Theoretical Foundations

Question 1

When coming up with a theory what gets theorized the mechanism of the phenomenon or the observation that was made

Answer 1

The mechanism
What gets theorized is usually not was just observed but may have led to those observations
The circumstances that may have led to such observations

For example Ann swindler theorized the emergence of a new culture during unsettled times, a mechanism used to explain what led to the observation of the French Revolution

Question 2

What is society basic structure
How do society develop and change
What is the relationship to social institution
How does culture reproduce and create society
The role of an individual in creating and reproducing society,
These are all considered what kinds of theory

Answer 2

Theoretical questions that explain the foundations of sociology

Question 3

Why was Marx considered an interdisciplinary thinker?

Answer 3

Because he began theorizing and writing on sociology before its institutionalization
He wrote economic concepts, that collected information from history and philosophical backgrounds to understand society

Question 4

What was Karl Marks theory Called

Answer 4

Historical materialism

Question 5

Ideology, structure and agency have all considered to be what collectively introduced to understand society

But what are some concerns about these concepts created to understand society

Answer 5

Categories

These categories are not 100% sufficient enough to capture the complexity of society, but they are helpful in understanding society

Question 6

In the relationship between ideology, agency and structure all interwoven together to understand society, what does Marx illustrate when understanding historical materialism as being the prime determinant to understand society

Answer 6

Structure
The fundamental nature of society is best understood through the structure
Ideology and agency are less influential when trying to understand social reality
So historical materialism is to be understood through structure existence not from agency or culture

Question 7

Men make their own history

But they do not make it just as they please, they do not make it under circumstances of their own chosen but by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given and transmitted from the past ‘

The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living

Who made this statement and what does it mean?

Answer 7

First line- men make their own history is agency
A point that Marx made about understanding how man experiences the society and the choices they make to lead them to be who or whatever they are

Second & third statement- goes further to explain even though we are free to make our own choices but they are highly influenced by the structure in place

Essentially structure defines who we are, no individual is their true self without the historical significance of structure allowing you to exist that way. Although agency exist but to understand the complexity of society is to focus on the structure

Question 8

According to Marx if the core of human experience is not the virtue of being a human or our personal choices, then what gives meaning to being a humans and how does that differ us from animals

Answer 8

The collective production of our means of subsistence relates to why we are humans
What does that mean?

We are humans not because we think we are but because of what we do
What distinguishes us from animals is the need to transform nature to consume it
For example, a lion kills a deer and feeds on it immediately, we kill an animal and transform it into something edible. The act of doing this is the very nature of being human, having to DO, transform something into a different form before we can use it

Additionally, COLLECTIVE, we all work together, labour is divided in such a way that a human often requires another person to achieve this ability to DO things to achieve other things.
We are all working together by doing different things to sustain our existence as humans which justifies why we are humans.

For example, i buy stuff from a grocery story, which contains goods made by other humans, with money produced by other other humans, that i earned through working for other humans. We are all doing things to produce what we need to sustain and provide our needs.

Question 9

Material condition and mode of production were also two concepts Mark introduced in his theory of historical materialism, what do they mean?

Answer 9

Material condition is the economic system we are embedded in, how this conditions, determine our behavior and the path our life would take

Our mode of production organizes the collective production of our means of subsistence

So the economic system determines the duties we take on in the society, we all work together affecting each others responsibilities through division of labour. But the type of responsibilities we take on is determined by the mode of production

Question 10

How does swidler understanding of the French Revolution differ from how Marx’s view

Answer 10

Swindler theorized that a result of unsettled times and threat to maintenance of structure, the culture comes in to play to create an alternative and new understanding of the experience of agency

But Marx would disagree with Swidler stating that to understand the French Revolution would necessitate going back to the previous social economic implications that are affecting the experience of the people now

Question 11

How does the mode of production organize people to create and maintain the means of subsistence together during the feudal economy according to Marx

Answer 11

The understanding of the mode of production allows us to understand the society

The mode of production or economic system ( material condition) that existed during was the feudal economy

How does this help in understanding the mode of production and how that collectively organizes people into different categories that gives meaning to the existence of being a human?

