Week 1 PDF - Key Concepts in the Social Sciences

KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg Key concepts in the Social Sciences Chapter 1: The Sociological Imagination Sociology: The systematic, skeptical and critical study of the social; the system...

KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg Key concepts in the Social Sciences Chapter 1: The Sociological Imagination Sociology: The systematic, skeptical and critical study of the social; the systematic study of human society  Studies the way people do things together  Becomes a form of consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the social world Peter Berger, Introduction to Sociology: the sociological perspective - The sociological perspective is a way of seeing the general in the particular (=sociologist see general social patterns in specific examples) - The sociological perspective is seeing the strange in the familiar (=things are not what they seem) - The sociological perspective is seeing personal choice in social context (=human behavior is not as individualistic as we think, because we follow social patterns)  The general categories we fall into shape our particular life experiences (e.g. being male or female)  Looking sociologically requires that you give up that human behavior is a choice, because society guides our thoughts and needs. Tension in sociological thinking: - Structure (=guided by society) - Agency (=our own actions) Layers of reality: - Cosmic: The widest presence in the universe/cosmos - World and globe: the interconnectedness of the social and cultural across the world - Social and cultural: Communities, societies, institutions and nation-states - Interactional: the experience of the world in face-to-face presence and awareness of others - Individual: The inner world; psychic human subjectivity and biological workings of genetics etc. Individuality in social context & the case of suicide:  Human behavior is not as individualistic as we think but shaped and determined by external factors 1  KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg  Suicide is perceived as the most individualistic act possible  BUT Durkheim found that social forces help shape suicide  Certain categories of people were more likely to take their life, related to social integration (=how they bonded, connected and tied into society)  Anomic suicide: suicide as an effect of too little integration (e.g. bullied children)  Altruistic suicide: suicide as an effect of too much integration (e.g. suicide bombers) Key roles of a sociologist: - Researchers: document the nature of social times we live in - Theorist: foster deeper understanding of what is going on and cumulate sociological knowledge - Critic: critical attitude towards life - Educator and teacher: teaches sociology and provide organizations/governments with information that helps planning the future - Artists: generating ideas that can inform and enhance human creativity - Policy shapers: advising governments and groups - Commentators and public intellectuals: social diagnosis of the ills of our time - Dialogists: creating organized dialogues across different voices to be heard in society - Critical citizen in society: engage in social thinking and creates socially aware citizens Benefits of the sociological perspective: 1. It becomes a way of thinking and a form of consciousness that challenges familiar understandings of ourselves and of others -> Allows us to critically assess the truth of the commonly held assumptions 2. It enables us to assess both the opportunities and the constraints that characterize our lives -> Shows us that our society operates in a particular way and what effects that might have 3. It helps us to be active participants in our society -> The greater our understanding the more actively we take part in shaping social life 4. It enables us to recognize human differences and suffering and to confront the challenges of living in a diverse world -> Sociology also highlights the “bad” things Problems with the sociological perspective: 1. Sociology is part of a changing world -> Constantly changing and moving 2. Sociologists are part of what they study -> subjectivity (?), ethnocentricity (?) 2  KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg 3. Sociological knowledge becomes part of society -> Sociology influences society (= recursive; feeds back on to itself) Origins of western sociology: Enlightenment - Rationality and reason became a key way of organizing knowledge - Empiricism (facts/observations apprehended through senses) - Science (experimental scientific revolution) - Universalism (general laws for the universe) - Progress (improvement of human condition) - Individualism - Toleration (of different people/viewpoints/religions etc.) - Freedom - Uniformity (human nature is rational, individual and free) - Secularism (opposing the church) Auguste Comte (1798-1857): French social thinker who gave sociology its name in 1838; meant to understand society as it is and look at it in a new way Three distinct stages of human efforts to comprehend the world: 1. Theological stage: thoughts about the world were guided by religion 2. Metaphysical stage: society is understood as a natural phenomenon 3. Scientific stage: understand society scientifically  Positivism: a means to understand the world based on science  Believes society conforms to invariable laws 4 major changes in Europa that drove the development of sociology: 1. A new industrial economy: the growth of modern capitalism