Chapter 1: Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology PDF

CHAPTER 1 © Arthimedes/shutterstock.com LEARNING OBJECTIVES & After completing this LO1 Describe the bidirectional between individual social forces. LO2 Define “sociology” the sociological imagination. LO3 Describe the historical sociology emerged and compare soci- ology to other LO4 List and describe develop the sociological 01_ch01.indd 2 LO1 THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM “I’ll believe it when I see it!” heard someone say this or used that phrase Although we often come to trust in what for ourselves, sociology asks us not to trust what we see. Consider, for example, one of your many devices. If you were asked see when you look at that screen, your might be, “I see an online shopping site.” took a closer look—presuming that there meets the eye—you might see something ferent. If your eyes were as powerful as a magnifying glass, you would realize that the image on the screen is really rows and columns of pixels, tiny coloured light. If you looked even more closely, you would see that what first appeared to be an orange and white shopping cart is really a combination of red, green, and blue pixels. Yet there is still more that you are unable to see at first glance. Those pixels are part of a larger device, one that is powered by electricity. Accessing the internet on that device requires a wired or wireless signal, which comes into your home via underground cables. The internet, a global computer network, comprises computer servers located around the world. Globally, countless people work behind the scenes to manufacture your device, keep the electricity running, install the underground cables, operate the online shopping site, and more. What ini- tially appeared to be a simple, online shopping site is really much more. Things are not what they seem. Now shift your attention to yourself and to the clothes you wore to class today. Initially, you might say personal choice led you to wear those particular clothes. But if you now look at your classmates, you can see that many of them may be wearing clothes that are similar to yours (e.g., casual pants and a T-shirt). You and many other people have made a similar choice today, suggesting that there is something more than just individual preference operating here. If I were to go on to ask you why you are a university or college student, you might give me a similar answer—personal choice. And indeed, unless someone registered you as a student against your will, physically dragged you to class this morning, and tied you into your chair, it most certainly is your choice. But remember, there is more than first meets the eye. If you examine these circumstances more closely, you will start to realize that just as so much more underlies an online shop- ping site, an array of social factors and experiences has contributed to your choice to become a university or college student. When you begin to consider the 01_ch01.indd 3 increases, postsecondary enrolments also rise, espe- cially in universities; economic downturns motivate people to improve their educational qualifications and skills (Allessandrini, 2018; Andrianov, 2017). The impact of the economy on postsecondary enrolment is readily apparent. But more subtle influences on the decisions we make come from society’s expectations, or norms. By virtue of growing up in a specific family in a particular society at a certain time in history, we learn how we are supposed to act. Whether or not we actually behave in accordance with those norms, we are still aware of what those expectations are. In Canada today, a postsecondary education is normative in that it corresponds to norms about the kind of education people need before entering the workforce. In contrast, had you been a young Canadian woman in the 1950s, a uni- versity education would Norms: Society’s not have been normative; expectations for how we instead, society’s expecta- are supposed to act, think, and look. tions were that you should marry young, have chil- Normative: Behaviours, appearances, and thoughts dren, and be a full-time that correspond to homemaker. Sometimes society’s norms. society’s norms are so pow- Life chances: The erful that they influence opportunities an individual formalized rules, such as has in life based on policies and even the law. various factors, including stratification, inequality, For example, if you were race, ethnicity, and gender. a Jewish Canadian before the end of the Second YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TOOLKIT SOCIOLOGY IN MY LIFE BECOMING A HOCKEY STAR: THE IMPACT OF Think about the extracurricular activities you were involved in as a child or adolescent. For some of you, sports may come to mind. While Canadian youth par- ticipate in many different sports, hockey holds a special place in society. Hockey is Canada’s most popular sport, and for many people, is part of what it means to be Canadian. When we think of hockey, we often envision an idyllic scene: On a cold, winter day the neighbour- hood children gather at the local skating rink (at no cost), don their skates, and play a game of ice hockey. In the summer, they pull their nets onto the street in front of their houses and play street hockey. They dream of making it into the National Hockey League (NHL), 4 PART 1 Practising Sociology: Your 01_ch01.indd 4 it’s too all-consuming” (Stinson, sider the costs associated with youth parents spend an average of $3,000 half spend more than $5,000 per year, tion, equipment, travel, and more youth playing at more elite levels, expenses, such as special skills and shops, summer camps, and even private specialize in hockey training. That cost to tens of thousands of dollars & Parcels, 2013; Mirtle, 2013; it should come as no surprise that of youth who play hockey come from household income of more than $100,000 and hockey parents report occupations sionals, executives, and managers Mirtle, 2013). Sports writer Sean the parking lot outside an elite junior shop: “I’m, like, ‘are they me because there’s a Honda Civic and it’s too close to that Range Porsche, Lexus, Audi, BMW, Mercedes[;] there” (Stinson, 2019, para. 6). Today, it seems that turning the dream of being a hockey star into reality not only depends on skill and determination but also The essence of sociology is this connection between individual experiences and larger social forces that exist outside the individual (see is also known as the relationship between the micro level and the macro level. Thus far, we ined ways that larger social forces (the influence individual experiences (the micro However, the relationship is bidirectional, personal choices also have an impact on around you, your community, and your workplace— what sociologists refer to as agency. When people make similar choices or acquire particular decisions, the macro level is the status quo is supported or social change Social movements can occur, and school policies, workplace culture and policies, gramming, legislation, and larger cultural norms can all be affected. For instance, when the authors of this book were in elementary school in the mid-1970s, it was rare for children to eat lunch at school; children either had to go home for lunch (regardless of whether there was an adult there to supervise them), or they walked to a nearby care provider’s place. If there was an unu- sual circumstance (e.g., the caregiver had to be at an appointment), then the parent would write a note to the teacher and request that the child be permitted to eat lunch at school that day under the teacher’s 01_ch01.indd 5 parents, and then the changing lives of parents made changes in school practices necessary. The assumption that mothers were at home to make lunch for their children was based on family patterns that existed in previous decades, when most middle-class married women were full-time home- makers. This began to change in the 1960s and 1970s, when more married mothers began to enter the paid labour force. The changing choices of parents elic- ited changes in the environment outside the family. But at the same time, larger sociocultural factors were contributing to parental choices. More mothers were entering the workforce because of changes in the economy that necessitated dual incomes for many families, as well as the