3 Flashcards
What is a social fact according to durkheim + explenations
A social fact is identifiable through the power of external coercion which it experts or is capable of exerting upon individual
-Socio is a sc disc bcs there are facts in any society which are fundam diff froms those studied by the natural sc
Physical vs social facts
- collective nature of social facts: not individual actions or exp, émerge from shared belief …
-coercive power
- exteriority of social facts
-analytical constructed: concepts used to analyse and understand sociétés, how they influence indiv ans group actions
Ex class, status, norms
-they ivolve, not static ans sociology is abt how these facts are created, maintained and transformed, influence indiv ans collective behaviour
What is a social fact (broadly)
.Values, cultural norms, and social structures that transcend thé individual and Can exercise social control
-> external to indiv, no choice but collective phenomena ex language, customs, laws
-> influence société but Independent: social facts are constructed and maintained by collective human action
-> coercive power: pressure on indiv to conforme, in a subtule or explicit way (customs that enterred in Law so punishment by Law)
-surround us, influence us ( means that social fact exist? Independent of us or constituted by us?)
-building blocks of social science ( Social Science is thé study of how social facts influence our World, ourselves + social scientist investigate how social facts: impact behaviour, evolve, varry across cultures)
Marcel mauss’ thé gift connections to social facts
Gift giving is a social practices: échanges build relationship and reinforced social obligations ( maintaining social ties and obligations +show thé coercive and relational power of norms)
— failing to réspond to a gift Can bé Seen as a breach in social expectations
Différent perspectives on social facts
.sociology: study structural influences ex eco système
. Anthropologists: culture variations ex gift-giving Mauss
.psychologists: how social facts shape indiv cognition and behaviour
What are concepts
.a collection of things that are regardes alike bcs they Shade common caracteristics or are ex of général type of behaviour
. A label, intellectual shorthand( raccourcis)
.an analytical construct: breaking down social reality in mangeable parts in order to better comprehend it
.not clear, lack of consensus ex what is a démo, an ideology…
.=/ dictionary def
Concept of racism what is it
.concept is a tool for understanding, evolve as they are debated, refined…
Ex racism
.multiple def and perspectives:
Ex oxford dictionary: racism= préjudice or discrimination based on racial or ethnic group membership + belief in the superiority of certain racial or ethnic groups + an ideology that supports such belief and practices
-Focus on indiv, institutional, sociétal level : attitude and structure
Vs dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture : historical Roots of thé term + thé shifting focus of racism in =/ contexts + thé émergence of “New racism”
-Focus on historical and cultural contexts and their evolvement
.Dynamic nature + multidimensional (indiv préjudice+ structural racism+ cultural racism)+ concept used in all thé disciplines
.évolution with “New” racism: add online racism, microagressions…
Concept of state collapse by who
William zartman
“Situation where thé structure, authority, Law, and political order have fallen apart and must bé reconstitued in some form, old or New”( without nec being an anarchy)
Concept of path dependency
Idea that initial décisions or dvlmpt create self-reiforcing processes (ex the more people use technology, thé more it become essential bcs of familiarity and comptability: alternatives less appealing), making it difficult and costly to deviate from an established trajectory
EX: many countries retain légal trad based on colonial History, shaping current jusicial practices OR fossil fuel reliance persists bcs energy grids and economies were built around it, despite renewable alternatives
.used in historical institutionalism (studies how institutions evolve over Time)
….critical junctures:
A REVOIR!!!!!!!!!!
What is a good concept + author
Gerring
.familiarity: to a lay or académic
.résonance: does thé chosen term resonate?
.parsimony: how short is thé term and thé list of défining attributs
.cohérence
.depth
.différentiation:
.field utility
Conceptual traveling: applying concepts to a New case Can lead to
Conceptual stretching: distorsion which occurs when a concept does not fit thé New case
Ex democracy how do WE define bcs there is also “illiberal démo” that is strictly opposed to our concept of demo
Thé concept of power
.Robert Dahl: ability of A to get B to do smtg that they would otherwise not do
.2-3 types of power: soft and hard power (Nye)
.structural power: operates through a network of relationship that benef some and disadvantage others
..Susan Strange: 4 types of structural power:
A.security: protection and survival: système that adress threat to indiv and states, mili capacites, Law enforcement ex NATO
B. Protection structure: power that derivate from controlling thé means and process of producung goods and services, shaping eco hierarchy EX china as a global manufacturing hub
C.finance structure : power rooted in the control of financial système, det who has access to flow of money, capital… EX US dollar dominance ( with sanctions to certain countries’ Access to int market)
D.knoweledge: power over thé création, dissémination, and control of info and knowledge, shaping perceptions, éducation… EX Google, X…
What are opérational def
Tools used in research to clarify how abstract concepts are measured
.measurement: op def translate abstract ideas into mesurable and observable éléments
.Purpose: ensure clarify, consistency and replicability
.positivist approach: causality and prédiction, using opérational def to test hypothèses with clear cause-and-effect relationship
.int approach: explore how actors understand and construct their realities, context
EX “democracy”: operationalizable through measurable indicators ( free élections, freedom of press…)
Division of a concept
Concept > dimension > component> indicator
Concept of War: def operationalizing,
A.def: “hostile contention by means of armes forces, carried on btwn nations, states or rulers or btwn parties in thé same nation or state”
B.operationalizing War: criterias that Can bé observed:
.correlates of War project def War as “sustained combat, involving organised armes forces, resulting in a min of 1 000 battle-related fatalities within 12 month période”.
C.concept: various dimensions of War (Levy and Thompson); violence, political orga, coordination, duration
D. Diff btwn Levy and COW approaches: 2. Focus on modern nation states and mesurable outcomes and 1. Focus on coordinated violence, political entities, violence
E. Implications for understanding War: historical analysis (COw def not applicable in earlier periods bcs often smallef armies and fewer fatalities)
+
Théories of peace: ex démo peace theory impact how WE study relationship with political regimes
