Key Concepts in the Social Sciences (2) PDF

WEEK 1 Chapter 1 - The Sociological Imagination Sociology: the systematic, skeptical and critical study of the social; 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 soc...

WEEK 1 Chapter 1 - The Sociological Imagination Sociology: the systematic, skeptical and critical study of the social; 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 → What are social sciences? -​ Seeing the general in the particular -​ Study of social patterns, categories (e.g. children compared to adults, rich compared to the poor), and groups -​ Seeing the strange in the familiar (things are not what they seem) -​ Defamiliarization -​ Seeing personal choice in social context (human behaviour is not as individualistic as we think, because we follow social patterns) -​ Tension in sociological thinking: -​ Structure: guided by society -​ Agency: our own actions → Benefits of the sociological perspective: -​ 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 -​ It enables us to assess both the opportunities and the constraints that characterise our lives -​ Shows us that our society operates in a particular way and what effects that might have -​ It helps us to be active participants in our society -​ The greater our understanding, the more actively we take part in shaping social life -​ It enables us to recognise human differences and suffering and to confront the challenges of living in a diverse world -​ Sociology also highlights the “bad” things → 4 major changes in Europe that drove the development of sociology: 1.​ Industrialization -​ 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 - Urban growth and migration 3.​ Political change: control and democracy -​ French revolution to break with political and social traditions -​ New phrases: individual liberty and individual rights 4.​ Change of communities -​ From Gemeinschaft (traditional familiar structure) to Gesellschaft (associations based on self-interest) (Ferdinand Tonnies) -​ Gemeinschaft: human community -​ Industrial revolution undermined family and tradition by fostering individualism and facts/efficiency​ -​ Close-knit relationship based on shared values -​ Loss of the social glue in communities -​ Gesellschaft: people live as strangers among each other → 3 classical perspective in sociology 1.​ Functionalism -​ Society as a complex system whose part are interconnected and working together - social structure -​ Manifest function: -​ Recognised and intended consequences of social patterns -​ Latent function: -​ Unrecognised and unintended consequences of social patterns) -​ Universities as places of education - manifest function but also as places of occupation - latent function -​ Our lives are guided by social structure (relatively stable patterns of social behaviour) -​ Social structure has social functions (consequences for operation of society) 2.​ Conflict perspective -​ Society as an arena of conflict due to various inequalities -​ Highlights division -​ Investigates how social class, race, ethnicity, sex, disability, age, etc. are linked to unequal distributions of money, power, education and social prestige -​ Classical perspective focus on class struggle - between bourgeoisie (the rich/the owners) and proletariat (workers, alienated from production) -​ Universities as places of inequality, serving elites while excluding minoritized groups, women (historically), and the working class  3.​ Social action perspective -​ Society as a collection of microlevel interactions between people - symbolic interactionism -​ Focuses on how people assemble social meanings -​ Micro-oriented (as opposed to the other perspective) -​ Dramaturgical analysis of Erving Goffman - theatricality of everyday life -​ Universities as places where we perform the role of student (vis a vis teachers & other students) and teachers Symbolic interactionism: theoretical framework that envisages society as the product of the everyday interactions of people doing things together WEEK 2 Societies and Culture Societies: people who interact in a defined space and shared culture Evolution of societies: 1-2-3 1.​ Hunting and gathering societies 2.​ Horticultural and pastoral societies 3.​ Agrarian societies Once society became more advances, people started doing different kinds of jobs, stronger sense of equality 1.​ Hunting and gathering societies -​ Simple technology for hunting animals and gathering vegetables -​ From the emergence of our species until 12000 years ago -​ Today: sharp in decline as they are more and more ravaged by the advance of industrial societies -​ Indigenous people: people with ties to the land, water and wildlife of their ancestral domain -​ Nomadic groups -​ Getting along with each other and getting along with the earth -​ Based on kinship: the family obtains and distributes the food, protects its member and teaches the necessary skills to children : collectivist societies -​ Most hunters and gatherers probably accorded men and women comparable social importance -​ Vulnerable to the forces of nature, accident and diseases -​ Few formal leaders, e.g. shaman (spiritual leader) -​ Simple and egalitarian organisation 2.