SOC 308 Midterm Flashcards
1
Q
What is social theory?
A
- basis of research
- generalized way of thinking
- provides a framework
organized system of thoughts and explanations - should be predictive, logical and systematic
2
Q
Sociological theory
A
- based on causes
- how certain things affect, condition or limit other things
- ask why do ppl do what they do?
2
Q
dominant paradigm
A
- paradigm - a structured way of explaining reality?
- accepted “truths” from which all theories/knowledge is based??
3
Q
Is there one dominating paradigm in the social sciences/sociology?
A
- difficult to have objectivity, everyone on the same page
sociologists disagree about the kinds of knowledge that can be developed, what procedures can and should be used and what phenomena should be topics of explanation
4
Q
concepts
A
- groups, power, stratification, norms
- built from definitions
- first step in research
- concrete or abstract
- often become operationalized - measured, variables
5
Q
theoretical statements/theories
A
differ int he way they adhere to structure
6
Q
structure
A
- focus on the collective
- the big picture
- organizes individuals into groups
- hierarchical
- associations and positions
- recurring patterns that organize human life
multidimensional relation
7
Q
agency
A
- focus in the individual
- the ability of ppl or groups to act or do what they want
8
Q
how theories differ
A
- some emphasize structure and some agency
- different levels of analysis - macro vs micro
- view of humanity - predictable or creative
- mechanism for human action - values, tradition
- deductive or inductive
9
Q
domination
A
power successfully exerted over another
10
Q
power
A
- can be legitimate - gained thru correct or appropriate means - or illegitimate, depending on who is wielding it
- emphasis on social nature of power
- not power over individuals but thru social systems
- power in overt decisions or in deciding not to do something
- treated as a commodity - gain, lose, possess
- control over resources and institutions
- ability to decide and effectively initiate actions or use positive or negative sanctions (reward or punish)
- influence or coercion
11
Q
2 types of resources (Giddens)
A
- allocative - economic powers, control of material resources
- authoritative - used in control over ppl, ideologies, surveillance
12
Q
dialectic of control
A
- power is never total
- where there is power there is resistance
- power is exerted in a way that it recognizes the power of the other side
13
Q
power of the state
A
- maintains legitimate authority by holding a monopoly on violence
- makes rules but can also supersede them
- distributes and redistributes resources
14
Q
disciplinary power
A
- power that we internalize
- pressures us towards a state of normalcy
- internalize and then police ourselves
15
Q
discourse power
A
- power that stems from systems of representation
- determines what is valid
- provides a specialized language
- decides what is and is not included in a topic
- sets identities
- provides experts
- society is a collective of discourses
- it is difficult to think outside the discourse
16
Q
privilege
A
- when one group has things of value based on the group they belong to rather than what they’ve done
- socially constructed
- if one doesn’t have it they consider it a liability
- often normalized
17
Q
unearned entitlement
A
things one has are restricted by a particular group b/c of the value that is put on that group
18
Q
conferred dominance
A
belonging to a certain group means you have more power over others
19
Q
categorical inequality
A
- inequalities that exist btwn groups rather than individuals
- have the most social impact
- differences in power relations
reinforced thru social processes like exploitation, domination, opportunity hoarding - differences in reward and capacity for performance
20
Q
class
A
- defined in relational rather than gradual terms
- structurally defined in terms of positions in social labour relations
- one class appropriates the labour of the other
- antagonistic - b/c one class always has advantage over the other
- imbedded within specific historical times
21
Q
Communist Manifesto
A
- passionate and poetic language
- contemporary ideas - same struggles as today - globalization, all-consuming market
22
Q
materialism (marx)
A
- focuses on real conditions in which ppl
- relational and structural
- historical and dialectical
- not only study the world but change it
- focus on diff parts as well as the whole
- focus on the relations of production
- ppl are social - cooperation, coordination and conflict
- society is a production system involving a set of social relations
23
Q
production (marx)
A
- fundamental to our species being (human nature)
- what distinguishes us from animals is we produce our subsistence - active
