SOC1 MOO

Herbert Blumer

One of Mead's students He added to the meaning of symbolic interaction as people acting towards things based on the meaning that those things have for them and these meanings are defined through social interactions and modified through interpertation. Society adds meaning but everyone changes that meaning to be what it means to them

George H. Mead:

One of the founders of Social Psychology and the Symbolic Interaction School. Wrote "The Social Self" (1913) He argued that peoples selves are social products but that these selves are purposeful and creative.

Charles Cooley:

Other founder of Social Psychology and the Symbolic Interaction School

Predestination

It is the belief that it is determined before you are born if you are going to get into Heaven or not. Nothing you can do will change if you are getting into Heaven. It has already been determined by the Man upstairs.

What is the Protestant Ethic and what is "The Calling?"

The Protestant Ethic is to work hard and save money(yes, reinvest it instead of spending it on yourself) so that you will be considered a "good person" "The Calling" is God's Will

the Protestant Ethic

The calling when people follow the calling work and god rewards them which makes them work harder to go to heaven money is a sign of doing good

What is Marx's critique of capitalism?

While capitalism solves the problem of production it causes oppression.

Fieldwork

information collected outside a lab or workplace; also from Lecture on 10/2/13- observing people in their normal environments

Ideal Type

is a simplified version of a concept or institution, which captures its most relevant characteristics for the study at hand. Can be thought of as the Prototype

Communism

is a socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless, and stateless social order structured upon common ownership (state ownership) of the means of production, as well as a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order.

2) How is sociological approach different from journalism, psychology, history, anthropology or political science??

"Reliability" is the consistency or repeatability of your measures. "Verifiability" is the ability to empirically confirm your observations/measuring what you claim to be measuring It is an empirical science; has systematic observation and not anecdotal evidence. (driven by research) Sociologists are always part of their research because they are society too.; when doing other research in other fields, they can be separate from the observation. Qualitative Research vs Quantitative research

August Comte:

(1798-1857) Is called the Father of Sociology, he coined the term "sociology" in 1838 to refer to the scientific study of society.

William Graham Sumner:

(1840-1910) Discussed the idea of Culture. He was considered to be a Social Darwinist.

Anna Julia Cooper:

(1858-1964) First woman to publish a book on Black feminism "A Voice from the South by a Black woman from the South" (1862). Formulates principles of sociology to explain race, gender, and class relations in the U.S. She worked as a teacher and principal at a Preparatory High School for Colored Youth.

Jane Adams:

(1860-1935) another unsung social scientist, was the founder of Hull house, a place that provided aid to poor working-class families in Chicago.

W.E. B. Du Bois:

(1868-1963) First black sociologist, did not get credit due to racial segregation, should have but did not receive credit for founding the field of Urban Sociology in America. Founder of NAACP, First professional Black Sociologist. Scholar, activist, editor, poet. Wrote "The Philadelphia Negro."

What is ideology?

- A system of ideas/ beliefs which convinces us that capitalism is normal and fair.

7) Compare Marx and Weber on what they believe to be the driving force of social change.

- Karl Marx wanted the workers to rise up and revolt against the Bourgeoisie (upper class) to break the society class structure. It would put an end to Capitalism and allow the workers to get paid appropriately for what they make (manufacture), they will be paid a percentage of each piece that they make. Max Weber would encourage all of the guys at the top to continue to keep making more money however possible then to reinvest it back into the community so that they can continue to make even more money from those investments. So that they might be considered good people and be sure to be righteous in the eyes of God.

Be able to apply Marx and Weber's theories to 1) Wal Mart 2) Industrialization in Asia (China/India) What would Marx say? etc...

- Marx would want the workers of Walmart to rise up and overthrow the elites of the company so that they could all be able to receive more of the money that they are producing for the upper class. he would say the same thing for the situation in Asia. Weber, would be proud of what Walmart is doing both here in the US and in Asia. He would likely encourage them to continue to work hard and make as much money as possible then reinvest it in the community to help the economy flourish (Weber didn't say to directly reinvest the money but he does say that material possession are bad, so the next logical thing to do if you can't buy anything is to reinvest it so that you can make more money and show your higher status/wealth with the increase of money.)