​ Horticultural and pastoral societies -​ Horticulture: technology based on using hand tools to cultivate plants -​ Formed settlement, moving on only when the solid was depleted start of the multi-centered societies -​ Pastoralism: technology based on the domestication of animals -​ Nomadic -​ South America, Africa and Asia -​ Women are the primary providers of food -​ Increased food production, enabling societies to support hundreds of people -​ Domesticating plants and animals generates material surplus: more resources than are necessary to sustain day to day living -​ Surplus allows people to create crafts, engage in trade -​ Practice ancestor worship and conceive of God as creator. -​ Expanding productive technology also intensifies social inequality (positions of power and privilege when more food) -​ Rudimentary government, backed by military force, is formed to shore up the power of elites -​ Without the ability to communicate or travel quickly, a ruler can control only a limited number of people empire building slowly emerges 3.​ Agrarian societies -​ Agriculture: the technology of large-scale farming using ploughs harnessed to animals or more powerful sources of energy -​ Irrigation, wheel, use of metals, writing and numbers, pyramids, wall of China -​ Ploughs have the advantage of turning and aerating the soil increase fertility, which allowed agrarian societies to farm the same land for years: humanity’s first permanent settlements. -​ Enabled plantations to be larger bigger population -​ Increasing production = specialisation made the early barter system obsolete and prompted the invention of money as a common standard of exchange -​ Money facilitated trade, sparkling the growth of cities as economic centers with populations soaring into the millions -​ Dramatic social inequality (slavery) -​ On one hand we are progression, however in the back on our peers -​ Men were framed into a dominant position -​ Religion reinforces the power of agricultural elites -​ Doctrines propounded the idea that people are morally obligated to perform whatever tasks correspond to their place in the social order -​ Elites gained a lot of power: feudalism -​ Elites (freed from manual work) can devote their time to the study of philosophy, art and literature  -​ Services of administers were required to maintain control of empires -​ Political system becomes established as a distinct sphere of life -​ Increase human control over natural world -​ Greater specialisation and more social inequality Evolution of societies: 4 - industrial societies -​ Industrialism: “technology that powers sophisticated machinery with advanced source of energy” -​ Started around 1750 in Europe (UK) -​ The way people live changed dramatically in a short period of time -​ Exchange of global industrial movements -​ Faster transport, production, spread of ideas and goods around the world -​ Material surplus increases, kinship declines, further specialisation, further inequalities Evolution of societies: 5 - Post industrial societies -​ No longer based on large scale industrialised manufacturing -​ “Computer-linked technology that supports an information-based economy” -​ Information society, network society, cyber-society, post-modern society, post-fordist society -​ But: (a caution against) Technological determinism: technology does not determine societies. -​ It's not just driven by tech -​ The way the world developed is not purely because of tech, its more about how people make use of the technology Theories about modern society -​ Theory: a statement about how and why specific facts are related (based on a systematic analysis) 1.​ Karl Marx -​ Main points: -​ Materialist view on society: superstructure (media/culture/etc.) determined by infrastructure/base (how humans produce material goods) -​ Class conflict between bourgeoisie (the people that owns the means of production) and proletariat (the workers) – based on surplus appropriation -​ Founding father of communism -​ Had an idea of how society affects how we behave -​ Core argument: how things are being produced affects everything else -​ The “base” changes everything in society -​ Modern society (capitalism) is a product of changing relations of production -​ Workers are alienated from the act of working, the product of their work, other workers and their human potential -​ People working with no pleasure (alienated from the products) -​ People worked for the “rich” with low money -​ The rich becomes richer, the poor becomes poorer -​ Class consciousness “recognition by workers of their unity as a class in opposition to capitalists and, ultimately, to capitalism itself” -​ Inequality is rising, but the will be equality (communism) 2.