ENP 22803 antwoorden oefenvragen.
Micro-sociology.
Goffman: Presentation of the self in everyday life.
•
•
•
•
•
Goffmans’ form of interpretative sociology is called the ‘dramaturgical approach’ (right) (bij
alles wat we doen, voeren we een toneelstuk op)
Goffman is a micro sociologist (right)
Mention three key concepts from the micro-sociology of Goffman
1. Playing a role
2. Front stage and back stage
3. Teams, player, audience
The area behind the curtains in which stewardesses relax can be regarded as front stage
regions (wrong)
According to Goffman, hospitals and prisons can be regarded as ‘total institutions’ (right)
Bourdieu: Reproducing of cultural elites. Distinction. Habitus (verschijningsvorm).
• Muscles are an objectified form of cultural capital (wrong)
• The ‘search for distinction’ is considered by Bourdieu to be an important driver of human
action in all major fields of social life (right)
• According to Bourdieu, higher classes have better/more legitimate tastes (right)
Cultureel kapitaal:
• Embodied form: spieren, dialect, goede manieren. Verkregen, niet te ruilen
• Objectified form: car, painting, house. Materiele objecten, te ruilen
• Institutionalized form: titles, diploma’s. Niet te ruilen.
Coleman: Social capital. Rational choice theory. Werking van groepen, gezin, te verklaren op basis
van individuele keuzes.
•
•
•
Human capital resides in the individual while social capital is embodied in the relations with
other persons (right)
The prisoners dilemma aims to show that rational choices from an individual perspective
tend to deliver sub-optimal results (right)
Family based social capital is according to Coleman the main explanatory factor for school
results and not the quality of the school itself (right)
Collins: Theory of Interaction Ritual Chains. Micro culturele theorie van menselijk gedrag.
•
•
•
Collins’ theory of Interaction Ritual chains adds the element of ‘emotion’ to sociological
theory (right)
Emotional energy is not restricted to individuals but can be carried along by objects as well
(wrong)
The distinction between a natural ritual and a formal ritual in empirical reality is not always
sharp since the concepts are used to define a continuum based on the levels of formalization
or institutionalization of everyday practices (right)
•
Present and discuss the role of emotions in the conceptual model of an interaction ritual as
outlined by Randall Collins. In your essay you are supposed to:
 depict the conceptual model
 define key concepts
 offer an empirical example/application of the model
• Discuss the relationship between short-term and long-term emotions with Randall Collins.
Do you think the EE-concept of Collins to be similar to Bourdieus’ concept of Habitus? Why
(not)?
Macro-sociology.
Parsons: Structural functionalism. Social systems have to fulfil certain key functions to survive on the
long term.
•
•
Parsons emphasises the role of complexity in functional differentiation? (wrong)
What is represented by the letters AGIL (Parsons) and indicate which sub-systems fulfil
these functions in the social system?
 Adaption
 Goal attainment
 Integration
 Latency (pattern maintenance)
Alexander: Civil sphere. Systems, subsystems and the interrelations between those two.
•
•
•
•
•
According to Alexander, institutions that are based on bonds of loyalty and personal relations
belong to the anti-civil sphere (wrong)
The theory of Alexander on the civil sphere belongs to the family of system-theories in
sociology (right)
Mention three sub-systems or spheres as distinguished by Alexander
• Politic sphere
• Religion
• Economic
• Civil sphere
Multi-culturalism implies the purification of the outgroup-qualities (right)
ESSAY: present and discuss Alexanders’ theory of the civil sphere, paying attention to
• The overall character of Alexanders’ theory
• The definition of the civil sphere
• Binary codes
• Civil repair
• The application of this theory to the issue of ‘dealing with out-groups’
Cultural sphere/ Civil Sphere is organized with the help of ‘binary codes’
 Civil versus anti-civil motives
 Civil versus anti-civil relations
 Civil versus anti-civil institutions
Luhmann: General system theory. Social systems versimpelen werkelijkheid.
•
Sub-systems in societies are created to reduce complexity (right)
•
•
Communication between sub-systems is not possible because the people involved do not
want to talk to each other (wrong)
Explain what Luhmann means when he claims that social systems are based on
communication and not on people. Give an example.
De ‘taal’ waar men in praat is essentieel. Het is belangrijk of mensen vanuit een rechtperspectief kijken of vanuit een wetenschap-perspectief. Voorbeeld: milieuproblemen.
