Political science is macro oriented  
  Fundamental questions of political science
How is society possible? 
What is the nature of power? 
What makes the ideal state?
Is democracy possible?		  
  TWO fathers of political science:  
  HOBBES EMPHASIZED POWER & CONFLICT IN POLITICS, SEEING POLITICS AS WAR BY OTHER MEANS   
  Hobbes believed that 
-  in our natural state, life is a war of all against all
-  the only way for society to exist is w/ govt
-  the govt (the Leviathan (monster)) forces us to live together in peace 		  
  ROUSSEAU EMPHASIZED COOPERATION IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS BELIEVING THAT GOVT ITSELF WAS PROBLEMATIC   
  Rousseau believed that 
-  in our natural state, we lived in peaceful harmony. 
-  society existed before govt
-  minimalist govt is best
-  govt has derailed our natural peaceful tendencies. 
-  it is only in organized states (govts) that man makes war
-  govt has derailed our natural peaceful tendencies		  

 
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  Outline on  Economics Paradigms
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  ECONOMICS IS THE STUDY OF AFFAIRS OF COMMUNITY OR NATIONAL INCOME, EXPENDITURES, DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES; HENCE THE MATERIAL WELFARE   
  Economics involves the study of human behavior as it relates to the production, exchange, distribution, & consumption of wealth & income   
  Economics is important in all the social sciences because at its base, it examines the manner in which human needs & comforts are supplied   
  Economics is both micro & macro oriented   
 
 Economics is perhaps the oldest social science recognized as such.  Economics developed in the 1600s. Economics has developed from a feudal command economy to pure capitalism to socialism to mixed capitalism to global capitalism to ..... ?
 
  BEFORE ECON BECAME A SOC SCIENCE, MANY BELIEVED IN PREDESTINATION: THE WEALTH OR SITUATION OF A PERSON WAS PREDETERMINED & NOT THE RESULT OF THEIR OWN EFFORTS   
 
 Pre Economics Paradigms:  What explanations were used to explain wealth & poverty?
 
 
 One important pre economics paradigm was that of predestination, which held that the good were rewarded here on Earth & in heaven
 
 
 The predestination paradigm, as it relates to economics, held that
 
 
 -  the king has sacred qualities & is, in fact, god's representative on Earth
 
 
 -  one's most important duty is to the king / god while individual need / duty is evil
 
 
 -  if one serves god & king, then one is rewarded
 
 
 -  one should not pursue individual or personal interests
 
  -  to follow one's own interests demonstrated greed & evil  
  THERE ARE SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL PARADIGMS IN ECON, & MANY SECONDARY MODELS, INCLUDING:  HUNTER GATHERER, MILITARY, AG, CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM, MIXED CAPITALISM, GLOBAL CAPITALISM   
  1.  THE HUNTER GATHERER ECON WAS BASED ON HUNTING & GATHERING (NO AG) & WEALTH WAS VERY EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED   
  2.  MANY MILITARY BASED EMPIRES EXISTED IN ANCIENT TIMES, & SOME HAVE INFLUENCED DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT HISTORY   
  3.  AGRICULTURAL BASED EMPIRES CAME TO DOMINATE IN ANCIENT TIMES, DISPLACING BOTH H-G & MILITARY ECONS, & DOMINATED UNTIL THE INDL REV 
 
  4.  PURE CAPITALISM DEVELOPED AT THE DAWN OF THE INDL REV, USING THE 'INVISIBLE HAND' OF THE MKT TO COORDINATE DEMAND & SUPPLY 
 
  In 1776, Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations which delineated many of his ideas
 
  Smith believed that the structures of capitalism turned the feudal command economy on its head  
  For Smith, under feudalism, the duty to king/god is the greatest & individual need/duty is bad while under capitalism, pursuing individual interests will result in the greatest good for society  
  Smith understood that under capitalism, people do not serve the king/govt, they followed their own interests  
  Smith developed the idea of the invisible hand which was his conception of how the laws of supply & demand regulated production & consumption in the economy  
 
 5.  SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM AIMED TO ADDRESS THE FAULTS OF CAPITALISM, ESP INEQUALITY & MONOPOLIZATION   
 