How have Weber and Marx, used sociology (social theory) to respond to the Crisis of Modernity?

- Marx: Capitalism makes changes to modernity??? - Weber: Rationalization makes changes to modernity?

Be able to explain the concept of the Military Industrial Complex and its relationship to the need to go to war. 50% of each tax dollar funds the military. What would Marx and Weber say??

- Military Industrial Complex: (C. Wright Mills) Major national power now resides in the economic, the political, and the military domains. The political order, once a decentralized set of several dozen states with a weak spinal cord, has become a centralized, executive establishment which has taken up into each and every crany of the social structure. The military order, once a slim establishment in a context of distrust fed by state militia, has become the largest and most expensive feature of government, and although well versed in smilin public relations, now has all the grim and clumsy efficiency of a sprawling bureaucratic domain. In each of these institutional areas, the means of power at the disposal of decision makers have increased enormously; their central executive powers have been enhanced; within each of them modern administrative routines have been elaborated and tightened up. The decisions of a handful of corporations bear upon military and political as well as upon economic developments around the world. If there is government intervention in the corporate economy, so is there corporate intervention in the governmental process.

Specifically be able to discuss the impact of Wal Mart on the American workforce. Explain how low prices also mean low pay and poor negotiating position for so called associates. When Wal-Mart entered the supermarket trade paid in Cali in 2003, it paid its hourly associates an average of $9.64 per hour -- almost $10 less than the average hourly wage the California supermarket workers.

- Walmart has had a tremendous impact on the American workforce. It has made the working class almost virtually disappear due to the fact that Walmart has very nearly exclusively out sourcing the vast majority of their products from China where they can purchase their products for a fraction of the price of what it could be purchased if it is/was manufactured in the U.S. This has had a domino effect, for those companies that want to still sell their merchandise to Walmart they also have to purchase their products from China as well to remain competitive (That is for the few people that are still U.S. companies they are also outsourcing their materials or even the entire product from China). Because Walmart is so driven to produce the lowest price for everything it then goes on to justify that in order to achieve the lowest price possible they have to pay all of their employees or "associates" a little as possible and even for their Part-time employees they do not let them work more than 24 hours a week which makes it impossible for them to get health insurance. When people are working part time for little to no money they need to work 2 sometimes 3 jobs if they have a family to provide for to make ends meet and put food on the table. By doing this Walmart essentially traps their employees to stay at Walmart even though they have a desire to get a different, better paying job, but they literally can not make it the necessary 2-3 weeks to look for a new job without a paycheck to feed themselves let alone their family because they are living paycheck to paycheck. This essentially traps the workers to stay at Walmart because they need to continue to feed their family and pay their bills and without even the little money that Walmart provides for them each week they are unable to save any money and make the move to a different company and get a better paying job. Wal-Mart and China is a joint venture, Walmart could not do what it does without taking advantage of the Chinese work force. They pay their workers literally change (25-50 cents an hour) or $100 a month per worker.

Be able to discuss what the Industrial Revolution has in common with the current era of Globalization and industrial change in China? Are we in a second gilded era? ("the Gilded Age" to describe that period of rapid growth, a time when the dazzling exterior of American life actually concealed mass unemployment, poverty and a society ripped in two.)

- With the constant changes and improvements in technology it has spurred many different changes much like the Industrial Revolution did. Because new technology is present it is making more jobs possible specifically in China, reason being can use increase in technology to create better products than previously produced. Which is allowing for people to migrate (in China) and earn a better wage than they could where they were living before. Similarities between the Industrial Revolution and the current era of Globalization and industrial change in China is very obvious. Now we are noticing a great increase in technology that is available which is allowing for products to be manufactured easier and in more places. There is a migration of people that are flocking to where the work is, (Within China) people are uprooting and moving so that they might be able to make a decent wage as opposed to being farmers. There is the large movement of goods that are going internationally, namely between China and the U.S. I think that we still are in the 2nd Gilded age (era) the unemployment rate may be relatively low but it is not accounting for people that are either Underemployed (people who have a degree or a special skill that are not able to work in their specialized field) so the they are not able to make a decent living because they are making a fraction of what they once were/are capable of making, therefore they should be counted in the unemployment rate. Also it is noticed that after a period of time the people that "give up" on looking for a job fall off of the unemployment numbers. The rise of unemployment comes at a time that the richest families/people are continuing to get even richer, which is widening the income gap even more. We are at the greatest difference in class status in over 100 years.

