Sociology Notes PDF

Sociology ​ Sociology focuses on how our identity is shaped by social interactions and experiences. ​ Pop culture from a sociology perspective demonstrates the numerous issues that arise in contemporary society (eg. narratives of gender, race, sexuality, social class, and power)....

Sociology ​ Sociology focuses on how our identity is shaped by social interactions and experiences. ​ Pop culture from a sociology perspective demonstrates the numerous issues that arise in contemporary society (eg. narratives of gender, race, sexuality, social class, and power). It demonstrates the concepts and theories of ○​ Ideology ○​ Hegemony ○​ Social conflict ○​ Mode of production ○​ Power ○​ Consumerism ​ Culture: a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, and behaviours that are used to negotiate and understand the world ​ Sociology concepts and theories are used to explain the different perspectives of society. ○​ They help to understand social trends/pop culture by describing and explaining different aspects, meanings, and consequences. Ideology ​ Ideology: a set of ideas that a dominant group, like popular culture, makes seem normal and natural ​ 5 central components of an ideology: 1.​ An ideology is a system of ideas created by a particular group. 2.​ It shows how cultural items (like ads) can distort or manipulate reality. 3.​ It highlights how cultural texts (like TV shows or songs) shape a specific view of the world.  4.​ Ideology isn’t just ideas but is also part of daily life and practices. 5.​ It works through secondary meanings—how texts, images, and practices convey deeper, subjective messages to people. Hegemony ​ Hegemony: a system in place to protect and maintain an ideology. ​ Hegemony refers to the dominance of a shared system of ideas, values, and ethics within a society. It becomes so powerful/dominant that it shapes the way society works, often without people even realizing it. Over time, this dominant idea or system becomes "the norm" and is accepted as the status quo ​ The purpose of hegemony is to keep an ideology dominant through making sure that the ideology remains the norm and is widely accepted ​ Hegemony works through ○​ Connecting culture and power. This helps keep a dominant way of thinking in place ○​ Employing pressure (coercion) and persuasion (consent) to make us passively accept the dominant ideas ○​ Making a dominant ideology seem normal and/or logical so it is not questioned ○​ Spreads the dominant ideas through popular culture, making the dominant ideas feel like the standard and expected way of doing things Structural Functionalist Theory (SFT)  ​ Structural Functionalist Theory (SFT): a theory that views society as an interconnected system where each part has a distinct function while simultaneously these parts work together to maintain a society as a whole. ​ SFT stresses the importance of a general consensus as that is what is necessary for a harmonious society ○​ This perspective explains that ideologies (ideas) are protected by hegemony (power) leading to those ideas becoming the norm which then ensures social harmony and stability Social Conflict Theory (SCT) ​ Social Conflict Theory (SCT): a marxist theory stating that different social divisions create conflict in society. ​ SCT views popular culture as an example of inequality involving conflict, discord, and unequal access to decision-based opportunities ​ 3 dimensions of social inequality 1.​ Class – level of financial security that determines one’s privilege 2.​ Status – the level of social prestige one has 3.​ Power – the degree of social and political influence one has Key theories of social interactions ​ Through comparing social interactions to a theater performance Erving Goffman states that our behavior moves between two areas: (1) the "Frontstage," where we perform social roles in public, and (2) the "Backstage," where we relax and prepare, away from the public eye. ​ Sociological imagination: a concept stating that individual lives are shaped by society and personal problems can often be linked to broader social issues  ○​ Personal is the political: a person is politicised based on all the aspects that make up who they are (eg. gender, language speak, religion, etc). ​ Like how politics makes up a person and effects them popular culture does the exact same Socialization ​ Socialization: the process where we learn the social characteristics of our culture that come to define us ​ Our socialization help us to ○​ recognize ourselves and others ○​ Understand that social identities and roles shape each person’s life story. These stories then make up our culture ​ While participating in the social world, one participates in their own socialization through ○​ communicating with gestures or language ○​ Learn and acquire knowledge ○​ Engage in social interactions ○​ Familiarize with norms, values, and customs that indicate someone as being an active member in society ​ To understand how socialization affects a person, we need to look at the individual and their sense of "self." Our sense of who we are comes from how we connect with others and the roles we play in society. Popular Culture ​ Popular: something that is liked by a certain group gains power and challenges cultural definitions about what makes something meaningful. ​ Being popular reveals insights into who gets to decide what’s valuable, acceptable, and legitimate in culture. ​ The concept of popular involves ○​ A site of power – The "popular" exists where cultural power is exercised. Different groups (eg social classes) use popular culture to assert their values, ideas, and identity ○​ Struggle over meaning – different groups debate the meanings of popular culture where some celebrate the popular entity while others criticize it ○​ Boundary transgression – The "popular" challenges established hierarchies and categories, such as distinctions between high culture and low culture. By crossing these boundaries, it questions the legitimacy of such divisions. ○​ Exposing cultural arbitrary nature (subversion) – Through boundary transgressions popular culture exposes how arbitrary and subjective the boundaries are ​ 4 characteristics of something that is popular 1.