Lecture 1 Sociology

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? SOC 2101 Lecture 1 Dr. Francisco Olivos Parts of the slides follow professor’s Hon Fai lectures WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? CONTENT 1. Sociology Imagination 2. Sociology as a cri...

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? SOC 2101 Lecture 1 Dr. Francisco Olivos Parts of the slides follow professor’s Hon Fai lectures WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? CONTENT 1. Sociology Imagination 2. Sociology as a critical consciousness 3. Major Approaches in Sociology SOCIOLOGY AS A WAY OF SEEING  Sociology  The scientific and systematic study of human society  “Sociology is a social science, having as its main focus the study of the social institutions brought into being by the industrial transformations of the past two or three centuries” (Giddens, 1986:9).  But at the heart of the discipline is a distinctive point of view called—the sociological perspective THE PROMISE OF SOCIOLOGY  C.Wright Mills suggests that the promise or use of sociology is to help us cultivate and exercise the sociological imagination  The Sociological Imagination  The ability of relating private troubles to public issues, or seeing the general in the particular  Society shapes the lives of individuals in unexpected ways:  Unemployment  Suicide  Love and marriage Figure 1.1 (p. 4) Rate of Death by Suicide, by Race and Sex, for the United States Suicide rates are higher for white people than for black people and higher for men than for women. Rates indicate the number of deaths by suicide for every 100,000 people in each category for 2003. Source: Hoyert et al. (2005) SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: IS LOVE BLIND?  SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: MARRIAGE Dong, H., & Xie, Y. (2023). Trends in educational assortative marriage in China over the past century. Demography, 60(1), 123-145. THE PROMISE OF SOCIOLOGY  TheSociological Imagination is also the ability of seeing one’s biography as the intersection of society and history  How the lives of individuals are being shaped and reshaped by broader social change  Rapid economic growth  Educational reform  Rise of information society, sharing economy, direct democracy, etc. LET’S USE OUR SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION INSTRUCTIONS Using your sociological imagination, analyze the lyrics of 'The Man' by Taylor Swift. How do these lyrics illustrate the intersection of personal experiences with broader social norms? Identify specific examples from the song that demonstrate how societal expectations might shape individual lives  THE MOTIFS OF SOCIOLOGY  Peter Berger suggests that sociology is a form of consciousness that can be characterized in terms of four motifs: (1) Debunking is the ability of “looking beyond” the façade of society, that is, of exposing the falsity of the various myths of social life. Usually our common sense and taken-for-granted beliefs. "We would contend, then, that there is a debunking motif inherent in sociological consciousness. The sociologist will be driven time and again, by the very logic of his discipline, to debunk the social systems he is studying." (p. 38) EXAMPLE OF DEBUNKING  “American Dream” (Chinese Dream too?) The belief that everyone, regardless of background, has an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work and determination. BLAU AND DUNCAN MODEL (1967) Social origin Occupational status Educational attainment Is there gender inequality in Hong Kong?  Female workers in managerial positions earned HK$9,800 (US$1,248) less each month than their male counterparts of the same rank over April to June, data showed. The pay gap between women and men widened to 19.6%, from 15.8% last year, and 6.98% five years ago. https://hrmasia.com/workplace-gender-disparity-widens-in-hong- kong/#:~:text=Female%20workers%20in%20managerial%20positions,and%206.98%25%20five%20years%20ago.  MORE EXAMPLES:  “Love is blind”… assortative mating  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”… names by race and social status  “Beauty is only skin deep”… effects of physical attractiveness in individuals’ outcomes. Dong, H., & Xie, Y. (2023). Trends in educational assortative marriage in China over the past century. Demography, 60(1), 123-145.  MORE EXAMPLES:  “Love is blind”… homogamy  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”… names by race or social status  “Beauty is only skin deep”… effects of physical attractiveness in individuals’ outcomes. Sue, C. A., & Telles, E. E. (2007). Assimilation and gender in naming. American Journal of Sociology, 112(5), 1383-1415. MORE EXAMPLES Bacon-Shone, John; Bolton, Kingsley; Luke, Kang Kwong (2015). Language use, proficiency and attitudes in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Social Sciences Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong. p. 29.  MORE EXAMPLES:  “Love is blind”… homogamy  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but Mulford,names will M., Orbell, J., Shatto, C., &never hurt Stockard, J. (1998). me”… names by race and Physical social status attractiveness, opportunity, and success in everyday exchange. American journal of sociology, 103(6), 1565-1592.  “Beauty is only skin deep”… effects of physical attractiveness in individuals’ outcomes. RECOMMENDED READING SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE  Sociology is a critical consciousness with the following characteristics: (2) Unrespectability: Looking beyond respectable “standards” and “propriety.” Seeing the totality of social reality. (3) Relativization: Social rules and norms are not absolute. (4) Cosmopolitanism: openness to other ways of thinking and acting; transcendence of the own’s physical location. SOCIOLOGY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE  Auguste Comte (1798-1857)  socio (Lt.) + logos (Gk.) = sociology (study of society)  Three founding fathers: 1. Karl Marx (1818-1883) 2. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) 3. Max Weber (1864-1912) THE BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY  Three significant transformations  Industrialization: manufacturing and the rise of capitalism  Urbanization: enclosure and the rise of city  Democratization: the French Revolution and the rise of nation-state  From Gemeinschaft (community) to Gesellschaft (society)  Religion, tradition and community  Individuality, reason and contract  A rationally organized society results not only in progress, modernity and enlightenment, but also disorder and alienation Milanovic, B. (2023). Visions of inequality: from the French Revolution to the end of the Cold War. Harvard University Press. THE BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY  Three significant transformations  Industrialization: manufacturing and the rise of capitalism  Urbanization: enclosure and the rise of city  Democratization: the French Revolution and the rise of nation-state  From Gemeinschaft (community) to Gesellschaft (society)  Religion, tradition and community  Individuality, reason and contract  A rationally organized society results not only in progress, modernity and enlightenment, but also disorder and alienation Knigge, A., Maas, I., Van Leeuwen, M. H., & Mandemakers, K. (2014). Status attainment of siblings during modernization. American sociological review, 79(3), 549-574. THE BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY  Three significant transformations  Industrialization: manufacturing and the rise of capitalism  Urbanization: enclosure and the rise of city  Democratization: the French Revolution and the rise of nation-state  From Gemeinschaft (community) to Gesellschaft (society)  Religion, tradition and community  Individuality, reason and contract  A rationally organized society results not only in progress, modernity and enlightenment, but also disorder and alienation https://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present THE BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY  Three significant transformations  Industrialization: manufacturing and the rise of capitalism  Urbanization: enclosure and the rise of city  Democratization: the French Revolution and the rise of nation-state  From Gemeinschaft (community) to Gesellschaft (society)  Religion, tradition and community  Individuality, reason and contract  A rationally organized society results not only in progress, modernity and enlightenment, but also disorder and alienation MAJOR APPROACHES IN SOCIOLOGY  Theoretical Approach  A basic conception of society that guides our thinking and research  Theory:A statement (or a set) of how and why specific facts are related.  Three (classic) theoretical approaches  Structural-functional approach  Social-conflict approach  Symbolic-interaction approach THE STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH  Society is seen as a system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and orderliness  Social order: stability and integration  It points to social structures which is any relatively stable pattern of social behavior.  Sewell (1992): Structures are cultural schemas and resources that constrain action. THE STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH Social Function: Consequences of any social pattern— i.e., structure—for the operation of society as a whole. something that a social group or institution does that is intentional  Manifest Function and beneficial to society  The recognized and intended consequences of a social structure or institution.  Latent Function  Unrecognized and unintended consequences.  Social Dysfunction  Negative consequences that may disrupt the smooth operation of society. MANIFEST FUNCTION? MANIFEST FUNCTION? Produce graduates for the labor market LATENT FUNCTION? LATENT FUNCTION Marriage broker… why not? SOCIAL DISFUNCTION? SOCIAL DISFUNCTION Over-supply of graduates generate unemployment THE SOCIAL-CONFLICT APPROACH  Society is seen as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change  Social division: inequality and conflict  Highlightshow the following factors are linked to inequality  Social stratification: class, gender and race  Social-conflict approach is critical towards the relationship between the dominant and the disadvantaged groups. THE SOCIAL-CONFLICT APPROACH What exactly is 'Rick And Morty'? Twitter has the best response Best episode: S3 E7 THE SOCIAL-CONFLICT APPROACH  The citadel is a highly stratified society with Ricks and Mortys occupying different position with different status.  We can think in Ricks and Mortys as different races and they are more or less likely to occupying certain position.  A Social-conflict approach to analyse the episode will be focused on the conflict between these different “social classes.” THE SYMBOLIC-INTERACTION APPROACH  Society is seen as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals  Social interaction: symbol and meaning  The understanding or interpretation of symbol and meaning depend on concrete situation and social role.  Micro-level orientation  A close-up focus on how individuals interact with each other in specific situation  Structural-functional and social-conflict approaches share a macro-level orientation i.e. a broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole THE SYMBOLIC-INTERACTION APPROACH Applying Theory (p. 18) Major Theoretical Approaches TAKE AWAYS FROM THIS CLASS…  Sociological Imagination  4 Motifs of Sociology  Theoretical Approaches WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? SOC 2101 Lecture 1 Dr. Francisco Olivos Parts of the slides follow professor’s Hon Fai lectures