Contents. Part I Setting the Stage... 1

Transcription

1 Part I Setting the Stage Introduction: From Implicit to Explicit Theories... 3 Everyday Life Theories and Facts of Life... 3 Moving from Implicit to Explicit Theories... 5 Multiple Levels of Social Reality and Contrasting Theoretical Perspectives... 8 Agency and Structure National Variations in the Origins of Sociological Theory Postrevolutionary French Positivism German Historicism English-Scottish Laissez-Faire Political Economy and British Utilitarianism American Pragmatism and Micro-Level Interaction Summary Classical Stage European Sources of Sociological Theory Social and Intellectual Background Science, Social Evolution, and the Dream of a More Rational Society Confronting the Nonrational Dimensions of Social Life Dominant Figures in the Establishment of Sociology Émile Durkheim: Sociology as the Science of Social Integration Karl Marx: Human Needs, Class Conflict, and Social Change Max Weber: Social Action as the Foundation of Society Georg Simmel: Interaction Processes Other Important Pioneers Harriet Martineau: Discovering the Discrepancy Between Morals and Manners Alexis de Tocqueville: An Analysis of American Democracy Vilfredo Pareto: Logical Versus Nonlogical Action Ferdinand Tönnies: Contrasting Community and Society xiii

2 xiv Marianne Weber: Exposing the Subordination of Women at Home and Work Summary Development of American Sociology: A Brief Historical Overview Chicago School Beginnings: Social Interaction and Social Reform George Herbert Mead and Social Behaviorism Jane Addams: Applying Sociology Through Social Work and Social Reform W. I. Thomas and the Definition of the Situation Robert Ezra Park: Observing and Analyzing the Social Life of the City Other Significant Pioneers in Early American Sociology Charles Horton Cooley: Primary Groups and the Looking-Glass Self W. E. B. Du Bois: African Americans Double Consciousness Within the Veil Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Sexual Relations Related to Home and Work Development of Functional Theory for Analyzing Society s Institutional Structures Talcott Parsons and the Development of Structural/Functional Theory Alternative Perspectives Within Functionalism Merton s Middle-Range Functionalism Coser s Conflict Functionalism Alternatives to Functionalism Blumer and Symbolic Interactionism Mills and Critical Sociology Homans and Exchange Behaviorism Summary Formal Theory Construction: Developing Sociological Theory as Part of a Scientific Enterprise Linking Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Research Objective Versus Subjective Dimensions of Social Reality Prediction versus Interpretation Strategies of Formal Theory Construction Concepts and Variables Classification Systems Propositions Causes and Consequences Interdependent Relations Thresholds and Limits... 94

3 xv The Challenge of Causal Explanation Theory: A Set of Propositions The Challenge of Multiple Paradigms: Underlying Assumptions, Beliefs, and Values that Influence Theory Construction Summary Part II Moving from Micro to Meso to Macro Levels Symbolic Interaction: Constructing the Social World and its Participants Identities Symbolic Interaction Process Versus Structure Roles and Identities Staging Performances: The Dramaturgic Approach to Interaction Teams and Audiences The Precariousness of the Social World Interaction Challenges of the Stigmatized The Context of Interaction Language, Social Reality, and the Cultural World Summary Phenomenological Sociology and Ethnomethodology: The Everyday Life World of Common Sense Phenomenological Sociology: Alfred Schutz s Contributions Personal Versus Intersubjective Consciousness Meanings, Motives, and Accounts Mutual Understanding in Personal Versus Impersonal Relations Contemporaries, Predecessors, and Successors Phenomenological Perspective on Sociological Knowledge Ethnomethodology Reciprocity of Perspectives Context and Meaning The Social Construction of Reality: Berger and Luckmann Mutual Interdependence of Social Institutions and Subjective Consciousness Cultural Homelessness in the Modern and Late Modern World Summary Social Exchange and Rational Choice at the Micro Level: Looking Out for # Historical Background: Individualistic Versus Collectivist Theories of Social Exchange A Behavioral Approach to Elementary Exchanges: Contributions by George C. Homans