What is the military industrial complex

- the combined interests of the military establishment and industries involved in producing military material considered as exerting influence on US foreign and economic policy. Can be very dangerous, potentially the arms dealers could essentially push the country to go to war so that they can sell more tanks or war planes or guns or whatever. (YouTube- Vice The business of war) random but very interesting and related to Military Industrial Complex.

3) Distinguish culture from society; what is the social?

-Culture: Meanings, symbols, representations, shared understanding. Indicates what we consider to be "normal" this changes from society to society. (Do we have the same social norms that exist in small tribes in Africa?) society: people getting together in regular association (in a structured way). An autonomous grouping of people who have common territory, a shared sense of history, and a common culture (shared set of beliefs, values and customs) who are linked together through numerous social interactions and interdependent roles. Society changes from one generation to the next and will always change from one generation to the next. The social could be looked at as the groups; groups are a collection of people united by social relations

1) What is sociology?

-The systematic study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Can be looked at as the study of EVERYTHING -Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions. It in place to understand how human action and consciousness both shape and are shaped by surrounding cultural and social structures. It looks at different aspects of our personal lives, our communities, and the world. Can range from romantic love, racial and gender identity, family conflict, deviant behavior, aging, and religious faith. At the larger level it looks at crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements. Also looks at population growth and migration, war and peace, and economic development.

Age of Revolution

1750's through the 1840's is the age of revolution. It includes the Industrial Revolution, American Revolution and the French Revolution. (Lecture v and lV slide 3) It ushered in a new rule of the people and the rise of industrial capitalism.

Industrial Revolution

1840's based on coal and iron production. utilized factory work that undermined families values. women were domesticated and ruled not important in the world of work. Manchester became the "center" of the industrial revolution. the cotton mill and the center of it helped the textile industry. Water ways were prime to make the revolution happen. Saw mills, wire companies, The importance of Unions in the work force. COAL WAS NEEDED TO FUEL THE ENGINES THAT WERE FUELING THE WORK FORCE. As a result the people were moving from the farm lands to the cities to find work in the ever expanding industrial jobs.

statistic

A single measure of some attribute of a sample.

Capitalism

A system of wage labor for the production of commodities for sale, exchange, and profit rather than for the immediate needs of producers. Modern Capitalist market organization tends to transcend political and cultural boundaries. Creates a fetishism of commodities and fetishism of money. Workers no longer see value from work and production, but value comes from thing itself. Creates an objective reality coercive to actors. Free-market: a market structure which is not controlled by a designated authority.

class consciousness

All individuals, by virtue of being social, are sociologists, but only some can perform the social role of sociologists. Sociology's role is to provide the tools to overcome false consciousness. Being aware of the class that you are apart of, being able to look at what you have and understand if you are lower class (Proletariat) or upper class (bourgeoisie). Also you understand who is also in the same class as you are apart of or what class others are in.

The Young Hegelians

Bohemian intellectuals, believed that ideas moved history. German idealist, They were idealist The Young Hegelians drew on the idea that the purpose and promise of history was the total negation of everything conducive to restriction of freedom and irrationality, and to mount radical critiques of first religion and then the Prussian political system. They ignored anti-utopian aspects of his thought that suggested the world has already essentially reached perfection.

Classes: division between classes The bourgeois and the proletarian The Proletariat (working class) owns only their own labor to sell and to make a living. The Bourgeois (Upper class) owns the factories, the machines, the material. So they can take advantage of the Proletariat and pay them close to nothing and reap great profits from exploiting the working class.

Classes: the calling and how hard one works, that is what defines on in that class, but not because they want to be upper class but they do this due to the calling that is imposed to them by their religion

What does the French revolution have to do with Marx' Theory of History?