influence of the women’s move- ment, which emphasized the importance of gender equality. Thus, when we look at people’s experiences, the micro level and the macro level are intertwined. Recognizing the myriad ways in which they are inter- twined requires using something sociologists distinc- tively call the “sociological imagination.” TIME TO REVIEW What do sociologists mean when they say that “things are not what they seem,” and what are some examples? What type of relationship exists between the micro level and the macro level? What are some examples of this relationship? LO2 WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? What is sociology? Answering that question is both simple and complex. On the surface, definitions of soci- ology can appear quite simple. For example, sociology is frequently defined as the systematic study of society. But the practice of sociology is much more complex. The word “sociology” comes from the Latin Sociology: The socius (i.e., companion, systematic study of society. associate, or colleague) Sociological and the Greek logos (i.e., imagination: The word or thought)—in ability to perceive the other words, to think or interconnections between individual experiences and speak about companions. larger social forces. To study companions is to highlight the social 6 PART 1 Practising Sociology: Your Sociological 01_ch01.indd 6 in the ivory towers of academia and for not assuming any personal responsibility for improving society. The sociological imagination is not just about thinking; it is also about action. That action might be at the level of your everyday life, where paying attention to the rela- tionship between individual choices and larger social forces will make you a more informed parent, voter, teacher, office manager, or team member. But it might also be at a more macro level of social action, trying to improve some aspect of your community or even society as a whole (see Sociology in Words). LO3 COMPARING SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER DISCIPLINES As you may have already noticed in some of your classes, similar topics are sometimes covered in dif- ferent disciplines. For example, you may have studied families in a psychology or anthropology course—and you will also learn about families in your sociology SOCIOLOGY IN WORDS WHEN IS THE TIME TO “COMMIT SOCIOLOGY”? What are the root causes of terrorism? This question was asked by Justin Trudeau in April 2013, when he was a Member of Parliament. He asked it because of two recent incidents—a terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon and the arrest of two men for conspiring to attack a Via Rail train in Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper criticized Trudeau for raising this question, saying, “… to commit sociology” (Fitzpatrick, view, understanding the causes of less value than apprehending and punishing terrorists. Of course, since that many more terrorist attacks in countries world, such as Kenya, Iraq, England, One year later, Harper made regarding another social issue. In demands for a national inquiry into murdered Indigenous women, he “urged away from understanding missing and aboriginal women as a ‘sociological and instead suggested Canadians ‘view 01_ch01.indd 7 and 19th centuries (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). It was a time of European colonialism, whereby European powers assumed partial or full control over nations in other parts of the world (e.g., Africa, the Americas). European people became aware of other cultures, seeing that there were many different ways that social life could be organized. Colonialism also created relationships of economic exploitation; it was often accompanied by colonization, when colonial powers established permanent settlements, appropriating Indigenous populations’ lands and exploiting those peoples. The process of industrialization was taking place, establishing a capitalist economic system, the transition to wage labour, and growing urbanization. Political revolutions were at hand, such as the French Revolution (1789–1799), whereby absolute monar- chies were replaced by democratic systems of govern- ance. Not only numerous social forces were changing, but also intellectual forces (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). The French Revolution was accompanied by the Enlightenment, bringing in an age of reason based on science rather than religion. These changes were viewed positively by some, as illustrating that ordinary citizens could create large-scale transformations in society. Yet they were perceived negatively by others, as contributing to social disorder. It was the latter, more conservative view, that most influenced the development of sociology (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). Scholars wondered how it was possible for society not to crumble in the midst of these massive changes. It was in this social environment that sociology emerged. Philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857) suggested that scientific methods could be used to study social life. Just as the physical sciences identified the laws governing the natural world, social science could uncover the laws gov- erning the social world. Colonialism: One nation assumes partial or He first called this science full control over nations in “social physics.” In this other parts of the world. case, the word “physics Colonization: The did not refer to process whereby pline of physics that we colonial powers establish permanent settlements know today but rather in their colonies, the study of the appropriating Indigenous a phenomenon—social populations’ lands and exploiting those peoples. physics meant to study the nature of the social Social statics: world. In his five-volume In Auguste Comte’s view, forms of social set of books called Cours organization. de Philosophie Positive (1830–1842), he Social dynamics: In Auguste Comte’s view, this new science, which he processes of social change. would later call sociology. Its analysis would focus 8 PART 1 Practising Sociology: Your Sociological 01_ch01.indd 8 TIME TO REVIEW What is sociology, and what is the role of the sociological imagination? Who should be using the sociological imagination and for what purpose? What are the origins of sociology, and what are social statics and social dynamics? How is sociology related to other disciplines? LO4 BUILDING YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION: YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TOOLKIT If the sociological imagination is necessary connections between people, and if it is effective social action from your own personal level to society’s (or the world’s) does it come from? In the same way that you need a variety of tools to build a shed in your (e.g., hammer and saw), several tools, an array of settings, will enable you to sociological imagination: empirical research methods, sociological theories, and critical thinking. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH METHODS As was pointed out earlier, “reliable knowledge” (Fletcher, 1971, p. 36) must serve as the basis of social action. Empirical methods are used to create that knowledge. Sociological research methods are empirical because, through direct observation of the social world, they generate findings that can be veri- fied by other members of the academic community. In Chapter 2, you will learn more about the steps in the sociological research process and the systematic pro- cedures that comprise its empirical methods. YOUR SOCIOLOGICAL TOOLKIT SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY LO5 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIZING The data gathered using empirical methods are explained using sociological theories. Sociological the- orizing was central to explaining changes during the 01_ch01.indd 9 that knowledge to emancipation—empowering subor- dinated groups in society. For example, critical theo- rizing might analyze how members of certain social groups are subordinated in society in many ways, including through being victimized by hate crimes— and emphasize the importance of changing society in order to end that subordination. Positivist, interpretive, and critical approaches theorizing give rise to a number of specific theoret- ical perspectives in sociology. Some address