The Sociological Imagination: An Introduction PDF

The Sociological Imagination: An Introduction CHAPTER 1 Paradox A successful sociologist makes the familiar strange. Introduction What is sociology? Sociology is the study of human society. Thinking like a sociologist requires you to reconsider your assumptions ab...

The Sociological Imagination: An Introduction CHAPTER 1 Paradox A successful sociologist makes the familiar strange. Introduction What is sociology? Sociology is the study of human society. Thinking like a sociologist requires you to reconsider your assumptions about society and question what you have taken for granted so you can better understand the world around you. The Sociological Imagination Identify elements of everyday life that seem natural at first but might seem strange from an outside perspective. Private troubles Private troubles refer to issues where the root cause is seen to be within the individual (their particular biography) rather than broader social conditions. Private troubles can impact and be influenced by the individual and his or her immediate social circle. Therefore, these troubles are not seen to be rooted in broader social trends. Public Issues Public Issues are seen to have a root cause within broader social conditions. They cannot be solved by the individual alone. Changes require the broader community, government, and other forces. Public issues are a part of broader trends that can be best understood by incorporating an historical understanding of those trends The Sociological Imagination Sociological imagination: the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces This term, coined by C. Wright Mills, encourages questioning and “making the familiar strange.” What Are the True Costs and Returns of College? College graduates earn about $2,900,000 more over their lifetimes than people with only a high-school education. If the benefits of college are due to the learning that takes place, why not learn on your own free of charge? Getting That “Piece of Paper” If higher education is about getting a “piece of paper,” then why not simply print out a fake diploma? There are strong informal mechanisms, such as networks of alumni, by which universities protect their status. Asha Rangappa Interview Asha Rangappa, the dean of admissions at Yale Law School, discusses the role that class plays in acceptance. Discussion Why are you in college? Did the people around you, including your friends and family, expect you to go to college? Do you think this is the same for everyone? Why or why not?  The sociological imagination template provides a useful starting point for sociological analysis, and highlights the issues and questions that budding sociologists need to consider. We look at our place in the world and our role within the social structures and situations in which we exist...look at ourselves and the ways in which we have been socialized, and how causes and effects interact with each other.  Sociological imagination - four interdependent sensibilities Historical factors: How have past events influenced the present? Cultural factors: What influence do tradition, cultural values, and particular belief systems have on our behavior and social interaction? In what ways has cultural change occurred? What subculture exists? How does our own cultural background influence our sociological gaze. Structural factors: How do various forms of social organization and social institution affect our lives? How do they vary overtime and between countries and regions? Critical factors: Why are things as they are? How could they be otherwise? Who benefits and who is disadvantaged by the status quo? What ‘alternative futures’ are possible? How do sociological insights relate to our own life experiences? What Is a Social Institution? Understand how social narratives shape and reinforce social identities of individuals, groups, and organizations. What Is a Social Institution? Social institution: a complex group of interdependent positions that, together, perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time A social institution is also defined in a narrow sense as any institution in a society that works to shape the behavior of the groups or people within it. An institution can change its name and still retain its identity (e.g., Duke University was once Normal College and then Trinity College). An institution may try to rebrand a damaged identity (e.g., Philip Morris, a tobacco company, rebranded as Altria). Social Structures That Make Up College The legal system The primary and secondary educational system The Educational Testing Service and ACT The wage labor market The English language Discussion Question 2 What is the identity of the social institution that is your college or university? What drew you to it? What narratives were most important to your decision to attend? To what extent has your school measured up to your “idea” of it? The Sociology of Sociology Recognize the influential, foundational scholars in the field of sociology and their social theories. Auguste Comte and the Creation of Sociology Auguste Comte (1798–1857) believed that the best way to understand society is by determining the logic or scientific laws governing human behavior, which he called “social physics.” Positivism: the approach to sociology that emphasizes the scientific method as an approach to studying the objectively observable behavior of individuals irrespective of the meanings those actions have for the subjects themselves Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) was the first person to translate Comte’s written works into English and one of the earliest feminist social scientists. She addressed topics ranging from the education of children to the relationship between the federal and state governments. Classical Sociological Theory: Karl Marx Karl Marx (1818–1883) proposed the theory of historical materialism, which identifies class conflict as the primary cause of social change. Marxism (an ideological alternative to capitalism) derives from his name, and his writings provided the theoretical basis for Communism. Classical Sociological Theory: Max Weber Max Weber (1864–1920) emphasized subjectivity. According to Weber, to truly understand why people act the way they do, a sociologist must understand the meanings they attach to their actions. Verstehen: German for “understanding;” the