4 xvi Behavioral Dynamics of Groups Psychological Foundations of Social Relations Applications of Exchange Theory to Elementary Social Behavior Elementary Social Exchanges and the Emergence of Power Structures: Peter Blau s Micro-Level Exchange Theory Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Rewards Dilemmas of Attraction How Power Structures Develop from Imbalanced Exchanges Acquiring Power or Avoiding Subordination Through Strategic Exchanges Individual Interests and Group Dynamics Individual Interests, Rights, and Resources: James Coleman s Perspective on Exchanges Between Rational Actors The Risk of Perverse Effects Summary Networking and Belonging: Opportunity Structures, Rational Choice Exchanges, and the Sociology of Emotions Opportunities and Limitations: Peter Blau s Structural Approach Networks, Groups, and Personal Relationships Network Analysis Exchange Processes in Networks, Groups, and Personal Relationships Social Bonding and the Sociology of Emotions Gender Differences in Emotional Bonding Versus Pursuit of Self-Interests Emotional Labor in Organizational Settings Cyberspace Markets, Networks, and Personal Relationships Summary From Micro-Level Exchanges to Meso- and Macro-Level Structures Emergence of Macro Structures from Imbalanced Exchanges Micro-Level Competition for Status and Power Stabilization of Power Structures Through Norms and Values From Power Structures to Meso and Macro Structures Legitimation Versus Opposition of Power Structures Institutionalization in Macro-Structures Social Capital and Corporate Actors from a Rational Choice Perspective Normative and Legal Regulation of People s Behavior Promoting Normative Conformity and Deterring Deviance Social Capital and Public Goods

5 xvii Establishment of Corporate Actors and Authority Relations Corporate Actors Versus Natural Persons Summary Meso-Level Structures: Communities and Organizations Communities: Actual, Potential, and Ideal Geographical Communities Ecology and Community in Urban Environments Communities of Shared Interests and Values and Socioemotional Bonds Formal Organizations and Individual Versus Collective Goals Primary Beneficiaries of Organizational Goals Organizational Control and Compliance Structures Bureaucrats Versus Professionals in Organizational Settings Formal Organizations as Open Systems Variations in Interdependence Variations in Boundary Permeability Organizational Relations Summary Meso-Level Structures: Markets and Socioeconomic Classes Markets and Individual Versus Collective Interests Economic Market Instability and Government Regulation Economic Versus Socioemotional Markets Socioeconomic Classes Economic Resources as the Foundation for Socioeconomic Stratification Economic Classes in American Society Education, Socioeconomic Status Groups, and Lifestyle Occupational Authority Structures and Socioeconomic Class Cultures Reproduction of Class Cultures: Material Conditions and Symbolic Definitions Summary Integration and Social Order at the Macro Level: Parsons Structural-Functional Perspective From Social Action to Social Systems: Introducing Parsons Structural/Functional Theory The Voluntaristic Theory of Social Action The Pattern Variables: Variations in Subjective Orientations The Strategy of Structural Functional Analysis Functional Requirements and Institutional Structures of Societies

6 xviii The AGIL Framework Subsystem (Institutional) Interchanges Hierarchy of Cultural Control Structural Differentiation in the Evolution of Modern Society Human Life, Social Action, and Ultimate Reality Summary Middle-Range Functionalism and Neofunctionalism Robert Merton and Middle-Range Functionalism Middle-Range Functional Analysis Latent Dysfunctions, Social Problems, and Social Change Examples of Middle-Range Functional Theories Social Structure and Anomie The Bureaucratic Personality Reference Group Theory From Functionalism to Neofunctionalism Social Action and Social Order: Jeffrey Alexander s Multidimensional Perspective Social Action and Social Order: Environmental Versus Normative Influences Alexander s Critique of Earlier Theories Contrasting Dimensions of Action in Richard Münch s Neofunctional Perspective AGIL Dimensions of Action Contrasting Theoretical Perspectives Related to the AGIL Framework Summary Conflict and Competition: Analytical Conflict Theories at the Macro Level Functional Analysis of Conflict: Lewis Coser s Contributions Conflict Between Groups and In-Group Solidarity Conflict and Group Solidarity Realistic Versus Unrealistic Conflict Conflict as a Stimulus for Cooperation Between Groups Authority Relations and Conflicting Interests: Ralf Dahrendorf s Contributions Conflict Group Formation Intensity and Violence of Conflict Consequences of Conflict Conflict Model Versus Functional Model Stratification and Conflict in Interpersonal and Institutional Settings: Randall Collins Theoretical Synthesis Interaction Rituals and Social Stratification

