SOC 321: Sociological Theory Final

iron cage

" Steel Hard Casing" (Kalberg) - impersonal calculation, instrumental rationality, and mechanisms to maximize efficient production - the widespread bureaucratization that accompanies modern capitalism exacerbates the impersonal and harsh character of the steel hard casing

Du Bois: Theory and Analysis

" The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line" - He pioneered both Pan-Africanism, the ideas of the civil rights movement, and developed a form of "Proto-Intersectionality" (INTERSECTIONALITY) many years before these ideas rose into widespread public/academic consciousness

Class Situation (Weber

Having common economic opportunities and life chances; - property and lack of property are the basic categories of all class situations (I.e. Bourgeoisie and Proletariat) - ultimately = market situation (Weber) - class conflict (social action) is not inevitable - similar class situation does NOT lead to knowledge of class interests nor coordinate social action in the name of those interests - class does not constitute a group.

Characteristics of the Protestant Ethic

1). Ethical maxim to not Hedonistically enjoy possessions and consumption. 2). The endless accumulation of wealth is Acceptable and Desirable. 3). Acquired wealth should be Saved and pragmatically Invested to grow business for the "GLORY OF GOD" rather than spent on luxury or hedonistic consumption. 4). Created a Middle Class Ethos, made the middle class an ideal. 5). Emphasis on Ethical and Legal business, not ruthless or violent acquisition of the past 6). Made Protestants willing workers, working in a Calling as a Duty of God, functioning as an assurance of their salvation. A New Work Ethic. 7). Shapes our Value and Moral Judgements of the rich and poor and justifications or legitimacy of economic inequality

Second Wave Feminism

1960s - 1980s - revived feminist thoughts and inspired movements Concerned with a broader range of topics including: - changing sexual norms - acceptable family structures - women entering the workplace - reproductive rights - de facto inequalities - official legal inequalities

Weber's definition of History

History seeks causal analysis and explanation of individual actions, structures and personalities with cultural significance - historians seek exact data proposed in a particular case to analyze history

What is the problem of economic traditionalism?

How to make workers improve their productivity? - the opportunity of earning more appealed to workers less than the idea of working less - workers stay productive out of necessity, but low wages risk poor health for workers

Third Wave Feminism

1990's - present Also known as Intersectional Feminism, the 3rd wave focuses on: - recognizing the contributions of women of color and lesbian, bisexual, & transgender women - tries to address problems specific to women of color and LGBT community - has more of a Global Focus, addressing problems of women around the world

Gender as a Social Construct

> Existentialist idea: Existence Precedes Essence - There is no "true" way to be a human being or to be "masculine" or "feminine" > Gender categories change over time - that is, masculinity and femininity and what is considered masculine and feminine change over time > Gender categories never have firm boundaries > Gender categories are different in different cultures and social contexts

Value Rational

A Social Action determined by conscious belief in the value for its own sake of some ethical, aesthetic, religious behavior, independent of its prospects for success - Differs from Affectual in its conscious formulation of ultimate values guiding the action. These are people acting on their convictions EX: duty, honor, religious call

Instrumentally Rational

A Social Action determined by expectations as to the behavior of objects or persons in the environment. - These expectations are used as "conditions" or "means" for the attainment of the actors own rationally pursued and calculated ends - engaging in strict cost benefit analysis for own self benefit - action is instrumentally rational when ends means and secondary results are all rationally taken into consideration and weighed EX: 2 products of similar quality, you ask yourself which one costs less to provide benefit for yourself with the least cost

Traditional

A Social Action determined by ingrained habit, something passed on that you do not question - Traditional behavior is often NOT social, but a matter of purely automatic reaction

Affectual

A Social Action determined by the actors specific states and feelings (especially emotional) - stands on the borderline of what can be "meaningfully" oriented - such as emotional reactions EX: partner cheats and when you find out you may be driven to act in a negative and it is the emotional state that drives this action

this-wordly asceticism

A belief that people are instruments of divine will and that God determines and directs their activities. - ascetic protestants

Weber's definition of Power

A person's/groups ability to realize and carry out their own will in a social action, even against the resistance of others who are partaking in the action - Power is multidimensional. Its not rooted solely in economic power through money or property, social honor, or even legal power of the state - There are a combination of factors that determine the likelihood that your will can be realized in social action, despite any resistance. - "classes", "statues groups", and "parties" are an occurrence of the distribution of power within a community.

