Soc 101. Chapter 1: What is Sociology?

Transcription

1 Sc 101 Chapter 1: What is Scilgy? Scilgy is the systematic study f human grups and their intentins Scilgical Perspective refers t the unique way in which scilgists see ur wrld and can dissect the dynamic relatinships between individuals and the larger scial netwrk. Charles Wright Mills Suggested that peple wh d nt, r cannt, recgnize the scial rigins and character f their prblems may be unable t respnd t these prblems effectively The Scilgical Imaginatin Develping an appreciatin f hw individual challenges are influences by larger scial frces Failing t appreciate hw individual challenges are influenced by larger scial frces diminishes a persn s ability t understand and reslve them: persnal trubles and scial trubles Persnal Trubles result frm individual challenges, ex: mark n an exam b/c yu wrte it thus are respnsible fr the grade Scial issues caused by larger scial factrs, ex: if an entire class fails an exam b/c it invlves a grup f peple and cllective actin is required fr the grup s cncerns t be acknwledged and ptentially acted upn Trick is t understand hw these persnal trubles may indeed be due t larger scial issues Quality f mind refers t nes ability t lk beynd persnal circumstances and int scial cntext ex: if n ne in the class passed the exam, but n ne said anything abut itthese peple lack quality f mind T imprve quality f mind yu must develp a scilgical imaginatin that is: the ability t understand the dynamic relatinship b/w individual lives and the larger sciety. Seeing yurself as the prduct f yur family, incme level, race, and gender. Peter Berger Cheerful rbts peple wh are unwilling r unable t see the scial wrld as it truly exists Seeing the general in the particular is the ability t lk at seemingly unique events (particular) and the recgnize the larger (general) features invlved example: seeing ne hmeless persn, but realizing there is many mre yu dn t see T appreciate an individual circumstance like this and braden yur perspective t the larger scial patterns that create and perpetuate peple s living n the streets in a rich cuntry is t emply the scilgical imaginatin Think abut what is familiar and see it as strange What makes yu yu?

2 Agency refers t the idea that each f us has, t sme extent, the ability t alter ur scially cnstructed lives Structure is the netwrk f relatively stable pprtunities and cnstraints influencing ur individual behavirs Engage yur Scilgical Imaginatin Our perceptin f urselves and thers are the prducts f many factrs, fr example: 1. Minrity Status Canadian scilgical research suggests that peple wh are f a visible minrity grup, wh have a physical disability, a mental disability, r wh are lesbian r gay r bisexual face varius frms f discriminatin 2. Gender Sciety treats men and wman differently. Canada remains a patriarchy (a system where men cntrl the plitics and ecnmic resurces f sciety) Wmen earn less than men, 35% less Students believe they live in an equal sciety (but bvs nt)example f strange 3. Sciecnmic status (SES) A cmbinatin f variables used t rank peple int a hierarchical structure Ranks peple based n incme level, level f educatin achieved, ccupatin and area f residence Ascribed status: attributes assigned at birth ex: sex Achieved status: attributes develped thrughut life as a result f effrt and skill ex: Oprah Winfrey, grades Majrity f peple wh are brn pr, remain pr 4. Family Structure Sciecnmic status des influence a persn s pprtunities Many families tday suggest that lving parents with adequate incmes mre ften raise prductive and welladjusted children Number f families belw pverty line slwly declining Single parent families 4 times higher lw incme than 2 parent families Female lne parent families have lwer incmes than 2 parent families 5. Urbanrural Differences Peple wh live in small twns are distant frm urban dwellers and their rural cnnectins are and imprtant defining feature The Histrical Develpment f Scilgy The scientific Revlutin: The develpment f the scientific methd during the Enlightenment perid facilitated the pace f scial change. Auguste Cmte ( ) law f 3 stages 1. Thelgical religius utlk, lngest perid f human thinking during this stage peple wuld explain what they culd see thrugh the actins f spiritual r supernatural beings

3 cncluded w/ the emergence f the Renaissance and later the Englightenment, when science nt religin explained the wrld ended during the middle ages rughly 1300s 2. Metaphysical a perid f questining everything and challenging the ways f the church field f philsphy dedicated t understanding f truth and the relatinship b/w mind and matter characterized by the assumptin that peple culd understand and explain their universe thrugh their wn insight and reflectin used art and shit t try t understand the wrld and find what it means t be a cnscius being 3. Psitive believed the wrld wuld be interpreted thrugh a scientific lens sciety wuld be guided by the rules f bservatin, experimentatin, and lgic Criticism t Cmpte s 3 stages: assumes human thinking is currently as gd as it will ever get final stage being in Cmpte s lifetime is selfserving Quantitative vs Qualitative Scilgy Quantitative Scilgy: study f behaviurs that can be measured (ex: incme levels, crime rates ver time, divrces) Tends t be psitivist Measurable behavirs eq Crime rates ver time Qualitative Scilgy: study f nnmeasurable, subjective behaviurs (ex: effects f divrce) Antipsitivist in nature Nn measurable subjective behavirs Eg. Experiences f living in pverty The Histrical Develpment f Scilgy The Plitical Revlutin: Renaissance t the Enlightenment 3 majr cntributrs 1. Machiavelli human behavirs, suggested human behavir is mtivated by selfinterest and insatiable desire fr material gain pwer and nbility were nt a birthright, anyne culd take pwer if they had the pprtunity 2. Descartes I think therefre I am liberating psitin that cnfirmed human beings were able t understand their wrld thrugh ratinal reflectin (allwed emergence f Cmpte s psitivism) masters f ur wn destiny 3. Hbbespeple driven by tw primary passins: fear f death and desire fr pwer ur lives ur nasty brutish and shrt true nature is self preservatin, citizens must jin tgether fr lng term stability 4. Lckeideas are nt innate, knwledge is the result f experience peple are brn as blank slates ***defining features f scilgical perspective

