SOC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Individualism, Sharia
Document Summary
Sociologists interested in politics and political movements believe that we ignore politics to our disadvantage. Politics is really about power and contestation. It is not only about the official party politics on parliament hill but also about our daily lives (e. g. how we negotiate with friends, family, social groups, and institutions) wherever power is exercised and contested. Sociologists understand politics as endemic to our social existence. It makes it political because of the amount of power that can be pulled and pushed. Defined power as the capacity to realize one"s will despite the resistance of others. Power is the ability to do what you want, when you want, even in the face of opposition. Not everyone has the same capacity to do what he or she wishes. Examples of when people can"t do what he/she wishes in the same capacity: Example: a child that doesn"t want to go to bed but the parent wants them to.