 In the mid 1800s, Marx wrote  The Communist Manifesto
 
  Marx saw Smith's pure capitalism developing into monopoly capitalism  
 
 Karl Marx considered himself to be a political economist, not a sociologist
 
 
 Marx saw the poverty portrayed by Charles Dickens... “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”
 
 
 Marx saw that the wealthier people got, the more poverty there was
 
 
 Marx believed monopolies would take over & rule the world, enslaving us all
 
  Marx saw virtually all societies as being shaped by a struggle btwn owners of the means of production & those who did not own the means of production  
  Marx thought socialism was the solution  
 
 6.  MIXED CAPITALISM COMBINED QUALITIES OF SOCIALISM TO ADDRESS INEQUALITY, & GOVT REG TO ADDRESS MONOPOLIZATION 
 
  Keynes developed his economic theories in the early 1900s, & eventually worked for President FDR  
  Keynes understood Marx's economic theories & the effect of monopolies on capitalism  
  Keynes lived through & saw the effects of the Great Depression of 1929-1940  
  Keynes developed they system mixed capitalism to replace monopoly   
  For Keynes under mixed capitalism, the govt intervenes in the market to break up & regulate business  
 
 For Keynes under mixed capitalism, the govt tries to regulate business cycles by controlling: 
-  interest rates 
-  the money supply 
-  govt spending in the economy (deficit spending or surplus saving) 
-  the social safety net 
 
 
 7.  GLOBAL CAPITALISM IS NOT NECESSARILY A NEW TYPE OF ECON, & CURRENTLY IT SEEMS CLOSER TO PURE CAP THAN MIXED CAP, BUT IT DOES CREATE A NEW HIERARCHY OF NATIONS WHO PRODUCE, TRADE, CONSUME, ETC. IN DIFFERENT WAYS 
 
 
 Wallerstein developed world systems theory
 
  For some theorists, it is not clear that world systems theory is a competing paradigm  
  For Wallerstein, global capitalism is the completion of the development of capitalism  
 
 Contemporary economists include:
 
  -  John Kenneth Galbraith, who developed theories on contemporary mixed capitalism  
  -  Milton Friedman, who is a contemporary free market capitalism advocate  
  -  Paul Volker, who was a past President of Federal Reserve Bank  
  -  Allen Greenspan, who was the President of Federal Reserve Bank from Reagan to Bush to Clinton to Bush Jr.  
  The President of Federal Reserve Bank is known as "second most powerful man on Earth"  

 
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Outline on  An Intro to Psychology Paradigms
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  PSYCHOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF THE MIND WHICH STUDIES ALL INTERACTIONS BTWN LIVING ORGANISMS & THE ENV   
  Psychology studies human behavior primarily on the individual level while sociology studies human behavior primarily at the aggregate level  
  There are FOUR major Schools of Psychology
a.  Behavioral        c.  Cognitive
b.  Psychoanalytic      d.  Humanistic		  
  a.  BEHAVIORAL PSYC HOLDS THAT ALL BEHAVIOR IS CONDITIONED BY THE ENV   
  Behaviorists are empiricists in that they base all theory on observed behavior & does not take into acct what the individual is thinking, feeling, etc.   
  Pavlov  
  Skinner  
  b.  PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYC HOLDS THAT BEHAVIOR IS DETERMINED BY HUMAN INSTINCTS / ARCHETYPES   
  Psychoanalysts generally embrace a psycho dynamic model where they see the personality as the result of the interplay / dynamics among the various parts of the psyche, including various instincts & other parts   
  Freud  
  Jung  
  c.  COGNITIVE PSYC HOLDS THAT THE BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM ARE HARD WIRED IN PARTICULAR WAYS THAT AFFECT OUR BEHAVIOR   
  Cognitive psyc uses a cybernetic / computer type model that examines the manner in which areas of the brain & nervous system function, dysfunction, or impact each other   
  d.  HUMANISTIC PSYC HOLDS THAT PEOPLE NEED TO STRIVE TO REACH THEIR FULL HUMANITY   
  Humanistic psyc generally embraces a psycho dynamic model, & supplements it w/ new, 'higher' functions which develop as we mature or experience life's challenges   
  Maslow  
  Rogers  
  THERE ARE SIXTEEN AREAS IN PSYC WHICH CROSS PARADIGM & THEORETICAL LINES AS IT ADDRESSES REAL HUMAN ISSUES   
   Abnormal  
   Clinical  
   Comparative  
   Counseling  
   Developmental  
   Educational  
   Gestalt  
   Industrial / Organizational   
 
