General Sociology Course Introduction - 2024-2025 PDF

General Sociology General Presentation 2024-2025 Felipe KOCH L1 IB GB AmLat AmNord Shanghai Europe Introduction Welcome to Sociological Theory Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks for Analyzing Social Life AEI International School - UPEC - 2023-204 AmLat - AmNord -...

General Sociology General Presentation 2024-2025 Felipe KOCH L1 IB GB AmLat AmNord Shanghai Europe Introduction Welcome to Sociological Theory Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks for Analyzing Social Life AEI International School - UPEC - 2023-204 AmLat - AmNord - Europe - Shanghai - IB - GB Felipe KOCH Quick presentation Contact me: [email protected] With moderation because there are more than 1000 students in License 1 AEI! Quick course/ sociology Course "General Sociology" A few remarks on orientation, studies and the future! General culture lessons = make you think about yourself and the world Sociology/ Social sciences = understanding societies Sociological traditions = three major currents in sociology Sociological methods = quantitative/qualitative Great historical surveys / great books of sociology In short, the course... Has a disciplinary knowledge objective/ academic objective: Deepening (after SES specialty) Discovery, introduction to the fundamentals Openness to more specialized courses (sociology of work, business, organizations, consumption, etc.) Must accompany your "becoming a student" path Personal reading, library research, letting yourself be guided by your curiosity and your passions, training yourself Thinking about your future: looking for yourself , observing and questioning the path of others (survey in the second semester)  Important information Activate your UPEC mailbox and consult it regularly: emails are not sent to personal messaging! Online course: Eprel system, on the UPEC website (quick access/EPREL), General Sociology course: https://eprel-v2.u-pec.fr/course/view.php?id=2860 University calendar Evaluation A test common to all TDs about the CM (remote QCM - to be confirmed) A test at the last TD about the entire CM+TD program Occasional questions in class / presentations / work to be done Students registered under the derogatory regime (no TDs) have a partial exam in January: written for 2 hours (to be confirmed) For students who have not obtained the EU, exam at the 2ᵉ session in June 2024 (weeks of 3 and 10/06/2024): written on the CM - to be confirmed Method of working Face-to-face lectures (12 weeks: 13/9 to 6/12/2023) Presence in course advised / online slides not yet decided. Readings: book chapters, articles TDs (8 weeks: from 9/10 to 2/12) 100% face-to-face 8 compulsory sessions (+ possible remote control), compulsory attendance TD start the week of 9/10 Documents online TDs should allow you to follow and control your personal work Work the CM well Take precise notes directly or remotely You can rely on the slideshows or better transfer the slideshows to a word processing software: you will only have to complete Feel free to go through handwriting and notebook, it works!!! READ the texts indicated SEARCH by yourself: libraries, bookstores, CAIRN, press, sociological videos (who knows?!), etc. Take notes, observe social reality: dare the observing participation! Importance of EPREL website Activate your email Eprel on the UPEC website Access to courses: documents, announcements, submission of work A student support site offers course notes (be careful, the CMs change a little or a lot from one year to another!), to find it "entraide AEI" in a search engine or UPEC Alternative Students registered in L2 or L3 (AJAP) must ask me to register for the L1 course if they have to catch up Importance of remote and on-site library UPEC website Library Athena: search for books in the library Press Europress Portal Journals Portal: CAIRN/JSTOR Journals Books Deepening Listen to podcasts: The rest of the ideas, France Culture: https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/la-suite-dans-les-idees Being right with Emile Durkheim https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/avoir-raison-avec-emile- durkheim Weber: https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/entendre-vous-leco/les- explorers-de-leconomie-24-dans-la-peau-de-max-weber Howard Becker: https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/voix-nue/howard-becker-15 Or… Read Matthew Crawford's book, L’éloge du carburateur. Essai sur le sens et la valeur du travail, La découverte Poche, 2016 Read Jean-Laurent Cassely's book, La révolte des premiers de la classe. Métiers à la con, quête de sens et reconversions urbaines, J’ai Lu, 2022 (new edition on 22/9) Book by David Graeber, Bullshit jobs, A theory, 2019 Bibliography: textbooks and works of sociology (more complete bibliography soon online) Author Xavier Molénat To leaf through…  Course plan semester 1 Part I: Theory Part II: Methods Part III: Applications Small final exercice What is sociology? Video here: https://www.asanet.org/about/what-sociology Deciphering definitions of sociology by the sociologists interviewed Ways to define sociology Field of study Methods Themes THEORY  Introductory Chapter Sociology before sociology Bibliography Jean-Michel Berthelot, 2014, The construction of sociology, PUF Quadrige, Paris [QSJ) [on CAIRN!] Chapter 1 Dillon, Michele. Introduction to Sociological Theory. Wiley. Further reading on EPREL A recent discipline The question of modern societies/ rupture Politics/French