Chapter 6 Flashcards
What is globalization?
The development of social and economic relationships stretching worldwide, involving the interconnectedness of cultures, economies, and political systems across nations.
What is sociological imagination?
The application of imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological questions, allowing individuals to ‘think themselves away’ from familiar routines.
What is social structure?
The underlying regularities or patterns in how people behave in their relationships with one another.
What is social construction?
An idea or practice that a group of people agree exists, maintained over time by people taking its existence for granted.
What is socialization?
The social processes through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self.
What are social facts?
Aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, studied scientifically according to Émile Durkheim.
What is organic solidarity?
Social cohesion resulting from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole, according to Émile Durkheim.
What is social constraint?
The conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members, regarded by Émile Durkheim as a property of social facts.
What is division of labor?
The specialization of work tasks that enhances efficiency and productivity by allowing individuals to focus on specific tasks.
What is anomie?
A situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior, a concept introduced by Émile Durkheim.
What is the materialist conception of history?
The view developed by Karl Marx that material or economic factors play a prime role in determining historical change.
What is capitalism?
An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested to produce profit.
What is bureaucracy?
A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and written rules of procedure, staffed by full-time officials.
What is rationalization?
The process by which modes of precise calculation and organization, involving abstract rules and procedures, dominate the social world, as described by Max Weber.
Who is Alexis De Tocqueville?
A French aristocrat who wrote ‘Democracy in America’ and analyzed the effects of democracy on American society.
Who is Harriet Martineau?
The first female sociologist who translated Comte’s work into English and emphasized studying society through a feminist lens.
Who is W.E.B. Dubois?
An African American sociologist and civil rights activist who co-founded the NAACP and advocated for racial equality and social justice.
What is double consciousness?
The concept that blacks have two identities, reflecting two thoughts and two souls within one ‘dark’ body.
Who is Auguste Comte?
A French philosopher who invented the term ‘sociology’ and viewed it as social physics, arguing it should be used to improve society.
Who is Emile Durkheim?
A French sociologist who viewed sociology as a scientific study of social facts, which are phenomena that exercise social control.
Who is Karl Marx?
A German philosopher known for the materialist conception of history, focusing on social history of conflict and inequality.
What is Marxism?
A theory emphasizing the role of political and economic power to exploit and the coercion of one group over another.
What are feminist theories?
Theories that address gender inequality and challenge patriarchy, the social and cultural systems of male dominance.
What is symbolic interactionism?
A theoretical approach developed by George Herbert Mead that emphasizes the role of symbols and language in human interaction.
What is functionalism?
A theoretical perspective that explains social events in terms of the functions they perform for the continuity of society.
What are manifest functions?
Functions of a social activity that are known to and intended by the individuals involved.
What are latent functions?
Functional consequences that are not intended or recognized by members of a social system.
What is conflict theory?
A sociological perspective emphasizing the role of political and economic power and oppression in the existing social order.
What are ideologies?
Shared ideas or beliefs that justify the interests of dominant groups and legitimize their power.
What is the rational choice approach?
The theory that an individual’s behavior is purposive, often applied in criminology to explain deviant behavior.
What is postmodernism?
The belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress, characterized by pluralism and diversity.
What is microsociology?
The study of human behavior in the context of face-to-face interaction.
What is macrosociology?
The study of large-scale groups, organizations, or social systems.
What are cultural universals?
Values or modes of behavior shared by all human cultures.
What are values?
Ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable, proper, good, and bad.
What are norms?
Rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in social situations, prescribing or forbidding certain behaviors.
What is a signifier?
Any vehicle of meaning and communication.
What is semiotics?
The study of how nonlinguistic phenomena generate meaning, such as a traffic light.
What is the linguistic relativity hypothesis?
A hypothesis suggesting that perceptions are relative to language, based on the theories of Sapir and Whorf.
What are pastoral societies?
Societies whose subsistence derives from the rearing of domesticated animals.
What are agrarian societies?
Societies whose means of subsistence are based on agricultural production.
What is industrialization?
The process of machine production of goods.
What are nation-states?
States with sovereign power within defined territorial areas, where populations identify as part of single nations.
What is cultural capital?
The accumulated cultural knowledge within a society that confers power and status.
What are emerging economies?
Countries in the Global South that have developed a strong industrial base over recent decades.
What is cultural appropriation?
The adoption of elements from one cultural group by another cultural group.
What are subcultures?
Values and norms held by a group within a wider society that are distinct from those of the majority.
What are countercultures?
Cultural groups that largely reject the values and norms of the majority.
What is assimilation?
The process by which different cultures are absorbed into a mainstream culture.
What is multiculturalism?
A condition where ethnic groups exist separately and share equally in economic and political life.
What is ethnocentrism?
The tendency to view other cultures through the lens of one’s own culture.
What is cultural relativism?
The practice of judging a society by its own standards.
What is sociobiology?
An approach explaining behavior of animals and humans in terms of biological principles.
What is cultural lag?
The idea that changes in cultural values and norms take time to catch up with technological developments.
What are roles?
Expected behaviors of people occupying particular social positions.
What is status?
The social honor or prestige accorded to a particular group by other members of society.
What is social position?
The social identity an individual has in a given group or society, which may be general or specific.
What is impression management?
Preparation for the presentation of one’s social role.
What is civil inattention?
The process where individuals glance at each other and quickly look away to indicate awareness without intrusiveness.
What are response cries?
Involuntary exclamations made when surprised or expressing pleasure.
What is unfocused interaction?
Interaction occurring among people present in a setting but not engaged in direct communication.
What is focused interaction?
Interaction between individuals engaged in a common activity or direct conversation.
What is the back region?
Areas apart from front-region performance where individuals can relax and behave informally.
What is the front region?
Settings of social activity where people seek to perform for others.
What is agency?
The ability to think, act, and make choices independently.
What is ethnomethodology?
The study of how people make sense of others’ actions and words in day-to-day interactions.
What is conversation analysis?
The empirical study of conversations to reveal the organizational principles of talk.
What is interactional vandalism?
The deliberate subversion of the tacit rules of conversation.
What is compulsion of proximity?
People’s need to interact with others in their presence.
What are networks?
Sets of informal and formal social ties linking people to each other.
What is a social group?
A collection of people who regularly interact based on shared expectations and a common identity.
What is a social aggregate?
A simple collection of people in a particular place who do not significantly interact.
What is a social category?
People sharing a common characteristic but not necessarily interacting.
What are primary groups?
Groups characterized by intense emotional ties, face-to-face interaction, and strong commitment.
What are secondary groups?
Groups characterized by large size and impersonal, fleeting relationships.
What is an organization?
A large group of individuals with a definite set of authority relations.
What is a formal organization?
A group designed to achieve objectives through explicit rules and procedures.
What are in-groups?
Groups toward which one feels loyalty and respect.
What are out-groups?
Groups toward which one feels antagonism and contempt.
What is a dyad?
A group consisting of two persons.
What is an ideal type?
A ‘pure type’ constructed by emphasizing certain traits of a social item.
What are formal relations?
Relations existing in groups and organizations as laid down by official norms.
What are informal relations?
Relations developed based on personal connections, departing from formal procedures.
What is the iron law of oligarchy?
A term meaning that large organizations tend toward centralization of power, making democracy difficult.
What is oligarchy?
Rule by a small minority within an organization or society.
What is information and communication technology?
Forms of technology based on information processing requiring microelectronic circuitry.
What is the McDonaldization of society?
A phenomenon where society and its institutions adapt characteristics found in fast-food chains.
What are the characteristics of McDonaldization?
Efficiency, Calculability, Predictability, Control.
