Week 2 Sociology: study of social interaction between and within groups, organizations, and institutions - Power, inequality, social change Empirical-based: relies on evidence and observations, not just theory Ways of looking at the world sociologically Harace Mitchel Miner (1956): - Body ritual among the Nacirema (American): Study about this group and their cleansing rituals (Shaving, showering, lotion, etc.) o “seeing the strange in the familiar” – peter berger ▪ Starting classes/going somewhere at a certain time ▪ Ways of interacting like peers vs professor ▪ Raising hands to speak ▪ Staring at a computer/item, typing ▪ Patterns of communication depending on where we are o “seeing the general in the particular” – peter berger ▪ Generalizing particular situations, observing and recognizing patterns ▪ Seeing humans going to classes at times → do things based on time ▪ Looking at laptops → we use technology The sociological imagination: shifting your thinking from seeing something as a person problem to a public issue Emile Durkheim: Study on suicide (1897) - - Examined official death records in France, England, and Denmark Gathered data on numbers of suicides and demographic characteristics of those people Gathered historical information Methods: independent variable (x) → explains variation in dependent variable (y) o X: religion (protestant or catholic), economy (good or poor), at war (yes or no) o Y: suicide rates Results: o More in poor economies o More men committed → mental health, expectations, more likely to fully commit o More people in military o More protestants → Catholicism has negative views on suicide & community-based o More during peaceful times 3 pairs of terms - Agency (choice, open) vs structure Macro vs micro - Gang study is microsociological Quantitative vs qualitative - Suicide study is quantitative - Women’s work is both Annie Marion Maclean: Study on women’s working conditions - Participant observation: department store clerk, agriculture worker, sweatshop worker, factory worker Sudhir Venkatesh: Study on gang behaviour - Participation observation: became a part of a gang The Black Kings for 7 years Week 3 Textbook (Section 1.2 and 1.3) Theories: Explaining relationship between independent and dependent variables - Must be based on observation and knowledge → Can be used to make predictions - Theorists and researchers in conversation - Like looking at reality with different coloured lenses - Ex. Marxism, structural functionalism, and symbolic interactionism The three transformations leading to sociology’s emergence and what they were addressing Micro-level: social dynamics of individuals-based interactions - Ex. studying how people of different cultures interpret each other’s behaviours → taking the multiple, same interpretations and generalizing the rules of each culture Macro-level: Large-scale, society-wide → class structures, gender relations, populations - Ex. changes in language over time due to communication structures like class or race - Ex. Emile Durkheim’s study on suicide → macro-level Global-level: Extend boundaries of societies - Ex. dividing third world and first world, internation institutions, global markets Quantitative sociology Comte Positivism (social physics): studying society the same way natural sciences study the natural world - His ideas went from “science of society” to “religion of humanity” → cast-like system Durkheim Structural functionalism: that society is composed of structures that persist through time (like families) and they serve purposes → all parts of society are needed to keep it together/working - Parsons: all parts produce a stable state called dynamic equilibrium - AGIL schema: adaptation, goal attainment, Integration, pattern maintenance - Merton: - - - Manifest functions: sought consequences of social processes Latent functions: unsought consequences of social processes ▪ Ex. Going to college: learning vs finding friends Society is: ▪ An organism ▪ Interdependent and interrelated ▪ Inherently stable ▪ Resists change Social facts: Institutions, norms, and values that constrain individuals and serve societal needs Critiques (by interpretive sociologists) - Quantitative sociology reduces complexity of social life down to numbers and statistics - Structural functionalism’s emphasis on macro-level systems and functions groups people into pre-assigned roles (by critical sociologists) - Quantitative sociology doesn’t account for historical dynamics, power relationships, and other struggles - Structural functionalism relies on a static model of society and doesn’t fully explain societal changes Interpretive sociology: finding systematic means to interpret meanings behind social processes, norms, and values - Research methods: ethnography, participation observation, and phenomenological analysis - NOT to generalize/predict like positivism Simmel Symbolic interactionism: people see the world based on communication (language, symbols) 3 premises - The result of interactions among people → create meanings → construct our social world 1. Humans act toward things on the bases of the meanings they ascribe to those things 2. The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society 3. These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he or she encounters - Ex. Handshakes, wedding rings - Critiques: That it focuses on only small-scale interactions, explaining how people create meanings in situations but doesn’t explain the larger patterns and systems. o Labeling: names and reputations attached to people Critical sociology: critiques power relations and structures and understands society as historical - Aims for liberation and social justice - Historical materialism, feminism, environmentalism, post-structuralism, queer