SOCI 261 Study Guide PDF

Sociological theories Structural functionalism This theory explains how superstructures are organized to maintain societal stability. The superstructures are working for long-term capitalism. Institutions contribute to a stable society by teaching and performing their roles. (education system) -...

Sociological theories Structural functionalism This theory explains how superstructures are organized to maintain societal stability. The superstructures are working for long-term capitalism. Institutions contribute to a stable society by teaching and performing their roles. (education system) -​ Ex: tower of Cans: this is an analysis of how structural Marxism works. The cans are organized in a way that benefits society as a whole. If one can is taken away, the tower of cans will become unstable. The reason society is stable is because superstructure( institutions) work together. -​ Èmile Durkheim: He developed the thinking around structural functionalism. He did this by looking at the rates of suicide in France and figuring out links to the cause of their suicide. He found four correlations that affect whether a person commits suicide. -​ Men commit suicide more than women -​ He believes that women have stronger relations and connections than men. Women have closer friends, open up more, gossip to one another, and have bigger friend groups. -​ Unmarried people commit more suicide than married -​ Unmarried people dont have that support system, strong connection, etc -​ People commit suicide more when the world is at peace rather than in war -​ War brings people together. It creates a strong connection to one another because it gives us all something we can relate to. -​ Protestants commit suicide more than Catholics. -​ When you are Catholic, you are given the ability to be forgiven for your sins. Protestants dont have a direct relationship with god, as Catholics do. These four correlations all show a lack of social integration and social cohesion. Anomie: lack of social or ethical standards. nomie happens when there is normlessness or ambiguous behavioral expectations and a broken system. Leading to deviation, depression etc Conflict theory This theory argues that society is unstable and unequal because of the constant struggle between groups competing for resources and power. -​ Instrumental marxism: These institutions directly reflect the interests of the capitalist and not capitalism Karl Marx: He worked with this theory, arguing some groups (Bourgeoise) are more stable than others( Proletariat) and that uniqueness is what causes problems and inequality. Inequality exists everywhere because of these two groups. He says that in a capitalist society, B exploits P and that exploitation is inequality. Capitalism promotes that exploitation. -​ Bourgeoise: the one percent of society that owns everything. Because they own everything, that are in control of everything and have the capacity to exploit it for their benefit. -​ Proletariat: the rest of society, which is the labor force. Capitalism can't function without them. He says that capitalism is alienating -​ alienates people from each other -​ Everyone is competing with each other to get jobs.  -​ Alienated from the products of their labor -​ Ex: Ford production line. Everyone only has one job, which is to make one certain. People dont have the investment and attachment to make the whole thing. But he says that in a capitalist society where the B heavily exploits P, the P will eventually rise up and establish a communist society. -​ Communism: A classless society where there are no privately owned industries. Each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. Political, economic theorization -​ 1900s: The government did not intervene, and there was very limited regulation in capitalism. -​ 1940s: because everything was unregulated, there was a stock market crash that led to the great depression. -​ 1970s: this was when they realized that the state needed to be regulated, and the government stayed getting involved. Programs were created that allowed everyone to work. But because of this, there was overproduction, and not enough people were buying. -​ Keynesian economics: heavily regulated capitalism -​ Late 1970s: they realized over-regulated capitalism is also not good. So the new solution was to put fewer regulations on capitalism but still some. Having private and public ownership. -​ Neoliberalism: focuses on giving more control to private businesses, having fewer government rules, cutting public services, and lowering taxes. Feminist sociology This extends to conflict theory, but the inequality is between the sexes. This focuses on how theories are mainly focused and concluded on men, and this type of sociology acknowledges these inequalities. -​ Standpoint theory: is a feminist idea that says what we know depends on our social position or experiences. It challenges the idea that science is completely unbiased and points out that research often ignores women's perspectives and feminist ideas. -​ Intersectionality: parts of our identity intersect in complex ways to create unique experiences. -​ Kimberle Crenshaw was the first to coin this term Symbolic interactionalism This is a micro theory that uses social interactions to explain society as a whole. This means that people act based on how they interpret or understand things around them. These meanings can vary from person to person and might change as their experiences or perspectives change. -​ Weber: he says that, however, the majority see the world. That is how you see the world. -​ Mead: he says