sociology chapters 1,2,3

why scientist do not like the law of three stages by comte

3 stages are not enough, assumes human thinking will not get better, and the fact that the last stage emerged in his era is self-serving

positivism

A theoretical approach that considers all understanding to be based on science

sociological perspective

A view of society based on the dynamic relationships between individuals and the larger social network in which we all live

4 Functional Imperatives

AGIL, required for a social system to maintain homeostasis, To maintain equilibrium, the social system must find ways to both motivate individual actors and provide them with opportunities to release their frustrations in socially sanctioned ways

three kinds of Orientalism; all three are interdependent:

Academic Orientalism refers to knowledge that is produced by academics, government experts, historians, sociologists, and anyone else who is producing information or writing about the Orient. Said perceives that this knowledge is not neutral but is embedded in power relations. He argues that people make a distinction between the East and the West as the starting point for their theories, political accounts, and so on (Said, 1978). Imaginative Orientalism refers to any representation making a basic distinction between the Orient and the Occident. These representations may include art, novels, poems, images, and social descriptions (Said, 1978). Institutional Orientalism refers to the institutions created by Europeans such that they could gain authority over, alter, and rule the Orient (Said, 1978).

Georg Simmel (1858-1918)

According to Simmel, society was not a living thing, as some functionalists suggested, nor was it an abstract creation of the intellect, as the idealists argued. Instead, Simmel viewed society as the summation of human experience and its patterned interactions.

three assumptions of anti-positivism

a) while hard science may be useful for exploring the physical world, the social world cannot be understood solely through numbers and formulas b) all sciences will not merge over time, and no single methodological approach can reach a complete understanding of our world, we need to view each science subjectively and instead the sciences will become more unique over time c) science cannot be separated from our values, values; cultural assessments that identify something as right, desirable, and moral, what we choose to study is a social expression

Seeing the general in the particular

ability to look at seemingly unique events and recognize the larger or general features, employ sociological perspective, eg man asking for money on street thinking bigger issue of homeless, peter Berger

Socialist ideologies

advocate against capitalist oppression and see the value of collective ownership and economic equality.

Patriarchal ideologies

advocate the primacy of everything male and the social domination of the "weaker" sex (i.e., women).

Capitalist ideologies

assert the value of competition, morality, and achievement.

Locke

assertion that ideas are not innate and that knowledge is the result of experience, people are born a blank slate, only way to gather information is through science and experimentation

mead

associated with symbolic interaction-ism, viewed the mind and self as rising out of social process of communication, we become ourselves through social interaction, look at individual factors

ascribed status

attributes assigned at birth, eg sex, being born in a wealthy family

social issue

challenges caused by larger social factors that require collective solutions

Industrial Capitalism

characterized by its own contradictions and problems:•1. the constant drive toward wealth accumulation.•2. narrowing of class structure•3. Homogenization of labour•4. Constant crisis in profit•5. Alienation•(Sernau, 2014: 40)

ideal types

classic or pure forms of a given social phenomenon, three types of government, republic(virtue), monarchy(honour), despotism (fear) true spirit of society is what it wants to become, contributions; cultural diversity, comparative methodology

Marshan mcluhan

coined the term global village, describes how the media collapse space and time and enable people everywhere to interact and experience life on a global scale, technology has shrunk the globe to the size of a village, we perceive closeness that transcends the traditional boundaries of time and space, globalization also implies a realization of the primacy of capitalism as a defining feature of the global economy

collective conscience

concept highlighting the totality of beliefs and sentiments that are common to the average person in society

4 sociological lenses

conflict theory, feminist theory, symbolic interactionism, and functionalism

birth of sociology

conservatives believed that society is not the product of individuals, rather an entity in itself., prompted return to earlier times when society was more stable

Contemporary Social Theories

contemporary social theories provide a foundation from which to explain everyday happenings like the ones noted above. Even the most personal of questions about life goals, family, intimacy, birth, or death, can be analyzed through a social lens. Social relations provide a vocabulary through which to understand and discuss individual and collective experiences of the world.

blumer

continued Mead's work, his analysis of meaning, language and thought is what he is known for, these core principles formed the foundation of how people create their sense of self within the larger social world

Dorothy Smith

Dorothy Smith's approach reflects a second-wave approach to feminist theorizing. While she recognizes that there are variations in the experiences of both men and women, what women share is domination by men is organized around the desire to produce a sociology for women (although in later writings she refers to this as a sociology for people) Of central concern for Smith is the gendered character of the social production of knowledge. Smith is critical of classical sociological approaches that produce what she calls objectified forms of knowledge and knowledge that is androcentric (meaning "male-centred"). Smith argues that women have been left out of knowledge production—as both knowers and actors. Sociology, traditionally, has been organized around men—around their experiences and their positions. Men have been the subjects and the authors while women have been ignored. Thus, sociology itself has contributed to the "erasing and devaluing" of women's experiences and perspectives. As it has been traditionally performed, sociology, according to Smith, has produced an androcentric intellectual world that presents itself as both universal and objective. Smith is interested in feminist sociology that can provide for women an account of the social relations that shape their lives—to explain that social relations that are both within our direct world and extend beyond it create the conditions of what is possible Smith wants a sociology that retains the presence of an active subject: "the subject/knower of inquiry is not a transcendent subject but situated in the actualities of her own living, in relations with others as they are" . Her approach stands in contrast to macrosociological accounts that produce what Smith calls objectified forms of knowledge. In other words, she is critical of knowledge that treats the world as being "out there" as an object to be discovered. Rather, Smith directs researchers to always look for the ways in which social processes happen through people's actions interested in a sociology that helps women come to understand the broader conditions within which their experiences arise. After all, our experiences are not entirely shaped by daily interactions; rather, our experiences are often the result of ruling relations in everyday circumstances. Smith uses the concept of ruling to indicate the "socially-organized exercise of power that shapes people's actions and their lives".

major post-structural concepts of Michel Foucault.

Enlightenment thinking views scientific knowledge as being the key to human freedom. Post-structuralists challenge this view, arguing that scientific knowledge, or ideas about absolute "truth," cannot stand outside power relations. This means that to study the underlying structures of a cultural object, such as a text or a film—as structuralists do—is to analyze it from the perspective of social relations that already exist.

First Wave Feminism

First-wave feminism took shape in the mid-1800s, concluding just after World War I with the victory for (some) women of the right to vote

The Division of Labour 1893

Focus on social integration:-Related questions:-1. How are individuals made to feel part of a larger social collective?-2. How are their desires and wants constrained in a way that allows them to participate in the collective?-3. How are the activities of individuals and other social units coordinated and adjusted to one another?-(so how are patterns of social organization created, maintained and transformed?)

behaviours

For Parsons, the almost mechanical responses to specific stimuli

actions

For Parsons, the results of an active and inventive process, viewed people as actors in that they played roles either as individuals or collectives, a 4 step process to explain motives and goals

discipline

Foucault (1977) uses the term discipline to mean how we come to be motivated to produce particular realities: "Disciplinary power works to produce bodies, practises and subjectivities that . . . bear the imprint of a given interest and logic. . ." Foucault thought about how power operates by producing some behaviours while discouraging others. According to Foucault, discipline, as a form of modern power, can work through what he termed surveillance—acts of observing, recording, and training.These techniques function without relying on force or coercion Such disciplinary power is exemplified by the normalizing judgment—a type of internalized (self-policing) coercion that divides, classifies, and controls through regulation. This is what Foucault calls normalization—a social process by which some practices and ways of living are marked as "normal" and others are marked as "abnormal" Finally, unlike classical Marxist theorists, Foucault contends that resistance to modern disciplinary power is not manifested in revolution but, rather, within power relations. These pluralities of resistances occur as ruptures or cracks that unsettle the smooth operation of disciplinary power.

discourses,

Foucault outlines how truths and facts come together in systems that he refers to as discourses, which guide how we think, act, and speak about a particular thing or issue, as well as determine who is authorized to speak. Discourses not only tell us what the world is, but also what the world ought to be like

Critiquing Functionalism

Functionalism correctly assumes that changes in one area of society may lead to changes in others; after all, society is an integrated and interrelated system. functionalists assert that change is possible when the system faces challenges or dysfunctions, classical functionalism often overlooked the positive consequences that can result from conflict and struggle

Verstehen (Max Weber)

German term meaning a deep understanding and interpretation of subjective social meanings in order to appreciate both the intention and the context of human action, is entirely consistent with symbolic interactionism Verstehen, then, refers to understanding the meaning of an action from the actor's point of view. Human actors are not seen as the product of external forces that direct their lives, but instead as active agents who engage with others to organize their world and give it meaning entirely consistent with the sociological imagination—to put yourself in another person's shoes and see the world from his or her position. Weber's emphasis on an individual's subjective analysis and interpretation of an action or situation challenged positivist social science and inspired the emergence of symbolic interactionism.