7 xix Occupation, Authority Relations, and Socioeconomic Status Applications of the Model World Systems Theory and International Exploitation: Immanuel Wallerstein s Contributions Summary Critical Theory: Social System Requirements Versus Human Needs C. Wright Mills: The Sociological Imagination and Critical Analysis Historical Development of the American Power Structure Mass Media and Mass Society The American Power Structure and the Iron Law of Oligarchy Theoretical Developments Within Marxism Development of American Critical Theory Lifeworld Versus System: The Critical Perspective of Jürgen Habermas The Legitimation Crisis in the Political Organization of Capitalism Alternative Forms of Communication and Rationality Knowledge and Power in Michel Foucault s Perspective Surveillance and Social Control Professional Expertise and Social Control Summary Part III Exploring Multi-Level Theoretical Perspectives Feminist Theory at Multiple Levels: Analytical and Critical Feminist Critique of Sociology: Dorothy Smith s Standpoint Theory Exploring Differences Among Women in Multiple Hierarchies of Domination in Patricia Hill Collins Perspective Micro-Level Analyses of Gender Differences Biological Sex and Gender Differences Male-Female Differences in Socioemotional Bonds with Parents Matters of Life and Death Wives Versus Husbands in Family Life Macro-Level Critique of Male Domination Institutional Differentiation and the Organized Control of Violence

8 xx Evolutionary Progress from a Feminist Functionalist Perspective Explaining Gender Inequality: Janet Saltzman Chafetz s Theory of Gender Stratification Mechanisms of Macro-Level Domination Through Impersonal Texts Summary Human Agency, the Structuration Process, and Social Systems: Linking Micro, Meso, and Macro Levels of Analysis Structuration Theory: Reproduction and Transformation of the Social World Agency Social Structures and Systems Sociological Analysis and Public Discourse The Dynamics of Open Systems Walter Buckley s Morphogenic Process Model of Social Systems Variations in Social System Dynamics Feedback Cycles in Goal-Oriented Systems Morphogenesis, Morphostasis, and Entropy From Unorganized to Organized Complexity: Niklas Luhmann s Perspective on the Self-Creation of Social Systems Self-Organization and Boundary Formation Social Systems Versus Psychic Systems Managing Complexity Interaction Versus Organization Versus Society as Systems Summary The Sociobiological Perspective: Biological Versus Cultural Influences on Human Behavior The Historical Background of Social Darwinism Exploring the Biological and Genetic Foundations of Social Behavior Sex Roles and Reproductive Behavior Parenting Behavior Altruism and Cooperation Within Groups Competition and Conflict Status Competition and Dominance Hierarchies Within Groups War and Peace in Intergroup Relations Religion and Sociobiological Evolution Sociobiology and Cultural Evolution Summary

9 xxi 19 The Dynamics of Cultural Systems Cultural Learning and Human Survival Cultural Morphogenesis: Consistencies and Contradictions in Knowledge and Beliefs in Margaret Archer s Perspective Civilized Behavior, Centralization of Power, and Functional Interdependence in Norbert Elias s Theory Self-Control and Civilized Manners Political Centralization and Expansion of Functional Interdependence The Struggle Between Good and Evil: Jeffrey Alexander s Cultural Sociology Summary Postmodern Social and Cultural Fragmentation Postmodernity or Late Modernity? Skepticism Regarding Knowledge and Authority Globalization and its Impact on Nation-States and Local Settings Mass Media and the Representation Versus the Simulation of Reality Popular Culture and Experiments in Identity Construction Enchanted Consumption as a Source of Identity and Status Sociology of the Body: Body Shaping and Decorating as Expressive Reactions to Individual Anonymity Summary Conclusion Preliminary Stage Setting From Micro to Meso to Macro Levels Toward Theoretical Integration: Strategies and Challenges Glossary References Index