​Max Weber -​ Societies change due to human ideas and values -​ Not because of changes in production, but changes in ideas, religion, values -​ Spirit of capitalism derives from Protestantism (God shows grace through material profit, people need to work for it, accumulate it, and save it -​ We don't know whether god has a plan, but if we’re doing well then that might mean we’re going to heaven -​ Led to capitalism -​ Modern art defined by rationalisation “historical change from tradition to rationality as the dominant mode of thought” -​ Rationality: deliberate, matter of fact calculation of the most efficient means to accomplish a goal -​ Rationalism: move from tradition to rationality -​ Rise of bureaucracies: truly rational organisations -​ McDonaldization of societies 3.​Emily Durkheim -​ Defines society as something more than sum of its parts -​ Looks at what keeps us together -​ Society is a complex system whose parts can work together to promote solidarity and stability -​ Structure (social facts as objective reality) and function (ex: crime as defining morality, not pathological) -​ Every elements in society has a role -​ Including crime -​ It shows that something is not working -​ Shows what you should and should NOT do -​ Modernity: a change in how solidarity’s achieved -​ Mechanical solidarity (strong social bonds) → organic solidarity (functional interdependence) -​ Organic solidarity tend to move to → Anomie: a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals Culture: designs for living; the values, beliefs, behaviour, practices and material objects that constitute a people’s way of life -​ Includes: -​ Material aspects: the tangible things created by members of a society -​ E.g. laptop, book, etc. -​ Immaterial aspects: intangible aspects, things you can’t touch created by members of a society -​ E.g. language, music and art, religion, etc. -​ Practices: how we think and act -​ Seems as something natural, but it's actually a social construct -​ Outside our individuality, but is inseparable to us -​ We are born into it, shaped by it, shape it consciously and unconsciously and pass it on (“second nature”) -​ Human par excellence -​ 5 components of culture: 1.​ Symbols a.​ Culture is a process of meaning making b.​ Something that represents something else i.​ E.g. flag, clothing, etc. c.​ Continuously used and deployed d.​ Meaning changes through time e.​ Allows people to give meaning to their lives 2.​ Language a.​ Primary source of cultural reproduction b.​ Through language, culture is passed on, allows for accumulation of knowledge c.​ Important source of social reproduction inclusion and exclusion i.​ E.g. IBCOM admissions and effect of dialects and accents d.​ Sapir-Whorf thesis: people take in reality through the cultural lens of language 3.​ Values and beliefs a.​ Values: the standards people have about what is good and bad; the shared beliefs that a group of people or a society have about what is good or bad, what is worth pursuing, and what is to be avoided; how reality should be b.​ Beliefs: specific, commonly shared beliefs about reality, about what is or exists in reality, that people hold to be true: what people think reality is i.​ Every social group has its basic beliefs ii.​ Collective beliefs from part of the basis of shared values and/or vice versa -​ European values:  -​ Can be seen as the long accumulation of what might be called the age of enlightenment: hold broadly to the values of rationality, science and progress people started to sense they were makers of the future -​ Core christian values are inherent (calendar) -​ Belief in citizenship: core values of rights and obligations -​ Because of the roots in feudal and aristocratic systems, Europe may be seen as a culture that highlights the principle of hierarchy -​ Asian values -​ Hard work is a virtue -​ Social contract between people and state -​ Teamwork and collectivism -​ Government should maintain a morally wholesome environment -​ Often these values have been used to justify authoritarian states -​ World values -​ Inglehart & Maslow: Traditional X secular-rational societies; survival X self-expression societies -​ Traditional societies: authority rooted in the past via religion or autocratic leaders -​ Secular-rational: less religious, individualistic -​ Survival (conservatives) and self-expression dimension involves themes that link to the arrival of the postmodern or post materialist societies -​ Post industrial societies post materialism (youngsters) -​ Age groups play a big role in deciding whether a society tends to be survival or self expressionist -​ Value inconsistency reflects cultural diversity of society and the process of cultural change by which new trends supplant older traditions -​ Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (survival → tradition) 4.​ Norms a.​ Concrete rules of conduct b.​ Norms: Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviour of its members; translation of general values into concrete rules of conduct c.​ Proscriptive norms: what we should NOT do d.​ Prescriptive norms: what we SHOULD do e.​ Many normative conventions are situation-specific f.​ Mores: a society’s standards of proper moral conduct; distinguish behaviours between right or wrong g.​ Folkways: a society’s costume for routine, causal interaction; people’s notion of what is right or rude h.