The Sociological Perspective: Flashcards
(31 cards)
The Consumer Society:
A Society in which discretionary (optional) consumption is a mass phenomenon among people across diverse income categories
Shopping & consumption is a process that extends beyond our individual choices & is rooted in larger structural conditions in the social, political, and economic order
Global Interdependence:
the lives of all people are closely intertwined & only one nation’s problems are part of a larger global problem
Common Sense Knowledge:
Guides ordinary conduct in everyday life, we rely on common sense to answer key questions about behaviour
Sociological Imagination:
The ability to see the relationship between individual experiences & the larger society
Place seemingly personal troubles into a larger context, where we can distinguish how personal troubles may be related to public issues
High-Income Countries:
Highly industrialized economies & relatively high levels of national & personal incomes
Middle-Income Countries:
Industrializing economies & moderate levels of national & personal incomes
Low-Income Countries:
Agrarian, with little industrialization, & low levels of personal and national income
Race:
specifies groups of people distinguished by physical characteristics, the race is a social construct to justify social inequalities
Ethnicity:
A group’s cultural heritage or identity, based on factors of language or country of origin
Class:
Relative location of a person or group within the larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other valued resources
Sex:
Biological & anatomical differences between males & females
Gender:
Meanings beliefs, & practices associated with differences between masculinity & femininity
Industrialization:
Process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture & handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing & related industries
Auguste Comte
Theory on society contains social statistics (forces for social order & stability) & social dynamics (forces for conflict & change)
Positivism: Comte’s philosophy & belief that the world can be best understood through scientific inquiry
The nature of human thinking & knowledge went through several stages (The Law of Three Stages):
Theological stage (supernatural, religion), Metaphysical stage (philosophy, speculation), Scientific/Positive stage (systemic observation, experimentation, comparison, historical analysis)
Harriet Martineau:
Translated Comte’s work & also implemented her own sociological thoughts & ideas into the field
Focused on social distinctions based on class, race, gender, religion, & practices
Emile Durkheim
Human potential is social, not biologically based
Societies were based on social facts (patterned ways of thinking, acting, & feeling that exist outside an individual, but that exert social control over each person)
These strains in society led to a breakdown of traditional values or organizations, & authority, leading to a greater increase in anomie
Anomie: A condition where social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values & sense of purpose in a society
Karl Marx:
Believed class conflict is necessary to produce social change & a better society
Class conflict: Struggle between the capitalist class & the working class
Capitalist class (bourgeoisie) is comprised of those who own & control the means of production
Working class (proletarian) is comprised of those who must sell their labour for a means of livelihood
Alienation: A feeling of powerlessness & estrangement from other people & oneself
Max Weber:
Believed that sociology should be value-free, research is conducted in a scientific manner & exclude the researcher’s personal values & economic interests
He stressed sociologists should use the Verstehen (understanding) method, to gain the ability to see the world as others see it
Weber believed institutions were becoming heavily oriented towards routine administrations & divisions of labour, which he believed destructive to human vitality & freedom
George Simmel:
Theorized society as a web of interactions among people
Developed formal sociology: focuses attention on the reoccurring social forms that underlie the content of social interactions
Functionalist Perspectives:
The sociological approach that views society as s stable, orderly system
Societal Consensus:
Majority of members share a common set of values, beliefs, & behavioural expectations
Manifest Functions:
Stated and intended goals or consequences of activities within an organization or institution
Latent Functions:
Unintended functions that are hidden & remain unacknowledged by participants
Dysfunctions:
A term referring to the undesirable consequences of a society
