SOCI-200 Midterm

What is Sociology?

• Sociology is a systematic study of social life, social change, and human behavior within societies.
• Social structure constitutes organized patterns of social relationships and institutions shaping society.
• Agency refers to the ability people have to make choices and act independently while being aware of social constraints.
• Socialization describes the lifelong process of learning cultural norms, values, and behaviors.

Key Sociological Concepts

• The sociological imagination connects personal experiences with broader societal forces.
• Positivism, introduced by Auguste Comte, suggests that society should be studied using scientific methods to uncover social laws.
• Émile Durkheim focused on social cohesion and how societal structures maintain stability.
• Karl Marx analyzed economic systems and class struggles, arguing that capitalism fosters inequality.
• Max Weber examined how values, ideas, and rationalization influence society.
• W.E.B. Du Bois studied race and class and coined the term "double consciousness" to describe the dual identities of African Americans.

Sociological Theories

• Sociology helps explain social norms, power dynamics, inequality, and drivers of social change.
• The field challenges "common sense" by revealing deeper structures in everyday interactions.

Durkheim (Functionalism)

• Social facts are external forces that shape individual behavior.
• Collective conscience refers to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes that unify a society.
• Mechanical solidarity refers to traditional societies where people share similar work, values, and lifestyles.
• Organic solidarity refers to modern societies where people perform specialized roles but depend on one another.
• Anomie is a state of normlessness leading to social instability.
• Modern societies risk falling into anomie when norms break down, highlighting the need for moral regulation.
• Society creates stability but limits personal freedom.
• Choices are shaped by external forces, even when they seem independent.
• Understanding social structures helps explain patterns in human behavior.

Marx (Conflict Theory)

• Historical materialism emphasizes that economic forces drive historical change.
• Class struggle refers to conflict between the bourgeoisie (owners of production) and the proletariat (workers).
• Exploitation occurs when workers produce goods but receive only a fraction of the value, while owners profit.
• False consciousness occurs when workers accept capitalist ideology rather than recognizing their oppression.
• Revolution: Marx predicted that capitalism would eventually collapse and be replaced by communism.
• Marx saw capitalism as inherently exploitative, where economic power translates into political and ideological control.

Weber (Symbolic Interaction & Rationalization)

• Verstehen highlights understanding social actions by interpreting meanings from the actor’s perspective.
• Religious values, particularly Calvinism, encouraged capitalism.
• Rationalization: Society increasingly prioritizes efficiency, calculation, and bureaucracy over tradition and emotion.
• The iron cage refers to bureaucratic structures trapping individuals in rigid, impersonal systems.
• Ideas and values shape society, not just economics.

Du Bois (Race, Colonialism, and Double Consciousness)

• The color line is a global system of racial discrimination rooted in colonialism and capitalism.
• Double consciousness refers to African Americans living with a dual identity, seeing themselves through their own eyes and through society's eyes.
• The veil symbolizes racial segregation, preventing whites from fully seeing Black experiences.
• Race and class are intertwined, and racism is central to capitalist exploitation.

Research Methods

• Ethnography involves immersing oneself in communities to observe social interactions.
• Surveys involve large-scale questionnaires to analyze social trends.
• Experiments involve controlled tests to examine cause-and-effect relationships.
• Comparative-historical research means studying societies across time to identify patterns.
• Ethnography provides depth but is limited in generalizability.
• Surveys offer breadth but lack nuance.

Structures and Agency

• Structure refers to social systems that influence human behavior.
• Agency means the ability to act independently within social constraints.
• Structures shape individuals, but individuals can also reshape structures.
• The balance between structure and agency is central to sociology.
• Structures limit freedom, while others highlight individual resistance.
• Habitus explains how people internalize structures but still exercise agency.

Goffman

• Dramaturgy frames social life as a performance where individuals play roles.
• People behave differently in public (front stage) than in private (back stage).
• Impression management means people actively control how they are perceived by others.
• People use creativity and strategy to navigate society.
• Agency is exercised through social interactions, where people manipulate perceptions to achieve their goals.

Du Bois

• Double consciousness refers to the internal conflict African Americans experience between their own identity and society’s racist perceptions.
• The veil symbolizes the racial divide in America that prevents mutual understanding between Black and white people.
• The color line is the global system of racial discrimination created by colonialism and capitalism.
• Racial structures are deeply embedded in society, shaping experiences and opportunities.
• Resistance is always possible, and marginalized groups actively challenge oppression.

Culture (Key Concepts & Analysis)

• Material culture includes physical objects like art, technology, and clothing.
• Non-material culture includes ideas, beliefs, values, and norms.
• Social construction means cultural meanings are created through social interaction.
• Ethnocentrism means judging other cultures, while cultural relativism means understanding them on their own terms.
• Culture shapes behavior, and individuals redefine cultural meanings over time.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Social reality is constructed through language, gestures, and shared understandings.
• Goffman's dramaturgy explains life as a performance with front-stage and back-stage behaviors.
• Cooley’s looking-glass self emphasizes our self-image being shaped by how we think others perceive us.
• Symbolic interactionism emphasizes micro-level interactions.

Class and Inequality

• Stratification refers to hierarchical divisions based on wealth, education, and power.
• The meritocracy myth means the belief that success is purely based on talent and hard work, ignoring structural inequalities.
• Social mobility refers to the ability to move between classes, which has declined in recent decades.
• Inequality persists because of systemic barriers such as access to education, healthcare, and jobs.

Tumin on Inequality

• Inequality limits discovery of the full range of talent in society by disproportionately favoring those already in privileged positions.
• Inequality provides elites with political power to promote ideologies that justify the status quo as natural or morally right.
• It reproduces the meritocratic ideology that class is earned rather than inherited.
• Inequality credits upper classes for their ‘success’ while blaming the poor for their ‘failure.’
• It distributes self-images unequally, limiting individuals’ future potential based on class background.
• Inequality encourages suspicion and hostility among the less privileged, fostering class divisions.
• It can leave large numbers of people alienated, disconnected from a sense of societal belonging.
• Inequality challenges the notion that the U.S. is meritocratic.

Chambliss (1973): "The Saints and the Roughnecks"

• This was a two-year ethnographic study and interviews examining the relationship between class and perceptions of deviance.
• Middle-class (Saints) were seen as "good kids," while working-class (Roughnecks) were perceived as criminals, despite similar delinquency levels.
• Middle-class youth had more resources to avoid detection.
• Poverty is often linked to deviance, reinforcing class stereotypes.
• Wealthier families could influence legal institutions, protecting their children.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy & Labeling Theory

• The theory is that initial deviant acts lead to certain groups getting labeled as deviant which leads to self-perception changes that then increase likelihood of secondary deviance..
• Social labels shape identity and future opportunities.

Desmond (2023): "America is in a Disgraced Class of Its Own"

• This is public sociology which means it is written for a wide audience, combining empirical research with policy advocacy.
• 1/3 of U.S. households earn less than $55,000 annually.
• The U.S. spends less on anti-poverty programs than other wealthy nations.
• Child poverty in the U.S. is double that of peer nations.
• Pandemic policies significantly reduced poverty and evictions.
• Most Americans believe poverty results from obstacles in life, rather than moral failings.
• The article challenges the belief that poverty is an individual failing.
• It calls for a reevaluation of the acceptable level of poverty.