the micro level, emphasizing individuals as the basic component of society, whereas others emphasize the macro level, focusing on social institutions as the basic component of society. Sociological theories that were developed in the early years of the discipline are often consid- ered to be classical sociological theories and foundation for subsequent theorizing. Those created more recently (roughly since the mid-20th century) are thought of as contemporary sociological theories. If you continue in your sociological studies, you may encounter specific courses by those names. LO6 CORE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES The core theoretical perspectives in sociology are the functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionist, femi- nist, and postmodern perspectives. One easy way to help you consider these perspectives is to think of them as different “lenses” through which one can view the world. Some perspectives are similar to lenses that become darker or lighter when exposed to different levels of light. When we identify patterns of subordi- nation and inequality in a critical way, society looks somewhat “darker”; however, because these perspec- tives also provide for the Classical sociological possibility of emancipa- theories: Sociological tion, the “brighter” side theories developed in the of society can be seen as early years of the discipline and form the foundation for well. Other theoretical subsequent theorizing. perspectives are more like Contemporary “rose-coloured” glasses, sociological theories: where society is viewed Sociological theories in a positive, cohesive developed since the mid- 20th century. manner, and the goal is to keep everything run- Manifest functions: ning smoothly. You will An intended function of one of society’s structures. also encounter perspec- tives that seem more like Latent functions: regular “clear” glasses, An unintended positive function of one of society’s wherein the nature of the structures. viewpoint depends on the person who is wearing 10 PART 1 Practising Sociology: Your Sociological 01_ch01.indd 10 of norms and values (i.e., criteria by which we deter- mine whether something is right or wrong, such as the principle of equality), and those norms and values exist because most people agree they should exist. Should an unintended problem emerge with one or more of the main foundational structures (i.e., a latent dysfunction), consensus is threatened, which puts society as a whole in peril. For instance, the lack of lunch-time supervision in schools in the 1970s might have created a host of problems, such as physical harm coming to unsupervised children. Since the focus is on stability and social order, the functionalist perspec- tive assumes that in most cases, other structures will adapt to restore order, just as when other blocks in a Jenga tower are sometimes able to support additional weight after one block is removed. In a similar way, the education system started to assume responsibility for the lunch-time supervision of children. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) is recognized as one of the foundational figures in sociology and of the functionalist view. He claimed that the purpose of sociology was to study social facts—those aspects of society that exist over and above any specific indi- viduals or groups, and that control people’s actions. Material social facts have a tangible reality, such as currency, the education system, and the government. Non-material social facts are intangible, taking the form of ideas such as morals, norms, and values; it was these that Durkheim was most interested in (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). Because of social facts, many people act in similar ways. For example, when the national anthem is played at a sporting event, most people automatically stand up, without giving it much thought. Moving from a smaller community to the large city of Paris during the peak of industrialization, Durkheim saw how social facts change over time within a society and elaborated on what happens when society changes too rapidly. With industrialization, societies transition from a situation of mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity (Durkheim, 1893/1933). In preindustrial societies, people are bonded together by their simi- larity—by a collective conscience, or shared system of morals. With industrialization, a more complex divi- sion of labour develops. People are no longer bonded to others because of similarity but rather because of difference. People need each other because of the dif- ferent roles they play in the division of labour, like store owner, physician, accountant, police officer, and schoolteacher. When society changes too quickly, social bonds disintegrate—at least temporarily, until new forms develop (Durkheim, 1893/1933). This rapid social change, such as what was seen in Europe after the 01_ch01.indd 11 THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE Like the functionalist perspective, the conflict perspec- tive is a macro-level view that focuses on large insti- tutions. Whereas the functionalist perspective takes a positivist approach that looks for the causes of social phenomena, the conflict view takes a critical approach that emphasizes power and emancipation. Through a darker lens, the conflict perspective proposes that society is characterized by conflict and competition over scarce resources. You might recall playing “king of the castle” as a child, where each child strives to reach the top of a piece of playground equipment and then prevent other children from reaching that posi- tion. In this game, the child at the top might even use physical force to keep other children from reaching the top by pushing their hands away as they reach for the top of the equipment. Similarly, the conflict perspective views society as comprising a small group of powerful people at the top of the social hierarchy and a large group of power- less people at the bottom. Those at the top control the resources and hence have a vested interest in struc- turing society in such a way as to keep the large group of powerless people at the bottom. This way, the pow- erful people are able to increase their own resources and maintain control of them. Karl Marx (1818–1883) is credited as one of the founders of the conflict perspective. As someone who was perceived as having radical political views, he experienced oppression by the government in power. At various times, he had to flee (or was expelled from) Cologne, Paris, and Brussels for his political activi- ties and publications. Marx emphasized capitalism, the economic system that emerged as part of indus- trialization, as the driving force of inequality (Marx, 1867/1967). He focused specifically on the power differentials between the owners of Bourgeoisie: In Marxist the means of production conflict theory, the owners of the means of production. (i.e., the bourgeoisie) those who are employed Proletariat: In Marxist by those owners (i.e., conflict theory, the people who work for the owners of the proletariat ). Marx the means of production. proposed that human Surplus value: beings are naturally Products are sold for more ductive, with money than they cost to tities firmly invested produce. in their daily labour. Alienation: The Capitalism interferes detachment that exists this productive process between the worker and their labour as perpetuated because of its under capitalism. in surplus value; within capitalism, products must 12 PART 1 Practising Sociology: Your Sociological 01_ch01.indd 12 others to control aspects of the work environment. Even within families, some members have more power than others by virtue of controlling the economic or emotional resources. In later chapters, various conflict theories will be applied to specific topics. For example, conflict theo- rists highlight how education reproduces the existing social order and poses significant disadvantages for particular groups in society (see Chapter 10). And in Chapter 15, dependency theory proposes that relation- ships of exploitation have emerged between developed nations and underdeveloped nations, which have been exploited for their natural resources, such as gold, coffee, and oil. Conflict theories do more than merely analyze social inequality. Just