the better one is socialized, the better we are at “taking the role of other” (being in other people's shoes) Social constructionism This is a variant of symbolic interactionalism. It says that we interact with each other with meaning and that meaning is constructed by social interactions. We as a society construct meaning to things. -​ EX: in society, the values and norms around homeless people are that they only use money for drugs, so we shouldn't give them money when they ask. Becuase Society has constructed meaning around homeless people, that affects how we interact with them, that is, not giving them money. Social inequality Long-lasting differences among individuals or groups of people impact one's life through the opportunities, rights, or privileges they enjoy. Early philosophers on economic inequality Rousseau: the origin of inequality (the nature of inequality). He found that society is organized in a way that benefits some and not others. -​ Natural inequality: inequality that you cannot control (physical impairments). These uncontrollable inequalities will limit you in society -​ Moral inequality: Differences in wealth, power, status or class. They involve one person benefiting at the expense of another. Adam Smith (1723-1790): INVISIBLE HAND -​ He believes that you can't have capitalism without inequality therefore, we must accept this inequality because capitalism is the best thing. -​ He says that economics operates best without government intervention, and people work best when it is up to them. -​ Ex: if working hard gets you money, people are inclined to work harder. People compete with one another to get the best outcome for themselves. If the market is self-regulated, people will be inclined to work harder. Karl Marx (1867): -​ He wants to bring down capitalism because it brings inequality and instead bring communism. -​ He believes that groups exploit each other and exploitation causes inequality. -​ He believed that eventually, the working class would rise up and have a revolution to become more equal Why didn't the revolution happen? -​ Antonio Gramsci: he wrote notebooks in prison to why he didn't think the revolution wouldn't happen. He believed in hegemony -​ Hegemony: this means the dominant groups in society win the voluntary consent of the popular masses. Hegemony doesn't use force to win over the population, they use families, schools, and the media. Because capitalism is so intertwined with those three things, society cannot even imagine a society without capitalism. -​ Ralf Dahrendorf: he agreed with what Gramsci said. He believed it was hard to overthrow capitalism because everyone benefit from capitalism in some way. -​ Max Weber: He believed that if we had communism, the capitalist power would only transfer to the government elites, and inequality would still be around. Why is there economic inequality in Canada -​ Globalization: because manufacturing jobs are all over the world because of free trade agreements, it creates fewer manufacturing jobs in Canada and more in other countries. Free trade agreements make things cheaper for Canada because it allow for there to be no tax on certain parts so Canada can get the parts cheaper, but they will also have fewer jobs because other countries are manufacturing those parts.  -​ Technology: things like self check out are taking jobs away from humans -​ Tax policy: -​ Inheritance policy: there is no tax on inheritance so when rich people die, the family gets richer, but when poor people die, they dont get much richer because they didn't have much to offer. -​ Corporate tax policy: cooperates dont really pay taxes becuase they control the prices of what they sell and can just give the taxes they get on what they sell, so the consumers are really paying their taxes. -​ Executive/CEO pay: means that in Canada, you must pay more taxes if you have a higher income. But in Canada, the highest amount you can tax is 30% so this means that upper-class people may be paying the highest amount of tax, but because the tax % cannot go any higher, the elitist upper class is also paying that % even though they make way more than the upper class. Poverty in Canada: Early Social Policy Responses Poor laws: during this time, everyone was poor in a sense, so they they concluded that because everyone is poor, it is not the individual's fault. “We cannot blame the individual for being poor because everyone is poor. The government dealt with this issue by giving regulated churches money, and the churches were in charge of helping the people. Poor laws revised: they used Adam smith's reasoning by saying that poor laws are preventing proper economic functioning. They started to blame the individual by saying that having the government give money makes people lazy, and that is what motivates people to work. -​ Poor houses: these were institutions created by the government to help out “deserved” poor people. They believed that some people were poor because of uncontrollable circumstances and that those people deserved to be helped. -​ Workhouses: these were institutions for underserved poor people. If they were seen as able-bodied, they were expected to work to get out of poverty. Charles Dickens: he was a huge critic of poor laws. He believed that the rich didn't care enough to help the poor. Gender and inequality Liberal feminism: focuses on men and women being equal in all aspects. Focuses on the rights of men and women. Socialist feminism: focuses on how liberation will only come through a collective action to bring down capitalism. Capitalism oppresses and exploits women in