studies etc. Marx - Historical materialism: how our everyday lives are structured by connections between relations of power and economic processes o Dialectics: Social contradiction, opposition, and struggle drive’s social change - Conflict theory: society is: - Based on competition for scarce resources - Resources are distributed unequally - - False consciousness: when people in a capitalist society unknowingly participate and support a system that doesn’t work for their benefit ▪ Voting for a president candidate just before they are better than the other but fail to realize they both are “bad” for the country - Class consciousness: when proletariat becomes aware of their class position and commonalities. This will enable them to fight for justice ▪ Social movements like BLM where they come together through commonality and fight against the institutionalized injustice - Alienation: separating of worker and their produce ▪ Ex. In rigorous schools, sometimes they prioritize academics more than socializing and can cause them to continuously study and focus on grades without focus on the ultimate goal. They can get accustomed to the idea that they need to study. ▪ Ex. How AI has taken our jobs ▪ Content creating: work dependent on stats of the apps Feminism: Focus on power relationships and inequalities between women & men ▪ Patriarchy: set of institutional structures based on the belief that men and women are dichotomous and unequal categories ▪ Dominant gender ideology: Assumption that physiological sex differences are related to character differences (behaviour, ability) ▪ 4 perspectives: 1. gender differences are central focus 2. gender relations are a social problem 3. they are historical to nature and can change/progress 4. oppression needs to change Dorothy Smith ▪ Standpoint theory: knowledge depends on social position ▪ Dual consciousness: having different perspectives/identities of yourself Mead - Socialization: experiences and interactions where others shape society and our understanding of it - Ex. we learn our roles of others as children - Ex. categorizing people on races even though there are many differences among them - Ex. Money, gender, time, beauty Thomas theorem: what we define as real has real consequences Article Western Marxism: Power is also maintained through ruling ideas like culture 1. Antonio Gramsci: a theorist associated with wester Marxism - Ruling class spreads its own values and beliefs - Agreed that the ruling class dominates working class through force and coercion (like police, military) but added a part of the analysis where he considered the ruling class’s ideological control and manipulation. 2 forms of political control: - Domination: physical coercion - Hegemony: ideological control and consent ▪ Makes influencing ideas seem natural and makes subordinate class internalize them without them realizing Active consent to where the ruling class incorporates some of the subordinate class’s culture so they don’t feel completely oppressed - Superstructure (shape of social relations): Gramsci divided this into state (system of laws) and society (schools, media, religion) 2. Feminist Theories - First wave (mid 1800s): after WW1 where some women were able to vote - The Persons Case (1929) in Canada is an example of first wave - Second wave (1960s) in North America: understanding women as a social group being innocent victims of sexist oppression and patriarchy. They also share responsibility of domestic labour and reproduction - Tended to be the voice of white, middle class, hetero, educated women - Having a shared experience, forming the basis for emancipation - Patriarchy: a pervasive and complex social and cultural system of male domination - Consciousness-raising groups: Coming together and sharing experiences will bring about the realization of mutual oppression → personal becomes political - Dorothy Smith ▪ Believes women have been left out of knowledge production due to an androcentric (male-centred) world universally and objectively ▪ Believes out experiences are shaped by ruling relations in everyday circumstances • Ruling: socially-organized exercise of power that shapes people’s actions ad their lives ▪ Her task: demystify ruling relations where - Third wave: aiming for representation of more types of women - Bell hooks: believed black women felt “erased” and that women’s positions in households are places of patriarchal oppression - “Fourth” wave – Queer theory: deconstructing sexual identities in respect to history - Desire - Language - Identity ▪ Michel Foucault 3. Post structuralism: How truths are always shifting and shaped by language, context, and power - Saying there are other factors than class - 4 powers: - Knowledge: - Surveillance: Making lives of people visible to authorities to instil social control indiscreetly ▪ Ex. prisoners being monitored and therefore act appropriately even though someone might not be watching ▪ Ex. Enforcing as we grow up/in childhood, social media: following stereotypes and gender norms, stigmas, discipline ▪ Ex. Applications having only 2 gender options - - Normalization: social process where some practices of living are deemed “normal” - Agency Discourse: How truths and facts come together in a system, guiding how we think about an issue and who is authorized to speak Discipline/surveillance: Normalizing aspect of discourse leads to discipline; how we come to be motivated to produce realities Week 4 Sociologists use these to deliver research: empirical evidence: evidence corroborated by direct experience and/or observation scientific method: systematic observations, measurements, testing of hypotheses Steps in the research process Reliability (replicability): how likely