- the root of our society, historically and analytically
- every society is a sum of it’s productive forces - means (tools), subjects (raw materials), and relations (class structure)
24
Q
conflict (marx)
A
- unnecessary, not built into system
opposing forces
25
Q
class struggle (marx)
A
- ongoing conflict btwn workers and owners
- fought in workplace, political arena and economy
26
Q
division of labour (marx)
A
2 types:
- social division - specialization by social group (gender, age, ethnicity)
- task/technical division -
27
Q
class domination (marx)
A
- classes emerge when there is enough division of labour that allows one minority group to create a surplus which allows them to dominate others
28
Q
capitalism (marx)
A
- a system of commodity production and exchange
- everything is bought and sold
- most ppl have been separated from their production and are forced to be wage labourers
- global system
- must grow or die
- involves a political state - state regulates capital and helps system to survive
- worth judged thru market value, profitability, efficiency, cost
- source of profit is thru buying low and selling for as much profit as possible
- source of exploitation is surplus value
- involves free labour - but labour is only free to sell itself to highest bidder not whether to sell itself or not
29
Q
value (marx)
A
- commodities have use value and exchange value
- goods that are not commodities also have values
- use value - what you use it for, regardless of social relations of production
- exchange value - the quantitative measure in relation to other commodities, in capitalism it is represented thru money
- to marx the source of value is human labour
30
Q
exploitation (marx)
A
- the commodification of people’s labour power
- wages paid in exchange for labour power are less than the value of the commodities produced or the services provided
31
Q
surplus value (marx)
A
- profit
32
Q
labour power (marx)
A
- the capacity to labour
33
Q
mode of production
A
- the economic organization of society
- the way in which ppl produce, distribute, and consume goods
- capitalism is a mode of production
34
Q
Eric Olin Wright’s exploitation - 3 criteria
A
a) an inverse interdependent wellbeing principle - the material wellbeing of the advantaged group causally depends upon the material deprivations of the disadvantaged group
b) the exclusion principle - the causal relation in a) involves the exclusion of the disadvantaged group from access to productive resources controlled by the advantaged group
c) the labour effort control principle/appropriation principle - Exclusion generates material advantage to the advantaged group because it enables them to appropriate the labour effort of the disadvantaged group
- if only a) and b) - non-exploitive economic oppression - advantaged doesn’t need the disadvantaged - worse b/c inter-dependency doesn’t exist - opportunity hoarding - no exploitation involved
35
Q
strata (marx)
A
- bourgeoisie owners
- petite bourgeoisie
- managers - part of working class but identify with owners
- workers who are stock owners
- workers
36
Q
fractions (marx)
A
- within bourgeoisie - compete with each other
- productive capital - make money from production
- mercantile capital - make money thru trade
- finance capital - make money off of money, stocks, loans, credit
- rentier/landlord capital - make money by monopolizing resources - land, oil
37
Q
alienation (marx)
A
- separation, estrangement
- capitalism is inherently exploitive and manifests itself in forms of alienation
- the creative process that makes us human (productive capacity) becomes a commodity for sale in capitalism
- this commodity is labour time that one has no choice but to sell
- b/c one has to sell what he would naturally keep for himself, he becomes alienated (4 types)
38
Q
4 types of alienation (marx)
A
- from self - b/c he does not have ownership over creative self, must do what owner demands rather than what he wants, capable of free production but not freely creative
- own human nature/species being - how we represent nature thru ourselves, free creative command over environment, human nature is sold as a commodity
- from our created product - b/c he doesn’t own it, owner ‘stole’ it
- from others - tension btwn workers and owners, irreconcilable relationship of inequality, no longer relate as full human beings, ppl are things to be used
39
Q
commodity fetishism (marx)
A
- when ppl see commodities as having a separate existence, value beyond its actual value
- when ppl forget it is human labour that creates products
- when we become alienated, commodities fill that loss
- goal is not to be a certain person but to have certain things
- this things define us and give us value
40
Q
In what ways are the concepts and concerns of Marx reflected in Inside Job?