Erving Goffman (1922-1982)

Goffman was interested in interactions between small groups—or even simply pairs—of people. One of Goffman's most important contributions to symbolic interactionism was his concept of dramaturgical analysis. This approach sees the 'self' as emerging from the performances we play and how the other actors relate to us. In other words, the 'self' does not really exist but rather is a function of the social interactions we have with others and how they interpret the signs and signals we convey. Through deceptions and misrepresentations, or by enacting idealized notions of how a person ought to behave, we try to control how others see us and at times put on a mask to hide our true feelings or motivations. We are all actors who are protective of the characters that we play. According to Goffman, no interaction is as simple as it first appears. argued that interactions are influenced by each person's personal history and experiences and that these ultimately define and flavour each and every interaction. All interactions occur within spaces where actors send and receive signals to and from each other in order to understand and manage their individual roles and performances. For Goffman, human interactions are always fluid and intricate but also a rich source of sociological insight.

Another important development in anti-racist theorizing is a focus on whiteness and the privileging of whiteness.

Head taxes in canada in past Grounded in Marxism Critical race theory- Lens to understand domination Liberalism- enlightenment, grounded in equality, fails to see that all of us are not on equal ground Racism endemic to north american life Acts of racism are not isolated, random acts Insists on contextual/historical analysis of law Value of drawing on experience Interdisciplinary Intersectional Lens of historical racism Lens to understand racial domination

The Communist Manifesto 1848

In 1848, the Communist League, an association formed by radical workers in 1836, commissioned Marx and Engels to write a political tract outlining the organization's program.•the Manifesto intended to inspire allegiance to the movement's cause.•Western Society developed/ progressed through four main stages:-1. Primitive communism-2. Ancient Society-3. Feudal Society-4. Capitalist Society

Western Marxism

Karl Marx's argument that the forces of production influence not only the organization of a society but also people's experiences of that society. Marx further believed that over time, the proletariat would develop a common class consciousness and revolt against the bourgeoisie. Western Marxism takes a slightly different approach to this classic formulation. Western Marxism refers to more independent and critical forms of Marxism than those practised by the more dogmatic Soviet and Chinese regimes. In fact, the term was first used derisively by the Soviet communist regime to refer to the varied forms of Marxism that emerged after the 1920s in a rapidly changing Western Europe. Several theorists are associated with Western Marxism, namely György Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, and Louis Althusser

Harriet Martineau

Martineau was a British author who is probably best known for having translated Comte's works into English. A strong supporter of feminism and a passionate opponent of slavery. book called Society in America that was based on fieldwork at a time when empirical sociological research was uncommon. One year later, she wrote How to Observe Morals and Manners, one of the first books to explore sociological methodology. Martineau helped define how sociologists studied the social world and was motivated to answer the question, "What constitutes a better life for people?"

quality of mind

Mill's term for the ability to view personal circumstance within a social context

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)

Mind, Self and Society (1934). Mead suggested that the "social organism" is not an organic individual but "a social group of individual organisms" The individual, therefore, exists as a member of a social organism, and his or her acts can be understood only in the context of social actions that involve other individuals. Society is not a collection of pre-existing autonomous individuals (as suggested by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau) but instead is the result of individuals defining themselves through participation in social acts the human mind results from the individual's ability to respond to and engage with the environment. The mind emerges and develops once individuals demonstrate an ability to communicate their thoughts to others and to themselves The concept of self emerges once individual actors can reflect on themselves as objects and see their actions as the result of social processes. To help understand the social nature of the individual, Mead defined the differences between the I and the Me.

Power/Knowledge (Foucault)

One of Foucault's greatest contributions to post-structural thought is his rethinking of power. His definition of power is different from the Marxist theory of power as oppressiontalizing theory such as Marxism. a position that Foucault refers to as the repressive hypothesis. This hypothesis holds that truth is opposed to power and can therefore play a liberating role. It views "truth" as something that can be produced outside of power relations and therefore as something that can be objective. power is not a thing possessed by one individual over another. Rather, he views power relations as being created within social relationships. As such, power relationships are multidirectional, can be found everywhere, and are always at work. Power relations, then, can produce particular forms of behaviour although Foucault understands that we are all subjected to particular forces, he also acknowledges that one group does not always dominate. In other words, Foucault understands individuals as, in a sense, having agency—meaning the capacity for self-directed action—since they have the ability to resist power relations and to alter power relations Power is also linked with knowledge According to Foucault, truths or facts are contextual, meaning that they can never be separated from the relations of power that they are produced within. To know something (particularly the "truth" about something or someone) is to exercise power.

Third-Wave Feminism

One of the major critiques levied against second-wave theorizing is that the singular voice that supposedly represents all women is really the voice of white, middle-class, heterosexual, educated women Rather than a singular voice, third-wave feminists believe that what is needed is attention to the multiplicity of women's voices Third-wave feminists challenge second-wave thinking that women indeed shared a common experience; they challenged the coherence of the category of woman. Third-wave thinkers emphasize the "need for greater acceptance of complexities, ambiguities, and multiple locations". These feminists are interested in creating space for a feminism that takes up difference based on race, social class, sexuality, and so forth. Dichotomous positioning around gender and sexuality, for instance, is rejected and replaced with more fluid understandings

3 assumptions of positivism

a) there exists an objective and knowable reality, physical/social worlds can be understood through observation/experimentation and logic, reality is objective and beyond individual interpretation/manipulation, we can understand our world and we have the capacity to do so b) since all sciences explore the same, singular reality, over time all sciences will become more alike. since there is only one correct explanation for the physical/social world we will eventually realize that all sciences are investigating the same reality. c) there is no room in science for value judgment, there is no good or bad science, any science is valuable for furthering our understanding of the world

political economy

The interactions of politics, government and governing, and the social and cultural constitution of markets, institutions, and actors.

Microsociology

The study of human behavior in contexts of face-to-face interaction., in small group dynamic within a larger society

Macrosociology

The study of society as a whole

Goal attainment

The system needs to establish clear goals and priorities.the central question that goal attainment must answer for the social system is how to use legitimate power to implement social decisions. This may seem obvious, but the goals of different social systems often vary

Integration

The system needs to maintain solidarity within it as well as have the different units in society work together. The system must coordinate and adjust to the needs and aspirations of the various subgroups in society. It must find ways to motivate actors to play their roles and to regulate their actions when they do not.

