Unit I - Introduction to Sociology PDF

Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) UNIT I – INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Putting Social Life into Perspective Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction. It is a systematic study because sociologists apply both theoretical perspectives and research m...

Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) UNIT I – INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Putting Social Life into Perspective Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction. It is a systematic study because sociologists apply both theoretical perspectives and research methods (or orderly approaches) to examinations of social behavior. Sociologists study human societies and their social interactions to develop theories of how human behavior is shaped by group life and how, in turn, group life is affected by individuals. Why Study Sociology? Sociology helps us gain a better understanding of our- selves and our social world. It enables us to see how behavior is largely shaped by the groups to which we belong and the society in which we live. Most of us take our social world for granted and view our lives in very personal terms. Because of our culture’s emphasis on individualism, we often do not consider the complex connections between our own lives and the larger, recurring patterns of the society and world in which we live. Sociology helps us look beyond our personal experiences and gain insights into society and the larger world order. A society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations, such as the United States, Mexico, or Nigeria. Examining the world order helps us understand that each of us is affected by global interdependence—a relationship in which the lives of all people are intertwined closely and any one nation’s problems are part of a larger global problem. Individuals can make use of sociology on a more personal level. Sociology enables us to move beyond established ways of thinking, thus allowing us to gain new insights into ourselves and to develop a greater aware- ness of the connection between our own “world” and that of other people. According to the sociologist Peter Berger (1963: 23), sociological inquiry helps us see that “things are not what they seem.” Sociology provides new ways of approaching problems and making decisions in everyday life. Sociology also promotes understanding and tolerance by enabling each of us to look beyond our personal experiences. Many of us rely on intuition or common sense gained from personal experience to help us understand our daily lives and other people’s behavior. Commonsense knowledge guides ordinary conduct in everyday life. We often rely on common sense—or “what everybody knows”—to answer key questions about behavior: Why do people behave the way they do? Who makes the rules? Why do some people break rules and other people follow rules? Many commonsense notions are actually myths. A myth is a popular but false notion that may be used, either intentionally or unintentionally, to perpetuate certain beliefs or “theories” even in the light of conclusive evidence to the contrary. For example, one widely held myth is that “money Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) can buy happiness.” By contrast, sociologists strive to use scientific standards, not popular myths or hearsay, in studying society and social interaction. They use systematic research techniques and are accountable to the scientific community for their methods and the presentation of their findings. Although some sociologists argue that sociology must be completely value-free— without distorting subjective (personal or emotional) bias—others do not think that total objectivity is an attainable or desirable goal when studying human behavior. However, all sociologists attempt to discover patterns or commonalities in human behavior. For example, when they study shopping behavior or credit card abuse, sociologists look for recurring patterns of behavior and for larger, structural factors that contribute to people’s behavior. Women’s studies scholar Juliet B. Schor, who wrote The Overspent American (1999: 68), refers to consumption as the “see–want–borrow–buy” process, which she believes is a comparative process in which desire is structured by what we see around us. As sociologists examine patterns such as these, they begin to use the sociological imagination. The Sociological Imagination Sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959b) described sociological reasoning as the sociological imagination—the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society. This awareness enables us to understand the link between our personal experiences and the social contexts in which they occur. The sociological imagination helps us distinguish between personal troubles and social (or public) issues. Personal troubles are private problems that affect individuals and the networks of people with which they regularly associate. As a result, those problems must be solved by individuals within their immediate social settings. For example, one person being unemployed or running up a high credit card debt could be identified as a personal trouble. Public issues are problems that affect large numbers of people and often require solutions at the societal level. Widespread unemployment and massive, nationwide consumer debt are examples of public issues. The sociological imagination helps us place seemingly personal troubles, such as losing one’s job or overspending on credit cards, into a larger social context, where we can distinguish whether and how personal troubles may be related to public issues. Overspending as a Personal Trouble Although the character of the individual can contribute to social problems, some individual experiences are largely beyond the individual’s control. They are influenced and in some situations determined by the society as a whole—by its historical development and its organization. In everyday life, we often blame individuals for “creating” their own problems. If a person sinks into debt due to overspending or credit card abuse, many people consider it to be the result of his or her own personal failings. However, this approach overlooks debt among people who are in low income brackets, having no way other than debt to Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) gain the basic necessities of life. By contrast, at middle- and upper-income levels, overspending takes on a variety of other meanings. At the individual level, people may accumulate credit cards and spend more than they can afford, thereby affecting all aspects of their lives, including health, family relationships, and employment stability. Sociologist George Ritzer (1999: 29) suggests that people may over- spend through a gradual process in which credit cards “lure people into consumption by easy credit and then entice them into still further consumption by offers of ‘payment holidays,’ new cards, and increased credit limits. Overspending as a Public Issue We can use the sociological imagination to look at the problem of overspending and credit card debt as a public issue—a societal problem. For example, Ritzer (1998) suggests that the relationship between credit card debt and the relatively low savings rate in the United States constitutes a public issue. Between 1990 and 2000, credit card debt tripled in the United States while savings diminished. Because savings is money that governments, businesses, and individuals can borrow for expansion, lack of savings may create problems for future economic growth. The rate of bankruptcies in this country is a problem both for financial institutions and the government. As corporations “write off ” bad debt from those who declare bankruptcy or simply do not pay their bills, all consumers pay either directly or indirectly for that debt. Finally, poverty is forgotten as a social issue when more affluent people are having a spending holiday and consuming all, or more than, they can afford to purchase. As these examples show, Mills’s The Sociological Imagination (1959b) remains useful for examining issues in the twenty-first century because it helps integrate microlevel (individual and small group) troubles with compelling public issues of our day. Recently, his ideas have been applied at the global level as well. The Importance of a Global Sociological Imagination Although existing sociological theory and research provide the foundation for sociological thinking, we must reach beyond past studies that have focused primarily on the United States to develop a more comprehensive global approach for the future. In the twenty-first century, we face important challenges in a rapidly changing world. The world’s high-income countries are nations with highly industrialized economies; technologically advanced industrial, administrative, and service occupations; and relatively high levels of national and personal income. Examples include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the countries of Western Europe. As compared with other nations of the world, many high-income nations have a high standard of living and a lower death rate due to advances in nutrition and medical technology. However, everyone living in a so-called high-income country does not necessarily have a high income or an outstanding quality of life. Even among middle- and upper-income people, problems such as personal debt may threaten economic and social stability. For example, more than 1.1 million Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) people in this country filed for bankruptcy in 2006, and more than 97 percent of all U.S. bankruptcies were filed by consumers (U.S. Courts, 2006). In contrast, middle-income countries are nations with industrializing economies, particularly in urban areas, and moderate levels of national and personal income. Examples of middle- income countries include the nations of Eastern Europe and many Latin American countries, where nations such as Brazil and Mexico are industrializing rapidly. Low-income countries are primarily agrarian nations with little industrialization and low levels of national and personal income. Examples of low-income countries include many of the nations of Africa and Asia, particularly the People’s Republic of China and India, where people typically work the land and are among the poorest in the world. However, generalizations are difficult to make because there are wide differences in income and standards of living within many nations. The global expansion of credit cards and other forms of consumerism, including the proliferation of “big-box” retail establishments such as Wal-Mart, shows the influence of U.S. based mega- corporations on other nations of the world. Consider Wal-Mart, for example. Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962, and the company’s home office was established in Bentonville, Arkansas, in the early 1970s. From a small-scale, regional operation in Arkansas, the Wal-Mart chain has now built a worldwide empire. Although the global expansion of credit cards and Wal-Mart Superstores has produced benefits for some people, it has also affected the everyday lives of many individuals around the world. The Origins of Sociological Thinking Throughout history, social philosophers and religious authorities have made countless observations about human behavior, but the first systematic analysis of society is found in the philosophies of early Greek philosophers such as Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.E.) and Aristotle (384– 322 B.C.E.). For example, Aristotle was concerned with developing a system of knowledge, and he engaged in theorizing and the empirical analysis of data collected from people in Greek cities regarding their views about social life when ruled by kings or aristocracies or when living in democracies (Collins, 1994). However, early thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle provided thoughts on what they believed society ought to be like, rather than describing how society actually was. Social thought began to change rapidly in the seventeenth century with the scientific revolution. Like their predecessors in the natural sciences, social thinkers sought to develop a scientific understanding of social life, believing that their work might enable people to reach their full potential. The contributions of Isaac Newton (1642–1727) to modern science, including the discovery of the laws of gravity and motion and the development of calculus, inspired social thinkers to believe that similar advances could be made in the systematic study of human behavior. As Newton advanced the cause of physics and the natural sciences, he was viewed by Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) many as the model of a true scientist. Moreover, his belief that the universe is an orderly, self- regulating system strongly influenced the thinking of early social theorists. Sociology and the Age of Enlightenment The origins of sociological thinking as we know it today can be traced to the scientific revolution in the late seventeenth and mid-eighteenth centuries and to the Age of Enlightenment. In this period of European thought, emphasis was placed on the individual’s possession of critical reasoning and experience. There was also widespread skepticism regarding the primacy of religion as a source of knowledge and heartfelt opposition to traditional authority. A basic assumption of the Enlightenment was that scientific laws