SOC 100 Notes What is Sociology? ● Sociology is the study of society, social relationships and interactions, as well as human behaviour. It is basically the study of a day in the life of a human being. ● Sociology also asks questions, such as: - Why do humans behave the way they do? - Why does society differ so much in different places and in different types of people? - What is the structure that is socially placed in a society? - Why do we have conflict in society? (But these questions go more in-depth and have a deeper understanding of them) ● Sociology can be studied personally, societally, and globally Chapter 1: Topics Covered in this Chapter: - Origins of Sociology - Contributions of sociology’s early founders - Durkheim’s approach to sociology and the sociology method Durkheim’s approach (Important) - Argued that sociology should be different from any other study and that it should be the study of society and also objective (it is unique and its own thing). - Study Social Facts: things that are external to the individual, such as Social Norms and Values, Laws, and Social Roles. ● Suicide: A Social Fact: - Suicide as psychological = study of mental illness and personal character. - Suicide as sociological = social rate, pattern of social relations and social similarities. - Durkheim found out that suicide rates were strongly influenced by social forces and happened more in Rural settings Origins of Sociology: ● Statistics are huge for sociology: - Fertility - Mortality - Church attendance - Donations - Education - Suicide Rates (These surveys would be filled out by the middle class mainly in the UK; 1840) ● Ethnography and Anthropology: - Ethnography: to study and collect data on society (ethnologists) - e.g.; Colonial Ethnography among Indigenous People - Anthropology: the study of human societies and cultures and their development (anthropologists) ● Historical and Comparative Research ● Positivism, progress, and scientific methods: - Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, and Isidore Auguste Marie Francois Xavier Comte all supposedly created “Sociologie”. - Isidore Auguste Marie Francis Xavier Comte was also the introducer of Positivism and Society as an Organism(a whole with parts) - Harriet Martineau wrote the first book on sociological methodology (How to Observe Morals and Manners, 1838). He also made an Ethnography of American society (Society in America 1837) Karl Marx: ● Marx on how to study societies: - Idealist theory of history, and materialist theory of history - Emphasized on how society goes through change - Tells us that people are classified and how those classes are related ● Levels of History: - Primitive Communism: The wife would stay home with the kids, cook, clean, and maintain a house. The husband would go to battle and hunt. (Very sexist and role-oriented) - Feudalism: People were ruled over by a group or individual, but they were given land and protection. In return, they had to fight and work for their leader. - Capitalism: very limited government where privately owned businesses ran the economy. Invisible Hand. Supply and Demand. Increase of class struggle and systems. ● Classes: - Proletariats: the peasants/working class - Beurgeosises: Owners of means of production - Petite Beurgeosises: Small and independent owners (farmers/small business owners) ● The Capitalist Mode of Production: - Use my created items’ value for its exchange value (trade in the bread you make for a shoemaker’s shoes)(both sides win) - Wage Labour: Selling your body or brain for a wage - Alienation: The loss of control over the product or process of making it (getting detached/isolated) ● How Karl Marx thinks capitalism will go: 1. A high rate of unemployment 2. Worker go agasint buergioses 3. A new classless society is created 4. The state will wither away and end up in a classless bliss society Max Weber: - Weber believed in Interpretive Sociology which rejected Marx’s ideas ● Action vs. non-action - Action is a conscious decision - Non-action is reflexes, subconscious behaviour ● Action vs. Social Action - Action is a conscious decision - Social action: an action performed by an individual or group, interacting with each other Ideal Types of Social Actions: 1.) Traditional - people do this action because everyone else does 2.) Affectual - do out of emotion 3.) Value-Rational - do it because of your values/beliefs 4.) Instrumentally Rational - do it out of means to an end (to get it over with) Rationalization: dominance of planning, technical procedure and rational action in all social spheres (used in schooling/child care) Overall Philosopher ideas: ● Durkheim: social facts, collective data, individual data ● Marx: how society changes/concept of history ● Weber: understanding of actions Topic 2 Part 1: The Sociological Perspective: The nature of social life: why do people act orderly and in predictable ways The nature of social relations: social interactions, equality, dominance, inequality Large Scale social things: social structures and institutions What are the main components of society and how have they changed over time? How were they created? (how did 9-5 jobs get created? Why 95? Who benefits?) Core Analytic Tools: ● Social Construction of Reality(2 types): - What is real? (philosophy, physics, etc) - What is a social reality 1. Some things are created through social relations 2. Our ideas are made by social relations(chocolate on Valentine’s Day) ❖ First type of social construction: ● Some things are created through social relations: - Money - The state - Morality - Religion - Marriage - Jobs ❖ Second-order social construction: ● Exist outside of human relations: - Natural objects - Race/ethnicity - Attractiveness - The body (obese/skinny) - Childhood (separation of people into age categories) Topics 2 Part 2: The Sociological Imagination: ● Issues of the individual and issues of the public/society ● Public Issues: - War - Marriage and divorce - High tuition fees (many people suffer from it/widespread) ● Vignettes from our lives (clear actions) - Taking a walk = doing something for your health