Latency

The system needs to motivate individuals to release their frustrations in socially appropriate ways to maintain the system. For Parsons, system maintenance is achieved through tension maintenance, and pattern maintenance,

Contributions by Women

These writers include Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), Flora Tristan (1803-1844), Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Beatrice Potter Webb (1853-1943), Anna Garlin Spencer (1851-1932), Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964), Ida Wells-Barnett (1862-1931), Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935), Jane Addams (1860-1935), Annie Marion MacLean (1870-1934), Marianne Weber (1870-1954), and Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919). Their writings often focused on promoting social equality and activism, and were significant in the development of Western society generally and of sociology specifically.

the Rules of Sociological Method

Three essential points:•(1) sociology is a distinct field of study. •(2) although the social sciences are distinct from the natural sciences, the methods of the latter can be applied to the former. •(3) the social field is also distinct from the psychological realm

Marx and Engels

To conflict theorists, society is characterized by how power defines and influences virtually all human interactions. Society is not a homeostatic system operating for the benefit of the whole (as it is for functionalists) but, rather, a system based on tension and struggle.Marx and Engels were interested in exploring how the rich and powerful maintain their control over the majority of society—that is, how is it possible that the wealthy few maintain their wealth and the poor, who are in the majority, do nothing about it?Marx's work was a reaction to the economic and social conditions brought on by the industrial revolution .Marx sought to forge a theoretical model intended not only to interpret the world, but also to change it

symbolic interactionism maintains seven fundamental principles:

Unlike other animals, human beings have the capacity for thought. Human thinking is shaped by social interaction. In social settings, people learn meanings and symbols that allow them to exercise their distinctively human capacity for thought. Meanings and symbols enable people to carry on uniquely human actions and interactions. People are able to change meanings and symbols that they use given their interpretation of various social situations. People are able to make these modifications in part because they have the unique ability to interact with themselves. By doing so, they examine different courses of action and select the one with the most advantages and the least disadvantages. The culmination of patterns of action and interaction make up groups and societies.

focus on political economy

Wallace clement- leading figure in Canadian sociology believes that a defining element of Canadian sociology is its interest in the political economy, this intellectual pursuit is characterized by the attempt to seek out tensions and contradictions within society in order to form the basis for social change.

Explain the three principal areas of queer theory.

Within the civil rights and women's movements of the 1960s, gays and lesbians felt that they were marginalized. In fact, a rather large rupture occurred within the women's movement between feminist heterosexual women and feminist lesbian women Queer theory problematizes the assumption that we are all the same and deserve the same treatment. Instead, queer theorists foreground difference as the basis for political and intellectual endeavours . Queer theory is also concerned with deconstructing sexual identities by exploring how these identities are historically and culturally situated . These are the challenges of queer theory.

Contributions by Non-Western Scholars

Writers such as Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), C. L. R. James (1901-1989), George Padmore (1903-1959), and Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972) (former president of Ghana) were leaders in the anti-colonial, pan-Africanist movements whose writings became integral to the push for independence from colonial powers Because these writers' works focused on the oppression resulting from colonialism, their works received limited profile in Canada and the United States. This is not because these countries were not seen as colonial empires or that colonial relationships no longer existed (e.g., our experience with Indigenous people). Rather, it is a reflection of who this material "spoke" to (i.e., the oppressed). Additionally, these works were ignored by the mainly white sociologists working at North American universities.

natural or physical inequality

based on physical differences established by nature (e.g., age, physical health, strength, intelligence).

Conflict theory

based on the assumption that society is grounded on inequality and competition over scarce resources that ultimately result in conflict, which often inspires social change, roots of conflict theory go back to Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Rousseau.

Orientalism

a Western style of thought that creates a false opposition between the Orient (East) and the Occident (West). He views Orientalism as a discourse of power, one that works to naturalize the East as being inferior to the West. In this way, Said's work draws on Michel Foucault's notion of discourse as being implicated in relations of power and knowledge.

social interactionism

a perspective asserting that people and societies are defined and created through the interactions of individuals, reflective of the American value system in its focus on the individual

patriarchy

a pervasive and complex social and cultural system of male domination. This focus on homogeneity underlies much of the third-wave critique of second-wave feminism.

Laissez-faire

a point of view that opposes regulation of or interference with natural processes

philosophers

began with the writings of Thomas Hobbes, and concluded with the conservative reaction to the Enlightenment (circa 1700-1750)

Anti-positivism

a theoretical approach that considers knowledge and understanding to be the result of human subjectivity, challenges each of the positivism assumptions

globalization

a worldwide process involving the production, distribution, and consumption of technological, political, economic, and sociocultutural goods and services world today is increasingly interconnected and intermingled

hobbes

believed that people are driven by two primary passions: fear of death and the desire for power, observation that our lives are "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." according to him true nature of human kind is self-preservation, argued long term stability can be achieved only when citizens join together

Durkheim

believed that people wanted to work together for the collective benefit, believed that low levels of social integration and regulation were a source of various social problems, rising deviance and suicide rate

suicide

example of his positivistic methodology and his belief that individuals are directly influenced by the collective , four types; egoistic (don't feel connected to group), altruistic (too connected to group), anomic (not enough regulation), fatalistic (too much regulation)

Social facts

general social features that exist on their own and are independent of individual manifestations, laws , beliefs, customs, morals, creation of human actions but not the intended consequence of them, unintentional outcomes of collective behaviour and interaction,evidence of collective conscience

the origins of sociology

greeks, Chinese, Muslims, Italians, British, all explored roles of sociology Ibn Khaldun is recognized as the first social philosphere working from the sociological perspective 1838- term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte

Rousseau

his challenge to the true nature of social life prior to organized society, human beings existed in a natural state where by an individual's desire was solitary and self-centered. as society developed the beings realized they could benefit from working together, we gain more that way, benefits such as government, libraries, hospitals out weigh the cost, loss of autonomy and privacy and independence

W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

his concept of double-consciousness—a way of seeing one's self through the eyes of someone else that for American blacks resulted in a sense of two-ness. Black Americans experienced a divided identity, where on the one hand they were members of the majority as Americans but on the other, they were discriminated against because they were black. American racial inequality deflected attention away from the critiques of white racial dominance and toward other nonracial social concerns like immigration, class inequality, politics, and cultural nationalism

Language

how language is related to power. Unless confronted with a problem of miscommunication, few of us stop and consider our use of language—that is, many of us take language itself and our use of it for granted Just as Foucault understands that knowledge is inseparable from power, it is impossible to disentangle language from knowledge since language is the vehicle of knowledge ask us to consider the fact that language is not transparent. Rather, queer theorists argue that it is value-laden as opposed to being a neutral description of some reality . Think about words such as black and white, up and down. They are not merely descriptions; like the normal/abnormal categories discussed above, they contain value judgments. Up conjures thoughts of heaven and "good," while down brings to mind images of hell and "bad" . These terms are not simply designations of spatial locations (up and down), then, but have come to signify much more. the term normal is not always simply deployed to mean the statistical average; it has come to be associated with what is "good," or considered "right," and so forth, while abnormal means bad and wrong. The term normal has become the standard by which all else is measured. How we use language is connected to the concept of power, in that language produces reality. Sexualities that are produced under the category of abnormal are then governed, examined, and legislated by the "normals". Being abnormal, in the context of sexuality, is not necessarily a matter of being statistically different but, rather, becomes a matter worthy of intervention and alteration—legal and medical and so forth. Such is the power of language to produce reality. Language operates with a logic of binaries—these are either/or dualities wherein one element in a pair is defined by what it is not (West versus East, women versus men, skinny versus overweight, good versus evil). These binaries are not neutral definitions but, rather, are value-laden. One element of each is typically more highly valued, while the other is devalued; this valuation/devaluation is how power is implicated in language or discourse. These binaries, along with their implicit valuations, actually work to structure how we understand reality, ourselves, and how we move through the world

c.w mills concept

individual and social are inextricably linked and cannot understand one without the other, people who do not and cannot recognize the social origins and character of their problems cannot respond effectively many personal troubles do not become social issues because people never share with the larger social world

marx

insight into the nature of human relationships, believed that people were forced into competition with others, this led to conflict because some people had more wealth than others, all human relationships in capitalist economies have power imbalance, power influences how entire classes of people interact with each other, how power permeates the way people wanted to work together

Social Action

instrumental-rational, value-rational, affective, traditional (Ideal types)

manifest functions

intended consequences of an action or social pattern

Michel Foucault

interested in the ways that power and knowledge work together. Foucault critiqued Marxism, for instance, for emphasizing class and the political economy as being the key principles in social organization. According to Foucault, this emphasis meant that struggles based on race, gender, and sexuality were marginalized Foucault dismissed the idea that these uprisings could be explained on the basis of a to

what is sociology

investigating the interplay between the individual and the social. different situations illustrate that our entire existence is defined by the fact that we are social beings who live and grow through interactions with others

pattern maintenance

involves using socially appropriate ways to display these tensions and strains.