Economische subsysteem benoemt een prijs aan milieukosten, al kunnen er aan sommige
effecten geen prijs worden gebonden (zoals biodiversiteit). Vanuit het rechtsperspectief
wordt er gekeken naar wie schuldig is aan het milieuprobleem. Dit is niet altijd even
makkelijk vast te stellen. De manier ‘waarop je praat’ bepaald dus uiteindelijk hoe het sociale
systeem wordt vormgegeven.
Rechtssysteem: schuldig/niet schuldig
Economie: betaald/niet betaald.
Wetenschap: waar/niet waar
Foucault: Structuralisme. Power in everyday life. Centrale bewaking.
•
•
•
•
It is more effective to discipline people in contemporary societies through the visible use of
power than via indirect invisible means (wrong)
Only by studying the permanent social structures underlying social phenomena is it possible
to explain these phenomena (wrong)
Foucault understands surveillance to mean that power does not have to be visible provided it
is organised in such a way that the effect is permanent but the required action is not (right)
Explain with the help of the concept of ‘framing’ why the recent debate on the future of the
European Union has not resulted in a clear strategy.
Discourse; framing. Alles valt binnen een bepaalde discourse: je leert praten in een
bepaalde taal, omdat je in die omgeving bent geboren. Dit geldt ook voor kennis etc. Het
debat wordt door verschillende mensen, die verschillende discourses hebben, gevoerd. Dit
betekent dat iedereen vanuit een ander perspectief en met andere kennis en belangen naar
het onderwerp kijkt. Hierdoor is het moeilijker om een strategie te bedenken waarmee
iedereen het eens is.
Pre-modern and modern punishment. Surveillance, discipline, normalizing judgement. Power
is everywhere. In every social relationship and in each expression.
Discourse/framing is afstamming van de macht.
Simple/first modernity.
Globalization = process of first modernity being replaced or ‘subsumed’ by second modernity
Castells: Power in the network society.
•
•
•
•
Castells The concepts of reflexive modernity and second modernity are interchangeable
(right)
The shift or switch-over from the first to the second modernity brings along major qualitative
changes in the institutions of modernity (wrong). Wel in de nature of society.
With Castells, the space of place is used to describe the heightened time-space dynamics in
the global network society (wrong)
Define and discuss four forms of power in the network society as defined by Castells
• Networking-power = power of inclusion/exclusion
• Network power= power of the network standard(s)
• Networking power = power of elites based on position in networks/space of flows
• Network-making-power = new kind of power based on capacity to construct, code,
(re)connect networks = power of PROGRAMMERS AND SWITCHERS
Global society=network society.
Physical locations are less important than connections with other parts of the network.
Placeless space and timeless time.
Space of flows; flows of information travelling through PS and TT.
Space of place; the real time-space dynamics and experiences.
Globalisation: hoe space of flows de space of place beïnvloed.
Urry: Mobile modernity. Flows and Fluids.
•
•
•
•
John Urry discusses mobilities because he thinks that conventional definitions of ‘society’
and ‘social system’ have become outdated (right)
Globally Integrated Networks (GIN’s) are used to analyze flows that show unpredictable
behaviours due to globalization (wrong)
According to Urry, sociology could benefit from complexity sciences when trying to
understand processes of social change (right)
McDonalds is a good example of a global fluid (wrong)
•
Flows: Globally Integrated Networks (GIN). Manageable. Structured. Predictable.
Calculable. Routinized. Standardized. Logo is wereldwijd bekend: niet gebonden aan
land. (bv McDonalds).
 Risks: shaming the logo, being outperformed by other GIN’s, not flexible
enough to adapt to local circumstances.
• Fluids: Less predictable units. No boundaries. Unpredictable in direction/behaviour.
More interesting, but problematic. (bv CO2, social movements, internet, refugees)
Uses complexity sciences to emphasize (non) manageability of social change
Sassen: TAR. Globalised world.
•
•
•
•
According to Sassen the nation-state has lost its importance in today’s global age (wrong)
(‘Thesis: the nation-state has made today’s global era possible’)
In today’s global age place has lost meaning (wrong) (‘Sassen says that place is still important
in today’s globalised world’)
Global cities are strategic sites for global networks (right) (globaliseringsprocessen doen zich
in steden voor als strategische plaatsen (sites) in globale netwerken waar economische
macht zich concentreert).
TAR stands for territory, agency, rights (wrong)
TAR = territory, authority, rights
For each historical “assemblage” (medieval, national, global): how have territory, authority,
rights changed?
Medieval age:
 Feudalism: leenstelsel.
 Church and empire.
 Authority is based on mutual ties.
 Cities and city-states
National age:
 Heerschappij.
