final Flashcards
two distinct features of the frankfort school critical theroy
It maintains Marx’s concept on praxis; theory must be used to guide social action
it makes a revision on Marx’s critical thinking of dualism aimed at exploring the relation b/t consciousness and social reality. Orthodox marxism: stand hegel on his head” Frankfurt: putting Hegel back on his feet
difference between Marxism and critical theroy
for marx, the change in the nature of society is driven by the control of the means of material production, but for the Frankfort theorists, such change has more to do with control of signs and texts.
Frankfurt school mass deception
cultural industry produces ideology by itself through the means of TV, movies, radio, music, and administers what critical theorist call mass deception, where symbols lose their meanings.
Gyorgy Lukas: reification
drawing from Marx fetishism of commodities, reification is the process by which social relationships become objects that can be manipulated, bought, and sold. So, social relationships are coordinated by exchange values and by people’s perception of one another as objects/things
Horkheimer and adorno: instrumental reason
human’s subjective side is restricted by the spread of rationalization/ objectification, which is how the instrumental reason (means/ends rationality) enters the human spirit. This is a dualist process by which the subjective world is oppressed by the rationalized material objects
Marcuse one dimensional sociey
Technology is not neutral, it is a means to dominate people. Individuality and inner freedom have been invaded and whittled down by modern technology.
This results in a one dimensional society where individuals lose the ability to think critically and negatively about society.
Marcuse: tech rationality
Replaces individualistic rationality, lost the ability to think critically
Marcuse: individualistic rationality
critical and oppositional attitude toward capitalism
Gramsci: ideological hegemony
the ruling class is hegemonic, controlling not only property and power, but ideology as well. The state has become the propagator of culture and the civic education of the population, creating and controlling very institutional systems in more unobtrusive and direct ways.
Habermas solution
the fundamental processes evoke what he terms as the “PUBLIC SPHERE” - an arena where ppl can carry a free and open discussion that is resolved by rational argumentation. “COMMUNICATIVE ACTION” is critical as well as essential in the evolution of the public sphere. this is how emancipation from domination happens
central tenants of symbolic interactionism
humans are symbol creators and users, humans use symbols to communicate w/one another, human interaction by role-taking of gen. other, society is constructed by role-taking.
- Does Herbert Blumer’s following statement reveal the fundamental difference between symbolic interactionism and functionalism – “It is the social process in group life that creates and upholds the rules, not the rules that create and uphold group life”? Explain your answer
Yes, functionalists believe that , rules, and social stratification lay the basics for society. Symbolic interactionists believe that social interactions lay the basis for the social norms and rules that make up society
Robert Park’s role playing perspective
individuals are seen as playing roles associated with positions in larfer social networks. Role is thus limited to structural positions in society
ROLE CONFLICT & ROLE STRAIN are derived from statuses associated with normative expectations that affect the individuals behavior
Ralph H Turner’s role-making perspective
interaction isn’t just role-playing, but rather a joint and reciprocal process of role-taking and role-making.
ppl seek to continuously adjust responses and verify roles in accordance w/ newly emitted gestures and cues w/in the “FOLK NORM OF CONSISTENCY” thus, the process of “ROLE VERIFICATION” involves a constant efforts of revising the identification of others role whenever inconsistent cues are emitted
Sheldon Stryker’s self and identities theroy
an identity is part of one’s self. The number of identities a person has corresponds with the # of role relationships they partake in.
Self is organized acc to a “HIERARCHY OF IDENTITIES” and in varying situations, the identity that has more salience or importance influences behavior.
Goffman: dramaturgy
social life is built upon staging and performance
Goffman: dramaturgy; frontstage
institutionalized setting where an actor takes on an established role and attempts to meet with the stereotyped expectation of the audience
Goffman: dramaturgy; backstage
performance unobserved by the audience, can step out of character
Goffman: dramaturgy; impression management
verbal and nonverbal practices individuals employ in an attempt to present an acceptable image of themself to the audience.
Goffman: dramaturgy; demeanor
conduct and dress
Goffman: dramaturgy; deference
honor, dignity, respect
Goffman: demeanor and deference
rituals that structure social life
individuals act with proper demeanor and are met with deference from others
Mead and Goffman: similarites
we see ourselves as an object as others see us
2; the individual self is essentially a social construct that is rooted in our perceptions of how others will interpret and respond to our behavior
Mead and Goffman: difference
goffman is far less interested in exploring the internal convos that individuals engage in. instead, more interested in exploring how social arrangements and the actual, physical co presence of individuals shapes the organization of self
Shultz: stock of knowledge at hand
our world is flimsy and taken for granted as people interact with each other based on “stock of common sense knowledge at hand” ie what everyone knows
Garfinkel’s theroy of ethnomethodology
Means folkways
ppl interact with one another in a taken for granted world, but when they are forced to question their conventionally assigned meanings, they become upset. Everything can crumble if we refuse to accept the conventional interpretations
Hoschild’s emotion management
emotions arent simply given and experienced, but they are created
in service industries, emotions are commodified. it alienates the worker
Homan’s behavioristic exchange
human behavior is an exchange of rewards and punishment among interacting individuals.
Emphasized face to face interaction by focusing on direct exchanges among individuals, which he calls “ELEMENTARY SOCIAL BEHAVIOR”
Homan’s distribution justice
each party to the exchange must perceive that they’re not paying too high a cost relative to the rewards they’re gaining.
individuals develop their sense of distributive justice through the history of their past experiences/expectations regarding rewards and cost
Blau’s intrinsic reward
things we find pleasurable in and of themselves, not because they provide the means for obtaining other benefits (love, friendship, family, etc)
Blau’s extrinsic rewards
associated with others serves as a means to a further end (a sales person is nice because he wants to make commission, not b/c he wants to have a relationship w/ you)
Emerson’s negotiated exchange
negotiating and bargaining over the distributions of resources
Emerson’s reciprocal exchange
providing resources with the expectation that those rewards will be reciprocated
Structural functionalism
human cognitive categories reflect the structure of society. structures are created by the exchange
culture can be viewed as systems of symbols that cumulate social actions and interactions
Durkheim and parsons
structural linguistics
the structure of a society is but a surface manifestation of fundamental mental processes hardwired in the human brain.
Saussure
Common themes of poststructuralist critique of structuralism
fragmentation of meaning, localization of politics, decline of the idea of truth, de-centering of the subjectt
three challenges postmodernist theory poses to modernism
1: question the modern notion that science could be used to demystify the world by discovering the truth. does science provide the window so we can view reality? or does it just represent reality
2:question the neutrality of science as its not free from the influence of power and vested interest. science is a cultural production
3: question the accumulation and continuity of knowledge because there is no truth that exists apart from the ideology interests of humans. discontinuity is the norm. a permanent pluralism of cultures is the only real truth that humans must continually face