research results are to be replicated if the study is reproduced Validity (accuracy): how well a sample matches the population of a study → sample representatives Operational definition: Definitions/limits on terms to ensure consistency and replicability in a study (ex. what is considered good grades) Literature review: a review of any existing similar or related studies Hypothesis: Assumption about how 2 or more variables are related Method Implementation Advantages • • Survey • • Questionnaires Interviews • • • • Field Work • • Observation Participant observation Ethnography Case study Yields many responses Can survey a large sample Data generalizable Quantitative data are easy to chart Challenges • • • • • • Yields detailed, accurate, reallife information • • Can be time consuming Can be difficult to encourage participant response Captures what people think and believe, but not necessarily how they behave in real life Time consuming Data are often descriptive and not conducive to generalization Researcher bias is difficult to control for Qualitative data are difficult to organize Method Implementation • Deliberate manipulation of social customs and mores • Analysis of government data (census, health, crime statistics) Research of historic documents Content analysis Experiment Secondary Data Analysis • • Advantages • Tests cause and effect relationships • Makes good use of previous sociological information Challenges • • • Hawthorne effect Artificial conditions of research Ethical concerns about people’s wellbeing • Data could be focused on a purpose other than yours Data can be hard to find Taking into account the historical or cultural context of texts • • Correlation: when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable Causation: - there is a correlation between the independent and dependent variables - the independent variable must be prior to the dependent - must be no other intervening variables responsible for the casual relationship Independent variables: the cause of the change Dependent variables: the effect/thing that is changed - ex. the researcher would establish one form of human behaviour as the independent variable and observe the influence it has on a dependent variable. How does gender (the independent variable) affect rate of income (the dependent variable)? - ex. How is social class (the dependent variable) affected by level of education (the independent variable)? Interpretive approach: A framework that seeks to understand social worlds from the point of view of participants, leading to in-depth knowledge → focuses on qualitative data Qualitative data: information based on interpretations of meaning Hawthorne effect: people changing their behaviour because they know they are being watched as part of a study Survey: collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviours and opinions, often in the form of a written questionnaire Sample: a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population Experiment: a way to test social theories by investigating relationships to test a hypothesis → a scientific approach - 2 types of experiments: lab-based, natural/field Field research: gathering primary data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey Participant observation: researchers join people and participate in a group’s routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context. Ethnography: the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting → ex. boarding school, Disney, inuit community Case study: an in depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual Secondary/textual/content analysis: drawn from already-completed work of other researchers Research process - 2. Peer reviewed journal articles, scholarly books 4. Micro/Quantitative, Micro/qualitative, combination 5. If you’re collecting your own data - Qualitative study is not to generalize a population, it’s to generalize to a theory ▪ Questions: not asking research question, asking questions for indicators ▪ Participant observation - Quantitative ▪ How to sample – Snowball sampling: networking through participants - 6. Consent form: REB - Purpose of study, procedures, benefits/risks, participation, confidentiality, contact - 8. Analyzing data - Quantitative: statistical analysis, trends - Qualitative ▪ Transcribe interviews/fieldnotes ▪ Memos: details like body language, emotions ▪ Could use qualitative analysis software - 9. Conference presentations - Peer-reviewing by expert reviewers: Review and re-submit Mentioned Cases: Grandfield: working class students in an elite academic environment - Methods - Interviews Overt (telling people his objective) and covert (silent observation) participation observation - Qualitative survey - Findings - Feelings of being cultural outsiders, marked by stigma → distancing themselves by their background - Negative emotions: guilt, shame Wodtke: How does intelligence affect racist attitudes? - Hypothesis: higher intelligence people will show less racism but not more likely to vote political policies for racial inequalities - Variables - X (independent): intelligence - Y (dependent): racist attitudes - Using survey for indicators - Verbal ability test - Perceptions of people of colour - Findings: supports both his hypotheses Operationalization: connects abstract world of concepts with the concrete world of empirical measurement - Indicators: concrete measures which are usually agreed to represent the concept Research ethics Tuskegee (1932-1972): understanding effects of syphilis on black men - Unethicalness: treatment was discovered but they were denied treatment Milgram (1961-1963): studying obedience to authority figures - Participants were giving a hidden person shocks - Unethicalness: deceived and caused