Theory Flashcards
Weber - Social action
Max Weber - Founding Father. Emphasises importance of the points of view of social actors and the meaning they attribute to behaviour. Says that action meaningful, its the product of external forces and your interpretation of the world around you and your conscious choices. were not puppets. Doesnt completly dismiss social structures. Verstehen - Solution to understanding society = Empathy.
EVA - Func argue action theory fails to consider how institutions create social order
George Herbert Mead - Social Action
Believes =
Not puppets controlled by socialisation - people are activelty responding to the world.
Humans are different to animals as humans assess how to respond rather than reacting automatically.
Symbols = respond to the world by giving meanings to significant things, motivates us to behave a certain way. For example a simle is a symbol that has several meanings.
We interpret peoples meaning by putting ourselves in their role seeing us as they see us. It develops through interaction and is how we control ourselves. Young children interanlise signif others while later in life we see ourselves from the point of view of society in general (generalised other)
EVA - not able to explain how meanings develop. Critics argue that meanings are created from social instituitions. Criticised for focusing on smale scale face to face interaction, tells us little about historical development of society or impact of societal structure.
Labelling theory
Becker - Something is deviant not because of the action but how others react to it - people react differently depending on social context. self concept - being labelled as deviant can lead to deviance amplification
Harvey and Slatin - Experiment on teacher - To see if they had preconcieved notions Rosenthal & Jacobson - Study that showed children would do better if teachers expected them to and vice versa. - Intellectual bloomers showed significant improvment
Looking glass self - Cooley = our self concept is shaped by how we think others perceive us - 3 step process = imagining how we appear to others, imagine the judgemnt of that appearance and develop feelings based on those judgements. This precess highlights the importance of social interactions in forming out identity.
EVA - Doesnt explain why people get labelled in the first place. People can reject the label, self negating
Dramaturgical analogy - Goffman
Describes how we construct our self by manipulating others impressions of us. We are actors in society taking on various roles which is why we behave differently in different situations and to people/
Impression management - tone, gestures, props, and settings.
Front stage (put on a show) and back stage (the real you)
Role distance (we dont always believe in the role we play)
EVA - argument is weak because we at times both actors and audience members
EVALUATION OF SOCIAL ACTION IN GENERAL
1) criticised for merely describing human interaction, encounters and situations rather than looking at the historical determinism behind such behaviour
2) Interactionists claim that action is not determined by structural norms but do admit to the presence of such norms however they tend to take them as given rather than explaining how they have come about. 3)Interactionists fail to explain why humans behave in similar ways most of the time when they have all these other options of how to behave.
Lyotard - Post Modernism
Lyotard - argues we are in a period of post mod because of the constantly change society leading to it being chaotic and therefore cant be understood by the application of traditional theories
Argues we dont have metanarratives anymore but small stories that are important to differernt groups of people.
Language games = different ways people use lang to understand and talk about the world = Scientists, priests and philosophers each have their own way of speaking and own rules for whats true and important. Believes there is one correct way to use language or one single truth instead there are many ways that are all valid in their own contexts. This means we should respect different viewpoints
Universal truths - Lyotard argues there arent really any universal truths anymore. what people see as true depends on their own experiences, culture and language game. Thinks its better to understand that truth can be different for diferent people.
EVA - by assuming all views are equally true, morally indefensible positions become valid. Post mod is a meta narrative itself - hypocritical
Bauman - PM
Pick and mix theory =
people create their identities from a wide range of options rather than sticking to trad role. This is due to society being less fixed and more individual. Consumer culture and uncertainty play a big role in shaping how peope see themselves.
As a result identity become fluid, flexible and sometimes uncertain leading to a search for meaning and belonging
EVA - the claim we freely construct our identities through consumption overlooks the effect of poverty in restricting such opportunities
Baudrillard - PM
Not positive
Media - powerful in shaping how we see the world. Creates a version of reality that can seem more real than actual events. This means what we see on TV/online can affect us more deeply than whats really happening.
Simulacra - copies or images of things that might not have an original version:
1st Order - a copy that is close to the original
2nd Order - A copy that changes or hides the original
3rd Order - A copy with not original; it creates its own version of reality.
In the third order these copies arent just imitaions they become their own reality making it hard to tell whats real and whats not
Hyperreality - when simulations or images become more real to us than reality For example movies Tv and video games can create experiences that feel more intense than real life.
EVA - He ignores power and inequality. ignore that media can brainwash w/c by ruling class. Pm’s are simply wrong ot claim that people cannot distinguish reality and media.
Late Modern - Giddens
1)Reflexivity - Thinking carefully about what we do and why:
Self-identity: people today think a lot about who they are and what they want to be, questioning themselves - who am i and what do i believe in. Constantly reinventing ourselves.
Knowledge and expertise: always learning new things and updating our knowledge, changing habits and beliefs
Decision-making: we make choices by considering lots of info, look at differing options and think about whats best for us
2)Disembedding Means that our interactions and relationships are not limited to local place. This happens through
Symblolic Tokens: Money is a good example. It allows us to buy things from anywhere without needing to know the person we’re buying from
Expert systems: we rely on systems and experts for many things such as doctors and lawyers. These systems work everywhere not just in local area.
EVA - Giddens doesnt consider how these changes might look different in various cultures or historical periods. Are these just changes that can be applied to the western world.
LM - Beck
Risk Society -
Society is increasingly focused on managing risks, not personal risks but global ones like climate change, economic crises and technilogical accidents
In the past people worried about natural disasters and diseases, now we worry about risks that come from human action. Society spends time and resources trying to predict, prevent and manage those risks
Risk Consciousness -
Means being aware of and thinking about risks all the time. We are more conscious of the potential dangers in our everyday lives and the world. e.g. smoking and climate change. This awareness changes how we live and the decisions we make.
Reflexive Modernisation -
is about constantly rethinking our way of life to deal with these new risks. We constantly adjust our behaviours and policies to minimise risks.
EVA - Not everyone has the option to reshape their lives for example the poor are generally more exposed to enviromental risks because they are more likely to live in heavily popullated areas but cannot afford to move.
However late modernism provides a sociological alternative.