capitalism in terms of globalization

it has enabled a great deal of wealth to be produced around the world, for many the concern is where all that wealth ends up, one billion in developed countries, 5 billion in developing, poverty is a lack of money, basic nutrition, health care, education, freedom, and personal autonomy, about being invisible, having no voice and feeling powerless

Base

material and economic foundation for society. Includes the forces and relations of production

early american micro-theorist

mead, cooley, blumer look at individual realities and then generalize about their social relevance

second stage

metaphysical stage, started with the renaissance, and enlightenment, science used to explain the world, people questioned everything, challenge the church, characterized by the assumption that people could understand and explain the universe through their own insight and reflection, people used abstractions such as beauty and emotion to understand the world, smells and images

sociological imagination

mills term for the ability to perceive how dynamic social forces influence individual lives, looking from a new perspective, you are a product of many things in your life

more radical in nature

more radical, a greater focus on macro sociology as well, Canadian sociology has never shed away from uncovering the hidden power structures that influence and guide society 1960's Canadian sociology influenced by anti-war and civil rights movement and the emergence of Indigenous peoples' political organizations, the radical tradition continues with Canadian feminists

engel

published The Condition of the Working Class in England, a damning criticism of the oppression of the working class by the rich. Although many attribute to Marx the belief that the poor would ultimately rise up in revolution against the rich, it was actually Engels who initially argued that social revolution was the inevitable result of capitalism believed that human consciousness and human interaction with the material world could change society, a perspective at odds with conservative reaction theorists, who believed that an external force defined and directed human activity. For Marx, then, people had the capacity to alter the human environment so that it could provide a supportive foundation for the achievement of human potential, marx also realized that society could be manipulated by the rich and powerful so that it met their needs first and everyone else's second.

Sympathetic introspection

putting yourself into someone else's shoes

personal troubles

personal challenges that require individual solution

3rd stage `

positive stage, during the 1700's, world viewed through a scientific lens, society guided by rules of observations, experimentation, and logic

False consciousness

present when people believe in and defend the very system that oppresses them.

conservative reaction

principles advocated stability and tradition, while Enlightenment thinking valued self-realization, achieving human potential, and searching for rules by which to guide society so as to improve it for everyone. Functionalism endorses virtually all of these principles, while conflict theory challenges almost every one.

enlightenment thinking

promoted human agency and thus was a clear continuation of the writing of Hobbes, etc. time of reordering of how people saw the world and their role in it, the primacy of rationality and reason let to the American and french revolution, a lot of death led to entire societies being reorganized to ideas of social equality and liberty

tension maintenance

recognizes that internal tensions and strains affect everyone,

Hegemony

refers to ideological control and consent. According to Marx and Engels , "the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas." Ideological control, then, means that a society's dominant ideas reflect the interests of the ruling class and help to mask social inequalities. Note that hegemony also involves consent. argued that regardless of how authoritarian a regime may be, no regime would be able to maintain its rule by relying principally on organized state power and armed force Rather, to enjoy longevity and stability of rule, a regime must have the allegiance of the masses. So, the hegemony of the dominant group's ideas and cultural forms works by bringing about the consent of the subordinate class. According to Gramsci, hegemony is a process that is constantly negotiated and renegotiated. In other words, hegemony is not static, and as such the ruling class cannot take it for granted. The consent secured by the ruling class is an active consent. In order to secure it, the ruling class constantly incorporates elements of the subordinate class's culture so that the subordinate class never feels wholly oppressed by the ruling class's culture

family structure

regardless of a child's age higher income tends to be related to better physical and social/emotional, cognitive, behavioral well-being family structure influences a child's development

minorities

research shows that those who are visible minorities face various forms of discrimination, these social experiences can shape who we are as a person

moral or political inequality

result of human classification of valuable things (e.g., money, social status, power). Thus, Rousseau believed that society imposes some forms of inequality that are not based on natural differences but instead on elements that we decide are important—whether they are or not.

classic structure vs agency debate

revolves around whether or not individuals behave autonomously or are expressive agents of the social structure

Anna Julia Cooper

she published A Voice from the South, which was a collection of essays focusing on race, education, gender, and other topics of social significance Ida Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) was a civil rights leader, suffragist, journalist, and public speaker.her efforts to understand the particular experience of black women in America and how they confronted both racial and sexual discrimination became instrumental to the contemporary concept of intersectionality

defining features of Canadian sociology

smaller compared to American, four defining features; geography and regionalism, focus on political economy, Canadianization movement, radical nature

Rationalization

social interaction and institutions become governed by methodological procedures and calculable rules

classical social theory

social media can be looked at through classical theories

socioeconomic status

social status as determined by family income, parents education, their occupation, family social standing wealth and oppurtunity is familiar but it is strange that some people are more lucky to be born in those families

gender

society treats women differently, canada remains a patriarchy, a pervasive and complex social and cultural system of male domination

Social Darwinism

spencer's assertion that societies evolve according to the same principles as do biological organisms, functionalist approach, society evolves for a reason

acieved status

starting from humble beginnings and becoming wealthy, attributes developed throughout life as a result of effort and skill eg grades peoples beginnings influence what they become

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

state of nature and social contract, humans exist in a state of nature, belief that the natural state was a primitive condition before law or mortality, but it was considered on in which people existed in a symbiotic and idyllic relationship on equality believed we needed to understand the basic nature of the human condition to build a society that closely resembled our natural tendencies and desires, humans are the only animals which are perfectible, government to protect people from each other and protect property. people entered social contract as free/equal individuals, government is a corrupting element

Robert K. Merton

stressing that social structures have many functions, some more obvious than others, work implies that all social institutions are inherently good and functional for society, Merton's analysis suggests that sometimes this is not the case. Merton warned sociologists to reflect on what is functional, and for whom A refined theoretical application of functionalism termed neo-functionalism

Urban-Rural Differences

structural differences between small towns and large cities, nature of growing up in either location is subtle and contextual, different world views privilege plays a role in everything that we do and in part defines the person we become

Charles de Montesquieu

sugessted that people never existed outside or without society, instead humans were defined and created by society, wrote books and practiced sociological imagination, see strange in familiar,

Thomas Hobbes

suggested that people are responsible fro creating the social world around them and that society could thus be changed through conscious reflection, one of the first theorist to view people as responsible and accountable for the society they created, known for his analysis of humans in the natural state, his conception of the human condition before the emergence of formal social structures, at most basic level humans are motivated by self interest, constant potential for a war of all against all, argued that humans are rational beings and in order to gain peace were willing to enter into a collective agreement that would give up some individual freedom to an absolute authority, referred to authority as leviathan which means monster/ruler. government was there to maintain peace, but allow individuals to fulfill personal interest, people can over throw the government if it didn't do this

Margrit Eichler

suggests that the simultaneous emergence of the Canadian movement and the women's movement led to a politics of knowledge that proved helpful to both 1967- the royal commission on the status of women-recommended what steps might be taken to ensure equal opportunities for women in Canadian society, blueprint for feminist activism

third major classical theoretical perspective,

symbolic interactionism, based on the works of George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, although it was named by Herbert Blumer (1900-1987). Functionalists and conflict theorists view society as objectively real and, at times, as exerting a strong, even coercive influence over human behaviour. Symbolic interactionists, on the other hand, emphasize that society and all social structures are nothing more than the creations of interacting people and that they can, therefore, be changed

Quantitative

tends to be positivist in nature, measurable behaviour, eg; crime rates over time, poverty rates

Anomie

term for a state of normlessness that results from a lack of clear goals and may ultimately result in higher suicide rates

example of personal and social

test, bad grades, if entire class failed

Ruling relations

the abstract, conceptual, and "extra-locally organized relations of state, professions, corporations, academic discourses, mass media and so on". These ruling relations exist in a generalized form and work to coordinate, from outside the local sites of our bodies, what people do (their actions). Part of Smith's task, then, is to "demystify ruling relations" . Smith's approach involves studying how these concepts and theories are implicated in the constituting of social relations

Smith's approach differs from that of macrosociology

which tends to produce accounts of social processes as if they were external to the individual. Her approach also differs from microsociology accounts, which remain firmly rooted in the microcosms of daily life. Rather, Smith wants to produce an account that tells people how things happen that go beyond the local sites of their experiences—and that they can possibly use to effect social change. In sum, Smith is interested in a sociology that can show people how the relations of ruling shape their lives.

