Sociology 2001 Section 001 Chapter 1 The function of sociology as of every science is to reveal that which is hidden Pierre Bourdieu Sociology is a discipline that insists on studying people within their social context It shows us that aspects of life we consider natural or take for granted are influenced by social and historical forces Meaning what humans consider to be natural can be affected by the way they grew or the organization of the society in which they lived Sociological Imagination C Wright Mills 1959 coined this phrase which explained the need to move away from viewing problems as personal troubles and towards recognizing them as public issues Ex The prohibition movement consisted of a small group of people convincing all of America that drinking was wrong personal trouble turned public How to use Sociological Imagination 1 Make the familiar strange 2 Question customs that seem natural Social Structure and Goal of Sociology Our lives are structured or patterned in particular nonrandom ways Goal of Sociology to understand the connections between what society makes of us and what we make of ourselves What we do both gives shape to and is shaped by society That is we structure society and at the same time are structured by society Social structures are dynamic Societies are always in the process of structuration which means they are constantly being affected by human actions Social Processes Micro v Macro Micro individuals and families households and neighborhoods Macro National societies and cultures Global A Global Perspective As Sociologists we must now be global observers Globalization affects all of us every day both as individuals and as members of nation states economic markets and more Things have always been relatively interconnected we are just now more aware of A global view offers insight into worldwide connections as well as a point of it comparison Sociology 2001 Section 001 Chapter 1 Sociologists and Theory Social Change Western Europe Sociologists were often times writing in times of extreme social change Sociology was born during the upheaval that accompanied industrialization in Many early social thinkers dedicated their research to better understanding the massive social change they witnessed The discipline developed with an eye toward understanding history and change Contemporary Social Change Social change continues for most of human history the vast majority of people lived in small isolated groups By 2050 nearly 70 percent of all people will live in urban settings This could mean a loss of many public services for small town dwellers o Having to take your children to a bigger town for schooling o The disappearance of the small farmer o Traveling to hospitals is longer Social change cannot really be defined as good or bad The development of technology and communication continue to alter the way humans live Sociological Theory Social theories do not intend to explain what is happening but rather why it happens As a result sociological research can be very SLOW There are many theoretical approaches in sociology sociologists do not all agree in any topic but theories must be based on facts Research and theory cannot and should not be separate enterprises Early Theorists Auguste Comte French philosopher who is credited with giving the discipline its name Believed in creating a science of the social world to be used for improving people s lives Saw sociology as the last science to be developed Comte s 3 Historical Epistemological Stages 1 Theological Stage society is the result of divine will 2 Metaphysical Stage human behavior governed by natural biological instincts 3 Scientific Stage develop a social physics to understand human behior Comte was a positivist meaning that he believed everything can be studied empirically and to uncover one truth Emile Durkheim Drawing on Comte s notion of sociology as a science Durkheim set out to study social facts These are those aspects of social life for example religion and the economy that shape individual action He saw society as a body that needed all of its parts to function in harmony Was interested in what societies needed to function smoothly Studied social constraint social isolation and anomie normalessness in relation to social change and human behaviors such as suicide Durkheim s Solidarity Durkheim wanted to know if and how the division of labor influenced social solidarity through his observations he came up with two types of social solidarity 1 Mechanical solidarity through sameness and a shared understanding of how things worked 2 Organic solidarity through difference Individual people do different things and still work together to make a whole There is room for everyone to what they are good at Durkheim argued that as society got more and more organic the law would have to pick up more of the slack Karl Marx In seeking to explain social change Marx looked primarily to the economy Developed what is called a materialist conception of history whereby the economy and not values culture or ideas drives social change Focused primarily on the ills of capitalism and its class system Believed that by switching to a mass producing society you lose out on the meaning of work Predicated that ultimately the class conflict built into the capitalist system would lead to its demise and that a new classless society would emerge Marx s ideas have had a great deal of influence both within sociology and in world political history Also a believer of one truth Max Weber Though he too was interested in explaining social change Weber saw power not only in the economy but in ideas and values In particular Weber argued that Christianity in the form of Protestant work ethic played an important role in the development of capitalism Was also interested in the increasing rationality of the social world and studied the structure of bureaucracies Studied many other aspects of social life including religion law and power Verstehen understanding in German with an emphasis on subjectivity and exploring the motivations of individuals Neglected Founders Harriet Martineau Scholar and activist Introduced sociology to England Insisted on the significance of studying domestic life to better understand a society W E B Dubois 1st significant African American sociologist o Key Conceptual Contributions 1 Double consciousness 2 The color line made a distinction between race and color and that it s the difference in color that causes racism A