as some lenses may become lighter under certain conditions, conflict theories propose that conditions of inequality can be changed to eliminate that inequality; this draws attention to a “brighter” view of society. In his description of the evolution of world economic systems, Marx described a time in the future when the proletariat would rise up to unite and fight their oppressors. The notion of praxis—the responsibility that scholars have to pro- vide subordinated groups in society with the knowl- edge they need to end their powerlessness—was emphasized in Marx’s early work. Thus, the conflict perspective is tightly linked to practice, such as large- scale social movements (e.g., the Civil Rights move- ment in the mid-20th century). The conflict and functionalist perspectives both emphasize the macro level. Other perspectives focus on the micro level—that is, the people who make up society rather than the institutions. One of these per- spectives is the symbolic interactionist perspective. THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE The symbolic interactionist perspective (also known more simply as the interactionist perspective) takes an interpretive approach that analyzes how we develop understanding. It is attributed to the pioneering work of George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) and Herbert Blumer (1900–1987). You can think of the inter- actionist perspective as a way to look at the world through regular, clear lenses. It focuses on the micro level, in that society is depicted as comprising individ- uals who are engaged in various forms of communica- tion, through words, facial expressions, gestures, and clothing (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934). These symbolic forms of communication come to mean particular things to certain people based on common shared 01_ch01.indd 13 his dramaturgical theory (Goffman, 1959). Goffman proposes that social life is very much like the theatre, with a front stage and a back stage. On the front stage, actors perform their roles for an audience—like the role of Macbeth in a Shakespearean play. Similarly, we perform our own roles when we are with other people—like the role of student when in a university classroom. We engage in impression management to ensure that our appearances, words, and actions cor- respond to the specific roles we are playing (e.g., stu- dent; schoolteacher; grandchild). When actors retreat to the back stage, they discard their roles by taking off their stage makeup, changing into their own clothes, and setting aside their scripts. We also discard specific roles when we are no longer in front of certain people. Thus, when you leave campus you no longer have to act like a university student; when you leave work, you can discard the role that you play with your boss, coworkers, clients, or customers. In Chapter 11, you will see dramaturgical theory applied to the topic of deviance. In his book Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, Goffman (1961) presents his theory on total institutions. A total insti- tution is a place where people are segregated or iso- lated from the outside world. They must sleep, eat, work, and play within its confines. Goffman stated that prisons, psychiatric insti- tutions, concentration Front stage: In camps, the military, mon- dramaturgical theory, the asteries, and boarding social roles we play when in front of other people. schools are examples of total institutions. Total Back stage: In institutions are signifi- dramaturgical theory, our identities and behaviours cant for people’s identi- when we are no longer in ties and understandings front of certain people. of self. These institutions Impression use intense bureaucratic management: The processes to dismantle process by which we people’s existing identities control our appearances, words, and actions so they and build new identi- correspond to the specific ties that are appropriate to roles we are playing. their roles within the insti- Total institution: An tution. Thus, someone in isolated social system in a psychiatric institution which certain individuals are housed, looked after, becomes a “patient” and and socialized apart from someone in the military the wider society. becomes a “soldier” who Feminism: The system must learn to act and of ideas and political think in certain ways— practices based on the ways that meet the needs principle that women are human beings of the institution itself. A equal to men. patient must comply with physicians’ instructions 14 PART 1 Practising Sociology: Your Sociological 01_ch01.indd 14 articles, taught sociology, and was a member of the American Sociological Society. At the time of its writing, her book Illustrations of Political Economy (1832/2004) even outsold Charles Dickens’ books. Her scholarly work was strongly intertwined with practice. She was a speaker for social reform, not only for women but also for trade unionists, immigrants, Black people, and the working class (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007b). A generation later, Martineau was followed by a long list of female scholars who associated themselves with the discipline of sociology: Beatrice Potter Webb (1858–1943), Anna Julia Cooper (1858–1964), Jane Addams (1860–1935), Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935), Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931), Marianne Weber (1870–1954), and more. Like Martineau, besides being scholars, they were socially and politically active. Feminist sociologists in the early years viewed sociology as “a project of social critique in which research and theory had a morally necessary focus on the description, analysis, and correction of social inequality” (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007b, p. 10). But they were also highly diverse in terms of the forms of inequality they focused on, the research methodolo- gies they used, and the balance of empirical research and theory in their work. Feminist sociology is equally diverse today (if not more so); this is evident when we focus our attention on feminist theory. FEMINIST SOCIOLOGY TODAY Because of the diversity that characterizes feminist theory, feminist perspectives are difficult to discuss in an overview. Various feminist theories are labelled liberal, radical, socialist, or postcolonial, and the list goes on (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). They can differ © timyee/shutterstock.com Feminism is represented not only by academic theories but also social and political activism. 01_ch01.indd 15 a marginalized and oppressed group, have been ignored or derided. Smith argues that central to feminist theory and practice is listening to women’s voices and experi- ences. More broadly, she proposes that because people’s experiences of larger social structures are dependent on their standpoints, the only way to understand (and change) those structures at the macro level is to under- stand people’s everyday lived experiences at the micro level. The assumption that scholars must explore the social relations that structure people’s everyday lives has expanded beyond feminist theory and practice and is now integrated into other areas of study and practice as well, such as education, human services, and policy development. Feminist practice ranges from the micro level to the macro level. At the most micro of levels, it can inform how individuals make choices and carry out their everyday activities, as well as the ways in which they interact with their partners or socialize their children. At the community level, feminist prac- tice is the foundation for various programs, such as “women in science” summer camps that encourage girls to pursue further education in science. At a more macro level, it underlies changes in school curricula, such as the courses that are made available to male and female students, as well as the content of school textbooks. At the most macro of levels, feminism is the foundation for large-scale social movements, such as the suffrage movement that gave some Canadian women the right to vote in federal elections (1918), and the recent #MeToo and #TimesUp movements on Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology “ ” It can be said that the first wisdom of sociology is this—things are not what they seem. (Berger, 1963, p. 23) OUTCOMES chapter, students should be able to do the following: relationship LO5 Contrast positivist, interpretive, and critical choices and larger approaches to theorizing. LO6 Outline the core assumptions of the func- and identify the role of tionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionist, feminist, and postmodern perspectives. context in which LO7 Identify what critical thinking is and explain its importance. disciplines. LO8 Describe the four different ways that soci- the tools that are used to ology can be practised. imagination. 