Social action in Economics (Weber)

Economics essentially assumes that people "naturally" behave according to an Instrumentally Rationality. That people make cost-benefit analysis to inform their behavior - Weber DISAGREES, arguing that while oriented action is one type of action, other factors such as Values, Emotions and Historically inherited Traditions can also be salient in determining social actions --> we often behave in non-logical/non-rational ways.

Ideology as Ideal Types

Ideology is the ideas that govern human beings of a certain epoch and can be understood with conceptual precision in the form of an ideal type - ideal types may describe systems of Values but should not themselves be systems of values

Queerness

In Queer Theory, it often refers to the transgression of sexual and gender norms proliferated by queer (LGBT) people - but queerness is often applied and expanded to mean the critique and/or transgression of any norm

"Gender is performance in the sense of a copy for which there is no original"

Judith Butler

Gender Trouble

Judith Butler - Gender is performative. (Her EX: Drag) - Gender must be continually reproduced through performance, which always leaves it potentially vulnerable to transgression, mutation and subversion

First Wave Feminism

Late 18th (Enlightenment, French Rev.), 19th century and early 20th century - Focused primarily on legal rights, ability to own property, execute wills, etc. - The most important struggle was the suffrage struggle to gain the Right To Vote

Otherness (Beauvoir)

Otherness as a fundamental category of human thought - Beauvoir argues that this category of "Other" is primordial, as old as consciousness itself. The duality of Self and Other has existed in ancient societies and well before modern society - The issue of "women as the Other" is a problem much older and entrenched than Modern Society

Weber's Meta-Narrative

- Our attitude toward work have religious origins, but overtime these attitudes become disenchanted - the religious overtones of the Protestant Ethic faded, but the Rationalized core remained and spread over the capitalist world - with religious overtones gone, the Spirit of Capitalism became Disenchanted. The original higher meaning of work is gone, but we all work methodically anyway, even if it is no longer for a higher purpose EX: - culture of overwork - hesitation to take vacations - the rise of bureaucracy

The Protestant Ethic

- Protestant Reformation fostered a particular conduct of life most suitable for modern capitalism - Claims that the Protestant Work Ethic is a necessary precondition to produce humans who thrive within the " Mighty Cosmos of the Modern Economic Order" Characteristic of modern capitalism

Max Weber

- Saw modern society as going through a RATIONALIZATION process. - argued that the development of capitalism had its roots in religious ideas about work. - Disenchantment - The transition of the Protestant Ethic into the Spirit of Capitalism as an example of this Rationalization process Main Question: What made modern capitalism emerge first in Western Europe rather than elsewhere?

Social Action (Weber)

- social action is oriented toward others (past, present, or future, known or unknown) - NOT every kind of action is social action - NOT all contact is social if it is merely a natural accident (EX: collision of 2 cyclists) 4 Types of S.A: - instrumentally rational - Value-rational - Affectual -Traditional (It would be unusual to find any type of social action that was exclusively one of the 4 types. These are ideal types of possible social action)

Elements of Queer Theory

1). Critique of Normativity: what is considered "normal" and "deviant" (especially heteronormativity, gender normativity) 2). Focus on Affect, Art, and Aesthetic experience 3). Focus on Fluidity and "shades of grey" over stable or static identity or binaries 4). More on the Humanities than in the social sciences (analysis of literature, films, and also unconventional archives)

Parties (Weber)

Parties reside in the sphere of (primarily legally based) Power. Their action is oriented toward the acquisition of Social Power, influencing social action no matter what its content may be - Parties must be associational bc they rely on a Rational Order of a staff of persons to make them run - In other words, parties typically behave and are structured as a Bureaucracy. - Parties are usually associated with state power (political), but DON'T have to be. - Parties may represent interest determined through Class Situation or Status Situation, and they may recruit their following, but they DON'T have to be purely class or status based; they are more likely to be of mixed types

Sovereign Power (Foucault)

Pre-modern forms of control by maintaining order through open displays of power, using public punishment to produce Order through Fear

Queer Theory

Queer theory is dedicated to the critique of Normativity - how normativity Constrains our behavior and expression - how normativity Includes and Rewards some, and Excludes and Oppresses others - Critique of both Heteronormativity, but also Homonormativity *it seeks to point out the value of queerness

