chapter 6 Flashcards
(22 cards)
premodern thought
a belief in supernatural sources of truth and a commitment to traditional practices
traditional authority
when a person or organization has power or influence derived from long-standing customs, beliefs, or traditions.
nation-states
large territories governed by centralized powers that grant or deny citizenship rights
Modern thought
a belief in science as the sole source of truth and the idea that humans can rationally organize societies and improve human life
Rationalization
Weber: the process of embracing reason and using it to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of human activities
rational-legal authority
a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy and bureaucracy.
Social organizations
formal entities that coordinate collections of people in achieving a stated purpose
Divisions of labor
complicated tasks broken down into smaller parts and distributed to individuals who specialize in narrow roles
Bureaucracies
Weber: organizations with formal policies, strict hierarchies, and impersonal relations
Postmodern thought
a rejection of absolute truth (whether supernatural or scientific) in favor of countless partial truths, and a denunciation of the narrative of progress
Gig work
a segment of the labor market in which companies contract with individuals to complete one short-term job at a time
example: uber
Social institutions
widespread and enduring patterns of interaction with which we respond to categories of human need
example: health and religion.
health: social institution
The institution rests on the idea that we should be able to live without illness, injury, or pain to the greatest degree possible.
religion: social institution
It involves formal doctrine, strict hierarchies of religious authority, and a clear and relatively rigid division of labor.
Ideologies
shared ideas about how human life should be organized
Social structure
the entire set of interlocking social institutions in which we live
Structural position
the features of our lives that determine our mix of opportunities and constraints
example: Basketball for jewish and africanamericans
who created types of suicides?
Durkheim
egoistic suicide:
social institutions fail to ensure social cohesion and people are left isolated from their social group
Absence of social integration, excessive self-reliance
altruistic suicide:
people are socialized to identify with the group instead of the self and
may choose to sacrifice themselves for it
Exclusive social integration
Fatalistic suicide:
excessive social regulation
People are overly regulated
Institutional discrimination
widespread and enduring practices that persistently disadvantage some kinds of people while advantaging others