During the feudal period the means of production was the technologies, hoes, looms, tools, plow, irrigation system. Technology used to achieve the means of subsistence

Those tools on their own have no use, they are essentially uses less things created, their use is defined by the humans, the relation of humans to the means of production
The peasants and common people making use ofg those tools allowed the ability to produce the means of subsistence

But who determined who would use those tools to make what was needed, the aristocrats. The economy at the time was delineated in such a way that to ensure that the means of production was created, we had to assign classes to people that would work on the farm or others that wont

This illustrates how agency is not a defining feature to understand the society, to understand the society required understanding the economic structure (material condition) that enforced that the core of human existence was not the right to be a human but the responsibilities you had been given, gave meaning to your existence

Question 12

The systems that allows the society to achieve the collective production of the means of subsistence is

Answer 12

Mode of production

Question 13

How does the mode of production relate to the means and relations of production

Answer 13

Understanding the core of humanity predates, understanding the stricture that lead to relation of people into groups that allowed the use of the means of production to achieve their needs

Question 14

What are the relations of production n

Question 15

What are the means of production

Question 16

According to Marx during the French Revolution what caused the peasants to forceful contend with their roles and the difficulty of mainitiing those responsibilities

Answer 16

The structure of capitalism, if i decide to plant these crops they should be too my own profit if i decide eat them out sell them to get more profit they are mine not something for someone else

Question 17

What were the relations of production that Marx introduced in the capitalist economy

Answer 17

The proletariat/ working class
Bourgeois/owning class

Question 18

Under a capitalist economy how does the means of production and relations to production differ from the feudal economy

Answer 18

Under a capitalist economy the means of production is much more complex that having humans do the job waste time, efficiency and productivity
So rather machines, and tools like the internet are better measure of production

The bourgeois in a capitalist economy own the means of production, he’s own ability to meet with his own needs is to purchase and own the means of production

While the proletariat/ working class do not own the mean of production but they make use of the means of production that belongs to the burgenois to achieve their own means of subsistence

The means of production by them selves have no use, or meaning but when the owners of them allow the proletariat to make use of them, it allows the capitalist economy to be maintained

The capitalism ( the economic structure that determines the mode of production) is what determines the relationship between the relations of productions and means of production

Question 19

What were the categories Marx proposed as the capitalist mode of production

Answer 19

Means of production
Relations of production (owning and working class)

Question 20

Who was the owning and working class during the feudal period

Answer 20

Aristocrat and common people

Question 21

What the Marx mean by the means and relations (that is the modes of production) exist in dialect to one another

Answer 21

They are in constant tension with each other
Any change to the means of production would likewise have an impact in the relations of production
They are connected that a change in one would produce a reciprocal change in the other

Question 22

What was Marx’s theory of material condition and how does that correlate with the means and relations of production

Answer 22

Historical materialism

To understand the structure, we have to consider the relations and means of production and their impact historically that impacted the way the structure is now

The tension that exist between the means and relations, have led to historical changes in the structure—> historical materialism

Question 23

When talking about cellphones how does that illustrate the categories of historical materialism according to Marx

Answer 23

Cell phone is a means of production, used for communication purposes
The boss (owning class) and the working class (employee) have used the cell phone in such a way that it defines the economic dynamic and historically change in communication from one year to another year

Question 24

How are the relations of production also in conflict with each other

Answer 24

The working class and the owning class are in contention with each other constantly

The owning class, hopes to accumulate more wealth and capital by pushing the working class to the the most

While the working class are pushing back with the hope of increase in salary, better amenities and better working environment.

They is a constant tension between the two relations

Question 25

How does the cell phone use today defer from the cell phone use before and how does that illustrate the relationship between the working class and the owning class

Answer 25

Before the advent of cell phones, the relationship between the working class and owning class required for example, waiting at home by a landline to reach your employee or connecting between both lost as each other went home until the next day of work, With the advent of cellphones now the cellphone allows employees to be readily accessible to their boss. So even if someone is out scheduled to work or an emergency comes up you can be easily reached

Question 26

How did the mechanism/processes of cellphone lead to a dialectical relationship between the means and relations of production