3/19/21 10:33 PM How many times have you yourself? we can see automatically © Stokkete/shutterstock.com a screen on what you initial response But if you is more than very dif- If we look closely, we can see that there is more than meets the eye in this image. squares of ways that society shapes your personal choices, you are starting to practise sociology by seeing the strange in the familiar (Berger, 1963). When examining your choice to become a student, you might first consider specific people who influenced your decision, such as the family members and friends who supported, encouraged, or demanded that option. You could then go on to look at some of the more per- sonal social and economic resources that enabled you to become a university or college student—a student loan, a Registered Education Saving Plan (RESP), or parents who support you. The personal resources you have available are important factors that underlie your ability to pursue a postsecondary education. But using a sociological perspective requires you to analyze even beyond your own family, friends, and resources. In much the same way that many of your classmates chose to wear similar clothing to you, many others have elected to attend university or college alongside you. In the 2016–2017 academic year, more than 2 million students were registered in Canadian postsecondary institutions (Statistics Canada, 2019a). That means more than 2 million people—with different families, sets of friends, and personal resources—all made the same personal choice that year! Explaining Strange in the this fact requires you to familiar: Instead of extend your sociological assuming that people’s actions are determined gaze beyond your own solely by personal choice, life to larger sociocul- looking for the ways that tural and socioeconomic society shapes those choices. forces affecting many people simultaneously, or General in the seeing the general in the particular: The broader social patterns that are particular (Berger, 1963). reflected in the actions of For instance, when individuals. the unemployment rate CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 3 3/19/21 10:33 PM World War, the doors of many universities would have been closed to you, regardless of your academic ability and desire to pursue a university education. Similarly, if you were an Indigenous person in the early 20th cen- tury, the residential school that you would have been forced to attend by law would not have given you the education necessary to gain entrance to a university. And although the opportunity for a university educa- tion is available to everyone in the 21st century, sociolo- gists point out that the ability to take advantage of that opportunity is not equally available to all. Pursuing a postsecondary education often means taking time away from paid employment, at least on a full-time basis, which reduces one’s income. Postsecondary studies are expensive as well. In 2019– 2020, the average annual cost of tuition in under- graduate programs was $6,463, and even higher for professional programs like law ($12,388), medicine ($14,162), and dentistry ($21,717) (Statistics Canada, 2019b). Thus, access to a university education—and especially a professional education—comes more easily to members of some socioeconomic groups than to others. Max Weber (1864–1920), a scholar whose work is foundational to the discipline of sociology, referred to these varying opportunities that people face as life chances (1978). Socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and gender are just some of the factors that affect one’s life chances. Although here we have discussed life chances within the context of postsec- ondary studies, we can see them in all aspects of our lives (see Sociology in My Life). LIFE CHANCES and scoring the goal that will win their team the Stanley Cup. All it takes is skill and determination. Or does it? A closer look reveals that becoming a professional hockey player also involves life chances. To become a player of the calibre to be drafted by a professional team, youth must participate in organized hockey programs. This ranges from Timbits hockey for young children (under the age of six) to major junior hockey for the most elite players under the age of 21 (Canadian Hockey League, 2019; Hockey Canada, 2019). A growing number of sports writers argue that the nature of organized hockey constrains participa- tion, saying, “It’s too expensive, it’s too white, and continued Sociological Toolkit 3/19/21 10:33 PM 2019, para. 2). Con- hockey. Hockey per year, and on registra- (Stinson, 2019). For there are additional training work- © Jody Single/shutterstock.com schools that brings the annual per year (Campbell Stinson, 2019). Thus, almost two-thirds families with a per year, as profes- Many children dream of being a hockey star, but the costs of (Bishop, 2017; organized hockey programs are an obstacle. Fitzgerald describes skills work- on being born into a higher-income family. You will going to call the cops on learn more about the ways that socioeconomic status, in the parking lot race, ethnicity, gender, and other factors impact life Rover?’... It’s insane: chances in later chapters. they are all Think Outside the Box: What extracurricular activities were facilitated by your own life chances while growing up? What extracurricular activities were impeded? FIGURE 1.1 Figure 1.1). This Personal Choices and Social Forces have exam- macro level) level). in that your the people Social Forces Personal Choices enough support for affected—either occurs. practices and social pro- supervision or be sent to a classmate’s home. Less than a decade later, pro- Micro level: The level of individual experiences and cesses and procedures had choices. been developed around the need for lunch-hour Macro level: The level of broader social forces. supervision. Why did such a dramatic change Agency: People’s occur in such a relatively capacity to make choices, which then have an impact short time? Because eco- on other people and on the nomic and social fac- society in which they live. tors changed the lives of CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 5 3/19/21 10:33 PM connections that exist between people. In this way, from a sociological perspective society is a system of connections between people, connections that are organized or coordinated in some way, rendering them meaningful. We see these meaningful connec- tions take several forms (Scott & Marshall, 2015): as the social actions of individuals and groups (such as pulling your chair in when someone is trying to pass behind you in class, or a group of people cheering for their favourite soccer team); as “collective rep- resentations” or ways of “cognitively organizing the world” (para. 5) over and above specific individuals and groups (such as through language); and as larger structures in society that persist over time (such as the economy or the government). Different approaches to sociology focus attention on one or another of these forms of connection comprising society. Because society is viewed as a system of connec- tions, that means diverse social phenomena are inter- woven. C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) considered the linkages between the micro and macro levels, or the “intersections of biography and history” (1959/2000, p. 7), as being of the utmost importance. He proposed that the essence of sociology is tracing the connections between individual experiences and larger social forces using the sociological imagination. For example, we can use the sociological imagination to explore body modification. If we consider why a particular person gets a tattoo or a piercing, the answer may tell us some- thing specific about that one individual, such as that