Sociology 201 - in Class Notes

Foundations – Day 1
Defining “Sociology”
 The problem: What is “society”? What is “social”?
 Distinctive Approaches
o Macro vs Micro (Large vs Small)
 Macro: Large collections of persons.
 Micro: Social Interaction.
o Qualitative vs Quantitative
Sociology’s Founders I: KARL MARX

 Marx’s critique of capitalism
o Counters basic human needs
o Creates social inequality
o Requires exploitation
 Marx’s Contribution
o The conflict paradigm
o Exploration of economy/society relationship
o Emphasis on social inequality
Sociology’s Founders II: EMILE DURKHEIM
 Durkheim studies “social facts”

 Developed the perspective known as “functionalism”
 Established sociology as a unique academic discipline.
Sociology’s Founders III: Max Weber
 Promoted “idealism” versus “materialism”

 Emphasized “rationalization” as historical process that defined social evolution.
 Promoted sociological study of organizations.
 Promoted sociological study of politics, religion, law, and other institutions.
Sociology’s Paradigms
 Structural Functionalism
 Conflict
 Symbolic Interactionism
 Gender
 “Postmodern” Prespectives
Ethnomethodology
 The term “ethnomethodology.”

 The nature of social order: in real time and “from the bottom up.”
 Social order consists consist of rules that we create, follow, and enforce (as in the
management of conversation).
The Tic-Tac-Toe Experiment
 The “rules” implicit.

 The “breach” of the rules was treated as motivated (and as morally wrong), not as
random.
 The “breach” was not ignored, and could not have been ignored – breaches are always
noticed.
 Some other breaching experiments that you can try at home…
A few Additional Topics in the Sociology of Everyday Life
 Impression management
 Politeness norms and rituals of personal space
 The relationship between social status and language use (and other culture issues)
 The sociology of emotions
Some Important Theorists
 Freud on the Integration of the Personality

 Piaget on Cognitive Development
 Kohlberg on Moral Development
 -G.H. Mead on the Self
o The I and the Me
o The Play Stage
o The Game Stage
Sex, Gender and Sexuality
“Sex” versus “Gender”
“Sex” and “Gender” are not equivalent.
 Sex entails biological characteristics

 Gender entails behaviors which may or may be biologically-based, eg:
o Boys’ and girl’s play styles
o Boys’ and girls’ intellectual specialization.
 Most gender-based characteristics are completely cultural and arbitrary, not biological:
they are topics for sociology, not biology.
Gender and Social Strathcation
Gender is a social status. This is especially apparent if we consider certain economic realities.
 Men and women are not economic equals.

 Men and women usually perform very different in terms of paid labor.
 Women perform more unpaid labor.
 Even where men contribute to unpaid labor.
 They tend to do different kinds of labor that put men at a disadvantage.
Sociology and Sexual Orientation
 Sexual orientation has always been a public, and not only a private, matter. In
understanding this we must understand that “heterosexuality” is the most common and
the most public sexual orientation.
 Sexual orientation, for a sociological point of view, is about gender displays and not
sexual activities.
Sociology and Sexual Orientation
 Sexuality is a public, not a private, matter and this is the case for heterosexual persons
especially.
 Heterosexuality is not PERCEIVED as public because it is obligatory. This fact contributed
to “heterosexual privilege.”
Groups and Organizations
Types of Social Groups
 Primary Groups
 Secondary Groups
 Networks: Egocentric vs Generalized
Group Dynamics
 “Group Dynamics” are various concepts that define group-level interaction.

Leadership
 Roles: Task-Focused vs Relationship-focused

 Styles: Authoritarian, Democratic, Laissez-faire
 Conformity and Deference to Authority
 Group Size
 Emergent Norms in Group Porcess
Social Class and Social Inequality
How is “Society” Organized?
 All sociologists would agree that “society” is not a monolithic arrangement – it has
parts.
 Society can be divided among:
o Interdependent institutions.
o Genders.
o Various groups and networks.
o And many, many other elements.
 The “Conflict Approaches” in sociology see society as comprising inequality and conflict
among its elements.
Principles of Social Stratification
 “Stratification” refers to a system of inequality. Society is stratified.

 Five principles:
o It’s social, not “natural.”
o It’s persistent, even as societies change.
o It’s omnipresent in nearly all social settings, even in socialist systems.
o It’s supported by ideology.
o It’s micro- as well as a macro-level.
Systems of Stratification
 Ascription vs Achievement: Both are at work in social stratification.

 Caste: A purely ascription-based system.
 Class: A combination of ascription and achievement.
 Meritocracy: A purely achievement-based system.
Cultural Conflict Theories
 Selling and others look to culture as the stratifying principle.

o Culture = a social group’s beliefs, values, ways of adapting to their natural
environment, etc.
o Cultural conflict occurs through immigration, changes in borders, etc.
o Dominant cultural groups “win” in conflict by assimilating the less-powerful
group of treating it as deviant.
Theories concerning international inequality
 Modernization Theory: Higher-income nations are simply more “Modern” due to certain
cultural features.
 Dependency Theory: Higher-income nations create and enforce poverty.
Corporations and Dependency
 Corporations might be thought of as organizing a “new colonialism.”

 Colonialism entails:
o Exploitation
o Forced dependency
 Jobs
 Consumer products
 LIC government and the corporations are both responsible for new colonialism:
o Governments make “business-friendly” environments
o Corporations influence regulator environments
o Collusion case study: The Bhopal tragedy
International Inequality and World Hunger

Dependency theory suggests that hunger and starvation in lower-income nations is a result of
food-related policies in higher-income nations.
 Agriculture in LIC’s has been taken over by HIC’s corporations.

 LICs agricultural products are delivered to the “global supermarket”
 LIC’s grow luxury crops that can command highest prices and highest profits.
 Thus, LIC inhabitants starve in the midst of food that they are not able to purchase.
A few words on demography

“Demography” defined
 Units of analysis
o Household
o Municipality
o CMA, MSA, SMSA, CMSA
o Nation
 Some important “population parameters”
o <Size
o <Fertility
o <Crude Birth Rate
o <Infant Mortality Rate
o <Life Expectancy
o <Migration
o <Immigration Rate
o <Emigration Rate
 The two most important trends in world population:
o <Its increasing
o <It’s urbanizing

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Foundations – Day 1

Sociology’s Founders I: KARL MARX

Sociology’s Founders II: EMILE DURKHEIM

 Durkheim studies “social facts”

 Promoted “idealism” versus “materialism”

 The term “ethnomethodology.”

The Tic-Tac-Toe Experiment

 The “rules” implicit.

A few Additional Topics in the Sociology of Everyday Life

Some Important Theorists

 Freud on the Integration of the Personality

 Sex entails biological characteristics

 Men and women are not economic equals.

 “Group Dynamics” are various concepts that define group-level interaction.

 Roles: Task-Focused vs Relationship-focused

 “Stratification” refers to a system of inequality. Society is stratified.

 Ascription vs Achievement: Both are at work in social stratification.

 Selling and others look to culture as the stratifying principle.

Corporations and Dependency

 Corporations might be thought of as organizing a “new colonialism.”

International Inequality and World Hunger

 Agriculture in LIC’s has been taken over by HIC’s corporations.

A few words on demography

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