Answer 26

Cellphone invented—> cellphone increases the freedom to access employee and employer—> more working class obtain cellphones—> technology of cellphone becomes popular —> this overall leads to a change in the worker/ boss relationship Initially the invention of cellphones increased communicability in the advent of an emergency or workers were not forced to stay at home waiting on the landline in case of an emergency, allowed for freedom This caused more people to buy phones further reconfiguring the worker boss relationship Because as cellphones became increasingly popular, the owning class has more opportunity to take advantage of the working class since they are always so accessible. For example your boss calling you on your day off to help out at the office

Question 27

How does cell phones illustrate the dialectical tension between the mode of production and relations of production

Answer 27

As the means (cell phone), becomes more ubiquitous and used The Relations are getting more chances to communicate, that is the working class and owning class have in more tension, the employee and boss can communicate with each other after work hours, during vacations because of the ease of communicate but bridging the gap of privacy causing tension between both classes Tension between the relations of production occurring because of the advent of the cello phone (Means of production)

Question 28

How does the tension between the mode of production result in social change and how did tension result in the change from one mode of production to another?

Answer 28

Tension within the mode of production results in shift from pre modernity to modernity. Changes within the means of production results in changes in the economic structure/ Material condition While a social change from one modeof production occurs due to the constant clash between them would result in a build up that eventually leads to an earthquake for example the French Revolution

Question 29

What is the impact of dialectical tension that results in social a change

Answer 29

Historical change within the mode of production Historical change from one mode of production to another

Question 30

According to material culture what was the impact of cell phone on the economic structyre

Answer 30

The use of cellphones/ choice to purchase by humans did not lead to a change in the process of the cellphone But the introduction of the means, cellphone and it’s relationship to the relations of production resulted in the change of economic structure

Question 31

What were the criticism of Marx’s theory according to Weber?

Answer 31

The neglect of culture and individuals in the society in impacting the structure. Mark does not talk about the subjective reality of individuals. He did not regard the individuals choice and influences necessary to understand tje society The lack of recognition of Marx that his observations of categories and processes are not an objective view of realty they are just models proposed by Marx himself. The working and owning class are categories that Marx came up with to explain or illustrate his observations

Question 32

According to Weber what two facets a should be recognized when trying to understand the society

Answer 32

Ideology and culture Structure

Question 33

What is the Verstehen sociology and who introduced this word

Answer 33

Weber The social world cannot be simply described, it must be interpreted, so the observations by Marx were not just descriptions of true reality but assumptions and theories, ontologies proposed my Marx to understand societies influence Understanding the society from the social actors point of view

Question 34

What would the verstehen analysis of the history of cellphones look like

Answer 34

The analysis of cellphone would not be limited to how it Marx used objectively but the subjective meaning derived from use buy the culture, the meaning assigned to it that determined its use

Question 35

To illustrate how culture impacts and leads to the understanding of structure, Weber uses what? And how were they used?

Answer 35

Class and status Class how an individual is related to the economy, for example their job as a doctor, plumber, actuary, accountant, professor While the status is what the social order ascribes you

Question 36

What describes a persons relationship to the economy

Answer 36

Class

Question 37

What describes a persons relationship to the cultural order

Answer 37

Status

Question 38

What is the cultural order

Answer 38

The way the society ascribes status to a person based on their relationship to the economy

Question 39

How does the view of a persons relation to the economy differ between Webers and Marx’s theory?

Answer 39

In Marx theory, all working class are united in interest of a common goal because of their relationship to the structure. All working class are similar and see the same as all working under the control of the owning class While Weber, the working class do not all consider themselves as united in a similar way, Why? Because of status, although a professor and a plumber these classes may have similar pay but the status ascribed by culture to each class is vastly different even though both of them are under the working class. Therefore, Weber asserts that the difference between the working class because of status is a reason of culture

Question 40

How does the understanding ascribes to status and class correlate with Dubois concept of racial wage

Answer 40

In Dubois concept of racial wage, although the black peoples at the time and the working class whites were under the same class but they the virtue of being white are is far greater than being black Just being white is far better than being black that they could not be seen as the same people even though their means of subsistence required they both work under the same boss and also experienced the same working conditions and opportunities and the white who were working under the people who owned the means of production like the plantations

Question 41

What is the relationship between status and cell phone use that gives meaning to the means Of production cellphones and accounts for how ubiquitous it becomes