them to go through stress Malnutrition (early 1940s): on indigenous children Three principles of research ethics 1. Respect for persons (consent) 2. Concern for well-being (consideration and communication of risks/benefits) Research Risks vs Group Vulnerability (pre-existing) – high/low - Physiological or health issues - Cognitive or emotional factors - Socioeconomic ramifications (stigma, employment loss) - Legal ramifications (deportation, criminalize) 3. Justice (no segment carrying undue burden) Informed Consent Indigenous ways of knowing - Spiritual and natural world - Knowledge embedded in the land, culture, and community - Takes holistic view - Oral knowledge Research ethics with Indigenous communities and governmental regulations - Misappropriation - Failure to share gathered data - Stealing their knowledge Give specific details and practice defining terms in your own words. • Compare and contrast the two sample studies addressed in lecture. How did their research methods differ and why? What steps would they have had to take to uphold research ethics? o In the Tuskegee case, the research methods they used was qualitative through field work observation as their goal was to observe the effects of syphilis, however, they were truly doing an experiment since they were tampering with the people’s health by holding back the cure, without the people’s consents. To uphold research ethics, they should have went through the 3 steps which are consent, communicating risks/benefits, and ensuring there will be no injustice occurring. Risks they should have communicated were the health effects of voluntarily not taking the cure, and the emotional tole it could take. They did not care for their well-beings. • Pick a very general topic that interests you. How could you investigate that topic differently using surveys, participant observation, or interviews? How would the data you get differ? • Consider our metaphor of how research is a conversation. What role does the literature review play in that conversation o Literature review acts as a conversation between different generations and historical time periods. People now can look back on research back then and “listen” by intensively reading and learning from those of the past, and “respond” through their own research paper. It’s like passing down stories that continue to evolve as the time periods and societies shift. Week 5 Chapter 3 Culture: encompasses the shared beliefs, values, practices, and material objects of a group of people. It includes everything from how people think and express themselves to the rules and norms that guide their behaviour. Culture is both innovative and restrictive. It provides shared meanings through which people interpret and orient themselves in the world. - Example: The traditions, language, and social etiquette of a country form its culture. Values: a culture's standards for discerning what is desirable, good, just, or beautiful. They suggest how people should behave. - Example: In many Western cultures, individualism and freedom are highly valued. Beliefs: the tenets or convictions that people hold to be true. - Example: A belief in a higher power or the importance of education. Sanctions: a means of enforcing norms through formal or informal ways of authorizing or disapproving of certain behaviours. They are a form of social control. - Example: A traffic ticket is a formal sanction, while a disapproving look is an informal sanction. Norms: visible and invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured. They dictate how people should act in specific situations. - Example: Waiting in line at a store is a social norm. Folkways: Norms based on social preferences that direct appropriate behaviour in day-to-day practices. They lack moral underpinnings. - Example: Shaking hands when meeting someone, or the appropriate dress code for an event. Mores: Norms that embody the moral views and principles of a group. They have serious consequences for violations and may be legally protected. - Example: Laws against theft or murder. Taboos: Powerful moral prohibitions that protect what are considered inviolable bonds between people. - Example: Incest and cannibalism. Breaching Experiment: This is a method used by sociologists to uncover tacit, often unconscious social norms by deliberately violating them and observing the reactions. - Example: Garfinkel's experiment where people acted like strangers in their own homes to see the family's reactions. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: This hypothesis states that people understand the world through the culture embedded in their language. Language shapes our experience of the world. Also referred to as linguistic relativity. - Example: If a language lacks a word for a certain emotion, it can be argued that speakers of that language may not experience that emotion in the same way. Material Culture: Consists of the physical objects or belongings of a group of people. - Example: Buildings, clothing, and tools. Non-Material Culture: Consists of the non-physical ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and norms of a society. - Example: Beliefs about family, rules of etiquette and ideas about politics. High Culture: Cultural experiences characterized by formal complexity, eternal values, or intrinsic authenticity. Often associated with the elite and intellectualism. - Example: Classical music, opera, and ballet. Popular Culture: Cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in mainstream society. It is well liked by “the people". - Example: Pop music, movies, and popular television. Cultural Capital: Cultural assets in the form of knowledge, education, and taste that can be transferred intergenerationally. It can