IMPORTANT SCHOLARS Flashcards
KARL MARX (1818-1883)
*Focused on Capitalism and the inequalities perpetrated by its class system
*MATERIALISTIC CONCEPTION OF HISTORY: The view developed by Karl Marx according to which material (factories, machinery, natural resources) or economic factors(Capitalism ) have a prime role in deletmaning social and historical change
*CAPITALISM: An economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested to produce profit
*Marx predicted that in the future capitalism would be replaced by a classless society in which there were no divisions between rich and poor
MAX WEBER (1864-1920)
*While he agreed with Marx that changes in the economy played a role in the shifts taking place in society, Max Weber also emphasized the importance of culture and ideas
*He also argued that bureaucracy allows large organizations to run efficiently but posed problems for democracy (LEAD TO TYRANNY)
C.WRIGHT MILLS
Known for his work in sociological imagination. Is the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and larger social influences. Believed personal troubles are often rooted in public issues UNDERSTANDING THE CONNECTION IS IMPORTANT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE ( EX: Being underpayed can result in less social connections)
W.E.B. DuBois
*Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctor from Harvard and was a founding member of the NAACP
*On black identity; double consciousness describes the identity struggle felt by African Americans in a society that only lets them see themselves through the eyes of others.
DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS: AFRICAN AMERICANS SEE THEMSELVES AS THE LABEL SOCIETY PLACES ON THEM AND THIS CAN RESULT AFFECT SELF IDENTITY
DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS IS HOW YOU SEE URSELF VS HOW EVERYONE SEES YOu
*On race: “The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line.”
Émile Durkheim
Drawing on Comte’s idea of sociology as a science, Emilie Durkheim set out to study social facts.
SOCIAL FACTS: The aspects of social life that shaped our actions as individuals (Norms and values, religious belioefs shape how an individuals acts and interact within a society
He saw society as a body that needed all its parts to function in harmony(Different roles in society)
-Sucide is typically understood to be a purely personal act, but Durkehim approached it sociologically.(believed indivual actions are influenced by larger social forces)
ELIJAH ANDERSON
*Studied how race, class, and gender intersect in macro and micro fashion
studied a lot of race and young men, decent/street families, black communities have families that adhere to traditional middle class norms, trying to do right, hardworking, and some are street families that dont have those ideals/norms , the problem anderson identifies is that people don’t make those distinctions. Especially when they see young black man. They assume there are all streets. They’re all menacing. All dangerous. Think about these young men trying to manage everyday interactions. Some scholars say they have to signal to the world they are not dangerous.
ERVING GOFFMAN
Ervin Goffman - advanced new approach to sociology
Social Interaction: the process by which we act and react to those around us
Microsociology : the study of human behavior in contexts of small scale face to face interaction
Jean Piaget
*Jean Piaget, focused on behavior and cognition
COGNITION: Human Thought processes involving perception, reasoning, and remembering.
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE: A stage of human cognitive development in which a childs awareness of their environment is dominated by perception and touch
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE: A stage of cognitive development , in which the child has advanced sufficiently to master basic modes of logical though
EGOCENTRIC: IS A QUALITY of a child during the early years of life because at this stage children are unable to differentiat their own perspedctivve and others.
ROBERT MERTON
*According to Merton, deviance is a byproduct of economic inequalities (same access to resources), he believed societ has set cultural goals (wealth n sucess) not everyome has those goals which leads to frusturation and deviant behaviors.
*Merton split people into five possible types based on how they responded to the tensions between socially endorsed values and the limites means of achieving them
*Those five types are conformist , innovator, ritualist, retreatist and rebel
George herbert Mead
*George Herbert Mead gave attention mainly to how children learn to use the concepts of “I’ and “me”
Mead said infants and young children develop as social being by imitating the actions of those around them
Self - awareness with the ability to distinguish the ‘’me’’ from the ‘’I’’ through a process of play “taking the role of the other”
SOCIAL SELF; the identity given to an individual by the reactions of others
SELF CONSCIOUSNESS: Awareness of ones distinct social identity as a person separate from others.
MEAD AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF:
At 8/9 years old, children learn to play organized games which have rules that reflect the values of social life.
GENERALIZED OTHER: The individual takes over the general values and moral rules of a given group or society during the socialization process.
FUNCTIONALISM
*A theoretical perspective based on the notion that social events can be explained in terms of the functions they perform , that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society. (Diff parts of society doctors, teachers, and parents) -> Each play a specific role to maintain order
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
*A theoretical approach in sociology developed by George Herbet Mead (1863-1931) that emphasized the role of symbols and language as core elements of human interaction
SYMBOL: one item used to stand for or represent another - as in the case of a flag, which symbolizes a nation
CONFLICT THEORIES
*Sociological perspectives that emphasize the role of political, economic power and oppression as contributing to the existing social order
Look at how different groups in society fight for power and resources. Believe society is not fair and that some groups have more powers than other
(MARX,MILLS,WEBER)
Feminist Theory
*A sociological perspective that emphasizes he centrality of gender in analyzing the social world and particularly the experiences of women
FEMINISM : advocacy of the rights of women to be equal with men in all spheres of life
*Many strands of feminist theory, but they all share the intention to explain gender inequalities in society and to work to overcome them