​ Liked by many people 2.​ Deemed unworthy or inferior 3.​ Deliberately seeks to win people’s favour 4.​ A form of culture made by a group of people for themselves ​ Popular culture is classified in a residual category. Popular culture is what is left after categorizing valuable, serious, and artistic forms of culture into the classification of high culture. Popular culture is then determined as low culture. It is a category for anything that does not meet the standards of high culture Cultural Theory ​ Cultural theory: an interdisciplinary approach to studying culture (drawing from fields of sociology, feminist and queer theory, critical race theory, and criminology). ○​ Focuses on how cultural texts and practices both shape and are shaped by society, power, and identity ○​ Cultural theory analyzes cultural phenomena and how they change over time ○​ Cultural theory also involves looking at the means of production of a cultural text ​ Subjectivity: understanding of culture in relation to one’s individual life and experience. One’s subjectivity and their engagement (social connection) to the cultural text are linked in cultural theory. This results in an approach that addresses social issues within popular culture ​ John Storey’s points about cultural theory (aka cultural studies) 1.​ Analyzing cultural texts and their changes over time:​ Cultural theory looks at cultural "texts" (e.g., movies, music, fashion, or media) to understand what they mean and how they reflect or influence society. It also studies how these cultural expressions evolve over time, showing shifts in values, trends, and identities. 2.​ A politically engaged approach:​ Cultural theory often takes a critical stance against dominant or mainstream cultural norms. It questions the power and influence of big players in culture, like Hollywood, corporations, or social media platforms. Cultural theorists may focus on how these dominant systems reinforce inequalities or stereotypes and explore alternative perspectives.  3.​ Rejecting divisions between "high" and "low" culture:​ Cultural theory challenges the idea that some cultural forms are "better" or more valuable than others. It emphasizes that all forms of culture—whether elite or popular—are interconnected and can influence each other. For example, hip hop, often seen as "low culture," borrows elements from jazz, traditionally seen as "high culture," breaking down these artificial divisions. ​ For Pierre Bourdieu, the cultural distinctions between high pop culture (eg hbo shows) verses low pop culture (eg nbc) are used to support the idea that distinctions in taste and critical spectatorship are driven by social class ○​ Taste: a formal and ideological category that functions as an indicator of class. ○​ the consumption of pop culture is “built in a way (deliberately or not) to fulfil a social function of legitimating social differences”. It demonstrates how subjectivity comes into play. eg our consumption and taste define and/or reflect our social class and interpretations of the meaning of things Spectatorship Theory ​ Spectatorship theory: the examination of the relationship between audiences (spectators) and cultural texts. It emphasizes the subjective experience of each spectator. ○​ provides insight into how cultural texts resonate with audiences and the diverse ways people derive meaning and pleasure from them. ○​ Argues that each spectator is different and reacts to pop culture in their own social-personal way ​ Key ideas  1.​ Individual interpretation – each spectator interprets cultural texts based on their own personal identity, experiences, and perspectives 2.​ Audience-text relationship – understanding how popular culture interacts with its audience 3.​ Pleasure in viewing – how popular culture creates enjoyment for audiences ​ Audiences are made up of both active spectatorship and passive spectatorship. They are binary opposites ○​ Active spectatorship: a spectator who actively engages with the cultural text and interprets it based on their own experiences, beliefs, and cultural background ○​ Passive spectatorship: a spectator who absorbs the meaning of the cultural text as it is presented. Does not critically question or actively interpret it. Encoding/Decoding Model ​ Encoding/Decoding Model: a theory created by Stuart Hall that relies on active spectatorship. The theory is used to describe the intentions behind cultural texts ○​ Encoding: the producers of cultural texts design their content with specific messages, values, and meanings that they want to convey ○​ Decoding: the audience of a specific cultural text does not always interpret the texts in the exact way the producer intended. Instead the audience understands the “meaning” of the text based off of their own perspectives, experiences, and cultural backgrounds ​ The model involves 3 steps in identifying what type of viewer one is:  1.​ Dominant (Preferred) Reading – the spectator fully agrees with the intended or obvious message of the text 2.​ Oppositional Reading – the spectator rejects the intended text and instead interprets it based on their own perspective. This creates a new meaning 3.