had been designed with a view to human happiness and that the “invisible hand” of either Providence or the emerging economic system of capitalism would ensure that the individual’s pursuit of enlightened self-interest would always be conducive to the welfare of society as a whole. In France, the Enlightenment (also referred to as the Age of Reason) was dominated by a group of thinkers referred to collectively as the philosophes. The philosophes included such well- known intellectuals as Charles Montesquieu (1689–1755), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), and Jacques Turgot (1727– 1781). They defined a philosophe as one who, trampling on prejudice, tradition, universal consent, and authority—in a word, all that enslaves most minds— dares to think for himself, to go back and search for the clearest general principles, and to admit nothing except on the testimony of his experience and reason (Kramnick, 1995). For the most part, these men were optimistic about the future, believing that human society could be improved through scientific discoveries. In this view, if people were free from the ignorance and superstition of the past, they could create new forms of political and economic organization such as democracy and capitalism, which would eventually produce wealth and destroy aristocracy and other oppressive forms of political leadership. Although women were categorically excluded from much of public life in France because of the sexism of the day, some women strongly influenced the philosophes and their thinking through their participation in the salon—an open house held to stimulate discussion and intellectual debate. Salons provided a place for intellectuals and authors to discuss ideas and opinions and for women and men to engage in witty repartee regarding the issues of the day, but the “brotherhood” of philosophes typically viewed the women primarily as good listeners or mistresses more than as intellectual equals, even though the men sometimes later adopted the women’s ideas as if they were their own. However, the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759– 1797) reflect the Enlightenment spirit, and her works have recently received recognition for influencing people’s thoughts on the idea of human equality, particularly as it relates to social equality and women’s right to education. For women and men alike, the idea of observing how people lived in order to find out what they thought, and doing so in a systematic manner that could be verified, did not take hold until Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) sweeping political and economic changes in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries caused many people to realize that several of the answers provided by philosophers and theologians to some very pressing questions no longer seemed relevant. Many of these questions concerned the social upheaval brought about by the age of revolution, particularly the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789, and the rapid industrialization and urbanization that occurred first in Britain, then in Western Europe, and later in the United States. Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization Several types of revolution that took place in the eighteenth century had a profound influence on the origins of sociology. The Enlightenment produced an intellectual revolution in how people thought about social change, progress, and critical thinking. The optimistic views of the philosophes and other social thinkers regarding progress and equal opportunity (at least for some people) became part of the impetus for political revolutions and economic revolutions, first in America and then in France. The Enlightenment thinkers had emphasized a sense of common purpose and hope for human progress; the French Revolution and its aftermath replaced these ideals with discord and overt conflict (see Schama, 1989; Arendt, 1973). During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, another form of revolution occurred: the Industrial Revolution. Industrialization is the process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries. This process first occurred during the Industrial Revolution in Britain between 1760 and 1850, and was soon repeated throughout Western Europe. By the mid- nineteenth century, industrialization was well under way in the United States. Massive economic, technological, and social changes occurred as machine technology and the factory system shifted the economic base of these nations from agriculture to manufacturing. A new social class of industrialists emerged in textiles, iron smelting, and related industries. Many people who had labored on the land were forced to leave their tightly-knit rural communities and sacrifice well- defined social relationships to seek employment as factory workers in the emerging cities, which became the centers of industrial work. Urbanization accompanied modernization and the rapid process of industrialization. Urbanization is the process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas. Although cities existed long before the Industrial Revolution, the development of the factory system led to a rapid increase in both the number of cities and the size of their populations. People from very diverse backgrounds worked together in the same factory. At the same time, many people shifted from being producers to being consumers. For example, families living in the cities had to buy food with their wages because they could no longer grow their own crops to consume or to barter for other resources. Similarly, people had to pay rent for their lodging because they could no longer exchange their services for shelter. These Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) living and working conditions led to the development of new social problems: inadequate housing, crowding, unsanitary conditions, poverty, pollution, and crime. Wages were so low that entire families—including very young children—were forced to work, often under hazardous conditions and with no job security. As these conditions became more visible, a new breed of social thinkers turned its attention to trying to understand why and how society was changing. The Development of Modern Sociology At the same time that urban problems were growing worse, natural scientists had been using reason, or rational thinking, to discover the laws of physics and the movement of the planets. Social thinkers started to believe that by applying the methods developed by the natural sciences, they might discover the laws of human behavior and apply these laws to solve social problems. Historically, the time was ripe for such thoughts because the Age of Enlightenment had produced a belief in reason and humanity’s ability to perfect