Chapter 4, Social Structure and Social Interaction Social Structures Types of Societies When Institutions Die: The Tragedy of the Ojibwa

Chapter 4, Social Structure and Social Interaction Social Interaction and Everyday Life Identity Work A Case Study of Identity Work: The Homeless Where This Leaves Us

Social Structure Recurrent patterns of relationships that revolve around: Status Role Institutions

Five Basic Human Institutions 1. Family, to rear children. 2. Economy, to produce and distribute goods. 3. Government, to provide defense. 4. Education, to train new generations. 5. Religion, to supply answers about the unknown or unknowable.

Structural-functional Theory of Institutions The order and stability institutions provide offers people a “liberating dependence.” Patterned solutions are present for the most common of everyday problems.

Conflict Theory of Institutions Patterned norms hold people in thrall to norms that may only oppress us. Stability and order, for example, may require the oppression of women and the inequality of socially defined races.

Hunting, Fishing and Gathering Societies Economically the least complex. Division of labor is based on age and sex. Economic activity is an adaptation to the natural environment, and does not produce surpluses.

Horticultural Societies Began when people began to cultivate crops. Allowed some in the society to pursue art, writing, and warfare. Status hierarchy began to develop.

Agricultural Societies Began 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. Surpluses became far greater and a complex class system developed. Kings, priests, merchants, soldiers, and peasants were among the new social classes.

Industrial societies Arose only a few hundred years ago. Animal and human labor was replaced by complex energy technologies. A new class order reflected a highly specialized division of labor.

The Tragedy of the Ojibwa Ojibwa society before 1963: Retained the way of life of a hunting and gathering society. Centered on the family. Almost no contact with whites.

The Tragedy of the Ojibwa In 1963, Ojibwa society changed forever: Canadian government moved them from reservation lands to a prepared community. The result was a collapse of institutions that depended on their traditional ways. A 1999 decision allowed their land to be clear cut. Their future remains uncertain.

Sociology of Everyday Life: Assumptions 1. The problematic nature of culture. Roles must be negotiated to go along with the general cultural script. 2. The dialectic. Human interactions are a dialectic between human expression and social forces of restraint.

Sociology of Everyday Life: Assumptions 3. Biography. As social actors bring unique biography to each interaction, those interactions tend to be unique. 4. Thick description. A sociological technique for describing why actors did what they did, and what it meant to them.

Two Ways of Avoiding Blame 1. Accounts. Tell stories to justify behavior. Sometimes, they are excuses; sometimes, they are justifications. 2. Disclaimers. Efforts to evade blame or judgment before an act. We explain that is not our fault, but….

Case Study: The Homeless and Self-esteem 1. Role distancing keeps us from being too closely associated with a status. (I’m not like the others.). 2. Role embracement is putting the best face on one’s lot and standing up for it. 3. Storys of how important one used to be, or to foretell better days ahead.