Answer 41

Cells phones popularity was not because of what it is and the use, but because of the meaning given to it, That it’s unlike Marx’s view, cellphones impact in the society is highly influenced by the culture So the popularity of cellphones were due to how cool thy were The vershaen perspective is that because the culture sees cellphones as cool, thats why million of people bought The coolness, ease and convenience of a cellphone resulted in its popularity

Question 42

How does Weber views and Marx’s view on the cellphone cause a difference in structure between the classes

Answer 42

From Marx’s view cellphones popularity resulted because it was a means of production that created tension with th e relationship of production causing a social change that made cell phone use ubiquitous and thus reconfigured the workers and employer relationship While for Weber, the culture of cellphone being cool, the coolness assigned to it by the culture, led to its increasing ubiquity and overall reconfiguration of the working class and owning class relationsh

Question 43

What does it mean that Marx saw less a reconfiguration of the political order of society but more of the emergence of modernity through the modes of production

Answer 43

According to Marx, what accounts for the emergence of modernity is less related to the political order nor the culture but the modes of production means and relations that lead to the reconfiguration from a feudal economy to a capitalist economy

Question 44

What did Marx refer to as the reason for the emergence of modernity

Answer 44

According to Marx, what accounted for social change, is the modes and means of production The result of Modernity is due to the tension against both sides, opposing each other

Question 45

How according to Marx did the emergence of Pro-Bourgioise account for the emergence of modernity

Answer 45

As more peasants such as merchants amassed wealth, they became a new group of people who were not born aristocrats but had as much wealth to not be in the same class as peasants but in a similar wealth rank as the aristocrats. Having so much wealth, they desired a higher rank than just the peasant But by the virtue of birth and the impermeable barrier they were still seen as just being peasants So the Pro-Bourgeois deviced a means to change their class, which was marry the daughter of aristocrats

Question 46

With the aristocrats females marrying some of the Pro-Bourgeois male, how did that lead to the emergence of modernity

Answer 46

In order to gain access into the higher class the Pre-Bourgeoise marriage into the aristocrats class They try to gain access to political power through marriages, since the impermanence between classes made impossible for them to be considered aristocrats regardless of how much money they had

Question 47

Why did the methods the Pro- Bourgeois used to amass wealth differ from that of the aristocrat and what did it result in

Answer 47

They did so through the capitalist means, a method that was greatly influential to them,as it encouraged them to gain more money While the aristocrats means of amassing wealth, by taxing peasants became increasingly difficult, that increasing the tax did not help them get more wealth In order to deal with their limited finances, they decided to marry into the rich Pro-Bourgeois So to overcome the inequality the rich peasants used the structure and capitalist means to their advantage to increase their rank

Question 48

In the book by Hilary mantel, when Henry said the following, The world is not run from where he thinks. Not form the border fortresses, nor Whitehall. The world is run from Antwerp, form Florence, from the places he has never imagined, form Lisbon, form where the ships with white sails of silk drift and are burned up in the sun. Not from castles, but from counting houses, not by the call of the bugle but by the scrape of the pen on the page of the promissory note that that pays for the gun and the gunsmith and the power and the shot what did these words mean from Marx’s view?

Answer 48

Here Henry was thinking about how he would have replied to an aristocrat that was scolding him because of a suggestion Henry had made to do something a certain way It represents a shift in power, in the premodern era, by virtue of being an aristocrat does not give you power, power came form the amassment of wealth. Wealth comes from the capitalist view of growing wealth through your own efforts and less from just being born into one Because of the tension between the means and relations of wealth, this accounts for how the structure from the feudal era to the capitalist era is leading to social change

Question 49

The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism was proposed by who

Answer 49

Weber

Question 50

Why was webers work considered a critique of Marx

Answer 50

Although Weber did not completely negate the words of Marx, he considered it as an unfinished puzzle which required the influence of culture to understand the society

Question 51

What does Weber think accounts for the role of culture in the development of capitalism

Answer 51

According to Weber capitalism did not proliferate because of the relations or modes of structure but due to the emergence of the religious understanding of work ethic

Question 52

Why did Weber consider work ethic as what accounts for capitalism through the point of view of the culture

Answer 52

Weber said work ethic is developed based on an individuals choice Work ethic was historically organized through religious understandings which led people to work because of their calling

Question 53

How does the outlook of Marx about why people work differ or why how the cultural mindset of the alpha grind-set differ from what webers views work as