be a means of gaining social status or advantage. - Example: Knowledge of classical music can be a form of cultural capital. Postmodern Culture: The form of culture that comes after modern culture characterized by a playful mixture of forms, an ironic sensibility, and "incredulity towards metanarratives". - Example: The mixing of high and low culture such as in the television show The Simpsons or rock music being the subject of high brow analysis. Subculture: A smaller cultural group within a larger culture. They share a specific identity apart from the majority but still exist within the larger society. - Example: Ethnic groups that maintain their unique customs while participating in the larger society. Counterculture: A type of subculture that explicitly rejects the larger culture's norms and values. - Example: The hippies of the 1960s or the Ku Klux Klan. Globalization: The integration of international trade and finance markets that allows for greater exchange between cultures. - Example: The spread of fast food chains like McDonalds globally. Dispersion: The act or process of people being spread out over a wide area. - Example: The dispersion of a population after a natural disaster. Diaspora: The dispersion of a people from their original homeland. - Example: The African diaspora, in which populations of African descent are spread across the globe. Hybridity: New forms of culture that arise from cross-cultural exchange, especially in the aftermath of the colonial era. It's a blend of different cultural elements. - Example: Fusion cuisine which combines different cultural culinary traditions. Functionalist Approach to Culture: This approach views culture as a system in which all parts work together to create society as a whole. Culture ensures that the "meaning of life" remains stable. - Example: Cultural norms function to support the smooth operation of society. Symbolic Interactionist Approach to Culture: This perspective focuses on how people come to mutual understandings through cultural practices and interactions. - Example: Studying how people use symbols to create shared meaning and how those symbols guide behaviour. Critical Sociological Approach to Culture: This approach examines how inequalities and power relationships are maintained by a culture's value system. It sees culture as inherently unequal, based on factors like gender, class, race, and age. - Example: Analyzing how cultural practices perpetuate gender inequality, such as female genital mutilation. Cultural imperialism is the deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on another culture. * Example: European colonial expansion beginning in the 16th century. Ethnocentrism is evaluating another culture according to the standards of one's own culture Explicit culture: observable things of a culture Implicit culture: deeply ingrained like attitudes, norms, less obvious Status symbols: show signs of wealth Capital - Economic: money, property, financial, resources - Cultural: knowledge, beliefs, skills - Social: networks of relationships, knowledge - Human: marketable and likable skills Cultural appropriation: How does the case of the 7-day week demonstrate implicit culture? - Found different places of the world at different time periods had different weeks creating culturable variability. - Shows implicit culture because when we tell people about our culture, we wouldn’t think to tell them about the days of the week; that’s how deeply ingrained it is Chapter 5 Socialization is the process through which people learn societal norms and expectations, accept society’s beliefs, and become aware of societal values. It's how individuals come to understand their culture and how they fit into society. It involves learning to behave in ways dictated by societal values, beliefs, and attitudes. - Example: A child learns to say "please" and "thank you" through their interactions with family, which is part of the socialization process. Role: the behaviour expected of a person who occupies a particular position within society. Roles are defined by the behaviour expected of a person who occupies a specific position, such as a son, daughter, student, friend, or employee. - Example: A student is expected to attend classes, complete assignments, and participate in class discussions; these are behaviours that define the student role. - 4 stages of child socialization: - Preparatory stage: only capable of imitating - Play stage: begin to imitate and take on roles others have - Game stage: comprehending the different roles, their actions, and how they interact - Generalized other: common behavioural expectations of general society, able to internalize how they are viewed Difference Between Sociology and Psychology - Sociology: Focuses on how society shapes behaviour and the mind. It looks at the role of social structures, processes, and organizations in human life. - Psychology: Focuses on how the mind influences behaviour and is interested in people's mental development and how their minds process their world. - Example: A psychologist might study how an individual's upbringing impacts their mental health, whereas a sociologist might study how societal factors like poverty or discrimination impact mental health. Agents of Socialization: These are the various groups and institutions that contribute to the socialization process. They teach people how to function successfully in their social worlds. Examples: - Family: The first and most crucial agent of socialization, where children learn basic social skills, values, and beliefs. - Peer groups: Groups of people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests and which teach social skills. - Schools: Formal institutions that teach academic knowledge, social