revolution Economics/Industrial revolution The desire to develop knowledge about the social world  Sociological Theory Diverse perspectives A plurality of ways of looking at the same social phenomenon Macro and micro analyses Structural and cultural constraints Agency vis-à-vis structural and cultural processes Classical and contemporary theories Emergence of Sociology Nineteenth century; Analysis/critique of independent field of social structures study Eighteenth-century societal transformation Society – a human paved the way for social creation, not sociology to emerge; divinely ordained changed how people think about themselves and society Societal Transformation American War of French Revolution, Independence; 1789: liberty, Declaration of equality, fraternity Independence, 1776 “All men are created equal …” “We the people …” Political equality Rejection of inherited privilege; of monarchy Elevation of freedom and equality; democracy  Enlightenment Thought Reason and rationality Individuals have innate reason Able to think about things Able to govern themselves Inalienable rights Debates about the rights of the individual vis-à-vis the order and common good of society  China is an example of an economically and technologically advanced country whose record on basic human rights (e.g., freedom of speech) is frequently criticized. Can you think of any ways in which your own society/community does not always honor its commitment to democratic ideals affirming individuals’ inalienable rights? What do you think accounts for these deviations?  Reason/Science An emphasis on Empiricism; emphasis science, scientific on observation and argument experience; things can be known and explained Use of reason/science Copernicus, Galileo: produces human-social Challenges to progress; science as religious/theological the way forward truths  Enlightenment The emphasis on reason and on scientific thought rejects and displaces the power of: Religion Myth Superstition Tradition I. Knowing the society: the first investigations 1/ Quantitative data Birth of statistics/Emergence of a state will (Staat/State/statistics): social control (political concern) and knowledge of the social (scientific concern) Censuses and production of more specialized data 18th century: population censuses 19th century: administrative statistics: industrial/agricultural/medical/criminal/school 2/ The call for the investigation = social surveys, field observation The role of learned societies Société française de statistique universelle (1829) Société libre de statistique (1830) Statistical Society of London (1833) Manchester Statistical Society (1833) = importance of statistics/data collection technique/data analysis + “case study”/monographs “Statistics serve as a comprehensive survey, while the monographic study acts as a probing investigation. From both a social and material perspective, humans must rely on these two tools to fully understand and conquer the Earth. » (Pierre Du Maroussem)  Testimonials from the actors themselves Call of the newspaper “L’artisan, journal de la classe ouvrière”, 1830 “Our goal is to present the status of various states, and for this, we require extensive and accurate information. We urge workers from each state to provide us with this information, and the entire artisan class will owe them a great debt. In this investigation, our objective is to enhance their situation, highlight to the public any misuse of authority by their masters, and strive to free them from all that makes their condition deplorable.” (L’Artisan, newspaper of the working class, September 26 and October 5, 1830). Investigations and literary writings, emergence of the “taste for investigation” in literature Balzac, l’invention de la sociologie, Garnier, 2019: social investigation as a literary method: the fictional diversion of investigation and statistics/the desire for social observation and painting of social types Victor Hugo Les Miserables, 1862 Hector Malot Sans Famille, 1878 and En Famille, 1893 (working conditions, poor people, children) Dickens: downgrading, misfortunes, poverty against a backdrop of massive industrialization of Great Britain/Les Grandes Espérances, 1860-1861, social inequalities and the mirage of the cities Emile Zola: methodical investigations, note-taking (contemporary with the birth of sociology) = field investigation (publication of Carnets d'enquête)/ Au Bonheur des dames (1883), Germinal, (1885), La Bête Humaine (1890 ) 3/ The emergence of qualitative surveys Observation as a preferred method of collection Louis René Villermé (1782-1863): worker monographs, France Table of the physical and moral state of workers, 1840 Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) The situation of the working class in England, 1845 (Manchester), GB Charles Booth (1840-1916): poverty in London, GB Life and Labor of the People of London, 1886-1903, 17 volumes Edouard Ducpétiaux (1804-1868), Joseph Moermans, Louis- Charles Spaak Report of the commission appointed by the central council of public health, 1841, Belgium Les « Poverty Maps » de Charles Booth, London 1888-1889 Find it here: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map/14/-0.1174/51.5064/100/0 The monographs of Frédéric Le Play (1806-1882) European workers, 1855 (13 volumes of monographs between 1857 and 1912), 36 worker monographs, Europe Polytechnician and advisor to Napoleon III The monograph as a data collection technique/case study Definition of location/industrial organization