Society and culture

Question 1

sociology defintion

Answer 1

the study of individuals, or cultures and institutions of people interacting with one another within a geographical space and historical time (specifically modern era and consequences for individuals)

Question 2

society is a contested concept, meaning

Answer 2

it has no fixed definition

Question 3

Thatcher quote

Answer 3

“there is no such thing as society. there are only individuals and their families’

Question 4

features of society

Answer 4

• abstract concept so not a physical entity

- based around individuals and the outcome of their relationships with each other

Question 5

why is thatcher wrong?

Answer 5

humans are distinctly social beings relying on people for planning, distribution, consensus, power/authority . This creates tradition, conformity, habits and customs…more than individuals and their families

Question 6

why is culture less of an abstract idea than society?

Answer 6

-we know culture exists, not just art but language, religion etc.
ITS A WAY OF LIFE

Question 7

how do we learn culture?

Answer 7

through socialisation

Question 8

how does culture distinguish us from other animals?

Answer 8

shared culture gives us norms and values

Question 9

culture vs nature

Answer 9

• no specific culture definition but seen as the opposite of nature
• it becomes socialised into us, we internalise it and it becomes second nature
• only when we compare ourselves to other (alien) cultures are we aware of other possibilities
• its naturalised (taken for granted)

Question 10

Jenkins said

Answer 10

“both society and culture deal with the way human beings deal with things. Both concepts need each other” (interrelated)

Question 11

Marx’s account of culture

Answer 11

-not recognised as a separate social sphere as capitalism is inevitable conflict between two classes. this base generates both individual consciousness and shared ideas. together with social institution, this forms a superstructure

Question 12

Parsons account of culture

Answer 12

culture has a pivotal role as the domain of shared symbolic meaning…can move from the particular to the general to make society itself possible

Question 13

Gramsci’s view of culture

Answer 13

semi-autonomous-capable of generating social effects in its own right

Question 14

Bourdiru talks about legitimate culture

Answer 14

e.g. those from a higher background want better educational opportunities

Question 15

institution definition

Answer 15

ordered, patterned way of doing things e.g. universities, greetings, queues
central to idea of social structure and to structural organisation of human activities

Question 16

Sumner’s view of institutions

Answer 16

group habits that develop in unintended/unplanned ways as particular ways of acting, thinking and feeling are adopted and repeated over time to become routinised and taken-for-granted ways of behaving

Question 17

Durkheim’s view of institutios

Answer 17

generalised it into the idea of legal, moral or customary rules that exist as constraining social facts within a particular society

Question 18

example to support Durkheim’s view of institutions

Answer 18

calculating rational actions of people in their economic relations could only occur because these actions presuppose a ‘non contractual element’ of considerations that give meaning to them

Question 19

how are institutions formed?

Answer 19

built from norms/social expectations that are widely regarded as obligatory and are sustained by strong sanctions to ensure people conform to them

Question 20

clusters of associated norms define social roles and the relationships among them…example of a doctor

Answer 20

their role is defined as norms of trust, honesty etc

Question 21

Parson’s view of institutions

Answer 21

most important institutions have functional significance in integrating/adapting people’s activities to the world. e.g. religious, political…each type has a primary concern for a specific social function and formed basis of complex structural pars into which social systems are organised

Question 22

criticism of institution definition

Answer 22

institutions cannot be separated from the power they embody. social order is the result of the combined application of power and knowledge and cannot be seen as the outcome of either alone

Question 23

Goffman talked about institutions

Answer 23

‘total institution’=organisation in which people are physically isolated form normal everyday activities by being required to sleep, work and spend their leisure within its confines. e.g. mental hospital

Question 24

advantage and disadvantages of goffman’s view of institutions

Answer 24

A- powerful idea
C-confusing to stretch the idea so far. better to distinguish institutions from the organised groups which they may be associated.