Gender as a Social Construct for Beauvoir

Recognizing that gender is a social construct is meant to help us recognize that there is no "Eternal Feminine" or "Eternal Masculine" and that we have the fundamental Freedom to shape and express these ideas

Solution to economic traditionalism

Socialization is the key to solving the problem for modern capitalism - to motivate the labor necessary for capitalism to thrive, workers had to be motivated through a new form of socialization to view labor as if it were an absolute end in itself or a "calling" - Weber proposes that the Protestant Ethic was the origin of this unique form of socialization

Contradictions between Facts and Norms: Men & Male Privilege

Society simultaneously holds values of democracy and equality for all, yet are often willing to appeal, even if implicitly, to notions of the "natural inferiority" of women. - This is a case of society wide Cognitive Dissonance

Status Groups (Weber)

Status groups, unlike classes, are normally groups - "status honor is normally expressed by the fact that above all else a specific 'Style of Life' is expected from all those who wish to belong to the circle" - stratification (classification) in terms of Honor and Styles Of Life are the particular concerns of status groups - Think Social Capital rather than economic capital EX: occupational groups, country clubs, civil organizations, sects Status honor = social capital

Minoritizing view of Homosexuality

The idea that gay people exist as a discreet minority with an identifiable and inherently fixed identity - this is the dominate view

Women as the Other (Beauvoir)

The ideas of "woman" and "femininity" are socially constructed, but has historically been done by men and for the benefit of men at the expense of women. - Women exist in a minority in fundamentally different ways from that of race, sexuality, disability, etc. > women have never formed a wholly separate unit distinguished from the rest of society > there is not a single historical event that explains their status, but a long historical development

Power/Knowledge (Foucault)

The multiplication of discourses implies the growth of a new type of power-knowledge surrounding sex and sexuality that is unique to modern society - the growth of the positive power of discourse, and particular science, to define, hierarchize, medicalize, psychologize and normalize sexuality

Contradictory Place of Women in Society

The peculiar situation of women is that she is both a free and autonomous being, yet lives in a world where men compel her to be assumed as the Other - women are both fundamentally Free, but consistently categorized as the Other

Repression Hypothesis (Foucault)

The popular narrative of sexuality, that sex is something that has historically been repressed and that it is only in the 20th century that western societies are slowly overcoming this repression - Foucault argues that the rise of modern society has been a multiplication of discourses surrounding sexuality besides the supposedly dominant discourse of repression and the consistent "no" surrounding nearly all forms of sexuality

How can we change Male Privilege?

To dethrone the myth of femininity, and to assert, in existentialist style, the Fundamental Freedom women have to redefine their place in society as well as the constructions of "womanhood" and "femininity"

Traditional Grounds (Weber)

Type of Legitimate Domination - resting on an established belief in the sanctity of old traditions I.e. Traditional Authority

Charismatic Grounds (Weber)

Type of Legitimate Domination - resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person I.e. Charismatic Authority

Rational Grounds (Weber)

Type of Legitimate Domination - resting on the belief in the legality of enacted rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue commands I.e. Legal Authority

Weber's conclusion in "The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism"

We must be men of the Calling. Asceticism moved out of the monastic cell and was carried over into life of work in a vocational calling and then commenced to rule over this-worldy morality. Helped to build the mighty Cosmos of the Modern Economic Order -- namely, an economy bound to the technical and economic conditions of mechanized, machine based production - This Cosmos determines the style of life of all individuals born into this grinding mechanism, and it does so with overwhelming force

"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"

Weber argued that ideas also have an influence on the development of capitalism, not just the economic structures and material conditions - this is Weber's special theory of religion (Social Theory)

Ideal type of the "spirit of capitalism"

Weber sets up an IDEAL TYPE of the "spirit of capitalism" to help give us a sense of how "proper behavior" and "conduct of life" in capitalist society has taken on the mandate of a DUTY with ETHICAL MANDATES EX: - "Time is money" - money can beget money

How Weber viewed Sociology

Weber viewed sociology as an Interpretive Social Science. - deals with the subjective meaning attached to social behavior - reality is constructed by people, who shape it through their subjectively meaningful actions -primarily uses qualitative data, rather than quantitative data.