skills, and cultural norms, including both the formal curriculum and the hidden curriculum. - Hidden Curriculum: This refers to the informal teaching done in schools that socializes children to societal norms. It's the unwritten rules and lessons that students learn in school. ▪ Example: Learning to follow a schedule, respect authority, and compete for grades are all part of the hidden curriculum. - Workplaces: Socialize individuals to workplace norms, behaviours, and expectations. - Mass Media: Contributes to socialization through messages about norms and expectations. - Government: Socializes citizens to follow rules, laws, and social conventions. Socialization as Lifelong Practice: Socialization is not just for children; it's a continuous process that occurs throughout our lives as we encounter new roles and situations. - Example: Adults undergoing resocialization in the military learn new behaviours and expectations distinct from their previous lives. The looking glass self: 1. Imagines perceptions of others about them 2. There judgements on behaviour and appearance 3. Personal feeling of that Post-childhood socialization: - Secondary socialization: learning to behave outside of family - Anticipatory Socialization: This is the process of preparing for future life roles. It involves learning the norms, values, and behaviours associated with a role before actually taking on that role. - Example: A student who is volunteering in a hospital to prepare for a medical career is engaging in anticipatory socialization. - Resocialization: involves removing old behaviours and learning new ones in their place. It's a process that can be stressful as it involves letting go of long-held habits. - Example: Individuals in a total institution like a prison or the military undergo resocialization as they are forced to adopt a new set of norms, behaviours, and rules. Total Institution: organization where members live in isolation from the rest of society. It's where total resocialization occurs as individuals are subjected to a controlled environment. - Example: Prisons, military barracks, and some religious cults are total institutions. Milkie’s Study: - Study: how girls interpret female images in the media - Method: interviewed - Findings: they believed they were unrealistic - White women felt pressure to conform - Black women didn’t - Reflected appraisals: How a person believes others perceive/evaluate of them - Third person effect: We believe others are more affected by media than ourselves - Generalized other: how we think society expects us to act - Social comparisons: how we compare ourselves to others And, make sure that you can answer these study questions. Give specific details and practice defining terms in your own words. • How does Milkie's research explain how girls react to magazine images? Why do you think not all of the girls had the same responses? • If you had gone to a gender-neutral school, what impact do you think it might have had on you? • What did research show about the impact of gender-neutral preschool? What do you think kept the results from being more dramatic? Week 6 Habitus (Pierre Bourdieu): Dispositions, attitudes, and values that shape a person’s actions and perceptions of the world “feel for the game”, “the way we do things” - Gang members display street smarts to navigate their world → street smart is their habitus Social inequality: unequal distribution of resources, rewards, and positions in society → based on social differences Social stratification: institutionalized social in equality Meritocracy: merit (quality/value they hold) decides their social standing Caste system: People born and remain in their social standing Status: - Ascribed: status received by being born into a group - Achieved: status gained through individual efforts/merits Class system: Based on social and individual achievements Capitalism (Marx): - Bourgeoisie: people who control production - Proletariat: people of the working class Poverty: - Absolute: deprivation of basic human needs - Relative: low income or resources for ordinary living patterns, customs, and activities Gini index: measure of income inequality where 0 is equality and 1 is inequality Status: level of prestige held in one’s social status of a community Middle class/working class: Comfortable lives whereas upper-middle have comfortable incomes SES: Socio-economic status based on income, education, and occupation - Ex. plumbers might make more money than teachers, but are considered lower class Social mobility: changing positions in a social stratification system → income or occupation of parents-based - Open stratification system: where social mobility can happen - Intergenerational mobility: social class differences between generations of a family - Intragenerational mobility: social class differences between members of same generation - Structural mobility: Societal changes result in a whole group moving up/down social class ladder Global stratification: worldwide patterns of social inequality Neoliberalism: market-oriented reform policies like changing price controls, trade barriers, etc. to regulate society Davis-Moore thesis: greater function of a social role should result in a greater reward - Doesn’t explain (Tumis): - People with media personalities become famous and rich - Inequalities in education system or due to race/gender Critical sociological approach to inequality - Only benefits some people within society - “great U turn” in income equality only helped the corporate - Neoliberal policies benefit rich more than poor False consciousness: people in capitalist society accepting how things are, producing/labour without knowing or fully understanding why - Ex. How workers clock in and clock