A
- bourgeoisie looking out for their own best interest
- bourgeoisie use the state to advance their own interests
- commodity fetishism - emphasis on getting more and more
- reification of the market - it will fix itself
- contradiction - bankrupting both sides even though you are dependent on them
- competition btwn capitalists
41
Q
Weber
A
- wanted to correct Marx in a few places
- important to understand how Weber saw ppl
- understand the subjective meanings that ppl attach to their actions
- ppl act according to meaning
- ppl act within specific social contexts
- ppl act and react to each other
- meaning an action are key
42
Q
4 types of social action/rationality (weber)
A
- goal-oriented rational action - instrumental rationality - both goal and means are rationally chosen (in capitalism)
- value-oriented rational action - substantive rationality - striving for a goal which in itself may not be rational but which is nonetheless pursued with rational means
- emotional or affective rationality - anchored in the emotional state of the actor rather than in the rational weighing of means and ends
- traditional action - guided by customary habits of yesterday
43
Q
ideal type (weber)
A
- an analytical construct that serves the investigator as a measuring rod to ascertain similarities as well as deviations in concrete cases
- the components necessary for identification
- may be difference in real world
- 3 types:
1. historical - refer to phenomena that appear only in specific historical periods and in particular cultural areas
2. abstract elements of social reality
3. analysis of particular kinds of behaviour
44
Q
power (weber)
A
- ppl getting other ppl to do things against the resistance of others who are participating in action
45
Q
3 dimensions of inequality (weber)
A
- stand on their own but also influence each other
1. class
2. status
3. party
46
Q
market (weber)
A
a place where ppl engage in competitive exchange
47
Q
money (weber)
A
- a standard, a qualitative value that is fixed, not subjective
- creates a medium for exchange
48
Q
class (weber)
A
- an aggregate of individuals who share the same market situation
- a market relation
- your relative control over goods and skills determines your life chances
- what you can command on the market controls your life chances
- 4 classes:
1. owners of property
2. working class
3. skilled professionals
4. petite bourgeoisie - ppl have social mobility only within class
49
Q
emergence of class consciousness (weber)
A
- large number of ppl within your group
- leadership
- communication
50
Q
prevention of class consciousness (weber)
A
- when ppls individual interests conflict with class interest, ignore common interests
- presence or absence of institutions that promote class consciousness (unions)
- dissipation and grumbling - ppl complain instead of actually doing something
- identifying with wrong enemy/opposing class
51
Q
status (weber)
A
- based on consumption patterns, similar lifestyles, common interests
- ethnicity, heredity, sexual orientation, gender
- enforced thru religion, legal or conventional sanction
- most obvious, influential
- most often basis for class consciousness
52
Q
party (weber)
A
organizations that form freely recruited groupings, voluntary, aim to secure a specific type of power or control - cut across class and status sports team, political party
53
Q
authority - 3 types (weber)
A
- how one claims the legitimacy of domination
1. traditional - based on the belief and sanctity of tradition, inherent or invested with it by higher authority - 3 types: gerentocracy (rule by elders), patriarchalism (rule from father to son), patrimonialism (rule based on loyalty)
2. charismatic - rests on the appeal of leaders, allegiance b/c of their perceived extraordinary virtuosity
3. rational-legal - based on rational grounds and anchored in impersonal rules that have been legally enacted or contractually established
54
Q
bureaucracy - 6 characteristics (weber)
A
- an explicit division of labour with delineated lines of legal rational authority
- the presence of an office hierarchy
- impersonal application of written rules and communication
- accredited training and technical competence
- management by rules that are emotion neutral - task oriented
- ownership of both the career ladder and position by the organization rather than the individual
55
Q
implications of bureaucracy (weber)
A
- development of bureaucratic personality
- identify with/dependance on organizational goals
- dependance on experts to make judgements
- sequestration of ppls experience - ignoring
56
Q
webers views on bureaucracy
A
- pessimistic
- growth of bureaucracy matches advancement of democracy
- democracy demands equality for law - enforcement requires bureaucracy
- democracy leads to more bureaucratic regulations and structures, which leads to more abstract legal procedures, which introduces a new form of power that is more arbitrary and autonomous than the power that preceded it - contradiction
- will eventually lead to the iron cage
57
Q
credentialism (weber)
A
- education system would become a system that creates good bureaucrats rather than good citizens
- bureaucracies rely heavily on credentials for placement
- credential inflation - levels of require credentials inflates over time as more of population competes
- social closure - produces inequality, credentials become property, those who have it are included, those who don’t are excluded
58
Q
Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination
A
- importance of knowledge in empowering of oppressed
- instead of compounding oppressions see it as overarching , interlocking structure of domination
- interconnection - each system needs others to function
rejects dichotomous thinking which leads to quantification and categorization, ranking - instead, all groups suffer varying amounts of penalty and privilege, may be oppressed or oppressor depending on context
- 3 levels of domination
1. personal
2. community
3. institutional - matrix of domination produces multiple corresponding partial perspectives, different ways of knowing, diff truths
importance of dialogue
