© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. CHAPTER 1 The Sociological Perspective

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Chapter Outline Putting Social Life into Perspective The Importance of a Global Sociological Imagination The Origins of Sociological Thinking The Development of Modern Sociology Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Putting Social Life Into Perspective Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction. Sociologists study societies and social interactions to develop theories of: o how human behavior is shaped by group life o how group life is affected by individuals

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. o Commonsense Knowledge versus Myth

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. The sociological imagination is the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society. o personal troubles: private problems that affect individuals and the networks of people with which they regularly associate o social/public issues: problems that affect large numbers of people and often require solutions at the societal level

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion In what ways has society shaped who you are today? How can overspending be analyzed with the sociological imagination?

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. The Importance of a Global Sociological Imagination High-income countries: nations with highly industrialized economies (ex: United States, Canada, Japan, western Europe) Middle-income countries: nations with industrializing economies (ex: eastern Europe, Brazil, Mexico) Low-income countries: nations with little industrialization (ex: African and Asian countries)

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. The World’s Economies Map 1.1

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. The Origins of Sociological Thinking Sociology and the Age of Enlightenment o emphasis on individual’s possession of critical reasoning and experience o science versus religion o the philosophes: if people were free from the ignorance and superstition of the past, they could create new forms of political and economic organization, such as democracy and capitalism

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization o revolutions: intellectual, political o industrialization: the process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture to manufacturing o urbanization: the process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion How have historical events influenced current society?

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. The Development of Modern Sociology Early Thinkers: A Concern with Social Order and Stability o Comte o Martineau o Spencer o Durkheim Differing Views on the Status Quo: Stability versus Change o Marx o Weber o Simmel o The Chicago School o Adams o Du Bois

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. August Comte ( ) coined “sociology” societies contain social statics and social dynamics positivism: belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Harriet Martineau ( ) translated Comte’s works Society in America advocate of racial and gender equality

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Herbert Spencer ( ) evolutionary perspective social Darwinism: belief that species of animals best adapted to their environment survive and prosper

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Emile Durkheim ( ) people are the product of their social environment Rules of Sociological Method social facts anomie suicide

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Karl Marx ( ) history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces economic systems class conflict – bourgeoisie versus proletariat

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Max Weber ( ) The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism research should be value-free rationalization

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Georg Simmel ( ) group size formal sociology

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Jane Addams ( ) founded Hull House Nobel Prize

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. W.E.B. Du Bois ( ) The Philadelphia Negro

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives A theory is a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and predict social events.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Functionalist Perspectives are based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system. o Society is composed of interrelated parts (institutions), each of which serve a function and contributes to the overall stability of the society. o Institutions include education, family, government, religion, the economy, among others

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Talcott Parsons – division of labor Robert K. Merton – manifest and latent functions o Manifest functions are intended and/or overtly recognized. o Latent functions are unintended functions that are hidden and remain unacknowledged. o Dysfunctions are the undesirable functions of any element of a society.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Conflict perspectives belief that groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources. o Karl Marx – bourgeoisie versus proletariat o Max Weber - power o C. Wright Mills – power elite

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. The feminist approach stresses the importance of gender as an element of social structure. o Patriarchy is a system in which men dominate women.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Symbolic interactionist perspectives Symbolic interactionist perspectives argue that society is the sun of the interactions of individuals and groups. o Macro-level analysis: examines large-scale social structures o Micro-level analysis: focuses on small groups o interaction – communication between two people o symbols – something that meaningfully represents something else o subjective reality- acquired and shared through agreed upon symbols, especially language. o Thoughts and behavior shaped by social interaction

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Symbolic interactionist perspectives …cont How do sym interactionists view social organization and the larger society? o Social organization and society are a result and only possible because of people’s day to day interactions o Life takes its shape as people interact with one another o Macrolevel institutions (economy, education) can constrain and define these day to day interactions, but reality is dynamic and always changing o Roles that we play in dtd interactions are based on previous situations

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Postmodern perspectives argue that existing theories have not successfully explained social life in postindustrial societies.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. Discussion How can each theory be applied to understanding shopping and consumption? Which theoretical perspective do you find more compelling? Why?

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. QUICK QUIZ

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 1. Sociology is the systematic study of: a. intuition and commonsense knowledge b. human society and social interaction c. the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in a society d. personality and human development Answer: b Sociology is the systematic study of human society and social interaction.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 2. _____ stressed history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces. a. Auguste Comte b. Harriet Martineau c. Herbert Spencer d. Emile Durkheim e. Karl Marx Answer: e Karl Marx stressed that history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 3. _____ perspectives are based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system. a. Functionalist b. Interactionist c. Conflict d. Feminist Answer: a Functionalist perspectives are based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 4. The idea that research should be conducted in a scientific manner and would exclude the researcher’s personal values and economic interests was emphasized by: a. Jane Addams b. Karl Marx c. Georg Simmel d. Max Weber Answer: d The idea that research should be conducted in a scientific manner and would exclude the researcher’s personal values and economic interests was emphasized by Max Weber.

© Copyright Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. 5. The early social thinker who coined the term sociology and whose philosophy became known as positivism is: a. Karl Marx b. Emile Durkheim c. Auguste Comte d. Harriet Martineau Answers: c The early social thinker who coined the term sociology and whose philosophy became known as positivism is Auguste Comte.