they are a risk taker. But when we consider the nature of body modification in general, we learn about larger social relationships (Bereska, 2022). We learn about workplace norms, in that people must hide their body art in certain workplaces but not others (Timming, 2015). We also learn about interpersonal relationships, such as in the historical and contemporary practice of memorial tattoos (DeMello, 2016). Similarly, we learn about norms governing gender. Women with tattoos are perceived more negatively than men with tattoos (Broussard & Harton, 2017). We identify alle- giances to certain subcultures since tattoos can indi- cate membership in particular gangs. We even learn about the ideologies of subcultures—for example, a “Poison-Free” tattoo on a member of the Straightedge subculture signifies commitment to a substance-free lifestyle (Straightedge Worldwide, 2019). Mills (1959/2000) did not see the sociological imagination as an intellectual tool to be used solely by sociologists (or even by students in sociology classes); he proposed that society as a whole needed its citizens to look for the links between the macro and micro levels. In fact, Mills criticized many of his fellow sociologists for spending their time intellectualizing Toolkit 3/19/21 10:33 PM course. Many of the topics studied by sociologists are also analyzed by researchers in other social science disciplines—culture and cultural variations (anthro- pology and cultural studies), political forces (political science and development studies), occupational and economic forces (economics and political economy), families (family studies and social work), and media (psychology, cultural studies, and communications). What, then, makes certain work sociological in nature? Scholars within the discipline of sociology were not the first to study human societies. Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun’s work (1332–1406) is recognized as a sig- nificant forerunner to sociology (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). He studied the structures and processes of power in different groups (ranging from desert tribes to nations). He proposed that as groups grew in size, labour was no longer used for survival but rather for the pursuit of luxury for the wealthy and powerful (Alatas, 2014). Sociology as a discipline later emerged in a particular context of place and time. It can be traced to a historical period of rapid social, political, and economic change, reaching its apex in the 18th (Kaye & Béland, 2014). Once again, he argued that understanding the reasons that Indigenous women are overrepresented as victims of violence was of less value than apprehending and punishing individual criminals. Why is it important to “commit sociology”? Fletcher (1971) argued that sociology is of “central importance in and for our time” (p. 5). Several decades this is not a time later, his argument is stronger than ever: 2013). In Harper’s We would like to eliminate from society terrorism was of war, poverty, crime and delinquency. … We individual would like to improve matters; to remove time, there have been these obstacles to social justice; and would around the therefore like to know the underlying causes and Canada. of these social facts. Then, on the basis of a similar point this knowledge, if we could get it, we would response to like to formulate effective social policies missing and and institute political reforms.… [We must] Canadians establish reliable knowledge on the basis of murdered which to act. For we quickly learn that we phenomenon’ can only effectively change the nature of it as a crime’” society … if we know what that nature is.1 CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 7 3/19/21 10:33 PM on two key dimensions of society, social organization (social statics) and social change (social dynamics). The knowledge generated by sociology would then be put into practice, creating new and better forms of social organization. By proposing that social phenomena were interconnected through forms of social organization and processes of social change, Auguste Comte created the foundation for the sociological perspective. Although the sociological perspective emerged in the 19th century, the formation of distinct disciplines is a more recent phenomenon. In the 20th century, distinct boundaries were constructed around bodies of knowledge and the subject matter of specific disci- plines (Delanty, 2005, 2007). Thus, while historians studied the past, anthropologists studied premodern societies, political scientists analyzed structures of governance, and economists studied the production and consumption of goods and services. The atten- tion of scholars within each of these disciplines was focused on a certain part of society. In contrast, soci- ologists studied all of these parts of society while using a wider range of research methodologies and theories (Delanty, 2005, 2007). Hence, sociology can be thought of as the most comprehensive of the social sciences. However, sociology goes a step further by rec- ognizing that society is more than a compilation of history plus government plus the economy (and so on). Because society is based on connections between people, there is a web of interconnectedness among its parts—they interact in particular ways, and those interactions constitute all social phenomenon, such as social problems (e.g., terrorism and environmental destruction) or even more mundane aspects of eve- ryday life (e.g., tattooing and social media use). What governs a sociological approach is an analysis of those interactions—the meaningful connections that exist between people, from the micro level of individual experiences to the macro level of larger social forces. ” the disci- nature of © kentoh/shutterstock.com outlined Sociology is distinct from other disciplines by focusing on!meaningful connections between people, in their varied!forms. Toolkit 3/19/21 10:33 PM 18th and 19th centuries (e.g., the French Revolution) and continues to be crucial to understanding and explaining society. A theory is a set of propositions intended to explain a fact or a phenomenon. Theorizing can be thought of as “puzzle-building” (Bengston et al., 2005, p. 5), trying to fit the pieces of some social phenom- enon together in order to reveal a cohesive picture. Theories are developed for different purposes, which correspond to three different approaches to theorizing: positivist, interpretive, and critical (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018; Stepnisky, 2018; White et al., 2019). Positivist approaches stem from the natural sci- ences and have an interest in objective explanation and prediction. In the social sciences, such approaches are used to examine relationships between variables in an effort to learn more about how society works, enabling subsequent improvements in the social environment. For example, knowledge of factors that contribute to hate crimes can lead to the development of more effec- tive prevention and intervention efforts. In contrast, interpretive theorizing and critical theorizing reject the positivist assumption that there are objective “laws” gov- to study erning the way society works. Instead, they emphasize necessary for the cultural and historical specificity of all processes. micro Interpretive approaches focus on understanding— macro level, where the ways that people come to understand themselves, others, and the world around them. They presume that backyard human beings are “self-interpreting animals” (Taylor, when used in 1985, p. 45), constructed develop your and shaped through cul- Empirical methods: ture. Here, the goal of Data collection that sociology is to describe produces verifiable findings the role culture plays in and is carried out using creating people and soci- systematic procedures. eties and how people Theory: A set of come to think about their propositions intended to explain a fact or a positions within that cul- phenomenon. ture and their relations with other people. For Positivist: An approach to theorizing that instance, interpretive emphasizes explanation theorizing might explore and prediction. what masculinity means Interpretive: An to men who have been approach to theorizing convicted of hate crimes. that focuses on the ways people come to understand Critical approaches themselves, others, and the explore the role that world around them. power plays in social pro- Critical: An approach to cesses, the reason that theorizing that explores some people’s under- the role power plays in standings of the world social processes and emphasizes the importance become dominant (such of knowledge being tied to as through being reflected emancipation. in legislation); it then ties CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 9 3/19/21 10:33 PM © Rachata Teyparsit/shutterstock.com to According to the functionalist perspective, each structure in society plays a role in keeping society together. form the them. Finally, some lenses are non-traditional, such as those created through laser surgery or the fragmented lens of a kaleidoscope. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE Functionalism, also known as structural function- alism, takes a positivist approach to theorizing. It has its origins in the early development of sociology. Its overriding concern is with how social order is main- tained, especially during times of significant societal change. Through this “rosy” lens, everything in society works to restore order and balance. It is a macro-level perspective, in that society is perceived as comprising a number of structures (e.g., institutions such as the family, economy, education, government, and reli- gion), each of which fulfills important functions that keep society running smoothly. This is similar to the classic game Jenga, where each wooden block helps to maintain the stability of the tower (Bereska, 2022). Some of the functions served by each structure are manifest functions, those that an institution is intended to fulfill; for instance, the manifest function of postsecondary education is job training. Other func- tions are latent functions, those that are unintended but still have a positive outcome; a latent function of postsecondary education is mate selection, in that although educational institutions were not created to help students find people to date, it often happens nonetheless. All of society’s structures are necessary to maintain social order. Should something go awry with one of the structures (e.g., the economy), the entire social order is at risk of collapsing, just as removing the wrong block in a game of Jenga can cause the tower to fall apart. A core assumption of the functionalist perspective is that consensus and cooperation are fundamental to the maintenance of social order. Society is made up Toolkit 3/19/21 10:33 PM French Revolution and later during industrializa- tion, creates what Durkheim labelled anomie, a state wherein traditional norms deteriorate, processes of social control decline, and institutions become dys- functional. In this unfamiliar situation, people are unregulated; they are uncertain about how to act and they receive insufficient guidance from others. Problematic behaviours can emerge as a result. In Durkheim’s time, he proposed that anomie contrib- uted to higher rates of suicide in places that were industrializing quickly (Durkheim, 1897/1951). Today, in entertainment fiction, we often see anomie portrayed in accounts of the post-apocalyptic world (e.g., on the tel- Values: Collectively shared criteria by which evision show The Walking we determine whether Dead), where people who something is right or used to live ordinary lives wrong. suddenly become brutal Latent dysfunction: dictators or members An unintended negative function of one of society’s of violent gangs. In the structures. nonfictional world, the concept of anomie can be Social facts: Observable social phenomena external applied to the aftermath to individuals that exercise of large-scale natural dis- power over them. asters that have an impact Material social facts: on a region’s infrastruc- Social facts that have a ture (e.g., where we may tangible reality, such as the see people looting from education system and the government. stories), rapid techno- logical change (e.g., Non-material social facts: Social facts that are where we may see racist intangible, such as morals, ideas being expressed in norms, and values. social media), or even Mechanical global pandemics (e.g., solidarity: The social where we may see people bonds that exist in hoarding products like preindustrial societies based on similarities toilet tissue). among people. In later chapters, you will see functionalist the- Organic solidarity: The social bonds that exist ories applied to many spe- in industrialized societies cific topics—for instance, based on the different roles Durkheim’s ideas about that people play in the division of labour. how deviant behav- iour can be functional Collective conscience: The unified body of for society, Parsons’ and cultural knowledge that Bales’ theorizing about is transmitted in group gender roles (e.g., Parsons religious rituals. & Bales, 1955), as well Anomie: A state as Merton’s work on the wherein traditional norms normative structure of deteriorate, processes of social control decline, science and the causes of and institutions become deviance (Merton, 1938, dysfunctional. 1968, 1973). CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 11 3/19/21 10:33 PM be sold for more money than they cost to produce. This is the only way that business owners can make a profit, and thereby expand the capitalist economic system through reinvestment. One way to ensure surplus value is by “perform[ing] the simple trick of paying the workers less than they deserved, because they received less pay than the value of what they actu- ally produced in a work period” (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018, p. 24). In this way, the bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat. Because the proletariat are paid insuffi- cient wages relative to the labour they provide, they experience alienation, becoming distanced from the products they produce, the productive process, their coworkers, and humanity. The consequences of alienation can be far reaching. For example, in a later chapter you will learn about the path from alienation to deviant behaviour. Later conflict theorists looked to additional sources of social inequality. Although Max Weber (1864–1920) concurred that capitalism was inter- twined with inequality, he maintained that the source of that inequality was not economic but ideological. In Chapter 10, you will learn more about the changes in religious doctrine that Weber argued were necessary for the emergence of capitalism. Resources are distributed unequally not only between groups but also within them; thus, conflict occurs within groups as well (Engels, 1884/1972). In workplaces, some individuals have more power than and conflict and pro- duncan1890/gettyimages.ca their iden- with foundation Karl Marx proposed that capitalism is fundamentally based on business owners exploiting their workers. Toolkit 3/19/21 10:33 PM understandings that develop between them—much like after many years of marriage, spouses can often finish one another’s sentences. Communication can be direct, such as between people who are in the same room, talking on the telephone, texting one another, or having an email exchange. It can also be indirect, such as when actors, directors, writers, journalists, news anchors, and musicians communicate to an audience at home. During our lifetimes, as we communicate with others, we come to attribute meaning to our experiences and thereby develop particular perceptions of, under- standings of, and reactions to ourselves, other people, and the world around us. Our understandings grow and change over time and from situation to situation depending on with whom we are communicating. Significant others —the specific people who are most important to us, such as parents, partners, children, close friends, or maybe even our favourite professors—play an important role in our socializa- tion, the lifelong process by which we acquire the knowledge and skills for everyday life in society. We can say we have passed through all of the main stages of socialization once we have developed what Mead (1934) called a “generalized other.” The generalized other is not a specific person but rather an overall sense of people’s expectations; even if we are not in the presence of someone who is important to us, we may still care about what “others” think of the way we look or