concept of Verstehen comes from Max Weber and is the basis of interpretive sociology Interpretive sociology: a type of scholarship in which researchers imagine themselves experiencing the life positions of the people they want to understand rather than treating them as objects to be examined Classical Sociological Theory: Émile Durkheim Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) wanted to understand how society holds together and how modern capitalism and industrialization have transformed the ways people relate to one another. Anomie: a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we can no longer reasonably expect life to be predictable; too little social regulation; normlessness Classical Sociological Theory: Georg Simmel George Simmel (1858–1918) proposed a formal sociology, or a sociology of pure numbers (e.g., how a group of 2 is different from a group of 3 or more, regardless of who made up the group). His work was influential in the development of urban sociology and cultural sociology, and his work with small-group interactions served as a precedent for later sociologists who came to study micro interactions. American Sociology Early American sociology became prominent at the University of Chicago. The “Chicago School” perspective focused on empirical research built on a central belief that people’s behaviors and personalities are shaped by their social and physical environments. Robert Park (1864–1944) Louis Wirth (1938) George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociology: W. E. B Du Bois W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was the first African American to receive a PhD from Harvard and the first sociologist to undertake ethnography in the African American community. Double consciousness: a concept conceived by W. E. B. Du Bois to describe the use of two behavioral scripts, one for moving through the world and the other incorporating the external opinions of prejudiced onlookers These two scripts are constantly maintained by African Americans. American Sociology: Jane Addams Jane Addams (1860–1935) founded Hull House, where the ideas of the Chicago School were put into practice and tested. Addams was a prolific author on both the substance and methodology of community studies, and her work at Hull House was influential in the development of the Chicago School’s theories, yet she was never afforded the same respect as her male contemporaries. Modern Sociological Theories: Functionalism Functionalism: the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important (or necessary) function to keep society running Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) was a leading theorist of functionalism in the mid-twentieth century. Modern Sociological Theories: Conflict Theory Conflict theory: the idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in general According to conflict theorists, inequality exists as a result of political struggles among different groups (classes) in a particular society. Although functionalists theorize that inequality is a necessary and beneficial aspect of society, conflict theorists argue that it is unfair and exists at the expense of less powerful groups. Modern Sociological Theory: Symbolic Interactionism Symbolic interactionism: a micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actions Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory of social interaction laid the groundwork for symbolic interactionism. He used the language of theater to describe the social facade we create. According to Goffman, we make judgments about class and social status based on details of how people present themselves to others. Modern Sociological Theory: Postmodernism Postmodernism: a condition characterized by the questioning of the notion of progress and history, the replacement of narrative with pastiche (i.e., a collage of existing ideas) or imitation of other work in the service of satire or subversion, and multiple, perhaps even conflicting, identities resulting from unconnected affiliations Social construction: an entity that exists because people behave as if it exists and whose existence is perpetuated as people and social institutions act in accordance with widely agreed-upon formal rules or informal norms of behavior associated with that entity Modern Sociological Theory: Midrange Theory Midrange theory: a theory that attempts to explain generalizable patterns of behavior that are neither all-encompassing of society as a whole nor focused on very particular groups or individuals Midrange theory exists somewhere in between macrosociology and microsociology. Modern Sociological Theory: Feminist Theory Feminism is a catchall term for many theories that emphasize the experiences of women and a belief that sociology and society in general subordinate women. Early feminist theory focused on defining concepts such as sex and gender, and questioned the conventional meanings assigned to these concepts. Discussion Compare functionalism and conflict theory. How would a functionalist and a conflict theorist differ in their understanding of inequality? Sociology and Its Cousins Define sociology in contrast to history, anthropology, the psychological and biological sciences, economics, and political science. Differentiating Sociology from Other Fields History and anthropology tend to focus more on particular circumstances than sociology does. Psychology and biology examine things on a more micro level than sociology does. Economics is an entirely quantitative discipline. Political science focuses on only one aspect of social relations: power. Julia Adams Interview Historical comparative sociologist Julia Adams discusses the difference between historians and sociologists. Divisions within Sociology Describe the major differences between macro and micro approaches to sociological research. Microsociology and Macrosociology Microsociology: a branch of sociology that seeks to understand local interactional contexts Microsociology’s methods of choice are usually ethnographic, generally including participant observation and in-depth interviews. Macrosociology: a branch of sociology generally concerned with social dynamics at a higher level of analysis—that is, across the breadth of society Macrosociology’s method is statistical analysis, but also qualitative methods (e.g., historical comparisons and in-depth interviews). Review & Discuss