Ideal types

Weber's methodological tool - Concept seeks to capture the Subjective Meaning in a group, by Accentuating that which is characteristic from the point of view of the researchers theme. - ideal types serve as standards against which particular empirical cases can be "measured" and then defined - they are central in establishing Causality - ideal types help us Interpret and Understand the social world by consciously and purposefully creating constructs that can be applied to empirical data and observations in research

The Stratification of Women

Women exist within different classes, statues groups, races, sexualities, religions, etc. All of which stratify women in different ways that make it difficult to form coherent group interests - intersectional feminism does aspire to analyze and understand these stratifications to form a stronger feminist solidarity EX: > if women are white, they align with white men over black, asian, etc. women > heterosexual women align with heterosexual men over lesbian or bisexual women

ideal type

description/model of the essential characteristics of some aspect of society

meaning of "Ideal" in ideal-type

does not refer to an ideal in the sense of a literal utopia, but refers to a concept that is Logically Ideal - Ideal types and sociology should be "Objective"

Change in attitude toward work

influenced by Protestant religious beliefs - Martin Luther: Gods calling, he gives everyone a specific job they must do. - Calvin: Predestination. good methodical work and wealth are signs you are among the elect - protestants valued an individualizes and internalized asceticism - these religious beliefs called for conduct of life to become rationalized.

The spirit of capitalism

it is a particular and peculiar way of viewing work and the pursuit of wealth. - There is a duty of an individual to increase their wealth and to have a vocational calling - the spirit of capitalism evokes an "ethically oriented maxim for the organization of life"

Legal Authority (Weber)

obedience to legally established impersonal order - any legal norm may be established by agreement or by imposition, with a claim to obedience at least on the part of the members - The typical person in authority are also subject to the same impersonal order EX: the president - people obey an individual as a representative of the impersonal order, not the person himself

Calling

originally denoted a task given by God; hence it must be honored and performed diligently - The calling introduced a demarcated and respected real of work into the protestant believers life - exists today as "service" to a profession or community

Simone De Beauvoir

political activist, feminist, and social theorist - became heavily involved in Frances Womens Liberation Movement (2nd wave Feminism)

Difference of Status and Class

status honor is not necessarily linked to class situation, they often mediate each other, but not always - the workings of the economic market knows no personal distinctions, "functional" interest dominate it. It knows nothing of honor.

Disenchantment

the lose of meaning and purpose when social life is rationalized

Justification for the "Othering" of Women

- in pre-modern societies, the subjugation of women was often justified through philosophy and theology that women were designed to be "inferior" by God or by nature - in modern society, more "scientific" or "biological" explanations for women's "inferiority" are common - Ultimately, these ideas are passed down historically through social norms and constructions of femininity

"Objectivity in Social Science"

- one of Weber's first works - outlines Ideal-Type construction, its uses and purpose - Frames Sociology as an interpretive science of Social Action, Culture and the Meaning people attach to their actions - The role of Objectivity and Values in social research

Asceticism

An extreme taming, channeling, sublimating and organizing of the believers spontaneous human drives and wants by a set of values - "This-worldly asceticism" of the ascetic Protestants - "Other-worldly asceticism" of monks in monasteries

Charismatic Authority (Weber)

Charismatically qualified leader is obeyed by virtue of Personal Trust in his revelation, heroism, or exemplary character of the charismatic leader EX: Jesus or Ghandi - these leaders have a certain quality of individual personality by virtue of which he is considered extraordinary and treated with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities - it is like a Calling; spiritual duty

Classes (Weber)

Classes are not actually existing communities; they only represent possible and frequent, bases for social action, based on shared structural characteristics or positioning's - economic interests involved with the market is the factor that creates "class" Classes exists when: 1. people have in common specific Life Chances 2. represented by Economic Interests in the possession of goods and opportunities for income 3. represented under the conditions of the Commodity or Labor Markets (which is "Class Situation" which is "Market Situation")

Intersectionality

Coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 (Pioneered by Du Bois) - The interconnected nature of social organizations, such as race, class, and gender, as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage

Double Consciousness (Du Bois)

Describes an individual whose identity is divided into several facets - a sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others. Engaging in constant self evaluation of how you are being perceived by others ("always looking at ones self through the eyes of others") - Minorities often become consciously aware of their minority status as they navigate through society - These perceptions (e.g stereotypes) can be molded into the individuals character structure The idea of Double Consciousness is important bc it set a framework for understanding the positionality (& intersectionality) of oppressed people

Universalizing view of Homosexuality

Every persons sexuality foremost as socially constructed and that while not everyone is bisexual in practice, everyone has the potential for bisexual desires - it is the recognition that our desires are open to change over time, and they are much more complex than we realize.