Communism had its roots in the French Revolution (Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite) (liberty, equality, fraternity [Brotherhood]) Marx was inspired and wanted to see the world over rebel like the french did and overthrow the ruling class to create changes.

Bureaucracy

DEF: Large group of people who are involved in running a government but who are not elected. a system of government or business that has many complicated rules and ways of doing things. (An ideal type of Bureaucracy) 1. Has a hierarchy of offices with clearly defined spheres of authority. 2. Specialization of jobs, monopolization of expertise, trained officials. 3. Formalized universal rules 4. Culture of impersonality 5. Rewards based on objective criteria

Verstehen

German term that means "interpretation" or "understand", historical comparative, power, status, inequality

What is Marx's theory of History?

Historical materialism — Marx's theory of history — is centered around the idea that forms of society rise and fall as they further and then impede the development of human productive power. Marx sees the historical process as proceeding through a necessary series of modes of production, characterized by class struggle, culminating in communism. (from Stanford's encyclopedia)

Ideologies: the ruling ideas of the epoch are the ideas of the ruling class The economic base of production determines the political superstructure of a society. Ruling class-interests determine the superstructure and the nature of the justifying ideology—actions feasible because the ruling class control the means of production.

Ideologies: If you can work hard, you can succeed.`

Chicago School

Is credited with developing the first American empirical science of society. Focuses: Urbanization and the formation of cities, International immigration, and domestic migration and the peopling of those cities, and the changing nature of sub-communities in those cities. They used Demographics, and the statistical measurement of characteristics within geographic space, to measure the ecological distribution of social characteristics in cities. The sub-community and social structure, and the institutional values that immigrants formed in their communities of settlement. they believed that migration created Social Disorganization because people were freed from tradition in cities. this led to recreating societal institutions, what they termed "reorganization," and they thus studied the formation of new urban institutions and the mechanism by which the city contains or suppresses behavioral patterns. They studied gangs, delinquency, homelessness and the ethnic immigrant neighborhoods in the Rust Belt of Chicago.

Rationalization:

Is identified by Weber as the driving force that locks man in a paradox of modernity- an increasingly rational world, void of affective value, and locked in an 'iron cage" of rationalized bureaucratic impersonality and control.

verifiability

Is the ability to empirically confirm your observations/measuring what you claim to be measuring (when looking at sociology)

Rationalization

Is the calculation of means to ends. The cognitive process of making something seem consistent with or based on reason

Reliability

Is the consistency or repeatability of your measures (when looking at any science especially Sociology)

5) What does Charles Lemert and Karl Marx mean by False Consciousness?

Lemert says false consciousness is the inability to grasp social things. Lemert says in social things, that False consciousness is a powerful idea that helps account for the astonishing fact that many people who suffer deprivation and abuse are taught, or otherwise seduced, to think falsely about their situation, even to conclude that their troubles result from their own failures to be a better worker or, even, a better person. (Social things Pg. 24) Marx says that Marxist theory that people are unable to see things, esp. exploitation, oppression, and social relations, as they really are; the hypothesized inability of the human mind to develop a sophisticated awareness of how it is developed and shaped by circumstance, and any belief or view that prevents a person from being able to understand the true nature of a situation. False consciousness is a lack of such awareness, resulting in a distorted perception of the reality of class and its consequences.

alienation

Man separated from fruits of labor, Destroys natural relationship between man and nature. Workers forced to sell labor. Alienation from productive activity: Don't work for self, Activity belongs to capital. Work is no longer satisfying. Work only for money. Alienation from product: (it belongs to capita) workers own no part of the product, the business owners own the finished product and sell it to great benefit to themselves and never pass down their benefits to the lower class who makes the products. Alienation from fellow workers: Strangers work side by side. Not a natural collective cooperation. Nature of workplace makes for isolation from other workers. Alienation from own human potential: workers treated like animals. Natural relations with nature and humans is disrupted. Relationships between people become relationships between things.

Exploitation

People making a profit at the expense of others. The filthy rich exploit the working class to make a great deal of profit.

bias

Political opinion, stereotype, generalization

Robert Park

Professor at Chicago School of Sociology

Iron Cage

Refers to increased rationalization inherent in social life. The "Iron Cage" thus traps individuals in systems based purely on teleological efficiency, rational calculation and control.