Family livelihood Family lifestyles (behaviors, beliefs, etc.) Family history The moralizing temptation/the question of neutrality  Sociological Method Harriet Martineau: Translated Comte; shared his view of sociology as science; believed in social progress Studying society is different to studying non- human objects Sociology: The study of morals and manners; requires sympathetic understanding of human behavior Wilhelm Dilthey: Sociology as interpretive understanding  Sociological Analysis Aims: Explanation Understanding Emancipation; fostering empowerment and equality A plurality of research methods A plurality of theoretical perspectives Early Examples of the Sociological Craft Alexis de Tocqueville, 1805–1859, France Visited America, 1830s Democracy in America; equality, democratic traditions, social institutions  Early Observers Harriet Martineau 1802–1876, English Visited America, 1830s Interested in the practice of equality Highlighted gender and racial inequality  Theory Different theories/theorists offer different ways of looking at the same social reality Different lenses, different assumptions, different emphases The birth of a tradition: describing society Objective: to provide knowledge about society By statistical data: quantitative methods By descriptions: qualitative methods know/interpret/represent  II/ Theories and interpretations of the social world 1. Tocqueville and democracy as a founding principle of modern societies Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) “A brand new world requires a new political science.” (DA, volume 1, p.62) Democracy and equality of condition as a founding principle: democratic societies vs aristocratic societies Three induced processes: egalitarian representation of social relations = democracy as a form of society / movement for equalization of rights / ideal of social advancement and material well-being = equality versus freedom? Sociological and political questions  There is a contrast between the reception of Tocqueville in the United States and in France: continuous admiration on one side of the Atlantic, recognition in eclipses on the other. As no man is a prophet in his own country, it is easy to see that it is the Americans who have never ceased to admire Tocqueville. Apart from La Fayette, Tocqueville is the most popular Frenchman among them. He was the one who came to see them and understood them in depth, without aping them but without denigrating them either, just explaining with finesse the coherence between their laws, their morals and their beliefs. In France, Tocqueville's eclipsing fame can almost serve as a barometer of the popularity of liberal thought, which is severely under-represented in France. It has to be said that this aristocratic democrat is somewhat unclassifiable. What's more, his uncompromising analyses of our political excesses are painful, especially when you realise that the diagnosis has been made since the middle of the 19th century, whereas today's citizen has the impression that he or she is reading to decipher the news of the day. After the war, Aron rehabilitated the sociologist, including him, as we have seen, in the seven portraits of the Etapes de la pensée sociologique. He also links him with what is undoubtedly Tocqueville's greatest teacher: Montesquieu.  If Alexis de Tocqueville and Harriet Martineau were to visit the US [or the UK or France] – today, what features do you think each of them might comment upon? 2) Auguste Comte and the beginnings of a scientific sociology Auguste Comte (1798-1856): “reorganize” society according to “social physics” [“sociology”, 1838] Founder of positivism/the three states of social development Theological = religious Metaphysical = philosofical Positive = scientific Reforming societies according to scientific principles = a scientific, “positivist”, progressive conception of sociology as “science of society”  Auguste Comte France, 1798–1857 Believed in Enlightenment thought; reason and progress Positivism: An emphasis on external, observable empirical phenomena Contrast with theology and metaphysics (nature of being; man’s innate rights)  Positivism Emphasis on the discovery of patterns, regularities, “laws” of how things work Not concerned with critique, but with documenting/affirming the regularities in society/social life Comte Sociology: a positive, systematic theory of the human-social order Social physics; objectivity Science of society; observation and analysis of objective, observable data Sociological knowledge >> social progress Reception of Comte's work Critique  Reception of Comte's work La Sociologie Pas à Pas - Jean-Michel MORIN pages 14 to 16 "In sociology, there's a corporate recognition given to the inventor of the word 'sociology'. There's also a strong enthusiasm in subsequent generations, as we'll see with Durkheim. As the world becomes more technological, approaches based on strict observation and widespread quantification are increasingly valued, even in the social realm. To some extent, the enthusiasm for Comte might be tempered by the emergence of Marx. The latter occasionally expresses similar views, especially regarding the laws of history and the search for material causes. However, Marx's global success overshadows Comte's influence. The promotion of revolutionary proletarian workers then takes precedence over the praise of scholars who would guide the social order. Some sociologists have refuted Comte and positivism based on the methodology itself. This includes the entire school known as comprehensive sociology, spanning from Weber to Boudon. They primarily use two arguments. First Argument: Human behaviors cannot be analyzed in the same way as physical or chemical reactions. It was progressive to believe that there are no final causes in nature and to instead seek efficient causes. For instance, a cloud doesn't release rain "in order to" water plants. It does so "because" the atmosphere condenses water amounts leading to precipitation. However, applying this approach to human action is a scientific regression.  