  Learning  
 
  Motivational  
 
  Parapsychology  
 
  Perception  
 
  Personality  
 
  Socio-biology  
 
  Social psychology  
 
  Structuralism  
 
  Transactional analysis  

 
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Outline on  An Intro to Anthropology, Physical & Cultural, Paradigms
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  ANTHROPOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT (PHYSICAL & CULTURAL), CHARACTER, & VARIETIES OF HUMANKIND  
  Anthropology is concerned w/ the origin, development, & varieties of humankind & culture, emphasizing data from nonliterate peoples  
 
 PRE- ANTHROPOLOGY PARADIGMS VIEWED TRIBAL SOCIETY AS INFERIOR & W/O CIVILIZATION 
 
 
 The pre anthropology paradigm consisted of the innate human desire to experience & understand other cultures
 
 
 Anthropology holds that cultures have always looked at other cultures
 
 
 Cultures have always looked at each other frequently as friends, alien, dangerous etc., & continue to do so today
 
 
 ANTHROPOLOGY HAS EXPANDED, APPLYING THE TOOLS IT HAS DEVELOPED BY STUDYING INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO ALL SOCIETIES
 
 
 Anthropology often focuses on the study pre modern societies & indigenous people  
  In many ways, anthropology may be thought of as the "sociology of pre modern societies"  
  Physical anthropology deals basically w/ human evolution  
  Cultural anthropology is the study of extinct & living cultures and linguistics & ethnology  
  Anthropology encompasses archeology  
  Anthropology has developed into looking at how we can view other, different cultures w/ respect  
  Anthropology is mostly micro oriented, but new innovative anthropologists are developing some macro analysis  
  Some anthropologists  
  -  Henry Lewis Morgan  
  -  Claude Levi Strauss  
  -  Marcel Mauss  
  -  Margaret Meade  
  -  The sociologist Emile Durkheim worked extensively in the field of anthropology  

 
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Sociology has many commonalities w/ the other Social Sciences
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 See Also:  The Social Sciences  

 
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 Outline on the  Development of Sociology
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  SUMMARY: 
Sociology began around the 1700s w/ influences from earlier social philosophy
St. Simon is known as the Father of Sociology
Sociology was influenced by Enlightenment ideals
Durkheim established sociology as an academic discipline
Around 1900, the 1st sociology dept. in the US was established in Chicago 
The Chicago School focused on activism, social work & social reform
Functionalism developed during WW2 & reflected the conservatism of the nation
Conflict theory, which was more radical, developed during the Vietnam era
Today sociology focuses on many diverse areas 
 
 
 SOCIOLOGY BEGAN AROUND THE 1700s, INFLUENCED BY EARLIER SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY  
  Early sociology was influenced by social philosophers such as Hobbes     1588  -  1679  
  Sociology began around the 1700s w/ influences from earlier social philosophy  
  Early sociologists began applying the scientific method to the study of society, groups, etc. & believed that society could be improved  
  Saint Simon        1760 - 1825        is considered the father of sociology  
  Auguste Comte         1798 - 1857    coined the term "sociology"  
  Comte believed that the major goal of sociology was to understand society as it actually operates  
  Comte saw sociology as the product of a three stage historical development including the: 
a.  theological stage, in which thought was guided by religion
b.  metaphysical stage, a transitional phase
c.  scientific stage, which we have not totally entered yet		  
  The scientific stage would be guided by positivism: a way of understanding based on science  
 