​ Some standards are universal (not have sex with kids), other are context- and situation-bound (use of violence) -​ Are cultures now ‘global’? -​ Research into “cultural universal” -​ More than ever, contact between different cultures -​ Global economy: flows of goods and services -​ Global communication: flows of information and data -​ Global migration: flows of people -​ To some extent, we see the development of a flexible, open-minded, “cosmopolitan character type” -​ To some extent, there is increasing “cultural hybridization” -​ HOWEVER: -​ The flows of goods, information and people flow unevenly over the world. The access to these flows is uneven -​ Majority of humanity not only have limited access to the global circulating goods, services and information, but also cannot afford it -​ Although there is a great flow of specific consumer goods and mass culture, this does not mean that people everywhere attach the same meaning to it -​ Dealing with different cultures -​ Ethnocentrism: the practice of judging one culture by another culture’s standards -​ Cultural relativism: the practice of judging culture on its own terms -​ Study of “culture” implies recognition of differences and diversity -​ Different ways / contexts to talk about culture, cultural difference and cultural diversity: -​ High Culture vs. Low Culture, Highbrow/Middlebrow/LowBrow -​ Subculture/CounterCulture/Youth Culture -​ How to apply culture in media and communication? -​ How do marketing campaigns draw upon existing symbols? -​ How does language affect communication between employees? -​ How do cultural values affect the reception of television series? -​ How to market a new fashion brand (material culture) in different parts of the world? -​ How did the use of the concept of “neurodiversity” affect autism advocacy? 5.​ Material culture  WEEK 3 Social groups -​ Social groups: “two or more people who identify and interact with each other” -​ Primary social groups: “a small group sharing personal and enduring relationships” -​ Secondary social groups: “a large and impersonal group whose members pursue a specific interest or activity” -​ Reference groups: “a social group that serves as a point of reference in making evaluations and decisions” Group conformity -​ People do not like to think that they are conformists, that they follow the group -​ Power of the group pressure to shape human behaviour -​ Asch’s classic research (1952) note the length of a standard line -​ Conclusion: many people are willing to compromise their judgements to avoid the discomfort of being different from others -​ Milgram’s classic research (1960) electric shock (teacher and student) -​ Conclusion: people are surprisingly likely to follow the direction not only of ‘legitimate authority figures’. But also groups of ordinary individuals -​ Zimbardo’s research: the Stanford experiment (1971) prison rooms (inmates and guards) -​ Conclusion: normal people will do terrible things to other people if the situation demands it Social groups: final points -​ Group behaviour is largely determined by the size of the group (dyads, triads, etc.) -​ Dyad: a social group with two members -​ Triad: a social group with three members -​ Large groups are usually divided into smaller groups that enable communication, collaboration and targeted actions -​ Depending on the specific purpose or reason for the existence of the social group, ideal group size can vary greatly -​ Georg Simmel: group properties > behaviour Organisations -​ Formal organisations are a specific type of social groups -​ Often large (or very large) -​ Usually secondary -​ Typical for (post)modern society -​ Goal-oriented rationality and efficiency -​ Autonomous social reality with a specific reality, organisational culture and life cycle 3 types of organisations 1.​ Utilitarian organisations -​ Joined primarily for material benefits or rewards, such as wages or goods 2.​ Normative organisations -​ Appeal to individuals based on shared values or moral commitments 3.​ Coercive organisations -​ Membership is typically involuntary Modern organisations -​ Weber: ideal typical organisation of the modern age is the bureaucracy -​ Bureaucratic organisations lead to increased efficiency and fit societies where goal-oriented rational actions are a core value -​ 6 characteristics: 1.​ Hierarchy 2.​ Impersonality 3.​ Written rules of conducts 4.​ Achievement 5.​ Specialised division of labor 6.​ Efficiency -​ Problems of bureaucracy: -​ Alienation -​ Inefficiency and ritualism -​ Inertia -​ Parkinson’s law -​ Peter’s law -​ Abuse of power -​ Rational organisation can be taken into irrational outcomes - Holocaust -​ McDonaldization 1.​ Efficiency (burger flipping) 2.​ Calculability (burger weight) 3.​ Predictability (burger similarity)  4.