Social Inequality & Change
Collective behavior Definition: activity involving a large number of people; often spontaneous, sometimes controversial Collectivity: lg. # of people whose activity occurs in the absence of well-defined & conventional norms (examples: crowds, riots, public opinion, rumors, fashion)—can be localized or dispersed
RIOT
CROWD
Localized collective behavior Crowd: temporary gathering of people who share a common focus & influence each other Mob: highly emotional crowd that pursues a violent or destructive goal Riot: social eruption that’s highly emotional, violent & undirected Flash mobs (result of modern technology)
MOB
FLASH MOB http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GBaHPND2QJg Sabadell http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?v=GbQRgsmStgI (closing time)
Dispersed collective behavior Rumor: unsubstantiated information people spread informally, often by word of mouth Gossip: rumor about people’s personal affairs Public opinion: widespread attitudes about controversial issues Propaganda: information presented with the intention of shaping public opinion
Panic: form of localized collective behavior by which people react to a threat or other stimulus with irrational, frantic & often self-destructive behavior Mass hysteria (moral panic): form of dispersed collective behavior by which people react to a real or imagined event with irrational and even frantic fear Fashion: social pattern favored by lg. # of ppl Fad: unconventional social pattern people embrace briefly but enthusiastically
Social Movements & Change Defined: transformation of culture & social institutions over time Exist to encourage or resist change Examples: civil rights movement, child labor laws, women’s rights, environmental laws, gay rights (same-sex marriage), marijuana legalization movement Result of technology improvements: TV, cable, satellite, cell phones, social networks Unites people like never before
Social Change Causes: inventions/technology, discoveries, diffusion (spread of info/cultures); conflict, ideas (religion), demographics (women, child birth rates, migration) Modernity: social patterns resulting from industrialization (less small communities, more personal choices, more diversity, oriented towards the future more than the past)
Modernity Mass society: society in which prosperity & bureaucracy have eroded traditional social ties Class society (Marx): capitalist society with pronounced social stratification Postmodernity: social patterns characteristics of postindustrial societies
Race: category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that society considers important (black, white, Hispanic, Asian) Ethnicity: shared cultural heritage (Christian Xmas) Prejudice: rigid & unfair generalization about a category of people (all whites/blacks…) Racism: the belief that one racial category is innately superior to another (Asians are smarter.) Discrimination: treating various categories of people unequally (Preferring an Asian doctor because they’re “smarter.”) Stereotype: an exaggerated description applied to every person in some category (black male=thug)