 SEVEN SOCIAL FACTORS AFFECTED THE EARLY SOC SCIENCES, 
JUST AS SOC FACTORS AFFECT THE SOC SCIENCES TODAY
 
  1.  Population explosions  
  2.  The Enclosure Movement & urbanization  
  3.  Religious changes during the period of 1300 - 1700 resulted in unified Western Christianity being shattered at the hands of Luther, et al, in the 1500s in a social change called the Reformation  
  4.  Growth of science  
      - Industrial Revolutions  
  5.  Political revolutions, especially England, US, & France, affected the early social sciences  
  a.  The political revolutions that affected the early social sciences were characterized by democratization, the fall of monarchy, & the rise of "the rabble," aka the middle class  
  b.  Rise of capitalism  
  c.  Rise of socialism in Europe, and especially in Russia:   1907-1917 and before  
  6.  "Modern" social problems:  Joseph Gusfield notes that Sociology emerged as a force to deal w/ social problems such as urbanization, poverty, crime, etc.  
  7.  The Enlightenment, which was a 100 yr. span from English Revolution ( 1642 ) to the French Revolution ( 1789 ) affected the early social sciences  
  Sociology was influenced by Enlightenment ideals  
  Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, et al were influential  
  Out of all of these factors, the 3 major social changes during the 17th & 18th Cs that were important to the development of sociology include:
a.  the rise of industrial technology
b.  the growth of cities
c.  political change, including a rising concern w/ individual liberty & rights as manifesting in the US & French revs		  
  EARLY SOCIOLOGY HAD 'AGREEMENT' ON NINE TENETS & THUS THERE WAS MORE 
SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS THAT THERE IS IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOC SCIENCES 		  
  1.  Society was seen as the most important unit of analysis  
  Society is more than individual  
  The individual is produced through socialization  
  2.  The group was seen as an important unit of analysis & the most important units of analysis include the family & the workplace  
  3.  The parts of society are interrelated through complex relationships on multiple levels  
  4.  Social change is a threat  
  5.  Society was functional & therefore there is little use in looking at the negative aspects of society  
  6.  The small social units of society, e.g., the family, the workplace, religious groups, etc. are essential or vital for the operation of society  
  7.  Industrialization, bureaucracy, urbanization, immigration, etc. disorganize society  
  8.  The non rational is bad or dysfunctional for society  
  9.  The social sciences, including sociology, should support the existing social arrangements, such as hierarchy, in society  
  DURKHEIM ESTABLISHED SOCI AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE   
  Emile Durkheim was pivotal in founding sociology as an academic social science because he established the use of the scientific method to study social phenomenon such as suicide & founded the first sociology dept. in the University of Paris   
  Durkheim's pivotal study entitled Suicide, which examined the social factors contributing to 'the most personal act' was instrumental in helping people understand the influence of social influences & the thus the value of the soc sciences   
  THE CHICAGO SCHOOL WAS THE 1st AM SOCI DEPT, ESTBED SOC WK & ACTIVISM, & USED CHICAGO AS A LAB   
  In 1893, the first sociology dept. in the US was established in Chicago  
  The Chicago School brought sociology into America prior to & after 1900 & established the social work & activist directions   
  The Chicago School was also known as the Ecological School  
  At the Chicago School, the focus on social problems & the researchers used Chicago as a laboratory  
  The focus of the Chicago School on social problems predated functionalism & conflict theory  
  The Chicago School focused on social deviance, which was defined as a violation of society's norms or rules for appropriate behavior & became synonymous with the term social problems  
  The Chicago School focused on activism, social work & social reform
 
  The theory of Chicago School held that:
 
  - social problems were caused by factors external to the individual, that is, they were "ecological"
 
  - the person had little or no control and little or no responsibility for social problems as seen in Chicago
 
  - the cause of social problems was unhealthy social environment of inner city
 
  - social problems can be solved by integrating the groups in the unstable areas into mainstream
 
  - American life is a melting pot
 
  FUNCTIONALISM FOCUSES ON THE REGULATING / HOMOGINIZING ASPECTS OF SOCIETY  
  Functionalism developed during WW2 & reflected the conservatism of the nation
 
  Functionalism developed in the US & this period of conservatism in US occurred as radicalism in Europe developed
 
  Harvard sociology reigned from the turn of the century to the 1950s & changed the direction of sociology from a social work / activist direction to one that was more conservative, keeping in times w/ the public attitude as a result of WW2, in the form of functionalism
 
  CONFLICT THEORY FOCUSES ON THE COMPETITIVE ASPECTS OF SOCIETY THROUGH CLASS ANALYSIS   
  Conflict theory evolved from Marxism & was too radical for the US until it was toned down & began class analysis in the US in the 1940s  
  Conflict theory has roots in the US in the 1940s & 50s in the Am Left & such theorists as C Wright Mills, but did not become influential until the 1960s
 