​ Control (surveillance) Societies today: networks -​ Manuel Castells: currently, society is driven by an exchange of information through global flows enabled by electronic technologies -​ Decentralised and dehierarchicalized modes of connections are increasingly more important Network -​ Networks are visualisation of connections to other people -​ Networks could visualise both strong and weak ties -​ Networks enable to skip hierarchies but there are still gatekeepers -​ Gatekeepers: control the flow of the information in the network -​ Connect to many other people who are not well-connected otherwise McDonaldisation today -​ Efficiency. Quick updates (instead of depth) -​ Calculability. Measurable metrics (likes, followers) -​ Predictability. Algorithm friendly formats -​ Control. Content controlled by platforms and platform algorithms Thomas Theorem -​ “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” -​ Human behaviour and social outcomes are shaped by subjective perceptions of reality rather than objective reality itself. Development of the self -​ We come to be ourselves due to a process of socialisation – process of identity construction through interactions we experience -​ Different theories about socialisation process (Freud, Mead) -​ Freud -​ Id, ego, superego -​ Socialisation is a complex psychological process that shapes personality and behaviour through the resolution of internal conflicts -​ Biological and psychological -​ Mead -​ Focuses on the social, rather than the biological and psychological -​ Emphasizes the development of self through social interaction Social construction of the self -​ In everyday interaction, reality is defined over and over again -​ People assume roles to fake the expectations of others (Goffman) -​ These interactions affect one’s self image (and personality) -​ Micro-sociologists study the emergence of the ‘self’ through an analysis of everyday interactions -​ George Herbert Mead: symbolic interactionism -​ Erving Goffman: dramaturgical perspective -​ We all perform different roles in life (and we are always audiences) -​ These performances are verbal and nonverbal -​ Front stage (where you perform) and backstage (where you are yourself, where you prepare) -​ These performances are like social glue– it keeps social life manageable. Everyone is involved in making repairs if someone fails to act ‘correctly’ -​ Thus, our behaviour changes in different situations, institutions, and with different people -​ Norbert Elias: civilisation process How people study interactions -​ Ethnomethodology: breaching experiments (Harold Garfinkel) -​ Conversational analysis (sequencing of talk, turn taking, etc.) WEEK 4 IDENTITY Identity matters! -​ In your socio-economic conditions (are you bourgeoisie, or proletariat?) -​ In your prescribed role in society -​ In your values and beliefs (and whether they are of broader societal influence) -​ In how people perceive you, and interact with you -​ In other words, modernisation had different effects on different people What is identity? -​ Our understanding of who we are and of who other people are, and, reciprocally, other people’s understanding of themselves and of others” (Jenkins 1996) Similarity and difference -​ “Identity is about belonging, about what you have in common with some people, and what differentiates you from others (..) but it is also about your social relationships, your complex involvement with others” (Weeks, 1991). Modernisation and identity -​ From tradition-directedness (rigid conformity to time honored ways of living) -​ To other directedness (receptiveness to the latest trends and fashions, often expressed in the practice of imitating others) -​ Our roles (cf. Goffman) are now much more open than before -​ Reflexive self-identity (Giddens, 1991) GENDER What is gender? -​ Sex: the biological distinction between men and women -​ Chromosomal make-up -​ Reproductive organs -​ External genitals -​ Hormonal states -​ Internal genitals -​ Secondary sex characteristics -​ XX + XY (but variations within) -​ Gender: the social aspects of differences and hierarchies between men and women -​ Gender identity (subjective state) -​ Gender roles (the socially accepted characteristics for a given sex) -​ Gender performances (Doing gender, West & Zimmerman, 1987) There are, however, enormous variations within the two sexes in genetic and hormonal endowment Mead: gender roles are culturally defined -​ The Arapesh, Mundugumor, and Tchambuli (now referred to as Chambri) were groups studies by anthropologist Margaret Mead in the 1930s in Papua New Guinea -​ Focus on how gender roles and temperaments varied across cultures: -​ Arapesh: gender roles were not sharply divided: both sexes exhibited behaviour that Western societies might label as “feminine”, such as being empathetic. Supportive and non-aggressive -​ Mundugumor: both sexes exhibited what Western cultures might view as “masculine” traits, such as dominance, competitiveness, and aggression Gender & Society > main concepts -​ Gender order -​ The way in which societies shape notions of gender into power relations -​ Gender regime -​ The gender order as applied to small groups (i.e. in universities) -​ Gender stratification -​ Unequal distribution of resources between genders -​ Stratification support sexism (view that a sex is better than the other) -​ Patriarchy: a form of social organisation in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women -​ Hegemonic masculinity Gender socialisation Persisting biases in social