Introduction to Sociology: Introduction Siniša Zrinščak October 10, 2017 sinisa.zrinscak@pravo.hr http://www.sinisazrinscak.com/

Sociology – systematic study of the ways in which people are affected by, and affect, the social structures and social processes that are associated with the groups, organizations, cultures, societies, and world in which they exist Individual – social – individual shaped / affected by larger society – e.g. Durkheim on suicide; our everyday behaviour (what we eat, buy…) Individual – social – impact of small change on large-scale processes (butterfly effect) How we perceive – what is individual and what is social (unemployment, poverty, obesity….) – need for sociological imagination to situate individual in larger context

Micro – small-scale social phenomenon - individual Macro – large-scale – groups, organizations, cultures, society …continuum Agency – structure Agency – having power and capacity for creativity How structure shape individual and how individual (agency) change structure Social structure and social processes

Change / social change Do people change? How and why? Individual and social perspective? Change – uneven, acceptable, consequences…? Social change = any significant alteration, modification, or transformation in the organization and operation of social life Tipping points – situation in which a previously rare event, response, or opinion becomes dramatically more common. Something rare becomes a commonplace To understand today’s society from the perspective of historical changes

Sociology, theories… Change and sociology – Durkheim, Weber, Marx… Modernization R. Inglehart – theory of modernization Traditional society – survival in a steady economy, traditional religious and social values, traditional authority Modern – economic gain, achievement, rational-legal authority Post-modern – subjective well-being, postmaterialist values, deemphasizing of authority 

Source: http://www. worldvaluessurvey

Values as indicator of changes Change – triggered by economic development – value change in accordance with social change Four axis: Traditional – secular-rational values Survival values – self-expression  Examples of traditional values (# secular-rational): Religious beliefs; Euthanasia, suicide, abortion… are never justified; Women should not earn more than men; Family is very important….

Examples of survival values (# self-expressive values): Men are better political leader than women; Do not want to have foreigners, homosexual or HIV positive persons as neighbours; Priority of state ownership over economy; Leisure time and friends are not so important…

But other important aspects of today’s society

Globalization Globalization – global interdependence – social activities are spreading over national borders…one world …people are becoming increasingly dependent on each other … increasing fluidity of global flows and structures that expedite and impede those flows Economic, political, and cultural causes and changes (aspects) Globalization / localization tensions

Consumption - process by which people obtain and utilize goods and services - dramatically increased consumption – economy as a main tool to increased consumption – from credit cards to online shopping Culture shaped by consumption

McDonaldization Rationalization of society in modern world (state, bureaucratization..) + rational organization of economy (from Fordism to McDonaldization) = the process by which the rational principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society and more societies throughout the world Efficiency – quickest and least costly means Calculability – emphasis on quantity not quality Predictability – same service everywhere Control – automation and standardization through technology

McDonaldization =dehumanization Excessive consumption Great recession caused by excessive / unregulated consumption – and financial economy that served it Digital world Mediated interactions – social interactions in which technological devices comes between the participants, unlike in face-to-face interventions How is digital changing the everyday communication and personal relations?

The worth of sociology? Sociology as a pure science - knowledge, understandings or Public sociology - means of social reforms, engaging with different publics Or, a false dilemma?