Middle ages: small-scale manufacturing Industrial revolution: radical change to industry -> Huge poverty and mass suffering -> demoralized societies 2. The growth of cities Industrialization -> factory towns -> large cities 3  KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg 3. Political change: control and democracy -> French revolution to break with political and social traditions -> new phrases: individual liberty and individual rights 4. The loss of Gemeinshaft: the eclipse of community -Toennies: Gemeinshaft: human community -> Industrial Revolution undermined family and tradition by fostering individualism and facts/efficiency. -> loss of the social glue in communities -> a world of Gesellschaft: people live as strangers among each other Current rapid change: The digital-information-network-cyborg society Names for this recent change: - The digital age (analogue-> digital) - Cyborg age (humans are more compelled to live with technology) - The information age (rapid growth of availability of data and information) - The network society (highlights the new ways of communicating) - The virtual age (highlights the mediated nature of reality) Chapter 2: Thinking sociologically, thinking globally Theory: a statement of how and why specific facts are related Theoretical perspective: basic image that guides thinking and research Classical, traditional sociological perspectives: 1. Functionalism: a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together and interconnect – often to promote solidarity and stability -> Our lives are guided by social structure (=relatively stable patterns of social behavior) -> Social structure has social functions (=consequences for operation of society) Key functionalists: Auguste Comte: sought to promote social integration during a time of tumultuous change Herbert Spencer: argues that various social structures are interdependent, working in concert to preserve society Emile Durkheim: social solidarity, how societies hang together 4  KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg Talcott Parsons: Society is a system, with basic tasks that all societies must perform to survive Robert K. Merton: social functions differ for various members of a society and perceive it differently. Manifest functions (recognized and intended consequences of social patterns) and latent functions (unrecognized and unintended consequences of social patterns). Social dysfunctions (any social pattern’s undesirable consequences for the operation of society) 2. Conflict perspective: a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of differences and inequalities that generate conflict and change -> Highlights division -> investigates how social class, race, ethnicity, sex, disability, age etc. are linked to unequal distributions of money, power, education and social prestige 3. The social action perspective: a framework of theory that focusses on how people assemble social meanings -> Micro-oriented (as opposed to the other perspectives) Key founder: Max Weber: emphasized the need to understand a setting from the point of view of the people in it emic, etic -> human meanings and action shape society -> compare by defining ideal types (=typical, exaggerated characteristics) Symbolic interactionism: theoretical framework that envisages society as the product of the everyday interactions of people doing things together Criticisms of classical sociology: - Sociology has mainly been by men for men about men (= white, heterosexual, privileged men; biased approach) - Areas of significance to other groups have been ignored (minority groups) - Sociology has often been sexist, racist, homophobic etc. Contemporary sociological perspectives:  highlight different standpoints, cultures or voices  more aware of the fact that you can never grasp the full truth; sociology is always selective 5  KCSS Summary Eline Achterberg  Women’s voices have been ignored, but with the second wave of feminism, feminist sociology came up.  However, no agreement in feminist sociology, because women differ across the world. Opposes essentialism (= the belief in essences are similar; e.g. belief that there is one pure core to what it is to be a women)  Modern perspectives are influenced by capitalism, which highlights the private ownership of property, pursuit of personal profit and free competition Global perspective: the study of the larger world and each society’s place in it Benefits: - Societies over the world are increasingly interconnected (globalization) - Enables us to see many human problems all over the world (many European problems are insignificant compared to third world problems) - Thinking globally learns us more about ourselves Globalization: the increasing interconnectedness of societies Key features: - Shifts the borders of economic transactions - Expands communications into global networks - Foster a new, widespread global culture - Develops new forms of international governance - Creates a growing awareness of shared common world problems - Fosters a growing sense of risk - Leads to the emergence of transnational global actors who network Multi-paradigmatic: sociology is not one position but many diverse, different positions Chapter 4: Societies Society: people who interact in a defined space and share culture Lenski: Sociocultural evolution: the process of change that results from a society’s gaining new information, particularly technology  How societies change over the centuries by gaining ability to change their surroundings 6