Answer 53

According to Marx, people worked because it gives meaning to them, as humans, they required it because they needed to survive, thats how the working class makes money by using the means of exchange. Then what might cause someone to work more hours at work, put in more effort, than they require to achieve their task,that would be because capitalism is coercive. There is no freedom, freedom is to starve if you don’t work But according to Weber, the over working of one self, to achieve even more than the structure expects us to is not because of capitalism but because of personal decision, this is beyond coercion by the structure. People work because they want to achieve whatever it is based on their own self motivation and mindset. So therefore Weber emphasizes that the growth of economic structure into capitalism is the need to consider personal decisions, although Marxist is not wrong about the influence of the mode and relations but there is more to that

Question 54

In Webers theology of Catholicism, Lutheranism and Calvinism does the truth about the existence of God count?

Answer 54

No Weber was not trying to assert whether their religion is truth or not, he was using a sociological perspective of how religion accounts for the influence of culture in maintaining the structure

Question 55

What according to Weber was the significance of Lutheranism that accounts for the development of work ethic

Answer 55

Martin Luther a Protestant, argued that peoples relation to God should not be based of the church, but rather their personal relationship to God to encourage this, he translated the Latin Bible into German If this was evaluated from Marx’s point of view it may be seen as a mere translation but from Webers view the translation involved interpretation that gave meaning to a whole different set of people, the translation of the word CALLING

Question 56

One thing was unquestionably new, the valuation of the fulfillment of duty in worldly affairs as the highest form which the moral activity of the individual could consume What does this statement by WEBER mean?

Answer 56

According to Weber, the translation by Matin Luther led people to understand that by fulfilling their daily tasks and work not just for the pay but as a personal duty to which they internalize as they do this they are fulfilling their calling therefore building their relationship with God

Question 57

What effect did the translation of CALLING lead to

Answer 57

A new culture narrative about how one could live in accordance with Gods will by doing their tasks not for personal gain but for r the betterment of others as well

Question 58

How did WEBER use the concept of Catholicism to explain how the emergence of culture led to the development of a work ethic

Answer 58

The concept of Catholicism was that a person could sin all their life and on their dying bed, apologize to God and ask for forgiveness and everything is fine But Martin countered this statement saying that, to be a Christian was not to live a sinful life and finally repent on your dying bed but God wants us to live the right way throughout our lives not just right before death Okay how does this lead to development 0f a work ethic, By serving God, we throughout our lives, we are fulfilling what we are supposed to do, but not just in our service to Him but that extends to our daily tasks and work we do

Question 59

What was the catholic view in premodern Europe

Answer 59

Transgression is forgiven via confession and penance Sin all through your life and ask forgiveness at your dying bed and thats the right way to serve God

Question 60

The dogma of predestination was a concept introduced by who and in what context

Answer 60

WEBER Calvinism

Question 61

“On one hand it is considered an absolute duty to consider oneself chooses, and to combat all doubts as temptations of the devil, since lack of self-confident is the result of insufficient faith, hence of imperfect grace…… “ “In the other hand, in order to attain that self-confidence intense worldly activity is recommended as the most suitable means” Who wrote this quote and what does it mean?

Answer 61

WEBER This is the Calvinism point of view that Weber regarded as the Dogma of predestination The Calvinism point of view asserts that whatever you do in heaven or hell does not matter, God has already decided where we would go after death Therefore to be considered as one predestined for Heave, you have to have an unwavering faith, that strongly believes you would get there, any sort of doubt, lack of faith, you may have already means you would go to hell But apart from an unwavering faith, you also need to INTENSIFY YOUR WORLDLY ACTIVITY, so, to live in accordance with God will to one day make it to heaven, you need to work intensely not just for the reward alone but for the fact that you’ll get ton heaven The harder i work, combined with my unwavering faith, the more my chances are to get to heaven——-> This is what led to the alpha grind mindset, the harder you work, the more your rewards regardless of if you need to even work that hard for the sake of structure But now the only difference is the grind mindset is not related to the need to get to heaven as Calvinism but for the (capitalist), your own gain

Question 62

Who was most committed to establishing sociology as an academic discipline out of all the three classical theorists

Answer 62

EMILE DURKHEIM He wanted to differentiate sociology not as a branch of psychology or as a economics, but for it’s own thing

Question 63

Who made the statement and what does it mean? The object of sociological study are social facts, which are external to individuals

Answer 63

EMILE He meant that we could understand society by completely taking out agency

Question 64

We can study society without referring to individuals, give an example that illustrates what this statement means

Answer 64

EMILE could understand the society, without regarding the individuals in it For example, he could study the emergence of suicide, suicide is something that is highly individually dependent and subjective But EMILE says he could for example study the suicide rate in Germany, Africa, Canada, by using social forces to compare the rate between the countries

Question 65

The ontological assumption that society is an organism was proposed by who and what does it means?