Annie Marion MacLean's

work centred on women and their role as wage earners. In 1898-1899, MacLean investigated the lives of department store clerks in Chicago. During the holiday season MacLean found that many clerks worked from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and that compensation for overtime varied greatly. She also found that the stores employed cash children, who worked for cash and were often under 12 years old. Her book Wage-Earning Women (1910) continued her interest in the lives of working women and surveyed 13 500 women labourers at 400 companies in 20 Canadian cities. Her research was one of the first large-scale uses of survey research in Canada (see Bumb, n.d.). MacLean's work was instrumental in helping sociologists understand the plight of the working classes in North America.

Machiavelli

wrote The Prince, controversial, suggested that human behavior is motivated by self-interest and an insatiable desire for material gain, challenged establishment of time, anyone could become a prince

structure

the network of relatively stable opportunities and constraints influencing individual decision and behaviors. sociologists stress the importance of structure, eg specific job specific opportunities

the political revolution

the renaissance and then later the enlightenment inspired a great deal of social and scientific change, society evolved to endorse democratic principles

three revolutions; the rise of sociology

the scientific revolution, the political revolution, the industrial revolution

adaption

the social system must be able to gather and distribute sufficient environmental resources and adapt to changes in the environment and manipulate it

sociology

the systematic study of human groups and their interactions

latent functions

the unintended consequences of an action or social pattern.

Post-structuralists

then, are concerned with how knowledge is socially produced. Post-structuralist thinking has influenced feminist theory, queer theory, post-colonial theory, and anti-racist theorizing.

first stage

theological stage, longest period of human thinking, beginning with our earliest human ancestors and ending during the middle ages, characterized by a religious outlook that explains the world and human society as an expression of god's will and views science as a means to discuss god's intention, people explained what they saw through the actions of spiritual or supernatural beings

"seeing" the world theoretically

theory: a statement that tries to explain how certain facts or variables are related in order to predict future events

Seeing the strange in the familiar

think about what is familiar and see it as strange, eg sitting reading something, strange truly even though it is familiar to us, peter berger

Enlightenment

this thinking challenged 400 years of Christian scholarship devoted to god and the domination of knowledge practiced by the church, built on natural sciences

Racist ideologies

used to justify slavery and/or colonial expansion.

functionalist

view social world as a dynamic system of interrelated and interdependent parts social structures exist to help people fulfill their wants and desires as defined by social values , eg post secondary school gets better job two part system of structure and their associated functions has led to call theory structural-functionalism functionalist view society as being similar to an organism systems natural state of affairs is equilibrium , society is made up of structures that work together for the good of the collective functionalist link work of Ibn Khaldun and Auguste Comte and to conservative reaction movement

hegel

viewed dialectics as a way of seeing history and society as the result of oppositions, contradictions, and tensions from which new ideas and social change can emerge. For Hegel, every idea or position has within it the seeds of an opposing state of being and therefore forms yet another opposition or contradiction counters early functionalist thinking that viewed social change or conflict as a negative effect and not the primary source of social progress human history unfolds as a series of conflicts and results in continuous transformations. Dialectics assumes that social structures are dynamic and change over time.

Rousseau , conflict theory

well known for his writings on the social contract, but his insights into the origins of inequality are most salient to the discussion of conflict theory. Rousseau (1754) argued that there are two kinds of inequality among people.inequality is the original evil and explains virtually all forms of conflict between individuals and/or entire societies. Types of inequality that are the result of social definitions and are, therefore, artificial demonstrate differences in power between individuals and groups in society. This perspective is one of the defining features of the work of the most famous conflict theorists: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

idealism

emphasized that the human mind and consciousness are more important in understanding the human condition than is the material world. Idealists argue that the material world does not reflect what we are, and that the only thing that is truly knowable is consciousness itself. In short, what matters to an idealist is what people think about instead of what they build.

CRT is defined by the following tenets:

"CRT recognizes that racism is endemic to American life" CRT is interested in exploring how the status quo of American life (characterized by federalism, privacy, property interests, etc.—a set of interests and values) actually operates as a vehicle of racial oppression and subordination "CRT expresses skepticism toward dominant legal claims of neutrality, objectivity, color blindness, and meritocracy" CRT does not understand acts of racism as individual, isolated, random acts. Rather, CRT argues that racism is institutionalized "CRT challenges ahistoricism and insists on a contextual/historical analysis of the law. CRT argues that contemporary racial inequalities are linked to earlier historical periods. Contemporary situations of income disadvantage, disproportionate imprisonment of black men, and unequal levels of education and political representation are all linked with historical practices . "CRT insists on recognition of the experiential knowledge of people of color and our communities of origin in analyzing law and society" . CRT sees value in drawing on the experiences of those who have experienced racism . "CRT is interdisciplinary and eclectic" . CRT draws from a number of traditions, including Marxism, feminism, post-structuralism, and liberalism. This interdisciplinary approach allows CRT to use a methodology or a theoretical insight strategically in order to advance the pursuit of racial justice. "CRT works toward the end of eliminating racial oppression as part of the broader goal of ending all forms of oppression" . CRT takes an intersectional approach in understanding that racism exists simultaneously in people's lives with sexism, classism, and heterosexism. To achieve racial justice, CRT understands that our entire social organization must be refashioned

Thomas theorem:

"If men [sic] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences", In other words, if, for example, we as a group define prisons as awful places where criminals are sent to pay for their deeds, and if we build them with that idea in mind, then that is what they will become. However, if we think of them as places where people can be rehabilitated and our prisons reflect that position, then that is what they will be

Herbert Spencer

"Survival of the fittest"; Social Darwinism between societies and cultures, natural selection, evolution, inconsistent with the sociological imagination- denies the appreciation of inherited colonial disadvantages and outright discrimination, his ideas provided justification for colonial expansion, his arguments state that over time society will inevitably improve

Two basic principles that all conflict theorists share

(1) power is the core of all social relationships and is scarce and unequally divided among members of society, and (2) social values and the dominant ideology are vehicles by which the powerful promote their own interests at the expense of the weak

4 step process

1. actors are motivated to achieve a goal or end as defined by the cultural system in which they live in 2. actors must find the means to achieve their goals 3. actors need to face the challenging conditions that stand in the way of achieving the goal 4. actors must work within the social system to achieve their goal

10 propositions of conservative reaction

1. society exists on its own laws and is independent of individuals 2. society, not the individual is the most important unit of social analysis, and it produces the individual not the other way 3. individuals are not the basic unit of social interest, society consists on components such as roles, relationships, structures, and institutions and individuals are simply those who fill these positions 4. smallest unit of social analysis if the family 5. the parts of society are interrelated and interdependent 6. change is a threat both to individuals and society 7. social institutions are beneficial to individuals and society 8. modern social changes are disorganizing elements that create fear and anxiety and need to be diminished 9. traditional elements of social life, such as rituals, ceremonies and worship are important to society and are stabilizers 10. a return to social hierarchy would be good, promote a system of differential status and reward, reinforces principle that healthy competition is a good thing

Mary Wollstonecraft's

A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) challenged social convention by suggesting that marriage was a form of legal prostitution and confirmed her as one of the first feminists. She also argued that the only way to achieve true equality was to educate boys and girls together as one way of challenging the male-focused family and parental tyranny. As adults, women's oppression was confirmed when they accepted their powerlessness because they could rely on their sexual power to seduce men. This made it easier for women to deceive themselves into believing they had more power than they really did

philosphes

A group of thinkers or philosphers of the Enlightenment, advocated critical thinking and practical knowledge