Religion: Does not believe in its importance The Opiate of the Masses -Religious suffering is at one and the same to me the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of a soulless condition. It is the opium of the people.

Religion: Protestantism, particularly Calvinism, plays a major force in capitalism, the foundation of the driving force for capitalism Calvinist religious values encouraged modern capitalism. Money is a sign of salvation in Calvinism, because the metaphysical quest for salvation led to a particular orientation towards material interests. Calvinism maximizes the moral impulses derived from active commitment to the achievement of salvation and focuses it upon economic activity. Calvinism maximizes the moral impulses derived from active commitment to the achievement of salvation and focuses it upon economic activity. They believed in the notion of predestination. Those who were saved were already predestined to go to Heaven, but no one knew who, only God knew. Thus we are "called upon" (the calling) to work in order to prove our salvation to ourselves and to others. This calling is a duty. This inner worldly asceticism (self denial) lead to wealth accumulation.

Norms

Rules governing behavior. (YouTube "What is Normal-New Edit, mrThirkill") Think about social norms. What is deemed to be acceptable by society at large.

State: Saw the state as perpetuating the power of the ruling class.

State: Saw the state as neutral and legitimate exercise of bureaucratic power. The state is a relation of men dominating men that is supported by means of legitimate violence. The state (successfully) claims a monopoly of the legitimate use of violence within a society.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism is derived from American pragmatism and particularly from the work of George Herbert Mead, who argued that people's selves are social products, but that these selves are also purposive and creative.

The Crisis of Modernity

The crisis of modernity means that industrialization and capitalism were the catalysts that brought about this discontinuity with the past and tradition, and this discontinuity with the past is a central problem in the modern world; Traditional ways of life have been replaced with uncontrollable change and unmanageable alternatives. Key to the crisis is the sense that the proliferation of alternatives has become unmanageable, that man experiences the world as composed of discrete, fragmented, and separable units, and that we see ourselves as having lost tradition and a sense of who we are. So this crisis is felt at a very personal level. One might argue that it is in fact still the central preoccupation of the western world. Who are we? (This came straight from the slide show IV slide 40-42)

Class conflict

The large difference between the Bourgeois (ruling class) and the Proletariat (working class). The dramatic difference in income between the two classes. The Bourgeoisie would exploit the proletariat class and over work them and underpay them to get a large return of capital back to the Bourgeoisie which they DID NOT pass back down to the proletariat.

Socialization

The process of learning social norms and values, (sources of socialization, institutions, groups [especially peer groups], media, and culture. Also influenced by Family, and friends. As well as work, and political parties.

Marx Capitalism: the bourgeois control capitalism because they exploit the "free labor" from the proletarians, they are poor and they need money so they need to sell their labor at any cost in order to survive, an endless circle and how the economy works in Marx's view

Weber Capitalism: for Weber capitalism is essentially driven by religion, through Calvinism everyone is predestined to either go into heaven or hell, because no one know who is going where they believe that status can tell. The calling, is if you work hard and make money then you are one of the elite because it is shown through ones class.

What is the meaning of the spirit of capitalism?

Weber meant it to be rationalization

Values

What is deemed important within each society. What we attribute could be monetary value or simply desire that is associated with said thing. Think about the apple iPhone, here in America it is very important, but perhaps in aboriginal tribes in Australia do not care to have one. Which shows that each society has a different amount of value that they place on different things.