itself. Early Thinkers: A Concern with Social Order and Stability Early social thinkers—such as Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Herbert Spencer, and Emile Durkheim— were interested in analyzing social order and stability, and many of their ideas had a dramatic influence on modern sociology. Auguste Comte The French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857) coined the term sociology from the Latin socius (“social, being with others”) and the Greek logos (“study of ”) to describe a new science that would engage in the study of society. Even though he never actually conducted sociological research, Comte is considered by some to be the “founder of sociology.” Comte’s theory that societies contain social statics (forces for social order and stability) and social dynamics (forces for conflict and change) continues to be used, although not in these exact terms, in contemporary sociology. Drawing heavily on the ideas of his mentor, Count Henri de Saint-Simon, Comte stressed that the methods of the natural sciences should be applied to the objective study of society. Saint- Simon’s primary interest in studying society was social reform, but Comte sought to unlock the secrets of society so that intellectuals like himself could become the new secular (as contrasted with religious) “high priests” of society (Nisbet, 1979). For Comte, the best policies involved order and authority. He envisioned that a new consensus would emerge on social issues and that the new science of sociology would play a significant part in the reorganization of society (Lenzer, 1998). Comte’s philosophy became known as positivism—a belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry. Comte believed that objective, bias-free knowledge was attainable only through the use of science rather than religion. However, scientific knowledge Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) was “relative knowledge,” not absolute and final. Comte’s positivism had two dimensions: (1) methodological—the application of scientific knowledge to both physical and social phenomena—and (2) social and political—the use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of different policies so that the best one could be chosen. August Comte is considered the ‘founding father’ of Sociology. Harriet Martineau Comte’s works were made more accessible to a wide variety of scholars through the efforts of the British sociologist Harriet Martineau (1802–1876). Until recently, Martineau received no recognition in the field of sociology, partly because she was a woman in a male-dominated discipline and society. Not only did she translate and condense Comte’s work, but she was also an active sociologist in her own right. Martineau studied the social customs of Britain and the United States and analyzed the consequences of industrialization and capitalism. In Society in America (1962/1837), she examined religion, politics, child-rearing, slavery, and immigration in the United States, paying special attention to social distinctions based on class, race, and gender. Her works explore the status of women, children, and “sufferers” (persons who are considered to be criminal, mentally ill, handicapped, poor, or alcoholic). Based on her reading of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1974/1797), Martineau advocated racial and gender equality. She was also committed to creating a science of society that would be grounded in empirical observations and widely accessible to people. Emile Durkheim French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) stressed that people are the product of their social environment and that behavior cannot be fully understood in terms of individual bio-logical and psychological traits. He believed that the limits of human potential are socially based, not bio-logically based. As Durkheim saw religious traditions evaporating in his society, he searched for a scientific, rational way to provide for societal integration and stability (Hadden, 1997). Durkheim observed that rapid social change and a more specialized division of labor produce strains in society. These strains lead to a breakdown in traditional organization, values, and authority and to a dramatic increase in anomie—a condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and of a sense of purpose in society. According to Durkheim, anomie is most likely to occur during a period of rapid social change. In Suicide (1964b/1897), he explored the relationship between anomic social conditions and suicide, as discussed in Chapter 2. Durkheim’s contributions to sociology are so significant that he has been referred to as “the crucial figure in the development of sociology as an academic discipline [and as] one of the deepest roots of the sociological imagination” (Tiryakian, 1978: 187). Karl Marx In sharp contrast to Durkheim’s focus on the stability of society, German economist and philoso- pher Karl Marx (1818–1883) stressed that history is a continuous clash between Basics of Sociology (SOC-221) conflicting ideas and forces. He believed that conflict—especially class conflict—is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society. For Marx, the most important changes were economic. He concluded that the capitalist economic system was responsible for the overwhelming poverty that he observed in London at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (Marx and Engels, 1967/1848). In the Marxian framework, class conflict is the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class. The capitalist class, or bourgeoisie, comprises those who own and control the means of production— the tools, land, factories, and money for investment that form the economic basis of a society. The working class, or proletariat, is composed of those who must sell their labor because they have no other means to earn a livelihood. Max Weber German social scientist Max Weber (pronounced VAY-ber) (1864–1920) was also concerned about the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. Although he disagreed with Marx’s idea that economics is the central force in social change, Weber acknowledged that economic interests are important in shaping human action. Weber was also concerned that large- scale organizations (bureaucracies) were becoming increasingly oriented toward routine administration and a specialized division of labor, which he believed were destructive to human vitality and freedom. According to Weber, traditional bureaucracy, rather than class struggle, was the most significant factor in determining the social relationships among people in industrial societies References: Kendall, D. (2016). Sociology in our times (11th ed.). Cengage Learning. Macionis, J. J. (2017). Society: The basics (15th ed.). Pearson.