sciences -​ Most sociological theory still has a bias towards ‘heterosexuality’ and non-heterosexual voices need to be heard -​ Polarised split between the heterosexual and gay, and sex and gender should be challenged -​ Identity is not stable, given, or fixed -​ Queer theory DISABILITY VS IMPAIRMENT -​ Impairment: individual features that makes people impaired from their full functioning (focus on biology, genetics, ‘medicine’) -​ Disability: differences surrounded by social reactions (social discrimination) that exclude people from normal life How sociology has treated disability -​ Functionalism -​ Focus on how pathology functions to establish boundaries of ‘normalcy’ -​ Conflict perspective -​ Focus on oppression and discrimination -​ micro-perspective/interactionism -​ Focus on interaction problems and how it breaks down routine interactions Dealing with disabilities -​ Denial: passing, which is possible in the case of some mild disabilities -​ Normalisation: disability is part of the routine -​ Disengagement: social reclusion -​ Fighting back: disability activism, fight for a more inclusive society Intersectionality -​ The ways in which different forms of inequality and division interact with each other -​ Examples of intersectional approaches -​ Queer studies + disability studies -​ Questions compulsory able-bodiedness and heteronormativity -​ Critique of neoliberal politics -​ Tailored for activism  WEEK 5 RACE AND ETHNICITY Race as physical appearance -​ Race usually refers to a category of people who share biologically, genetics or phenotypes transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant -​ Based on characteristics such as skin colour, facial feature, hair texture and body shape Race and Colonialism -​ 16th century -​ Race as kinship -​ 17th and 18th century -​ Slavery and colonisation -​ Enlightenment -​ Justification for these systems through ‘science’ -​ Categorisations of race became standard after social structures of slavery (labor exploitation) were in place Race and culture -​ Race became solidified as a social structure through which people and their access to the world was seen Race as a social construct -​ Only the human race -​ Race is a cultural and historical fact–not biological (Hall 2017) -​ Danger in naturalisation -​ scientific/biological racism Ethnicity as a ‘proxy’ for race -​ Ethnicity is a shared cultural and historical heritage. Members of an ethnic category have common ancestors, a language or a religion that, together, confer a distinctive social identity -​ Turn from biology to culture -​ ‘Ethnic’ differences are often presented as immutable, fixed characteristics of groups, just like ‘race’ -​ The biological referent is never absent from discourses of ethnicity, though it is more indirect. The more ‘ethnicity’ matters, the more its characteristics are represented as relatively fixed, inherent within a group, transmitted from generation to generation, not just by culture and education, but by biological inheritance (Hall, 2000, p.223) Race and ethnicity conflated -​ All important point that identity does not come first, but is itself dependent on coordinates of space and time that create a sense of having a secure place in the world -​ Socially constructed -​ Different meanings in different contexts -​ Often used interchangeably -​ Often overlaps with nationality -​ Example in research: “race/ethnicity” as one conflated construct that emulates how its used in everyday discourse Why do race and ethnicity matter? -​ Thomas theorem “if situations are defined as real, they are real in their consequences” -​ Race and ethnicity are socially constructed but the material effects of racist stereotypes and prejudices are real -​ Racialisation: structuring social relations and hierarchies according to ideas about race or ethnicity EXAMPLES -​ Dutch benefits scandal -​ “Xenophobic machines: Discrimination through unregulated use of algorithms in the Dutch childcare benefits scandal” -​ US housing segregation The cycle of “ignorance” Racist micro-aggressions -​ Subtle, often unintentional, expressions of racism that can occur in everyday interactions, behaviours, or environmental messages -​ Conveys derogatory or negative messages about someone’s racial or ethnic identity, perpetuating stereotypes or reinforcing exclusion Whiteness -​ Sociological and cultural concept that refers to the social construction of racial identity for white people and its role in maintaining systems of privilege, power, and inequality. -​ Being classified as white in most societies gives you advantages and privileges -​ “Whiteness is only invisible to those who inhabit it. For those who don’t it’s hard not to see whiteness; it even seems everywhere” -​ Yet, this advantage often remains invisible to people enjoying the benefits of Whiteness White privilege -​ When talking about national heroes or ‘civilization’, i am shown people that look like me -​ I can worry about racism without seeming self-interested or self-seeking -​ I am never asked to speak for all members of my racial group -​ I can choose blemishes and bandages that