act. This reflects our ability to take into account not only our individual perspective, or the perspectives of specific people we care about, but also the perspectives of a multitude of nameless, faceless people. For example, when getting ready for a date, you might wonder what your best friend would say about your new fragrance (i.e., significant others) or what “people” (none of whom you personally know) will think when you walk into the restaurant in the clothes you are considering wearing (i.e., generalized other). Canadian-born soci- ologist Erving Goffman Praxis: The responsibility (1922–1982) is one of the that scholars have to provide subordinated and most well-known inter- marginalized groups in actionist theorists of the society with the knowledge 20th century. Although his they need to be able to end their powerlessness. body of work is diverse, he is especially known for Significant others: his theories on the pres- People who are important to us. entation of self and total institutions. In his book Generalized other: An overall sense of people’s The Presentation of Self in expectations. Everyday Life, he outlines CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 13 3/19/21 10:33 PM and the routines within the nursing unit. A soldier must stand at attention when a superior officer enters the room and follow orders without question. After a period of time, people start to think of themselves differently; they are no longer the same person they were upon entering the institution. These changes in identity can create challenges when people leave the total institution and adapt to life outside its walls, such as when members of the military retire, or people are released from prison after many years. Within sociology, the symbolic interactionist per- spective has been applied to an array of topics, from how we come to develop a particular ethnic or gender identity to how our understanding of illness has implications for recovery. This array of topics shares an emphasis on how we come to understand our own lives and the lives of others. FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES Feminism is “the system of ideas and political practices based on the principle that women are human beings equal to men” (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007a, para. 1). This may be a taken-for-granted assumption for most of you, but as you will see in Chapter 7, it is a relatively recent idea in world history and is still not accepted by all. Feminism includes social and political practice, as well as academic work, both empirical and theoretical. Feminism and sociology have had a rela- tionship since the discipline’s beginnings, and that rela- tionship rests on feminist social and political practice. FEMINISM AND SOCIOLOGY: THE EARLY YEARS A history of sociology often reads as if it were a history of male scholarship. However, women have played an important role in the development of the discipline. During the “first wave” of feminist sociology (1830– 1930), women who were engaged in feminist practice were attracted to this new social scientific field. Their practical efforts at emancipation (e.g., the right to vote) and a discipline that used scientific methods to solve social problems seemed a natural fit (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007a, 2007b). Female sociologists of this time were well-known public figures and were recognized by their male peers in sociology. The scholar most commonly recognized as a female founder of sociology is Harriet Martineau (1802– 1876). In addition to her sociological research and writing, she was an essayist and intellectual critic; she also wrote novels and children’s books. She translated Auguste Comte’s work into English and wrote the first major statement of method in sociology. In her career, she wrote eight major books, published more than 200 Toolkit 3/19/21 10:33 PM considerably. Some propose that men and women are inherently similar, with differences emerging only due to socialization; others claim that men and women are inherently different, highlighting female “nurturance” and male “aggression.” Some focus exclusively on the experiences of women, whereas others emphasize the ways that traditional gender roles and patriarchy (i.e., legal and/or social power vested in males) affect both men and women. Feminist theorizing is done within other theoretical perspectives as well (e.g., symbolic interactionist). But despite the differences in feminist theorizing, there are some areas of widespread agree- ment, described below. Like the conflict perspective, feminist perspectives draw attention to the “darker” side of society (i.e., inequalities based on gender), while also highlighting the “brighter” possibility of social change to reduce these equalities. First, feminist perspectives contend that academic research has traditionally been androcentric (or male- centred) and that it has failed to adequately study women’s experiences, instead treating men’s experi- ences as the normative human experience. The andro- centric bias is also evident in the manner in which the prolific work of female sociologists in the early years was subsequently erased from the histories of soci- ology that were developed in the mid-20th century and that were reproduced in Introductory Sociology books for many decades to come (Lengermann & Niebrugge, 2007a, 2007b). Second, these perspec- tives assume that society is structured on the basis of gender, and therefore that people’s experiences are also structured on the basis of gender. Males and females are often treated differently (e.g., parents buy trucks for their sons and dolls for their daughters) and often face differing expectations regarding their behaviour (e.g., women should not get tattoos). And third, these perspectives attest that research and theory must be intertwined with practice—the fundamental objective underlying all critical theories. Canadian sociologist Dorothy Smith (1987, 2005) is a foundational figure in contemporary feminist theory, with her work reflecting all three of these assumptions. As a young scholar in the 1960s, trying to balance her work in the male-dominated academic world with her role as a single parent, she realized that her experiences and view of the world differed from those of her male colleagues. Based on that experience, she proposed Patriarchy: Legal and/or that because men and social power that is vested women have occupied dif- in males. ferent positions in society, Androcentric: Male- they have developed dif- centred, failing to account ferent viewpoints. The for women’s experiences. standpoints of women, as CHAPTER 1 Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology 15 3/19/21 10:33 PM perspective (i.e., postmodern theory) (Ritzer & Stepnisky, 2018). The discipline of sociology emerged from the significant social change that accompanied the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, with the functionalist perspective explaining how social order could be maintained during such times. The postmodern perspective emerged from another time of significant social change, the post–Second World War era. Postmodernists point out the ways in which our lives have dramatically changed since the war. Before and during the war, Western societies were industrial, based primarily on manufacturing prod- ucts (e.g., tables and refrigerators). Since that time, they have largely lost their industrial base and now primarily produce ideas and images. As we go about our daily lives, we are bombarded by an endless array of ideas and images communicated through movies, music, advertisements, and other forms of media. There are so many messages that it can be difficult to know where to turn our attention! In this regard, it might be easy for you to think of the postmodern perspective as viewing the world through coloured contact lenses of your choosing, a technologically modified lens (e.g., via laser surgery), or even the fragmented lens of a kaleidoscope. Arising from this view of postwar society are two forms of postmodernism: skeptical and affirmative (Rosenau, 1992). Skeptical postmodernism proposes that these social changes have created inescapable chaos and meaninglessness; because this form of post- modernism precludes th

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