4 gather mre inf thrugh science and experimentatin challenged primacy f Church and faith 5. Russeau they challenged scial cnventin and inspired new ways f understanding the scial wrld greatest cntributin t scial thery was his challenge t the true nature f scial life prir t rganized sciety human beings existed in a natural state..individuals desire was slitary and selfcentred benefits f wrking tgether (scial cntract) > wrk tgether, achieve mre but lse sme independance Prmtin f individual rights and scial respnsibility, equality f pprtunity and the plitical idelgy f demcracy Ideas challenged traditin and nbility, inspired great debate and reflectin, and led t American and French revlutins The industrial revlutin: arund 1750 Replaced agriculture as ur dminant means f supprting urselves Changes basically every aspect f ur lives ex: family structure, hw peple made a living, aspiratins Technlgical advancements but als a time f scial change The expansin f trading netwrks fr Eurpean gds drve the cnversin frm an agricultural t an industrial ecnmy= capitalism Mst capitalist activity fcused n mercantile activity rather than n prductin The mve frm rural t urban created a series f scial prblems like child labr, pverty, malnurishment and an explding crime rate Emergence f steam engine as a cheap means f pwer and lcmtin was imprtant Psitivism and Antipsitivism Psitivism is a theretical apprach that cnsiders all understanding based n science 1. There exists an bjective knwledgeable reality. Physical and scilgical wrlds can be understd thrugh bservatin, experimentatin, and lgic and it is knwable. reality is bjective n rm fr subjectivity r emtins 2. Singular explanatin ver time all sciences will becme mre alike nly ne crrect explanatin fr the physical and scial wrlds 3. Value free n gd r bad science Antipsitivism is a theretical apprach that cnsiders knwledge and understanding t be the result f human subjectivity Rejects each f the psitivists assumptins Numbers nly have relative imprtancewe must assign them scial value when using them in the scial wrld N single methd f science can reach a cmplete understanding f ur wrld

5 Must appreciate and validate emtins, values, and human subjectivity t understand the human cnditin Science cannt be separated frm ur values Values: cultural assessments that identify smething as right, desirable r mral Macr and Micr Appraches Macrscilgy refers t attempting t understand sciety as a whle (big picture first, individuals secnd) Karl Marxinsight int the nature f human relatinships peple are naturally cmpetitive pwer imbalances Emile Durkheimbelieved peple wanted t wrk tgether fr cllective benefit argued that lw levels f scial integratin and regulatin were a surce f varius scial prblems like rising deviance and suicide rates Max Weberanalysis f hw the scial wrld is becming increasingly ratinalized ver time..peple are becming mre efficient Micrscilgy refers t attempting t understand individual r small grup dynamics (individual first, sciety secnd). American. Observe individually lived realities and then generalize abut their scial relevance Gerge Herbert Meadviewed individual mind and self as ring ut f the scial prcess f cmmunicatin we becme urselves thrugh scial interactin symblic interactinism was reflective f the American value system Charles Hrtn Cleypeple define themselves by hw thers view them Herbert Blumernamed symblic interactinism analysis f meaning, language, and thught 8. Scilgy in Canada (very diverse) 4 features which define Canadian Scilgy 1. Gegraphy and Reginalism ability t survive ver time develpment and maintenance f a cmmunity in the face f hstile elements (ex cld winters) rle f reginalism in ur cuntry s develpment (west vs east) Quebec Francphne scilgy.. quiet revlutin 2. Plitical Ecnmy Interests f the interactin f plitical ecnmy (interactins f plitics, gvernment and gverning and the scial and cultural cnstitutin f markets, institutins, and actrs attempt t seek ut tensins and cntradictins within sciety in rder t frm the basis fr scial change staples thesis: Canadian develpment was based n the explitatin f raw materials that were sent t Eurpean cuntries. Each staple had its wn characteristics that impsed a particular lgic n its develpment. Being a subrdinate ecnmic psitin t Brits and Us

6 Canada tk n menial rle Canadian sciety defined by the realizatin tht Canada is nt ne f the wrld s majr ecnmic r scial frces 3. Canadianizatin Mvement 4. Radical Nature greater fcus n macrscilgy as well as feminist ideas and perspectives uncvers hidden pwer structures that influence and guide sciety wmens mvement new generatin f wmen t reflect n scial surrundings Scilgy in Glbal perspectives Lking beynd ur wn bundaries t cnsider the dynamic frces f glbalizatin Glbalizatin is a wrld wide prcess invlving the prductin, distributin and cnsumptin f gds and services Capitalism as a defining feature f the glbal ecnmy Cnnecting lcal realities t glbal cllective cnsciusness Marshall McLuhan cined the term glbal village: describes hw electrnic media cllapse space and time and enable peple everywhere t interact and experience life n a glbal scale..clseness that transcends the traditinal bundaries f time and space Canadians have been aught that capitalism is the nly way Mst wealth in the West, nly 1 bill peple live in develped cuntries Early Canadian Scilgists Anne MacLean: 1 st wman t receive a Ph.D. in scilgy Herbert Brwn Ames: statistical analysis f peple living the in the slums Carl Dawsn: first scilgist hired at McGill Uni Herld Adams Innis: staples thesis and different media biases Aileen Rss: strng ties t gender rles Helen Abell: funder f rural sc Kathleen Herman: supprter f Wmens rights, scilgy teacher Jhn Prter: equality in Canada because f elites Ruth Rittenhuse Mrris: attempt t ablish penal system in favur f alternative justice system