will more or less look like my skin color -​ I can walk into a classroom and be confident i am not the only student of a particular racial or ethnic background How the Irish became US American (White) Global Poverty -​ Modernization Theory -​ Poverty is more common than affluence -​ Tradition stands in the way of technological and social progress (modernisation) -​ Advancement through globalisation -​ Dependency Theory -​ Colonialism made some countries rich, whilst making others poor -​ Historical colonial relationships, multinational organisations and economic dependency -​ Reducing the effects/progress of globalisation Poverty and class -​ Marx: 2 dominant classes → those who own the means of production and those who do not -​ Weber: multidimensional status and hierarchy (wealth, status and power, lifestyle and (political) identity -​ Understanding poverty as relational → visualising inequality -​ Relation between nations -​ Relations between people, communities and cities What does it mean to be poor? “An objective definition is impossible, that any attempt to count the poor is doomed because it will depend on subjective definitions of experts about what it is to be poor” -​ Financial state that is lacking for a minimum standard of living -​ Access to basic human needs -​ ‘Getting by’ -​ Poverty traps -​ Upward mobility -​ Stigma -​ Identity based (race, gender, (dis)ability, age) → intersectional Localising Poverty -​ Poverty is NOT a distant reality Wealth inequalities -​ The very poor are doing a bit better, yet the very rich are a lot richer than everybody else (NOS 2023) Intersectional identities and their meanings -​ Over policing ←→ surveillance -​ Underinvestment  -​ Stigma -​ Hyper-visible vs. Invisible WEEK 6 -​ Economies my comprise of social institutions that organise the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services -​ They involve the production, distribution and consumption of goods -​ Economies are connected to other social institutions, such as families, politics, media, etc Economy Production → distribution → consumption Sectors of the economy -​ Primary sector = generates raw materials directly from the natural environment -​ Secondary sector = transforms raw materials into manufactured goods -​ Tertiary sector = generates services rather than goods Capitalism? -​ An economic system in which resources and means of production are privately owned, it allows for pursuit of personal profit, free competition between goods providers, and consumer sovereignty -​ History of capitalism -​ Marx’s account: -​ New relations of production -​ Conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat as an effect -​ Weber’s account: -​ Spirit of capitalism brought about by Protestantism -​ Rise of rationality and disenchantment with the world -​ Durkheim’s account: -​ Division of labour -​ Move from mechanic solidarity to organic solidarity -​ Anomie reigning the world -​ Capitalism dependencies -​ Industrial revolution is generally seen as the major force behind present-day capitalism -​ However, private property, freedom of the serfs, scientific book-keeping are historical prerequisites as well -​ Modes of capitalist production -​ Fordism → the system of industrial production pioneered by Henry Ford in the early 20th century -​ Mass assembly-line production -​ Standardised production processes using assembly lines  -​ Focus on efficiency and producing large quantities of identical goods -​ In house production -​ Work was broken down into repetitive, specialised tasks performed by unskilled or semi-skilled workers -​ Mass consumption of standardised commodities -​ Profits were maximised by reducing production costs through mass production -​ Workers were provided relatively high wages to encourage consumption of goods, fostering a cycle of production and consumption -​ LED TO = economic growth and the creation of a middle class in industrialised countries -​ Post-fordism → a response to the limitations and rigidity of Fordism, beginning in the late 20th century. -​ Flexibility, dependence on global supply chain -​ Customisation and diversification of goods rather than standardised mass production -​ Small-batch production and adaptability to changing consumer demands -​ Increased reliance on automation, digital technologies and information systems -​ Just in time production -​ Shift from stable, long term employment → temporary, part-time, or contract work (“gig economy”) -​ Workers are expected to be multi-skilled and adaptable -​ Greater efficiency and adaptability in production -​ Flexible accumulation of tailor-made goods -​ E.g. the iPhone components coming from different parts of the world -​ Problems of post-fordism: -​ Job insecurity and precarious work -​ Short term contract, part time work, and gig-base jobs = workers face increased job instability -​ Lack of benefits -​ Many workers lack access to traditional benefits like pensions, healthcare, or paid leave -​ Stress and uncertainty -​ The unpredictability of work schedules and income contributes to psychological and economic stress -​ Demand for multi-skilled labor -​ Overworking -​ Global exploitation -​ Economic inequality -​ Carbon footprint -​ Alternatives to Capitalism -​ Socialism -​ Collective ownership of means of production and natural resources -​ Pursuit of collective goals -​ Government control of the economy -​ Socialist states existed in history -​ Many countries still partially employ socialist ideals - social democracies? -​ Problems: -​ Lack of personal liberties -​ Lack of economic productivity -​ State violence -​ Communism -​ Characterised by full social equality -​ No private property or money needed anymore -​ Utopian idea -​ Never realised in history -​ Changes in work -​ Decline of agricultural work -​ From factory work to service work -​ Dual labor market: -​ Primary labor market: occupations that provide extensive benefits to workers -​ Secondary labor market: occupations that provide benefit to workers -​ Gender inequality and work: -​ More and more women are working across the world, men become increasingly unemployed -​ Men more likely to be in senior positions, women in administrative and secretarial -​ “The second shift” -​ E.g. when a man expects his partner to ask him to do things, he’s viewing her as the manager of household chords. The problem with that, is that planning and organising things is already a full-time job. -​ ‘New’ economies -​ Gig economies -​ Platform economies -​ Dirty work: unpaid and hidden work (e.g. domestic labor) -​ Sweatshops: working in bad working conditions with tedious jobs for low wages, long hours, little benefits and no safety rights -​ Business process outsourcing: low-income countries perform activities for companies from high-income countries -​ Self-employment: earning a living without working for a large organisation  -​ Underground economy: economic activity generating income that is unreported to the government as required by law -​ Non-work: unemployment, studying, taking care of family -​ Trade unions: organisations of workers collectively seeking to improve wages and working conditions through various strategies, including negotiations and strikes -​ Issues with nature of employment: -​ Autonomy of workers -​ Training (are skills necessary?) -​ Wages (reasonable?) -​ Hours (limited and fixed hours?) -​ Promotion (opportunities?) -​ Security (safe working place, job insecurity?) -​ Status (full time or part time?) -​ Non-wage perks (day care, pension?) -​ Facilities (good facilities in the work environment?) -​ Health support (health and safety?) -​ Worker representation (do workers have a choice?) -​ Corporations: organisations with a legal existence, including rights and liabilities, apart from those of their members -​ Transnational corporation: a firm which has the power to coordinate and control operations in more than one country, even if it does not own them -​ Conglomerates: giant corporations composed of many smaller corporations -​ Monopoly: domination of a market by a single producer -​ Oligopoly: domination of a market by a few producers -​ Modern consumption: -​ Brands more important than the product itself -​ Our identities are shaped by which brands we buy -​ Massive growth of shopping malls -​ Shopping is not merely functional, but seen as a hobby or leisure -​ Always more and newer products -​ We attach our identities to shopping -​ Spread of credit cards -​ Teleshopping and net shopping -​ Mass consumption -​ The rise of Consumerism -​ Post-traditional identities -​ Identities are not fixed, they can only emerge from choice -​ “We have no choice but to choose” -​ Consumption paradox 1 -​ Paradox - also self-reflexive -​ Reflexivity - inward looking self scrutiny -​ Self improvement through consumption! -​ Personally responsible for every aspect of lives  -​ Consumption paradox 2 -​ Rationalism vs Romanticism -​ Rational approach to consumption -​ Demonstrate who you are through sincerity and authenticity -​ Romanticism -​ Critique of materiality and consumption -​ Capitalism produces its own critique -​ Commodities which mock its own self-production -​ Why does consumption matter? -​ Consumer culture floods the social world with a variety of values, meanings, selves and others -​ Solves the problems of no longer having an assigned identity > consumer choice now fills that void -​ Intensifies and exploits the lack of being assigned that identity > choice now creates a void to be filled -​ Media and communication play a central role in this “flood” -​ Higher standard of living, enhances capitalism, enhances culture -​ Increases inequality -​ Disneyization: the process by which the principles of the Disney theme parks are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world -​ Principles: -​ Theming: sales are subject in a storyline (e.g. Hard Rock Cafe) -​ Hybrid consumption: shopping becomes linked to other things (e.g. shopping at an airport) -​ Merchandising: promotion of copyrighted images and logos (e.g. Star Wars t-shirts) -​ performative/emotional labor: frontline services is a performance (e.g. sales clerk has to dress up and perform a certain role that make it appear like it’s all fun instead of working)