​ Negotiated Reading – a middle ground between oppositional and preferred reading. The spectator accepts parts of the dominant meaning but rejects some aspects as well ​ Polysemy: the flexibility of meaning in cultural texts. The term states that the meaning of a text is fluid and it is up to the individual spectator to interpret the text based on their own social and personal associations Youth Culture ​ The sociology of youth culture reveals youth, identity, and popular culture as a dynamic and changing/evolving research project ○​ Youth studies focus on the youth through consumerism, identity, authenticity. ○​ Youth culture is polysemic meaning that youth culture is made up of a bunch of different meanings. ○​ Youth culture formed around the 1950s and was carefully nurtured and reinforced by adult institutions like record companies, movies, music, and tv ○​ To study youth culture you must 1.​ Identify the role of structural functionalism and social conflict theory 2.​ Analyze (from a sociological perspective) youth motivation to participate in subcultures  3.​ Explain how dominant culture (eg. capitalism, government, and paternalism) can be motives for youth rebellion, rule-breaking, and general resistance 4.​ Draw connections between capitalism, consumerism, and youth through the concepts of framing, marketing, consumerism, and selling out ​ Youth cultures tend to pay homage to the past along with rejecting it ​ Youth are seen as the site of cultural innovation ​ Pop culture has played a major role in shaping identity, especially for youths. To understand youth subcultures we must recognize how pop culture influences the way people create, challenge, and reshape who they are Subcultures ​ Subcultures are a form of resistance to mainstream and hegemony. Participants in subcultures create their own beliefs, styles, and behaviours that challenge mainstream ideas ​ Youth subcultures don’t just reject dominant norms—they actively challenge them in symbolic ways (fashion, music, language, behavior). This challenge creates tension with mainstream society, leading to moral panic, where subcultures are seen as dangerous or threatening. ​ Some subcultures are seen as "authentic" because they form naturally as a response to mainstream society. These subcultures often resist corporate influence and commercialization. ○​ eg. In the 1970/80s, skateboarding was a working-class rebellion against societal norms. Skaters challenged authority and carved out their own space in urban environments.  ​ Over time, many subcultures become commercialized and absorbed into mainstream culture. As big brands and corporations take over, the original rebellious spirit fades, and the subculture becomes more middle-class and widely accepted. This leads to a shift from authentic rebellion (real defiance of societal norms) to pseudo-rebellion (a more performative, theatrical version of rebellion). ​ Once a subculture is commercialized, the raw, lived experience of resistance is often replaced by a version that looks rebellious but is more about image than real struggle. ○​ Consumers buy something associated with a subculture with the hopes of establishing the values of that subculture for themselves. For example buying a skateboard to be cool and chill ​ subculture members often create alternative social systems that reject key elements of the hegemonic ideology of middle-class society while also being able to “win space” for working-class interests ​ Cultural Field: a structured system of social positions (individuals and/or institutions) who are engaged in the same activity. Involves habitus ○​ Habitus: the learned characteristics one gains through immersion within a cultural field. These characteristics reflect modes of understanding, perception, and appreciations which then govern our practices and given them meaning The Marketing of Youth Culture ​ Youth culture tends to be commodified due to its energy, rebellion, and trendsetting nature. Businesses target young people as both consumers and cultural influences ​ There are 5 steps needed to determine if an aspect of youth culture can be marketable. 1.​ Deviance Marketability: the devient aspect of youth culture (going against societal norms and expressing individuality) is taken by businesses and sold as a marketable aesthetic. ​ When youth cultures are deemed “marketable and rebellious,” they are framed within a larger meaning system where the style and aesthetic of identity become as important as identity itself. This means that looking like a rebel can be just as significant as actually rebelling. In this way, companies sell not just products but also the illusion of resistance and individuality—allowing consumers to feel unique while still operating within the capitalist system. 2.​ False Need: a situation used in marketing where a want functions and acts as a need. This means that something that is desired is framed as something essential. ​ A false need works when the connotation (social association) acts as the denotation (literal meaning) leading to a want becoming a need. ​ False needs are related to the marketability of youth culture because a false need reinforces the idea that purchasing a specific product is necessary for self-expression and social acceptance 3.​ Commodity fetishism: when the symbolic meaning of a product (status, identity, brand value) becomes more important than its practical use. This means that people are not just buying a product for its function but for what it represents socially.  ​ There is an intense amount of brand loyalty within youth consumer culture 4.​ Taste: a subjective and socially constructed concept shaped by culture and class about what is seen as good. ​ Companies exploit the idea of taste to make consumers feel like they need to keep up with trends to be seen as fashionable or cultured. This creates a continuous cycle of consumption, where young people feel pressured to spend on new styles to maintain their social status. 5.​ Recuperation: the rebellious aspects of youth culture get absorbed into mainstream culture and capitalism. This neutralizes the radical nature of youth culture and makes it more acceptable and profitable. Over time, the political and rebellious elements of youth culture fade, while the style and aesthetic remain. ​