Social Perspective Flashcards
(38 cards)
C Wright Mills coined the term
Sociological imagination – the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and larger society
George Ritzer - questions about
Credit card debt
Industrialization
Process in which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries
Urbanization
The process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas
What were the primary social factors that contributed to the development of sociological thinking?
Industrialization and urbanization – led to poor living and working conditions, led to
- inadequate housing
- crowding
- sanitary problems
- poverty
- pollution
- increased crime
- sociological thinkers turned attention to the problem as a result
Positivism -
A belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry
- Auguste Comte’s philosophy
Auguste Comte important points
Coined term sociology from Greek (study of being with others)
- considered founder of sociology
- positivism
- law of the three stages
Law of the three stages
3 stages:
1) theological
- where knowledge begins. Based on religion or supernatural
- –next, knowledge moved to…..
2) metaphysical stage.
- explanations based on abstract philosophical speculation
- – next, moved to …
3) scientific (or positive) stage
- explanations based on systematic observation, experimentation, comparison, and historical analysis
Harriet Martineau key points
Pushed for equal rights (gender and race)
- translated for Comte
- some argue she is a founder of the field
- brought spread of democracy and industrial capitalism
Herbert spencer main points
Believed that societies developed through survival of the fittest
- view of society known as social Darwinism (the belief that those species of animals, I clouding humans, best adapted to their environment survive and prosper whereas those poorly adapted did out
- social Darwinism rationalized some people’s assertion that white is a superior race – “scientific” racism
Emile Durkheim main points
- how do societies manage to hold together– strong traditions, shared morals and values
- created idea that societies are built on social facts ( patterned ways of acting thinking and feeling that exists outside of any one individual
- term anomie (a condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and a sense of purpose in society
- – most likely to occur in time of rapid social change
Marxian framework
Class conflict - struggle between capitalist and working class
- bourgeoise (capitalist) - own means of production (tools land factories, investment money)
- proletariat (working class) must sell labour, no other means to make a livelihood
- Marx says workers are exploited, paid less than their true value, results in alienation (a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and ones self)
Prediction: working class would become aware of exploitation, overthrow capitalists and establish a free and classless society
Who is max Weber
A German social scientist
What are some of max webers concerns and thoughts
Research should be value free - no personal values from researchers, only scientific data
- large scale companies (bureaucracies) were becoming a specialized division of labour (destructive to human freedom and vitality)
- insights on bureaucracy, religion, rationalization, women’s issues
George Simmel main points
Dyad and triad
Formal sociology - “geometry of social life”
Distinguished veteeen forms of social interaction and content of interaction
- said class conflict becoming more pronounced
- ultimate concern to protect the autonomy of the individual in society
Theory
A set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe explain and predict social events
Perspective
An overall approach to viewpoint on some subject
Functionalist perspectives
The sociological approach that views society as a stable orderly system
Societal consensus
A situation whereby the majority of members share a common set of values beliefs and behavioural expectations
Talcott parsons
Founder of sociology department @ Harvard
– influential advocate for functionalist perspective
Manifest and latent functions
Manifest - open stated and intended goals or consequences of activities within an organization or institution
Latent - unintended functions that are hidden and remain Unacknowledged by participants
Dysfunctions
A term referring to the undesirable consequences of any element of a society
Conflict perspective’s
The sociological approach that these groups in society as engage in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources
Ralf darhendorf observed what
Conflict is inherent in all authority relationships not just that tween the capitalist class and the working class. How are is the critical variable and explain human behavior. People in positions of authority benefit from the conformity of others those who are forced to conform to feel resentment and demonstrate resistance.
