Sociology Notes The Sociological Imagination Stepping Outside of Yourself out of body experience imagining things from the outside Challenging the common sense we take for granted o Because that s the way it is Red flag in sociology Not going deep enough for a sociological explanation Exercise for using the sociological imagination Putting Yourself in Someone Else s Shoes Empathy imagining yourself as another person Exercise in having a sociological imagination Seeing the General in the Particular You don t have to know every detail of someone s life story to pick up on general trends Example I don t know your particular life story but since you are part of a group LSU undergrads there are certain general aspects about you I do know Not a stereotype o Just looking at the big picture o Where do some of these stereotypes come from Looking out for general patterns in social life There will always be exceptions but that doesn t mean the patterns are not important Seeing the strange in the familiar Realizing that some things that we take for granted have been socially influenced How has society affected you without you knowing it o Some things are out of our control Our names given at birth Influenced by things in society TV shows etc Where you were raised C Wright Mills author of The Sociological Imagination Turning private problems into public issues o If you do this you ll realize that many people may have that problem and you can find a solution Examples I m poor o What causes an increase in the poverty rate I have a college degree but I can t find a job o What caused the economic recession The intersection of biography and history o Our biography individual story can be influenced by history time period you re living in o Example 9 11 11 Sociology Notes Our individual lives can be profoundly affected by events that take place during our lifetime o Example invention of the internet No matter how smart you are if you lived in a time before the internet you would have far less information to work with during your time in college o Affects us regardless of our individual story We live in an individualistic society That person is lazy or He s dumb But in sociology we are looking at more of the history aspect as well as social conditions All events take place in larger social conditions o More than just the individual people involved o Situation going on around the people involved Social conditions History according to Mills Countless other outside factors we will study many of them Deeper understanding of why people do the things that they do The Forest and the Trees Allan Johnson The difference btw individualistic and sociological thinking is just like looking at trees in a forest compared to looking at the entire forest Individuals vs society 1 22 14 Ancient Greece Food example of material culture o Actual tangible things made by that culture o Material culture definition in book Preparing the food what to serve norms o Norms Importance of sharing a meal ideas and values We all exist in many cultures at the same time o Local state national Crawfish boil Importance of a shared meal National Culture Language and Culture National holidays monuments o The Super Bowl The Liberty Bell Mount Rushmore Ideas spoken written and reinforced o Books material culture o Symbols Other symbols o Text language LOL Sociology Notes o Money Everyone agrees that it s worth something Language and our perception of the world o Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis as we grow we are taught the norms through language and social interactions and molds our perception of the world and the way we think in areas that snow a lot there are many different words for snow Source of different cultures Cultural evolution and social Darwinism o Whatever characteristics that made a group thrive and survive became their culture Sociobiology and failing to look at the big picture o Biological reductionism Reducing everything to biology Trying to explain everything in a society culture through biology and genetics Cultural vs biological adaptation o Biologically it takes centuries to see a change o Society is always changing Understanding different cultures Cultural Relativity and the specific demands of different cultures environments Different environments different social conditions Ethnocentrism more likely when we are not thinking about social conditions instead of just individuals 1 27 14 Interactions between cultures Acculturation adding diversity from another culture to your own Assimilation when you are giving up a part of your culture in exchange for another culture fitting in Accommodation two cultures coexisting each culture keeps their own aspects that they feel are important Cultural Hegemony o One culture becomes more dominant and overshadows another culture o When a culturally distinct people within a larger culture fails to assimilate fully or has Subcultures not yet become fully assimilated o within a larger culture Chapter 4 Society and Nations Two Types of Societies Gemeinschaft more rural Gesellschaft more urban o More traditional values kinship small communities o Self interest loss of close relationships hustle and bustle o Big city modern o Gazelle fast self interest Sociology Notes Era of the Nation state Historically borders Societies within Nations Social structure o Hunter gatherers agriculture advanced civilizations empires loosely defined or no Post WWII treaties independence for former colonies occupied territories Conflict within nation states o Rapid social change o Countries dividing based on ethnic groups o Individuals have statuses roles expectations for those roles within groups o All fit in together to create a society Layers Russian dolls smaller fits into the next and so on largest one being the nation o This kind of structure an institution Family can be seen as an institution Institutions and Individuals Institutions direct us through many parts of social life o There to help organize groups to meet important needs of society Schools traffic guards etc Institutions as Functional for Society o Functionalism social life is organized in a way that keeps everything running smoothly functioning o Structure of statuses o Individual s roles o Many different institutions o All function to meet society s needs o Example traditional family roles Major Perspectives in Sociology Functionalism Function Making something work o What makes society work run smoothly The ways social life is organized