out without fully understanding where their products of labour go Cultural capital: cultural “assets” get passed down the same as financial capital/wealth and increase social status Conspicuous consumption: tendency to buy things based on status than need Mobility springboards and mobility traps Economic differences in the neighborhoods surrounding the three U of T campuses And, make sure that you can answer these study questions. Give specific details and practice defining terms in your own words. • How have Toronto neighborhoods changed in terms of income during the period 19702005? What patterns have shifted? What might some factors be that contributed to these changes? • What factors can contribute to your ability to achieve intergenerational mobility in Canada? • How accurate is it to describe Canadian society as a meritocracy? Why? Week 7 Week 8 GENDER: core status Gender: social or cultural distinctions and roles associated with being male or female Sex: physical or physiological differences between makes and females including primary (reproductive system) characteristics and secondary (physical) characteristics. Gender identity: extent one identifies masculine or feminine Sexuality: capacity and to who sexual attraction is towards Heteronormativity: supporting heterosexuality as the norm Homophobia: extreme or irrational aversion to homosexuals Gender roles: how men and women are expected to act and behave - Role learning: through play Devor Dominant gender schema: an ideology serving to perpetuate inequalities in power and status - Sex is a biological characteristic producing male or female - Gender is a social/psychological characteristic expressing biological sex Gender socialization: 4 agents: Creates and maintains normative expectations for gender-specific behaviour - Family - Education - Peer groups - Mass media Secondary agents: religion, workplace, etc. Gender discrimination: women and men not rewarded equally Gender and unpaid labour: Women limited to pink collar jobs Functionalist views on gender roles: - Gender roles were established preindustrial and passed on to keep the family system functioning properly - With world war 2, women had to make money and didn’t want to stop afterwards Parson - Women took expressive hobbies like literature or music while men stayed technical Critical sociology views on gender roles: - Society is structured by relations of power and domination among social groups (men vs women) that determine access to scarce resources - Dominant group: men, subordinate group: women - Dominant group set rules for success and opportunities Engels - Owner-worker relationship in labour force is same as household, women are proletariat Contemporary sociologists - Women can become wage earners but carry most of the domestic burden Feminist theory views on gender roles: - Radical feminism: considers role of the family in perpetuating male dominance Dorothy smith - Bifurcated consciousness: women perceiving a disconnect between their personal experiences and the way the world is represented (dominant, abstract, institutional) Symbolic interactionist approach views on gender roles: - Attaching characteristics to words or gender-related symbols Charles Cooley - Looking glass self: one’s determination of self is based on the view of society → Doing Gender: gender is something we do/perform but not something we are FAMILY Marriage: a legally recognized social contract between 2 people, traditionally based on a sexual relationship, and implying a permanence of the union Approaches to studying family: - Macro: focus on the family in relationship to a society as a whole Functionalist - Importance of the nuclear family: man and woman married with one child Critical - Inequalities within relationship: diverse responses of family form from tensions of gender inequalities and historical changes in the economy and society - Meso: mate selection and marital satisfaction reveal the dynamics of the group - Socially defined assets of potential mates, in/out group dynamics of preference, and demographics affect availability of desirable mates - Micro: dynamics between individuals within families - Exchange theory: all relationships are based on giving and returning valued goods or services Kinship: traceable ancestry, based on blood, marriage, or adoption Family life cycle Family life course Functionalist approach to studying marriage and family Critical sociology approach to studying marriage and family Symbolic Interactionist approach to studying marriage and family What are some critiques of the functionalist approach to defining and understanding families? What are the trends in each of the following (not specific statistics, just whether they are increasing/decreasing/staying the same): • Traditional nuclear family (husband, wife, children) • Single parents • Cohabitation • Same-sex couples • People staying single And, make sure that you can answer these study questions. Give specific details and practice defining terms in your own words. • What is some evidence that gender is socially constructed rather than biological? • What are 4 reasons for why the gender gap in wages persist in most countires? • What are some specific negative consequences of legally defining marriage and family? • What are "fictive kin"? Explain the typology developed by Margaret Nelson • What are the implications of falling outside of the dominant mainstream definition of family ?
0
advertisement
Related documents
Download
advertisement
Add this document to collection(s)
You can add this document to your study collection(s)
Sign in Available only to authorized usersAdd this document to saved
You can add this document to your saved list
Sign in Available only to authorized users