Antonio Gramsci'

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) helped found the Communist Party of Italy in 1921 Parts of these notebooks were later published as the influential book Selections from the Prison Notebooks Gramsci accepted Marx's analysis of the struggle between the ruling class and the subordinate working class, but he diverged from Marx in his analysis of how the ruling class ruled Marx had explained that the ruling class dominated through both force and coercion, using the strong arm of the state—that is, the police and the military. However, absent from this analysis, according to Gramsci, was a consideration of the ruling class's subtle yet insidious ideological control and manipulation According to Gramsci, then, there are two different forms of political control: domination and hegemony Domination, in this context, refers to the direct physical and violent coercion exerted by the police and the military to maintain social boundaries and enforce social rules. Gramsci separated the superstructure into the state (coercive institutions such as the police, military, government, and system of laws) and civil society (schools, media, religion, trade unions, and cultural associations). He focused on the role that civil society plays in establishing hegemony These institutions are critical for the permeation of the philosophy, culture, and morality of the ruling class; through them, the population internalizes the ruling class's ideas and cultural forms, which then become accepted as common sense

Critiquing Conflict Theory

Conflict theory is almost the mirror image of functionalism because of its focus on conflict and power imbalances to explain social life; issues such as child abuse, terrorism, sexism, and globalization seem well suited to a conflict analysis. However, the conflict approach tends to diminish the many areas of our lives where we achieve consensus about things we feel are important—for example, public support for equal access to health care in Canada. Social conflict certainly occurs, but so does cooperation and harmony. Conflict theorists also sometimes fail to acknowledge that much struggle today is not about a personal desire for power but instead is institutionalized in such contentious events as political elections and collective bargaining between labour unions and corporate management. In these situations, people compete to win, which may inspire more conflict and tension than exists in everyday life. conflict theorists tend to believe more strongly that they should become actively involved in advocating for those people in society who lack social power critics argue that this advocacy may violate scientific objectivity and be interpreted by some as nothing more than social activism. Conflict theorists respond that when social scientists uncover unfair social conditions but do nothing to try to address them, they are no different than bystanders who turn a blind eye to the suffering of others. criticized for its insistence on the primary and driving role of economics and materialist interpretations of social life. Critics agree that the insights achieved through Marx's analysis of the forces of production and relations of production, while useful, are perhaps too narrow to allow for a complete understanding of social motivation and social organization. it focuses too much on macro-level issues and fails to investigate individual motivations and reactions to tensions and conflicts in people's lives. The criticism that conflict theory lacked tangible application to everyday lives inspired the emergence of the first microsociological theory: symbolic interactionism.

sympathetic introspection

Cooley suggested that the best way for a sociologist to examine the social world, technique required sociologists to analyze an actor's consciousness by putting themselves in his or her shoes. This process allowed sociologists to appreciate the actor's reality and to experience the social reality as he or she would. Sympathetic introspection is similar to Mills's concept of the sociological imagination.

Marx's primary focus was the relationship between workers and owners.

In a capitalist economy, the worker and owner are in diametrically opposed positions: the worker wants to make the most money for the least amount of effort and the owner wants to obtain the most labour for the least amount of money. The constant tension that exists between workers and owners is a classic example of a dialectical relationship (described earlier in the chapter). Workers feel that owners do not care about their well-being—they are interested only in profits. Conversely, owners know that workers do not care about the quality of the products they produce—they are interested only in how much they are paid for their work. exploitation is the difference between what workers are paid and the wealth they create for the owner. the owner's natural inclination is to minimize all costs of production, including wages and employee benefits, and to maximize the prices charged for products, thus increasing profits. Within capitalism, the exploitative nature of labour is hidden within the wage system.

Canadianization Movement

Influenced by American sociology as practiced at the university of Chicago, dominated by symbolic interactionist, many Canadian sociologist studied there

pproach of post-colonial theory

Post-colonial theory focuses on the political and cultural effects of colonialism. The colonial practices of imperial nations can include conquests of land, resources, and people's labour, as well as political rule and the imposition of language The term imperialism refers to the ideas, practices, and attitudes of colonizers (that is, "what happens at home"). Former imperialist nations include Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, and Portugal. The term colonialism refers to the effects of imperialism within colonized spaces, including concrete and ideological effects ("what happens away from home"). Examples of former colonies include India, virtually all countries in Africa, the Bahamas, Grenada, and many others. The post in post-colonial theory suggests a focus on events that happened after formal colonialism ended in the early 1960s. However, post-colonial studies are not only concerned with happenings after colonialism. Post-colonial theory (also called colonial discourse studies) addresses several kinds of questions: Why were certain nations able to become imperial powers and gain so much control over the non-Western world? How were imperialism and colonialism practised by the West? What were the relationships between the colonizers and the colonized? How did colonizers defend their domination over others? How did people resist colonialism? Although formal colonialism has ended, what kinds of imperial and colonial relations persist? What are the enduring effects of colonialism? Are countries truly post-colonial?

Desire

Queer theorists want to open up the concept and reality of desire as wide as possible. Theorists are not solely concerned with marginalized sexualities), but, instead, aim to disrupt categories of normal sexuality and acceptable sexuality and allow instead for sexuality's diverse and numerous expressions. Sexual expression, after all, should not just be understood as the missionary position, engaged in solely for the purpose of procreation. Ideas from Foucault (1978) come into play here, as Foucault understood that our sexual identities are created, and that normalization is seen to create stratification (in this case, the division between "normal" and "abnormal") and self-policing (regulation). Although it is hard for us to think outside the categories of "normal" and "abnormal," these categories are, of course, not value-neutral. Such binaries continue to shape sexualities

Critiquing Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is an excellent vehicle for directing sociologists to study the way in which people define the social situations they find themselves in. It reminds us that social reality is, in the final analysis, a human construct. This theory also adds an important microsociological perspective to classical sociological theory. However, macrosociologists, especially conflict theorists, argue that symbolic interactionists fail to acknowledge how difficult it is to change long-established social arrangements. Critics also point out that symbolic interactionism does not account for the importance of social structures and institutions in defining the world in which we live. The assertion that one can understand and respond to the social world is important, but so is the realization that economic class, education level, minority status, and other structural entities exist and define people's life opportunities. Although people of a lower economic class may understand the importance of a positive self-identity, it may not help them to succeed in the face of institutional prejudice

dramaturgical analysis

The 'self' emerges from the performances we play and how the other actors relate to us-A function of how others interpret the signs and signals we convey during social interaction-We Attempt to control how others see us or hide our true feelings or motivations through deceptions, misrepresentations, or enactment of idealized notions of behaviour

Reference a number of key classical works in the lecture:

The German Ideology (1845-46)•Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 -Alienated Labour (will extend in Lecture 20)•The Communist Manifesto (1848)-Bourgeois and Proletarians-Proletarians and Communists

agency

The assumption that individuals have the ability to alter their socially constructed lives

Superstructure

all of the things that society values and aspires to once its material needs are met. Includes religion, politics and law, the superstructure was made possible upon the base of society. The superstructure can be understood as all of the things that society values and aspires to once its material needs are met (in this sense, it resembles Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs; see Brown & Cullen, 2006). The superstructure includes such things as religion, politics, and law. In essence, it is what Durkheim called the collective conscience. According to Marx, however, these collective manifestations do not spring from some external force but instead are the inevitable result of our relationship with the physical world as experienced through the base of society. In this sense, then, our physical environment influences our collective thoughts and aspirations.