Answer 65

Proposed by EMILE When studying the society, we can study a specific aspect of it and what led to that points or social forces that are affecting it, without regarding the individuals

Question 66

Which of the 3 theorist are related and the other somewhat different for the others

Answer 66

Marx and Weber EMILE Durkheim

Question 67

What were the epistemological assumptions made by Durkheim

Answer 67

The claims he made were that society could be studied as an objectively, from what it actually is not what it is made up of We can understand society without involving the individuals in it but not that we choose to completely disregards them like Marx

Question 68

According to Durkheim naturally the society tends to want to create what?

Answer 68

Stability and order

Question 69

How does Durkheim explain that stability is built and maintained?

Answer 69

Through solidarity

Question 70

The condition of being in it together is a concept of………….

Answer 70

Solidarity

Question 71

What’s the relationship between solidarity and social cohesion

Answer 71

Solidarity is the experience of being in it together in order for people sharing a commonality to want to work together because they know it is to everyones betterment But solidarity encourages social cohesion, the forcing everyone to act a certain way to maintain order So it is not so much the being in it together because it is to everyone’s betterment, it is more being it together because we have to, we are indirectly forced to because by doing that it maintains the stability and sense of order order desired by the society

Question 72

A society without solidarity is considered as:

Answer 72

Disordered

Question 73

The study of suicide rate from the text, what would be Durkheim explanation for the cause of suicide rate

Answer 73

The level of solidarity that the society exhibits on the social force determines the nations suicide rate Higher solidarity- less suicide Less solidarity- more suicide

Question 74

What are the two sources of solidarity

Answer 74

Mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity

Question 75

How does the traditional societies source of solidarity differ from modern day society

Answer 75

Traditional societies made use of mechanical solidarity, where people having things in common leads to social cohesion While in the modern day society solidarity is achieved through interdependence on each other to exist

Question 76

What is mechanical solidarity and give two examples of how it was achieved in the traditional society

Answer 76

In mechanical solidarity, social cohesion is achieved when peopler have a common goal For exmaple, the homogeneity in religion, as many thousands of people read the Bible, follow the church, they shared a commonality in the way to live life, what to eat, how to work, understanding of death, these similarity allowed them to develop social cohesion For example in crime everyone has a similar view before of what was considered a crime, a sin and was against the law , for example many people all had the similar thought that homosexuality at the time was seen as a crime or mental issue

Question 77

What is organic solidarity and why is it common in the modern society nit the traditional society

Answer 77

Now there are a lot more heterogenous view on concept of religion, what is considered a crime or form of deviance Since these views all vary that doesn’t create solidarity, so what does? Organic solidarity- solidarity derived objectively from the need of interdependence For example economic interdependence, for example, i work a part time job that earns me money, then the money made cannot be what i eat, I can’t eat paper or wear paper, but i use that economically as a source of exchange to get clothes and food, relying on Walmart and H&M workers to provide what’s available in their store, they also rely on their manufactures make the clothes, and famers to rear and grow the crops to be sold out me. So regardless of if H&M/ Walmart workers have a different background religious than i do, thats not what causes my social cohesion because i am forced and have to rely on them for my means of survival The organization of the economic system of capitalism is a much better means to achieve solidarity than a consensus in belief

Question 78

What according to Durkheim would be the relationship between culture, structure and agency in understanding the society and how does that differ from Marx

Answer 78

According to EMILE, society can be understood independent of the social actors within it, he doesn’t say we should disregards them completely, he just says we can understand an organism (society) by itself without understand the molecular structures (Humans) that it is made up of Marx completely disregards the importance of culture and agency

Question 79

Why does a society require solidarity?

Answer 79

To maintain order