 Legale gelijkheid tussen staten.
 Non-intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another state.
 Territorial authority, nationalisme, industrialisme.
Global age:
 Nieuwe vormen van macht – inclucing non-state actors.
 From government (overheid) to governance (bestuur).
 Emergence of structural interdependenties and global responsibility.
Reflexive/second modernity.
Simple Modernity is evolving into ‘Reflexive Modernity’ due to Globalization, and this affects our
sociological theories, concepts, methodologies while raising new questions and key-issues to be
addressed
The old dominant logic of welfare-distribution shifts to a logic of risk-distribution: some people are
more susceptible to risks:
Simple modernity
• environmental risks can be perceived directly with the help of our senses
• they can be assessed and managed by scientists who are given the authority to deal with
these problems as experts
Reflexive modernity
• (environmental) risks can only be perceived with the help of science, since most of the risks
can no longer be perceived directly with the help of our senses (toxic food, climate change,
ozone layer, radiation)
• scientists are deprived from their absolute authority since lay-people (non-expert) have
come to know about the uncertainties and insecurities which are inherently connected to
modern science.
Beck: Cosmopolitanism. Risk-society in the simple and reflexive modernity.
•
•
•
•
Cosmopolitanism is a more universal idea or concept than multi-culturalism (right) (Built
upon human rights. Het gaat verder dan multiculturisme. Het gaat over overeenkomsten.
Zoveel mogelijk mensen binnen laten: wij EN zij en niet wij OF zij)
In reflexive modernity people risks are accepted as unavoidable element of life (wrong)
Life-politics and Cosmopolitan citizenship according to Ulrich Beck are characteristic for the
phase of ‘first modernity’ (wrong)
The anthropological shock of Chernobyl resulted in the ‘dis-enchantment of science’ (wrong)
The Risk-Society thesis; changing role of science; relationship lay-people and experts.
Life- and sub-politics in reflexive modernity: changing role of classical politics;
individualization.
Cosmopolitan Citizenship in globalizing modernity: in defense of cosmopolitanism;
democracy as dialogue.
Bauman: Fixed and liquid modernity. Legislators and interpreters. Commodities.
•
•
•
•
•
In liquid modernity scientists are ‘legislators’ and not ‘interpreters’ (wrong)
Under liquid modernity, individuals are forced to build their own identity (right)
Uncertainty in liquid modernity is the consequence of not knowing enough and more
research can solve this
Why are consumers ultimately not commodities according to Bauman?
Consumer as a commodity is ultimately based on an illusion because certain qualities cannot
be separated from the persons they are in everyday life
Culture is dominant
In fixed modernity, the role of the government was to build an ideal order, as designed by
scientists.
In liquid modernity this is challenged: it is impossible to make an ideal order, there are
several different orders, and people need to be able to adapt to these different orders. They
have to choose.
Role intellectuals/sociologists: translate the ideal in concrete institutions, laws, etc.
(‘legislator’) (wetgever)
Intellectuals: help in translating from one in the other order (‘interpreter’)
Giddens: Structuration theory.
•
•
•
Giddens uses a discontinuous view of historical development to explain the particular
characteristics of reflexive versus simple modernity (right)
Globalization refers to the increased levels of time-space distantiation and the disembedding
of social relations out of their local contexts (right)
With Giddens, human agents are considered as knowledgeable agents who are consciously
aware of what they are doing (wrong)
Structuration Theory: Dit is een theorie die het verschil overbrugt tussen micro en macro
sociologen, met het centrale idee van agentschappen. Het reconstrueerde de kern concepten
van de sociologie: agency, system en structure. Agency and Structure cannot be separated
(as f.e. in micro or macro studies) since there is no agency without structures and no
structures without agents.
Life politics is a politics of the self. It is about the choices you have after being emancipated.
These individual choices affect politics: if all women work society can change. It is related to
four themes. 1. Self-identity. Your identity involves actions (e.g. to be healthy you have to eat
healthy). 2. Reproduction. Because of new techniques, the definition of life is challenged.
Biological reproduction is now completely social. And sexuality is no longer related to
reproduction. 3. Globalisation. Choices of individual humans can have a large effect on the
planet’s ecology. These new global problems require a global coordination, but this is hard as
these global problems seem far removed from individuals. 4. Existence. Individuals should be
aware of the questions these themes raise, and they should try to answer them.
Reflexive modernity leads to time-space distantiation: social relations are stretched. People
are also disembedded: no longer naturally connected to society. Globalisation brings some
disruptions, but is not overall bad.