Talcott Parsons

american functionalist first major work; the structure of social action, americas introduction to the writing of Max Weber

Looking Glass Self (Cooley)

an active, imaginative process by which we develop our self-image through the cues we receive from others. There are three basic components to the looking-glass self. First, we must imagine how we appear to others. Second, we need to imagine how others would judge that appearance. Third, we must reflect on that image and develop some self-feeling (e.g., pride, fear, embarrassment) as a result. According to Cooley, the looking-glass self is in essence our reflection in the eyes and actions of others. The impressions you see in the eyes of people you meet help to define who you think you are. Cooley argued that at some level, we internalize these impressions and ultimately may become the kind of person we believe others see us as—a phenomenon he termed self-fulfilling prophecy

weber

analysis of how the social world is becoming increasingly rationalized over time, people are becoming more focused on selecting the most efficient means to accomplish any particular end, rationalization may make society more productive and efficient, may result in people who act like machines and do not appreciate the larger social world in which they exist

Qualitative

anti-positivist, non-measurable subjective behaviours, eg;experience of living in poverty

John Locke

argued that god was responsible for the emergence of society and government, people are born a blank slate, no knowledge independent of experience, god granted certain rights to people, locke agreed with Hobbes in the belief of individual autonomy, with these beliefs defined democratic principles ( foundation of American declaration of independence)believed that emergence of the state was about preserving an individual right to maintain property, government only had obligations, state could be overthrown

Formal sociology

argues that society is the result of social processes and, therefore, forms of interactions can be isolated from their content so that seemingly different interactions can be shown to have similar form.

Industrial Revolution

around 1750, changed every aspect of life; family structure, how people made a living, peoples thoughts, dreams and aspirations, profound social changes. most capitalist activity focused on mercantile activity rather than on production, movement from local to national distribution networks, new set of social problems; child labor, poverty, malnourished, exploding crime rates small town-bigger feeling of community

Bell Hooks

bell hooks is in fact a pen name, borrowed from her maternal great-grandmother, for Gloria Jean Watkins. hooks uses lower-case letters to emphasize her ideas rather than herself as an author critical figure in black feminist thought, also called anti-racist feminism and multicultural feminism, and argues against second-wave feminist theorizing when she draws our attention to the fact that race is inextricable from gender: hooks argues that no one in the 1960s civil rights or women's movements seemed to pay attention to the realities of black women's lives goes on to argue that when people talk about blacks, they focus on black men; and when people talk about women, they focus on white women. In such a framework, black women's identities are erased. Although hooks focuses her writings on black women, her goal is the liberation of all people. hooks has also criticized feminist theorizing that automatically positions households as places of patriarchal oppression for women. Such positioning is based on the assumption that gender segregation exists in the labour market in capitalist societies According to these theories, because women and men are divided in the labour force (into "men's jobs" and "women's jobs") and women earn far less, their financial dependency leads in turn to their subjection and exploitation in households. hooks argues against such universal assumptions about women's experiences. She points to the historical reality that for many, households have been spaces of refuge, resistance, and solidarity from racism, including the institutionalized racism of the labour force

Ideology

defined as a set of beliefs and values that support and justify the ruling class of a society. Ideologies are present in all societies where there are systematic and ingrained inequalities between groups. The concept of ideology connects closely with that of power, since ideological systems serve to legitimize the reasons why some groups in society have more power than others, What all of these ideologies have in common is the domination of one group by another; this allows those in power to define what is right and wrong and thus maintain their privileged position.you will find that as a society, we rarely challenge the ideological assumptions that support either the accumulation of wealth by individuals at the exclusion of the poor (i.e., capitalism) or the belief that what men do is more important than what women do. The dominant ideology of a society, then, is one that maintains the position of the ruling elite.

law of three stages

defines how advances of the mind created three different types of society

mechanical solidarity

describes early societies based on similarities and independence, division of labour was low and people came togehter out of choice, resulted in low levels of interpersonal conflict

organic solidarity

describes later societies organized around interdependence and the increasing division of labour, people depend on the collective to meet their individual and social needs, suffer from anomie, not a choice, we need each other to exist, more social unrest

Scientific Revolution

development of the scientific method during the enlightenment period that followed, circa 1600-1800, facilitated the pace of social change Auguste comte believed techniques used in hard science should be applied to the social world as well needed to understand how human thinking has changed through time

Symbolic interactionism

distinct from the other two theories in part because of its microsociological orientation. Instead of focusing on groups, organizations, institutions, and societies, symbolic interactionists study specific cases of how individuals act in small groups and in face-to-face interactions highlight the important ways in which meanings are created, constructed, mediated, and changed by members of a group or society , Meanings and understandings of our social world are the result of our interactions with others and of how we choose to construct the social world in which we live. What is important here is that our perceptions, values, and meanings are the result of mediated experiences with the people we meet each and every day. The intellectual roots of symbolic interactionism can be traced to two early sociologists: Max Weber and Georg Simmel. For example, as you mature, you are influenced by those around you, not because you depend on them (a functionalist view) or are coerced by them (a conflict view) but because we all look to those around us for insights into our world. These interactions and shifting definitions of the social world are influenced by commonly held rules and definitions that influence how, why, when, and where we interact.

feminist thinking

feminist theorizing has many strands. Much of the focus of early feminist theorists was directed at the issue of equality, both social and political, between men and women. In virtually every society, men (and those things associated with men) are held in higher regard than women We use the "wave" metaphor of feminism to distinguish among different approaches to feminism on a large scale. That said, using the wave metaphor to capture some theoretical commonality within a wave does not mean that each wave itself is fully homogenous, nor does it mean that the thinking in one wave supplants the thinking of the earlier waves

Second-wave feminism

finds its roots in the social movements of the 1960s in North America At its core, second-wave feminism is characterized by understanding "women" as a coherent social group with a common experience as women. Women, as a category, are understood as "peaceful, nurturing, and cooperative . . . innocent victims of sexist oppression and patriarchy" As a group, women also shared primary responsibility for domestic labour and social reproduction Gender oppression, then, was conceived of as being experienced in the same way by all women. If women were united in their experience, then such a unified experience could form the basis for a political project of emancipation . Women could have a single, shared voice that would adequately represent all women in their struggle against patriarchy. also associated with consciousness-raising groups. The thinking is that if women share a common experience and if they get together to discuss those shared experiences, they can come to a realization about their mutual oppression—that is, they would understand that things that seem completely personal (such as primary responsibility for domestic labour and child rearing, and violence against women) are actually widely shared and part of the patriarchal structure. the personal is political

Harold A Innis

first Canadian sociologist to investigate Canada's political economy staples thesis- which contends that Canadian development was based on the exploitation of raw materials that were sent to European countries to fuel their own industrial thirsts-each staple had its own characteristics that imposed a particular logic on its development the materials were brought back as valuable commodities with inflated prices realization that Canada is not one of the world's major economic or social forces

Emile Durkheim

founder of modern sociology, would argue that even small choices have large social origins, culture and society exist outside of the individual and outline the individual, known for how he analyzed how societies grow and change, collective conscience increases over time, early society was much more individually oriented, ahrsh and strict

social action theory

framework attempting to separate our behaviors from actions to explain why people do what they do

I and the Me.

human behaviour is virtually always the product of interaction with others. As babies mature, they begin to interact with the world and, by doing so, begin to define themselves by their relationships to it. In Mead's classification, the I is the unsocialized self, the entity that is spontaneous, creative, and impulsive. The Me is the socialized self that monitors the actions of the I. That is, it is the judgmental, reflective, and controlling side of the self that reflects the values and attitudes of the society. It develops gradually as the individual engages with and internalizes the community. In short, the I represents the individual's response to the actions of others and the Me controls the response of the I The individual personality (i.e., the self) then emerges with the combination of the I and the Me.