In human actions, there are indeed final causes or intentions to consider: the "in order to". On the other hand, one shouldn't overly rely on material or efficient causes: the "because". For example, I take medicine "in order to" heal. My intention is to regain health. Of course, I do this "because" I am ill. But this isn't a determining cause. After all, I might choose not to take the medicine and still recover. I might also take the medicine and remain ill. In short, there's no deterministic cause and effect, like the one connecting a temperature of 100° to boiling water. The primary reason I take medicine is the purpose I associate with it: I hope to recover, and I have reasons to believe the medicine will help me achieve this goal. To put it simply, a human being cannot be analyzed in the same way as a cloud or a quantity of water. In fact, it seems prudent to understand one's reasons to explain their actions. Naturally, this horrifies a positivist. Indeed, reasons aren't directly observable and are challenging to measure.  Second Argument presented by comprehensive sociologists to refute positivists: Even physicists themselves rely on unobservable elements to explain natural phenomena. So, why would positivists prohibit us from doing the same? For instance, physicists define notions of force, resultant forces, and so on. This has been highly relevant, from Archimedes' principle stating, "Any object submerged in a fluid experiences an upward force equal in magnitude..." to modern times. Thus, let's not be stricter than physicists. If the best physicists combine observations with reasoning that includes unobservables, sociologists can do the same. However, in social sciences, these unobservables are reasons, intentions, personal memories, and not just hidden forces in nature.  Between the irony of theologians, the global success of Marxism, and the critique from sociologists aiming to understand the unobservable human reasons, what remains of positivism? Certainly, there's the invention of that successful term: sociology. However, Comte's later writings haven't aged well. Yet, could we not argue that the triumph of positivism is all the greater because it's subtle? Many decisions are made based on observed, collected, quantified, and connected data. The management of systems, even social ones, is done using dashboards based on perfectly measured quantitative indicators.  Take a recent example: the global pandemic was primarily regulated based on the capacity to accommodate severe cases in hospitals. The commendable concern was to minimize the number of deaths by smoothing out infections to streamline waiting lists. In reality, the epidemiological models used are very positivist. They are constructed by doctors, without much consideration for less observable and measurable elements: psychosocial, cultural, and economic risks. Physically ill bodies are observable and measurable. Understanding the unobservable reasons for stress, the desire to continue meeting others, or the need to mourn is less accessible. However, this understanding is not insignificant. Using this example, and there are many others, one might wonder if today's world isn't being steered in the most positivist manner possible.  In the end, doesn't the reverence for science still possess a mystical quality, even today? Much like in Comte's time? Comte himself would rejoice in the steering of humanity being entrusted to scholars and data scientists. As for the hymns to industry and digital technology, we currently find echoes that trace back to the master, Saint-Simon. It was he who wanted to replace politicians with producers. It was he who advocated for the administration of things rather than the governance of men. In short, this is the entire positivist agenda. It remains prevalent today.”  Scientific knowledge is usually held up as being superior to other forms of knowledge and as overriding personal beliefs and experience. Are there some issues on which you are more inclined to go with your own/your family’s/friends’ beliefs, even if they conflict somewhat with scientific thought on the issue? 3) Marx and exploitation at the heart of class societies Karl Marx (1828-1884) Class societies, order societies and formal/real inequalities Order societies and class societies Formal equality/real inequalities The key role of access to capital and power relations in society Access to the K structure of social domination relationships Exploitation and alienation Sociological questions without sociology The social order: economic and ideological aspects The mechanisms of reproduction of this social order Food for thought A wealth of questions: can we treat men as “things”, can we speak neutrally about social poverty, what are the links between facts and ideas? Two major questions at the origin of sociology: What is “social”? What distinguishes ordinary knowledge of the social world from scientific knowledge? And different answers: 3 trends