general, so we have to get rid of it. Radical feminism: they believe the root of gender inequality is the patriarchy. sees women as a collective group that has been and still is oppressed by men Feminism timelines -​ First wave: this was called the suffrage movement. Women started to recognize that they were seen as only the property of men and existed as an extension of men. Women wanted to be seen as people. -​ Second wave: Women still faced inequality regarding their abilities vs. men’s. Women wanted to change the way society viewed women's abilities. -​ No-fault divorce: women could get a divorce without having to prove there was danger in that marriage. Women could get a divorce without a reason. -​ Access to the pill -​ Marital rape: women were given the right to have consent in their relationship -​ Third wave: this wave expresses that these gender norm changes did not benefit racialized and lower-class women. They wanted to bring awareness to the fact that women minorities were excluded from this revolution, and that needs to change. (intersectionality) -​ Kimberle Crenshaw & Intersectionality: many different individual social identity factors intertwine in an individual's life to create a more complex, interdependent system of oppression and marginalization -​ Fourth wave: this wave brought a response to the mass amount of sexual violence against women. Production and reproduction Joan Acker: she argued that feminist movements have successfully addressed reproduction and production but have not adequately interrogated issues of distribution. This means that, yes, Feminist movements have made significant progress in ensuring that women gain access to the workforce and equal opportunities; however, structural inequalities in workplaces—like the wage gap, and underrepresentation of women in leadership roles—persist. -​ Production: this correlates to paid work. Women may work but have lower wages and or limited say in decision-making at the top. While women are present, the distribution of opportunities and benefits remains unequal. -​ Reproduction: domestic roles. (childbearing/care, maintaining home, emotional and physical care). There is an imbalance in reproductive roles. Feminist movements have made progress in recognizing unpaid domestic work is labor, but the distribution of this work remains highly unequal. Women often perform a "double shift" taking on both paid employment and unpaid domestic responsibilities. Gender inequality in Canada: Distribution -​ Wage sharing: Is the wage that people bring home actually shared equally among the house? -​ Taxation and social programs: paying more to social programs with taxation. -​ Subsidized daycare: if canada wanted to help this issue they would be muttimh more money towards daycare to make it cheaper for people. -​ Social programs discriminate against women -​ Employment insurance: Only working people get this insurance, and because many women are given “unpaid jobs,” more women cannot work as much as men. So, men get more employment insurance than women.  -​ Canadian pension plan: You get this money if you work a certain number of hours a year. Because women are given “unpaid jobs,” they cannot work as much paid labor and, therefore, do not get this pension money. Rismans theory: She said that gender is a complex social structure that shapes and organizes society. She argued that in order to fully understand the structural nature of gender, these three things must be considered. 1.​ Individual level: gender is about how individuals internalize societal expectations and "do" gender in their daily lives. For instance, individuals might adopt stereotypically "feminine" or "masculine" traits because of how they were socialized a.​ Socialization: In society, we are molded into scripts of how we should behave and perform in correlation to our gender. We are socialized into these roles and expected to perform these roles. This is done through socialization with family, peer groups, school, media etc. i.​ Candace West and Don Zimmerman: they worked on the Geoffman dramaturgical theory, which argues that gender is not fixed. Gender is a product of our interactions and the way we are socialized. Our gender is something we do and not something that does us. b.​ Identities: Sigmund Freud takes a physiological understanding of the patriarchy. He explains this through our relationships with our parents (mainly our mom). He says that when men grow up, they choose a partner that is caring like their mothers but then someone they can dominate over because of what society teaches them about masculinity. 2.​ Interactional level: gender is created, and maintained in our social interactions with others. Gender expectations, norms, and power dynamics emerge in everyday encounters. For example, men may dominate conversations in a group. These things reinforce traditional gender norms. a.​ Cultural expectations: i.​ “Motherhood gene”: this is the cultural expectation that all women have the desire to be a mother and they are biologically suited to care for a child. ii.​ Fatherhood is made up with the expectation that they are the primary provider 3.