Descartes

idea that we are thinking beings, "I think, therefore I am," humans were able to understand their world through rational reflection, we are masters of our own destiny

Identity

identity, which again draws from Foucault's insights. Identity, in this perspective, is not some coherent entity that emerges from within our "souls," making us who we are (McGrath, 2005). Rather, identity is socially produced and is fluid and multiple (Foucault, 1978; Ritzer, 2008a; Turner, 2000). Our understanding of others and even of ourselves is always partial and contextual. This partiality connects to our discussion of language above—language is unable to convey the totality of objects or persons. Our identity is often tied to our connections with others (whether we are a mother, daughter, sister, student, friend), and as such our identity is situated within, and contextualized by, the multiple social relations within which we are embedded (McGrath, 2005). If we talk about ourselves as being skinny or overweight, blond or brunette, white or black, all of these categories carry an implicit social relation. You are skinny compared with whom? You are overweight compared with whom? Identity is constructed through social relations and through discourses around gender (man versus woman) and sexuality (straight versus gay) and thus there are no core identities Queer theorists use this idea as a way to reveal and renegotiate the social inequalities in society. That is, if everyone's identity is constructed, then no one person's identity (including one's sexuality) should be the standard by which another's identity is measured. One's identity is no more normal than, say, the painting of one artist in comparison to the painting of another artist—they are simply different

Critical race theory (CRT)

its origins in a 1981 student protest and student-organized course on Race, Racism, and American Law at Harvard Law School The protest was sparked by the departure of Harvard's first African-American professor, Derrick Bell, who had left to become dean of Law at the University of Oregon. With only two professors of colour remaining at Harvard Law School, students were attempting to convince the administration to hire additional faculty of colour. When the administration did not meet the students' demands, the students organized the course mentioned above such that leading academics of colour were invited to lecture to the students each week and to discuss Professor Bell's work. These events proved to be a vehicle for the creation of CRT as both a field and a movement CRT allows us to view contemporary social situations through a lens of historical racism. In this way, we can connect historical inequities to contemporary practices and situations. E.g hurricane katrina and its effects, inequality mainly black ppl there, lack of ways to escape, lack of proper measures to fix the damage Critical race theorists and practitioners, then, are committed to ending racial oppression

the enlightenment

john locke and jean-jacques rousseau

Cooley

looking glass self, like minded scholar, suggested that people define themselves, at least in part by how others view them, by considering how others view us, we actually become the kind of person we believe others see us to be

early European macro theorist

marx, durkheim, weber, looked at system, wide phenomena, class structure, education system

Said's Concept of Orientalism

most influential work, Orientalism, he critiques Western nations' colonial dominion, which remained in place even as they championed ideals of personal freedom, social progress, and national sovereignty While the study of empire most certainly concerns conquests of land and resources, it also concerns cultural meanings.Said recognized that the discourse of Orientalism guided the representation of the East and provided the conditions for Orientalism to succeed as a mode of imperial domination. The characterization of the East as inferior, childlike, and incapable of progress and development is in stark contrast to the characterization of the West as superior, rational, and developed Critics of Said's work point out that he fails to consider how non-Westerners view themselves and the West Many of those living in the East resist the imposition of Western culture and try to maintain their own cultures and/or fashion new hybrid cultures Homi Bhabha (1994) argues that the West has a more ambivalent relationship with the East than Said describes, in that Western discourses also reveal a longing or attraction to the East. Bhabha points out that the West and the East are enmeshed in a relationship that is not completely oppositional, "but involves identification, a mix of repulsion and attraction, and a standpoint of dominance that is always in danger of reversal". He reminds us that power does not flow only from colonizer to colonized but is multidirectional, even if the colonizers do occupy a more powerful position. After all, the colonizers must always rely on the colonized to uphold their rule. Young (2012) notes a drift in contemporary post-colonial studies away from examining the role of religion, counter to its centrality in Said's work. Said is also often used to critique colonial and post-colonial literature.

the renaissance

niccoli machiavelli, rene descartes and thomas hobbes challenged social convention and inspired new ways of understanding the social world

What Are Contemporary Social Theories?

not think of contemporary social theories as being completely separate and different from the theories discussed in Chapter 2 One theme that runs through the theories addressed in this chapter is that of power

Theorizing Whiteness

not until the 1980s and 1990s that social theorists began to consider whiteness as a racial identity Race is often thought of as a colour—as being nonwhite Within such an approach, disturbing dualisms emerge in which whites are thought of as simply people, while nonwhites are understood as distinct races For example, during the 2008 American presidential race, news coverage of Barack Obama consistently referred to him as a black senator, while no mention was made of John McCain as a white senator; McCain was referred to simply as a senator. Such marking (or nonmarking) of race represents the deracializing of whiteness. In other words, whiteness is constructed as the default position, and only those who do not fit within this default category are marked Steven Seidman is careful to point out that white and nonwhite is a binary construction, a relationship of contrast: whiteness is real simply because there are people who are not white White privilege While visibility indicates privilege, so too does the invisibility of whiteness—the assumption that white represents the human race, In the same way that Said (1978) argues that Orientalism is a discourse that normalizes the centrality and supremacy of the West, whiteness is the standard against which all others are measured "White people have power and believe that they think, feel and act like and for all people. . . . White people set standards of humanity by which they are bound to succeed and others bound to fail. . . . White power none the less reproduces itself regardless of intention . . . because it is not seen as Whiteness, but as normal."

Class conflict

occurs when the interests of one class are in opposition to another. For example, in capitalist society, Marx explained, there are two main classes: the workers (whom he called the proletariat), who do not own land and exist through the sale of their labour, and the owners of the means of production (whom he called the bourgeoisie). The Industrial Revolution changed how people made a living. In hunting and gathering societies or those based on agricultural/pastoral production, people were largely self-sufficient since they could feed themselves. The transition from self-sufficiency to having to work for someone else changed the very nature of the human condition. Over time, workers began to feel alienated from what they were producing; that is, they lacked connection to what they produced and became separated from themselves and other workers.

Class consciousness

occurs when the proletariat realize they are dominated and oppressed by the bourgeoisie and commit to doing something to change it. According to Marx, the proletariat become class conscious when they recognize their mutual interests and begin to create their own political organizations. Marx and Engels expected that, over time, the proletariat would develop a sense of common destiny with other workers because they worked and lived so close together. By talking to each other, workers would begin to understand their plight and the necessity of advocating their collective needs. By taking such action by seeing the world as it really is, the proletariat's false consciousness would be destroyed—no longer would workers be alienated from themselves or each other.

geography and regionalism

one defining feature of Canadian sociology is its ability to survive over time, a core theme of development and maintenance of a community is in the face of the hostile elements rule of regionalism; our countries development, west vs east, role of Quebec which offers a unique linguistic and cultural influence on Canadian society generally and on Canadian sociology. Canadian francophone sociology began in 1943, the 1960's the quite revolution, influence of the catholic church in Quebec faded away, replaced by an expanding provincial bureaucracy

cheerful robots

people who are unwilling or unable to see the social world as it truly exists, lack of quality of mind, view the world in black and white

Marx's base/superstructure model

the base is the material and economic foundation for society, made up of two separate elements: the forces of production and the relations of production. The forces of production are the physical and intellectual resources a society has with which to make a living; you can think of these resources as society's tool kit. The forces of production also include human labour power and the means of production (e.g., tools, machines, factories, buildings) argued that the forces of production influence not only the type of society that develops but also the lives of individuals. what people do for a living influences their perceptions of the world. Marx also observed that in order to exploit the forces of production, even at a very basic level, workers and owners need to work together. Marx called the relationship between workers and owners the relations of production, a relationship based on power that defines a society's use of productive assets and the relationship between social classes. For Marx, a social class was a group of people who shared a similar relationship to labour and the means of production, and who were aware of their conflict with other classes

organic analogy

the comparison of societies to living organisms

Describe how marginalized voices contributed to sociological theory

the discussion so far has been dominated by the ideas of white men from Western countries. This observation is accurate and speaks to many issues of interest to contemporary sociologists: sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism. The point is not that women, visible minorities, and non-Westerners had nothing to say but, rather, that no one was listening. The voices that were privileged at the time were of those who held most of the power in society. This is a phenomenon that even sociology, arguably one of the most socially informed disciplines, has fallen victim to

The German Ideology (1845-46)

the most detailed account of Marx's theory of history.•Marx set out to reformulate the work of the eminent German philosopher Georg W. F. Hegel.•Hegel saw change as the motor of history.•Marx breaks decisively from Hegel by insisting that it is material existence—not consciousness—that fuels historical change.•"Consciousness can never be anything else than conscious existence, and the existence of men is their actual life-process" (Marx and Engels 1846/1978:154