  Conflict theory, which was more radical, developed during the Vietnam era
 
  The 1950s - mid 1970s saw the American form of Marxism arrive in the form of conflict theory, radicalizing sociology, questioning the conservative functionalism of the previous era
 
  While conflict theory had been in Europe for decades, it arrives in US in the 1950s  
  Conflict theory reflects development of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam Protests, Feminist Movement, Environmental Movement, etc.  
  THE POST VIETNAM ERA AGAIN BROUGHT A RETURN TO A CONSERVATIVE DIRECTION FOR SOCIOLOGY   
  Since the Post Vietnam era:
- conflict theory & functionalism have both lost influence
- no clear replacement theory for conflict theory or functionalism has emerged
- most Sociology has become a hybrid of both conflict theory & functionalism		  
  TODAY SOCIOLOGY FOCUSES ON MANY DIVERSE AREAS   
  From the 1980s to the present there has been the growth of a plurality of fields in sociology, including:
- feminism
- criminology
- post-modernism
- organizational sociology
- urban sociology
- environmental sociology, etc.		  

 
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 Outline on the Introduction to Functionalism
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 FUNCTIONALISM VIEWS SOCIETY AS A LIVING ORGANISM 
 
 
 Functional theory is often traced from Durkheim to the Chicago School to Parsons & Merton
 
 
 Early social thinkers likened the operation of society to that of a living organism, such as the human body, exemplifying the quality of consensus  
 
 LIKE AN ORGANISM, SOCIETY EXEMPLIFIES THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE:  NEEDS, REPRODUCTION, COMPETITION, COOPERATION, & ORDER  
  Like an organism, society exemplifies the FIVE characteristics of life:
- has needs (need inputs)
- has ways to reproduce
- competes
-  cooperates
- needs order or it is "sick" or has "cancer"
 
  THE QUALITIES OF SOCIETY ARE THAT IT HAS PARTS CALLED SOCIAL STRUCTURES, THAT ARE INTERDEPENDENT, & THEY FUNCTION TO PRODUCE CONSENSUS & STABILITY   
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 Functionalism views society as having FOUR qualities:
Society has
- parts                                    ( social structures ) ( PF REG M CEML )
- that are interdependent         ( mutual interrelations )
- that function to produce       ( functional requisites )
- consensus & stability           ( society is in equilibrium ) 
 
 
 FUNCTIONALISM IS A MACRO PARADIGM is a macro paradigm / perspective (set of theories)
 
  Functionalism is a paradigm & is therefore contains many theories such as:
- order perspective                - systems theory 
- structural functionalism        - neo-functionalism
- consensus theory
 

 
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4.  Society is made up of interdependent parts:
The parts / components of society are termed Social Structures 
1.   Peers  6.   Military
2.   Family 7.   Charity
3.   Religion 8.   Education
4.   Work (economy) 9.   Media
5.   Government 10. Recreation/leisure
       PF REG M CEML

 
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 Outline on the Introduction to Conflict Theory
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  CONFLICT THEORY FOCUSES ON CLASS CONFLICT OVER CONTROL OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION (THE ECONOMY)   
  The conflict paradigm is a macro sociological perspective based on the key premise that society is made up of groups that compete, usually w/ unequal power, for scarce resources; conflict & change are seen as the natural order of things  
 
 PEDIGREE:  Conflict theory generally runs from Marx to Mills to Dahrendorf & Collins  
Link
 SUMMARY of the principles of conflict theory:
1. Our human nature is that we labor / create 7. Conflict does not always mean violence
2. Economic relations are the "base" of society 8. Capitalism is destructive of humanity
3. People, groups, etc. have conflicting self interests 9. The upper class controls the economy, & thus all of society
4. There is class conflict 10. Culture is shaped by the economic base of society
5. Conflict is the energy of social change 11. Consciousness is shaped by the interaction of material (working)
6. Society is in state of struggle & social change         conditions & the dominant culture in which one finds oneself
 
