10-400-13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Dominate, Social Protection, Standing Army
Week 1 Notes – Intro Sociology of the Firm
Sociology:
The scientific study of human social life, groups and societies. (our behavior as human
beings)
Understand the connections between:
A) What society makes of us
B) What we make of ourselves
Sociological imagination:
“Think ourselves away from our daily routines to look at them anew.”
- Cultivate our imagination
- Take a step back from our narrow, personal situation
In order to better understand the wider context.
Social structure:
-“Social structure is a process”
-Exists as a result of human action (interdependence)
Social Change: understanding it requires theory.
Theory: abstract interpretation that can explain a variety of situations.
Comparative approach: Theoretical thinking + factual research
Early Theorists:
Auguste Comte (late 1700s- early 1800s):
-Invented the word sociology
-Sociology can help us better understand society because it is based on scientific evidence
Emile Durkheim (mid 1800s to early 1900s):
-Sociology must study social facts
Themes:
1) Organic solidarity (social cohesion; cooperation = survival)
2) Social constraint (social structure constrains our activities, limiting what we can do as
individuals. Ex. Room with several doors)
3) Division of Labor (caused social change – replaced religion as the basis of social
cohesion and provided organic solidarity to modern societies. As division of labor expands,
people become more dependent on each other)
4) Suicide study (social factors influence suicidal behavior; ex. Anomie, a feeling of
aimlessness or despair provoked by modern society)
Karl Marx (1800s):
-Opposite of Comte and Durkheim
-Materialism: Social change is caused by economic influences, not by human ideas/values
-Social changes arising from the industrial revolution
-Conflicts between classes (rich and poor) provide the motivation for historical
development
-Development of Capitalism caused the most important changes in modern times
-All human history is the history of class struggle
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Week 1 Notes – Intro Sociology of the Firm
-Marx view of the future for capitalism: Communal ownership will lead to a more equal
society
Max Weber (mid 1800s to early 1900s):
-Rejects Marx’s materialism
-Instead says that economic factors AND ideas and values contribute to social change
Themes:
1. Christianity played a determinant role in the rise of Capitalism
2. Bureaucracy: large organization that is divided into jobs based on specific
functions and staffed by official ranked according to a hierarchy. (positives and
negatives) Ex. Govnt orgs, hospitals, schools.
3. Rationalism of social and economic life is a main dynamic of modern development
Neglected founders
Harriet Martineau (1800s)
Advocated Positive Philosophy
1. When studying society, focus on all aspects: political, religious, social
2. Understanding of women’s lives
3. Studying: marriage, children, domestic and religious life, race
4. Observing and ACTING in ways to benefit society
W.E.B. Du Bois (1800s to 1900s)
Double consciousness: African American
Self-Identity is influenced by:
a) Historical Experiences
b) Social Circumstances
Race Relations: Slavery – Emancipation – Segregation – Prejudice
Theoretical Approaches in Sociology
1) Functionalism:
Comte and Durkheim
-Large scale processes, events, structures
-Study the function of (x) in society
-Order and balance as normal state of society, grounded in a moral consensus among the
members of society
Robert Merton:
-Functions vs. dysfunctions – features of social life that challenge the existing order
2) Symbolic Interactionism:
George Herbert Mead (and Max Weber)
Importance of language:
-Allows us to become self-conscious
-Words/language = symbols -> symbolic thought
3) Marxism:
Karl Marx
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Week 1 Notes – Intro Sociology of the Firm
-Links sociology and political reform
-Power and ideology
-Class division and conflict
4) Feminism/Feminist theory
-Links sociology and political reform
5) Rational Choice Theory
Weber
-4 categories of action: emotions (falling in love), habit (walking to school), higher value
(politics), and self-interest (making money)
-Rational action
6) Postmodernism
-History is not a linear progression
-Marx was wrong, social life is influenced by symbols and images
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The scientific study of human social life, groups and societies. (our behavior as human beings) Understand the connections between: what society makes of us, what we make of ourselves. Think ourselves away from our daily routines to look at them anew. Take a step back from our narrow, personal situation. In order to better understand the wider context. Exists as a result of human action (interdependence) Theory: abstract interpretation that can explain a variety of situations. Sociology can help us better understand society because it is based on scientific evidence. Themes: organic solidarity (social cohesion; cooperation = survival, social constraint (social structure constrains our activities, limiting what we can do as individuals. Room with several doors: division of labor (caused social change replaced religion as the basis of social cohesion and provided organic solidarity to modern societies. As division of labor expands, people become more dependent on each other: suicide study (social factors influence suicidal behavior; ex.
