Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is sociology?
The social science that studies the development, structure, and functioning of human society
Who coined the term sociological imagination?
C. Wright Mills
Sociological imagination
Capacity to shift from one perspective to another - from political to psychological
Allows us to understand individual’s circumstances as shared by social forces
Ibn Khaldûn
First person to carry out systematic study of sociology subjects
Ibn Khaldûn book
An introduction to history - developed systematic approach to studying various types of societies and their histories, cultures, economies
Development of sociology in Europe
Developed in response to social changes:
- industrialization
- urbanization
- population increases
- revolution
Max Weber: founder of modern sociology
Identified set values embodied in early Protestantism. He called this the Protestant work ethic
Sociologists out of the Chicago school
- Robert park
- Ernest burgess
- Everett C. Hughes
- George Herbert mead
- Edwin Sutherland
- Jane Addams
Robert park
Urban sociologist who was a founding member of the Chicago school of sociology
Everett C Hughes
Chicago school sociologist who studied the ethnic division labour in Quebec
George Herbert mead
Father of “symbolic interactionism” who looked how the self is constructed through personal exchanges with others
Edwin Sutherland
Criminal sociologist and symbolic interactionist who introduced the idea of white-collar crime
Jane Addams
Social worker/activist, sociologist, and intellectual who established america’s first settlement house, in Chicago
Carl Addington Dawson
First professional, institutionalized sociologist in Canada
Reflected two element of of early Canadian sociology:
1. Social gospel movement
2. Hands-on social work
Vertical mosaic
Analysis of social class and power in Canada, coined by john porter
John porter
Examined relationship between social class and ethnicity
Three early women sociologists and the writing of gender in Canada
- Annie Marion Maclean
- Aileen Ross
- Helen C. Abel
Annie Maclean
First Canadian women to obtain PhD in sociology
Aileen Ross
First women hired as sociologist at Canadian university
Helen C. Abel
Founder of rural sociology in Canada
Sociology by approach
- Structural functionalism
- Conflict theory
- Symbolic interactionism
- Feminist theory
- Postmodern theory
Macrosociolgy
Focuses on the big picture of society and institutions
Ex.
- Structural functionalism
- Conflict theory
- Feminist theory
- Postmodern theory
Microsociology
Focuses on the plans, motivations, and actions of individuals and smaller groups
Ex
- Symbolic interactionism
Structural functionalism
Uses organic or biological analogy for society
1. Durkheim
2. Merton
3. Parsons
Émile Durkheim
Coined social fact - patterned way of acting, thinking, feeling
Anomie - societal state of breakdown or confusion/ lack of connection with society
Robert Merton
- Manifest functions - intended and readily recognized
- Latent functions - unintended and unrecognized
- Latent dysfunctions - unintended and produce socially negative consequences
Conflict theory
Based on 4 C’s
1. Conflict
2. Class
3. Contestation
4. Change
Karl Marx
Society is a hierarchy and positions are determined by the groups role in wealth
Marx saw conflict between the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and proletariat (workers) which would initiate egalitarian (classless) society
Symbolic interactionism figures
- George Herbert mead
- Herbert blumer
- Erving goffman
Herbert blumer
Coined the term symbolic interactionism - individuals and groups create and maintain social systems through interaction
Erving Goffman
Coined the term total institution - (prisons, boarding schools, concentration camps) which seek to regulate, control, manipulate residents
Dorothy smith
Developed standpoint theory out of her own discrimination- standpoint theory challenges objective analysis
Feminist waves
First wave: campaign for civil and political rights
Second wave: focus on public and private rights
Third wave: inclusion of LGBTI and radicalized individuals
Forth wave: empowerment of women
Fifth wave: ???
Postmodern theory
Seeks to include a diversity of voices, especially those that are drowned out by dominant groups
Michel Foucault
- Discourses - distinct ways of speaking about some element of reality
- Totalitarian - describes set of beliefs or ideas that dominates all others
- Totalitarian discourse - refers to any universal claim about how knowledge or understanding is achieved
Sociology by audience
- Professional sociology
- Critical sociology
- Policy sociology
- Public sociology
Professional sociology
Research designed to generate highly specific information, applying to particular problem or intellectual question
Critical sociology
Considered by Michael Burawoy to be the “conscience of professional sociology
Aims to make professional sociologists do not become lost in esoteric debates that they lose sight of goals of sociological inquiry
Policy sociology
Generates sociological data used in the development of social policies
three main areas: education, health, social welfare
Public sociology
make sociology accessible to public through jargon free language