​ Institutional level: Institutions play a key role in shaping gender norms. Ex: schools encouraging traditional gender roles through policies, like promoting different activities for boys and girls. -​ Family, education system, healthcare and justice system are gendered. Social inequality Textbook questions Economic Stability in the US (Robert Reich) -​ Maintained by a strong middle class. -​ The middle class drives the economy through consumer spending. Problem with the "Wealthy as Job Creators" -​ Reality: The middle class are the true job creators. -​ Wealthy often save or invest in ways that don’t create jobs. -​ Middle- and lower-income households spend more, boosting demand and job creation. Growing Inequality in the 1970s  -​ Before 1970s: Hourly wages grew with productivity. -​ After 1970s: The average hourly earnings dropped while production grew. Americans start to lose their jobs in the 1970s due to -​ Companies moved manufacturing jobs overseas to countries with cheaper labor. -​ Automation: Technology replaced manual and repetitive jobs, like self-checkout lines. The Great Prosperity Period -​ A time of economic growth and shared wealth in the U.S. -​ Middle class thrived, income inequality was low, economy grew steadily. -​ Labor unions were strong, and the government invested in education (GI Bill) to build a skilled workforce. -​ Wages grew alongside productivity. Virtuous Cycle: Economic growth benefits are shared—higher wages, spending, business growth, better education. Downward Cycle: Inequality grows—wages stagnate, less spending, job cuts, shrinking education, rising unemployment. Why Politicians Didn't Help Workers -​ Wealthy individuals and corporations gained more influence in elections and policymaking, -​ Politicians catered to wealthy donors rather than average workers. Growing inequality has a threat to democracy becuase -​ Wealthy use money to shape policies (like tax cuts) that benefit themselves, undermining democracy. Porter: Found that 200 large corporations, controlled by around 1,000 individuals, dominated much of Canada’s ownership. Clement: By the 1970s, only 113 businesses (1,000 individuals) held the majority of business activity in Canada. Carroll: By the late 1990s, Canada’s corporate elite consisted of 426 individuals, indicating increasing concentration. Conglomerates: These companies are owned by a small group of elite, usually established families. These elites are involved and own large corporations, plus being involved in multiple unrelated smaller businesses. -​ Jim Pattison Group: Owned by a small elite, involved in multiple unrelated businesses (automotive, retail, food, etc.) -​ Loblaw Companies Ltd: Controlled by the Weston family, owns many grocery stores across Canada and works with other industries (real estate, hotels). Problems: Large corporations dominate the food market, making it difficult for smaller businesses to compete. They can control prices, leading to higher food costs, as seen when they inflated bread prices. Two Principal Components of Canada’s Economic Power -​ Canada’s economy is linked to international business through trade and foreign ownership. -​ Canadian companies also invest in businesses abroad, showing strong global economic ties. High Ownership Concentration in Canada’s Economy -​ Financial sector and media -​ Foreign control: Historically, foreign companies controlled much of Canada’s economy in the 1970s, though influence has decreased in recent years. Government Intervention in the Economy -​ Excessive intervention argument: Government taxes and spending create inefficiency and compete unfairly with private businesses. -​ Limited intervention argument: They say that the state has been a limited player in Canada's economy, and private businesses are still the foremost force. Research has found that only 4 of the top 25 cooperations in Canada are state-owned, and fewer than 10 out of the top 100 as well. -​ Income: Refers to the regular flow of money a person receives (from employment, investments, social assistance, etc.), providing short-term resources. -​ Wealth: Refers to a person's stock of resources—what they have accumulated over time. Wealth is built gradually and can lead to more opportunities, such as investing or accessing better education. Without wealth, individuals face greater struggles, making it harder to save or grow what little they have. -​ Net worth: The value of what someone owns (assets) minus what they owe (debts). -​ Describing a wealthy person: Wealthy individuals have more assets than debts and often use borrowed money to grow their wealth. -​ Wealth distribution: Net worth helps show how wealth is spread across populations. For example, in Canada, the top 20% of Canadians hold 67% of the total wealth, while the bottom 20% hold only 0.01%, revealing the unequal distribution of wealth. -​ Total assets: Includes both financial (bank accounts, stocks) and nonfinancial assets (homes, businesses). -​ Impact on inequality: Wealthy people tend to own faster-growing assets, while middle-class people own slower-growing assets like homes. Lower-income people often carry more debt than wealth, deepening the gap between rich and poor. -​ Homeownership: Can increase wealth for some, but it also deepens wealth inequalities as benefits aren’t shared equally. -​ Rising housing prices: Benefit current homeowners as property values increase, adding to wealth. -​ Implications for renters: Higher housing costs make it harder for renters to save and build wealth. -​ Discrimination: Black, Indigenous, and minority groups in Canada have lower homeownership rates, leading to lower wealth. Women, gender minorities, and sexual minorities are more likely to rent due to systemic discrimination. Period Before Neoliberalism in Canada -​ 1960s-1970s: Canada had strong New Deal institutions that provided protections for the unemployed and poor, high union coverage, and strict government regulations. -​ During this time policymakers believed that SER was the "norm" around regulations in many labor markets. 