The Calling

When you are good at what you do (work) and enjoy what you do, you are to do that in the name of God

Communist Manifesto

Written by Karl Marx, as a political doctrine that originated in the French Revolution. Marx and Engels systematized the political doctrine of Communism in their Manifesto. The most systematic declaration of socialist principles. Aims to liberate workers from the toil, poverty, alienation, and oppression brought on by industrialization. Material conditions move history- historical dialectic- historical materialism. Alienation (Product, worker, Self, Family). Exploitation. Class conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat (Petit Bourgeoisie). Class Consciousness. Contradictions of Capitalism. Ideology and the ruling ideas of the ruling class. Religion: the opiate of the Masses. The modern state acts in the interests of the bourgeoisie. "Naked self interest" man and labor become a commodity. Inevitability of socialism through revolution. Was to be the "Roadmap for transition"

Marx:

Wrote the Communist Manifesto (The basis for worker revolutions), Wanted to have the overthrow of classes. Was the systematic of declaration of socialist principles, to liberate workers from poverty, alienation and exploitation, class conflict, class consciousness, contradictions of capitalism, ideology of ruling class, and expose religion as the opiate of the masses. He wanted more than anything for the working class to join together unite and rise up and revolt against the tyrannical upper class (Bourseise Class) have a Revolution. Marx suggests that commodity fetishism is a part of the ideological apparatus of capitalism, and the real underlying exploitative relationships are hidden from view. While early societies focused on survival, capitalism solves the problem of production, but created oppression in the process. Communism will allow workers to meet their full human potential. Man is self-conscious and creative. Capitalism reduces man to an animal state. Gave his analysis of Capitalism in "Capital". Marx developed historical materialism as a method for understanding the social world based in material conditions and class relations. Who own/controls the means of production and who must sell their labor. Marx's analysis was more analytical and historical rather than empirical. Workers own nothing, owners own all. Radical Marx, will transform the relation between the sexes into a purely private matter which concerns only the persons involved and into no concern of society.

Weber:

Wrote the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. He was born to a Calvinist Mother, he rebelled early against religious doctrine of his household. He is credited in part to establishing sociology as a distinct social science. His sociology is more broad than that of Marx. Not only did he provide a philosophical and methodological framework for sociology, he also studied world religions, ancient societies, as well as economic history and the sociology of law and music. For weber, sociology was not about finding universal laws, but in making causal explanations of social action in an historical context. Sociology is about studying social action directed towards others-action to which we give subjective meanings. He believed that simply studying the objective structures outside of people is not enough to understand the social world. We must also know what people feel and think, their understandings of the social world. Verstehen (to understand). But he also believed that these understandings must be carefully tested through empirical observation. Weber uses what is called an "ideal type" methodology to interpret social action. An ideal type is an analytic abstraction of an ideal form. For Weber, the entire modern world was being shaped by the process of rationalization. This rationalization of economic behavior was just one area. In fact everything was becoming more rational according to Weber. Weber's pessimism regarding rationalization can be seen in his discussion of the Bureaucratic form of social organization, which he saw as placing the individual in an "iron cage." Iron cage was Critical difference between Marx and Weber, Weber saw the problems of the world as stemming from the increasing rationalization of life. To Weber the Bureaucracy representative of rationalization of social life. Rationalization was the scourge of the modern era, and both capitalism and socialism were subject to it. Weber developed a four-part classification of social action. 1. Traditional action- because it has always been ``` 2. Affectual action- driven by emotion 3. Value rational action- driven towards ultimate value. 4. instrumental rational action- calculating costs and consequences. These last types of social action are important because Weber believes that modern society is in a process of increasing rationalization. Rationalization is the calculation of means to ends. Its an almost evolutionary or progressive view of history. For Weber, capitalism differs from other social structures in that it rationally organizes formally free labor. Modern capitalism is a rational enterprise.

generalizability

if you are able to draw inferences or a general conclusion from a study/research. To form general principles or conclusions from detailed facts, experiences.

4) What is the sociological imagination?

sociological imagination is the ability to look at your life in the context of history and great social forces. You can't always be responsible for everything that has happened in your life instead you should be able to see that there are greater social forces that influence where you are and who are in this world.

Micro sociology

study of small groups: the branch of sociology that studies small groups and units within a larger society; also micro interactions, individual gestures(lecture 10/21/13)

Stratification

the act or process of arranging persons into classes or social strata. The unequal distribution of desirable goods through social process. (i.e. food, education, jobs,) It is not natural.

paradigm

the typical way for doing something; makes assumptions on how things will play out; Critical Paradigm(Marx),Weberian Paradigm(Weber)

Secondary Analysis

use of data that was collected by someone else for some other purpose