  THE QUALITIES OF SOCIETY INCLUDE CLASSES IN CONFLICT, OVER RESOURCES, OVER IDEOLOGY, IN A HISTL CLIMATE OF DOMINATION BY THE UPPER CLASS   
  Conflict theory focuses on FOUR qualities of society:
a.  Society has 2 or more classes of people who are in conflict    (competition)
b.  Different groups in society are in conflict over control of resources
c.  Different groups in society are in conflict over control of ideology
     ( Ideology is a world view, including  knowledge, opinions, etc.)
d.  Historically one group has dominated
 
  MARX, THE FATHER OF CONFLICT THEORY, WAS A REPORTER, ACTIVIST, & ACADEMIC IN THAT HE WROTE & ABOUT & PARTICIPATED IN SOCIAL CHANGE IN HIS TIME   
  Modern conflict theory is largely an outgrowth of the theories of Karl Marx  1818  -  1883  
  Review:  Marx  
  Marx was an advocate for the workers, a radical organizer, a newspaper writer, & was exiled from several countries in Europe
 
  Again, the question is:   "Why does the society take the form that it does?"
 
  Off shoots of Marxism include conflict theory, neo Marxism, critical theory, Frankfort School, post modernism, class theory, pluralism 
 

 
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 Outline on   Intro to Symbolic Interactionism
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  INTRO:  S - I FOCUSES ON HOW WE CREATE MEANING IN AN INTERACTIVE PROCESS W/ OURSELVES, OTHERS, & SOCIAL STRUCTURES  
  Symbolic interactionism is a micro oriented paradigm which holds that: 
1.  we create meaning in an interactive process w/ ourselves, others, & social structures 
2.  societal level actions are aggregated by the actions of individuals/groups 
3.  what people believe to be true, becomes true in its consequences 
4.  society sends messages, gives rules 
5.  these messages are imprinted on us (through socialization) from childhood on 
6.  the content of these impressions is culture 
7.  social processes / relationships are what construct the individual & society 
8.  there is a 3 way dynamic among the self, society, & the processes of the construction of the self & society 
9.  societies interact through symbolic processes w/ themselves & individuals 
10.  individuals interact through symbolic processes w/ themselves & societies 
 
  S - I metaphor: 
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men & women merely players.
They have their exits & their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven stages."
William Shakespeare, As You Like It ( Act II Scene 7 )
 
  The symbolic interactionist paradigm is a major micro sociological perspective stressing the importance of messages from others & society, how people understand & interpret these messages & how this process affects people's behavior 
 
  Societal level actions are aggregated by the actions of individuals or groups   
 
 FOR S - I, SOCIAL PROCESSES / RELATIONSHIPS ARE WHAT CONSTRUCT THE INDIVIDUAL & SOCIETY
 
  Symbolic interactionism is the study of the processes 
  by which human interaction occurs 
  including the interactions 
  btwn individuals & larger society 
  & how that interaction creates society itself 
  & the individual itself 		  
  Symbolic interactionism holds that 
  Society, 
  social interactions, 
  & the self itself, 
  develop / are created through the use of 
  symbols, language, signs & gestures 
 
 
 THERE IS A 3 WAY DYNAMIC AMONG THE SELF, SOCIETY, & THE PROCESSES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SELF & SOCIETY 
 
  Symbolic interactionist holds that there is a THREE way dynamic which constructs the self & society 
 
    a.  The self (selves) creates social interactions 
 
    b.  Social interactions create society 
 
    c.  Society creates the self 
 
  Blumer coined the term symbolic interactionism in 1937 
 
 
 SOCIETIES INTERACT THROUGH SYMBOLIC PROCESSES W/ THEMSELVES & INDIVIDUALS  
  Societies do 
  - send messages 
  - give rules 
  - but it is on the individual level that these situations, messages, etc. occur 
 
 
 INDIVIDUALS INTERACT THROUGH SYMBOLIC PROCESSES W/ THEMSELVES & SOCIETY  
  Individuals also 
  - send messages 
  - give rules 
  - but most of these messages & rules are largely shaped by & constrained by society 
 
  Symbolic interactionism developed from social psychology, & still has a strong relationship w/ that field & has inspired a number of other  important subfields: dramaturgy, exchange theory, neuro linguistic programming 
 
  In sociology, most of the ideas of symbolic interactionist are found in the study of socialization   

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