3 pillars of SER -​ Employment with a single employer -​ Standardized working time -​ Permanent employment  -​ Precarious Employment: Insecure, unstable jobs without traditional benefits and protections, such as part-time work or fixed-term contracts. this employment threatens the three pillars of SER. Transition from SER to Neoliberalism -​ Neoliberalism introduced flexible work arrangements, labor market flexibility, and increased use of technology and globalization. -​ Neoliberal Impact: Shift from stable employment to individual contracts, contingent work, and precarious employment. Gig Economy: An on-demand labor market where work is temporary and flexible, often mediated through digital platforms. -​ Contingent work arrangements is the broad term circumscribed by any non-permanent, flexible job arrangement. The gig economy is mainly based on work from digital areas, where contingent work is any work that has limited job security (part-time work). -​ The gig economy can be differentiated through platform-based and cloud-based forms. -​ Platform-based forms: the former operates the interactions between buyer and seller through apps (skip) -​ Cloud-based forms: this is online and virtual work that is borderless. Concerns: -​ Exploitation -​ Limited workplace protection -​ Lower wages Why Are Women More Likely to Work in the Gig Economy? -​ Flexibility: Allows women to balance domestic duties like childcare and housework alongside work. But Women's employment in the gig economy is seen as not wanted long-term because “being a woman adds a layer of danger to the job.” Ex bodily harm, harassment in person and online. COVID-19 and Gig Work in Canada Gig workers were more used during COVID-19 but struggled with safety due to little protection. Van Doorn, Mos, and Bosma found 1.​ Covid was increasing the on-demand delivery but at the expense of ride-hailing (uber) and domestic services. 2.​ Many companies are capitalizing on the COVID crisis. Gender inequality Text book questions Domestic Responsibilities Changing Over Time -​ Domestic responsibilities are more evenly distributed between genders. (Men are more involved in housework) -​ Overall, both genders’ time doing housework decreased. -​ Due to technological change, smaller family sizes, and economies of scale -​ Women's domestic labor has decreased because more families have to rely on both partner's earnings as income -​ Women’s greater involvement in paid work means they have less time to devote to housework. Outsourcing Housework -​ Outsourcing housework: house cleaners, elder care, child care, etc. -​ Outsourcing reduces time families spend on housework equally for both genders Impact of COVID-19 -​ School closures and remote work increased overall domestic responsibilities. -​ Single-parent women experienced more challenges. -​ Women reported doing more of the “mental work.” -​ Women’s higher representation in service jobs (interacting with people) makes them more vulnerable to job losses compared to men. Emotional and Cognitive Labour -​ Emotional labor: The effort involved in regulating emotions to maintain relationships, create a positive environment, or fulfill the emotional needs of others. -​ Cognitive Labour: Mental tasks like planning, decision-making, and monitoring family safety. -​ Women handle the majority of emotional and cognitive labor: -​ Are more sensitive to household well-being and therefore, more connected to their household -​ Both forms of labor are essential for a well-functioning household. Notes on LGBTQIA2S+ Role of Media in Changing Perspectives -​ Media presence has increased social acceptance and tolerance of LGBTQIA2S+ people. -​ Examples: Shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. -​ Microaggressions: Brief, commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental shame that conveys hostile messages toward individuals or groups. It can be intentional or unintentional. Challenges researchers face when studying LGBTQIA2S+ -​ Questions about sexuality, attraction, and sexual behaviour are often seen as too personal -​ Relatively small size of LGBTQ+ population Wage Gap and Employment for Sexual Minorities -​ Sexual minorities earn less overall. -​ Being married or previously married worsens the wage gap for all sexual minorities except bisexual -​ Gay men and lesbian women are less likely to be married and do not experience the fatherhood bonus and the motherhood penalty, which may partly explain the wage difference -​ Human capital: education, training, and skills that influence earning -​ LGBTQIA2S+ individuals often have different education or skills compared to heterosexuals.(may contribute to employment differences) -​ Gay men are often more educated yet still earn less Work Preferences -​ LGBTQIA2S+ individuals tend to work in gender-atypical occupations. -​ Feminized occupations (lower-paying jobs). -​ prefer to work with task independence and are more likely to work in public sectors (with smaller wage differences).  -​ Gay glass ceiling: evidence that suggests that when highly educated gays or lesbians find work in high-paid occupations, they earn less than the heterosexuals in this same occupation Workplace Discrimination and Mental Health -​ Taste-based discrimination: people have different preferences for who they want to work with -​ Statistical discrimination: employers have incomplete information about workers' productivity and instead rely on stereotypes -​ More likely to report lower mental health and substance abuse problems -​ Minority stress: individuals feel additional stress due to their minority status