Sociology NotesThe 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 imaginationPutting 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 stereotypeo 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 importantSeeing 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 ito 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 pooro What causes an increase in the poverty rate?- I have a college degree but I can’t find a jobo 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: 9/11/11Sociology 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 storyWe 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 conditionso More than just the individual people involvedo 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 society1/22/14Ancient Greece- Food: example of material culture o Actual tangible things made by that cultureo 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 timeo Local, state, national Crawfish boil- Importance of a shared mealNational Culture- National holidays, monumentso The Super Bowl, The Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore Language and Culture- Ideas: spoken, written, and reinforcedo Books: material culture o Symbols- Other symbols:o Text language: LOLSociology Noteso Money  Everyone agrees that it’s worth something- Language and our perception of the worldo 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 pictureo Biological reductionism Reducing everything to biology Trying to explain everything in a society/culture through biology and genetics - Cultural vs. biological adaptationo Biologically it takes centuries to see a changeo 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 1/27/14Interactions 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- Subcultureso When a culturally distinct people within a larger culture fails to assimilate fully or has not yet become fully assimilatedo within a larger cultureChapter 4Society and NationsTwo Types of Societies- Gemeinschaft (more rural)o More traditional values, kinship, small communities - Gesellschaft (more urban)o Self-interest, loss of close relationships, hustle and bustle o Big city, modernSociology Noteso Gazelle (fast, self-interest)Era of the Nation-state- Historically…o Hunter/gatherers, agriculture, advanced civilizations/empires (loosely defined or no borders)- Post WWII: treaties, independence for former colonies/occupied territories- Conflict within nation-stateso Rapid social changeo Countries dividing based on ethnic groupsSocieties within Nations- Social structureo Individuals have statuses, roles, expectations for those roles within groupso 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 Societyo Functionalism: social life is organized in a way that keeps everything running smoothly…