"Types of Legitimate Domination and Bureaucracy"

Focus on Weber's treatment of politics, as well as bureaucracy and Rationalization - argues that Power operates effectively by establishing Legitimacy

Discipline Power (Foucault)

In modern societies, control is emphasized by forcing criminals to got to prison where they are disciplined into strict routine of norms. - Surveillance methods like the PANOPTICON helps instill disciplinary norms > also seen in everyday life as discipline power encourages people to internalize social norms so we police ourselves into conformity and respect toward authority

Routinization of Charisma (Weber)

In pure form, charisma CANNOT last long as it cannot deal with everyday and economic concerns - For the order originated by charisma to survive, it must be Traditionalized or Rationalized - This is done for 2 reasons: 1). the ideal/material interests of followers in the continual reactivation of the community 2). the still stronger ideal and material interests of the administrative staff ( & they have interest in making sure their position is secured) - For charisma to be transformed into an everyday phenomena, the Anti-Economic character must be altered -- this involves the transformation/distinction between administrative members and non-members. This oftentimes forms a Bureaucratic organization

Weber's definition of Sociology

It deals with the Interpretive Understanding of Social Action and developing a causal Explanation for the course and consequences of social action - Sociologists seek Generalizable Uniformities and processes- type concepts drawn from historical analysis for causal explanation

"The Distribution of Power within the Political Community: Class, Status, Party"

Max Weber's essay - Details a multidimensional explanation of how Power is distributed in society through different Social Spheres (explains Social Stratification)

Traditional Authority (Weber)

Obedience owed to PERSON of the chief who occupies the traditional position of authority and is bound by tradition - Authority is traditional if legitimacy is claimed for it and believed by virtue of the sanctity of age old rules and powers - Obedience is not owed to the office, but to the person EX: Kings an Queens

"The Second Sex"

Written by Beauvoir - considered one of the primary texts of Second Wave Feminism Concludes that: One is not born a woman, but rather becomes a woman - To define femininity (or masculinity) is exceedingly difficult. We all have a sense of what it means, but its impossible to pinpoint concretely and exhaustively.

"The Souls of Black Folk"

Written by Du Bois - Structured as a collection of essays of different writing styles (poetry, history, sociological analysis..) with themes focused around the African American experience - Two important concepts 1). The Veil 2). Double Consciousness

"History of Sexuality"

Written by Foucault - his last major work before he died of AIDS - it addresses two main concerns regarding history of sexuality: 1. his critique of "Repression Hypothesis" 2. his concept of "Biopower"

"Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison"

Written by Michel Foucault - outlines how punishment and social control changed from pre-modern to modern societies

"Queer Theory for Everyone"

Written by Sharon Marcus - Helps guide us into the world of Queer Theory "By expanding the range of visible, plausible, and livable sexualities, queer studies expands the meanings of Woman and Man" - Marcus

"The Veil" (Du Bois)

a metaphor that describes the separation between blacks and whites in the U.S, it is the Social-Psychological effects of the color line. - It suggests to the literal darker skin of Blacks, which is a physical demarcation of difference from whiteness - It suggests white peoples lack of clarity to see Blacks as "true" Americans - The Veil refers to Blacks lack of clarity to see themselves outside of what white America describes and prescribes for them e.g issues of stereotype threat and Double Consciousness

Minority group (Du Bois)

any distinct group in society that shares common group characteristics that has relative disadvantages in society because of prejudice or discrimination: Institutional, Systemic, and Interpersonal - a group may be defined as a minority on the basis of ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, religion, or disability status - minority group does NOT have to be a numerical minority ( A and Not-A )

Church

as an Ideal type - persons are "born into" a church and, hence, are obligatory members. Unlike a sect, a church " lets grace shine over the righteous and unrighteous alike"

Sect

as an ideal type - an exclusive and tightly knit group that admits new members only once specific moral criteria have been fulfilled. Hence, all members are "certified" as of "good character". - a monitoring of behavior to ensure compliance with high ethical standards is intense