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Sociology Important Concepts for Exam 2 Emile Durkheim
Biography of Emile Durkheim: Durkheim was a French social theorist who was born in the Lorraine region of France in 1858 and died in 1917. Along with Marx and Weber, he is considered one of the founding fathers of sociology. He is noted for having been the first person to teach a course in sociology at a French university and for later editing one of the first academic journals of sociology, the L'Annee Sociologique. His most noted works are The Division of Labor in Society, The Rules of Sociological Method, Suicide and Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Social Facts: Durkheim argued that social facts exist as objective phenomena which are external to and independent of individual consciousness. Social facts are collective and operate by constraining or coercing individual thought and action. Durkheim distinguished between Material Social Facts which take a material form in the external social world (e.g., architecture) and NonMaterial Social Facts which are external and coercive, but which do not take a material form; they are nonmaterial (e.g., norms and values). Durkheims Theory of Human Nature: Durkheim argued that humans are social, that they are naturally passionate and unstable and have insatiable wants and desires. These passions and desires need to be controlled. Society provides this control in the form of norms and values, laws and regulations. Durkheims Theory of Progress: Durkheim believed that societies naturally develop or evolve through a series stages, each of which exhibits a different form of social solidarity. Social Solidarity is the form of social integration or cohesion (i.e., the glue)--which may vary by type of society and stage of social development--that holds a society together. This process is driven by an increase in Dynamic Density, or rate of social interaction, brought on by population increase and the contact between previously isolated societies resulting from improvements in transportation and communication. Durkheim discussed two primary forms of social solidarity: Mechanical Solidarity: The form of social solidarity characteristic of less advanced societies which exhibit a limited division of labor. Durkheim argues that such societies are held together by similarities between individuals, particularly the shared beliefs and moral attitudes which Durkheim labeled The Collective Conscience. Organic Solidarity: The form of social solidarity characteristic of advanced societies which is based upon complementary differences and mutual dependencies associated with a complex division of labor. The Transition from Repressive Law to Restitutive Law: Durkheim argues that one indicator of the shift from Mechanical to Organic solidarity is the transition from repressive to restitutive law. Repressive Law: Characteristic of mechanical solidarity, this is a form of law in which offenders are likely to be severely punished for any action that is seen by the tightly integrated community as an offense against the powerful collective conscience. Restitutive Law: Characteristic of organic solidarity and its weakened collective conscience. In this form of law, offenders are likely simply to be asked to comply with the law or to repay (make restitution to) those who have been harmed by their actions. Durkheims Theories of Social Pathology: Although the natural path of social change is a gradual movement from mechanical to organic solidarity, Durkheim argued that certain obstacles and interfering forces could lead to various forms of social disequilibrium. Anomie: (without law) A pathological state of society in which the Values (general cultural prescriptions of what is right, moral and desirable) and social Norms (more specific standards or rules regulating behavior in a particular social setting) that normally constrain human nature are temporarily weakened or absent. Such a state occurs when the rate of social differentiation (i.e., an increase in the division of labor) is faster than the rate of social integration--e.g., during periods of rapid industrial development. Such conditions can lead to an increase in the rate of Anomic Suicides. Durkheim also discusses Egoistic Suicide, which occurs when an individual is not sufficiently integrated into society (e.g., being divorced), and Altruistic Suicide which occurs in highly integrated societies or organizations (e.g., self-inflicted euthanasia by the elderly, hara-kiri etc.) The Forced Division of Labor: A pathological state of society which exists whenever individuals are prevented from occupying positions in the social hierarchy which are commensurate or equal to their natural abilities--i.e., the absence of equal opportunity.
Critiques of Functionalism: Functionalism has been criticized for being Ahistorical because it does not adequately explain the diversity and complexity of actual societies over space and time. Critics also charge that functionalism is Ethnocentric because it automatically defines Western societies as advanced. Functionalists likewise tend to overemphasize social structure, thereby Neglecting Human Agency. Finally, functionalism has been criticized for Ignoring the Biophysical Environment as an independent causal force which structures social relations and for having a Conservative Political Bias because it overemphasizes social order and tends to treat social conflict and inequality as temporary aberrations. Elaborations of Functionalism: Robert Merton attempted to address some of the critiques of functionalism by amending some of its basic assumptions. For instance, Merton argued large-scale societies are not necessarily tightly integrated, that not all universal or standardized social practices are indispensable or functional. In fact, some practices are Nonfunctional and some may even be Dysfunctional. Merton also distinguished between Manifest Functions which are functions having positive consequences that are brought about consciously and purposely and Latent Functions which are functions having unintended positive consequences. Max Weber Biography Max Weber: Weber was born in Erfurt Germany in 1864. Along with Marx and Durkheim he is considered one of the founding fathers of sociology. His father was a lawyer and a member of parliament. His house was a meeting place for academics and liberal politicians. From 1882 to 1886 he studied philosophy and law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Berlin and Gottingen. His doctoral dissertation was on medieval commercial law. In 1890 he was commissioned to study the plight of East German agricultural workers. He became a professor of law in Berlin in 1892. In 1894 he became professor of political economy at Freiburg and then professor of economics in Heidelberg in 1987. Thereafter he suffered a severe nervous breakdown and was forced to give up teaching for a life as an editor and private scholar. During the World War I he became the director army hospitals at Heidelberg. After the war, he was a consultant to the German Armistice Commission at Versailles and later helped draw up the new constitution. He returned to academia for a brief period in 1918, teaching at Vienna and Munich, before dying in 1920. His most noted works are the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Economy and Society and The Methodology of the Social Sciences. Constructivism: In contrast to Essentialists, who define categories in terms of unique common properties, Constructivists treat categories as social conventions that result from historical processes of negotiation and contestation between various actors. Radical Constructivists (nominalists) treat categories as arbitrary divisions of continua. From this perspective, categories are largely subjective. Moderate Constructivists conceptualize categories as bounded networks. From this perspective, categories are historically variable but real. Ideal Type: A generalized model which abstracts from and simplifies the complexity of history. Ideal types are used to generate useful explanatory concepts -- e.g., the spirit of capitalism. Verstehen: Empathetic understanding. The interpretation of social action in terms of the subjective understandings of the actors themselves. Class/Status/Party: Weber defined Class as a category of people with similar life chances. Peoples life chances are determined by their relationship to various markets. Classes form out of attempts to gain control over specific markets. Weber also distinguished class from Status. He defined the latter as a style of life which restricts social intercourse. For example, status groups may associate only in certain places, wear only certain clothes or have unique mannerisms or forms of speech. Class position and status can vary independently of each other. Given the complex interrelationships between class and status, Weber argued that it is impossible to predict a priori (i.e., before experience) a persons Party i.e., their political beliefs. Type of Rationality: Weber defines four ideal types of rationality. By Practical Rationality Weber means the type of rationality we use on a day-to-day basis, when we deal with whatever difficulties exist. We use this type of rationality to find the most expedient way of attaining our goal of getting from one point to another. Theoretical Rationality refers to an effort to master reality cognitively through the development of increasingly abstract concepts. Under Substantive Rationality the choice of the most expedient action is guided by larger values rather than by daily experiences and practical thinking. When employing Formal Rationality the choice of the most expedient action is based on rules, regulations, and laws that apply to everyone. Weber argued that formal rationality emerged only in the West and that Protestantism played a key role in the formation of this type of rationality. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: One of Webers most famous works in which he tries to demonstrate that there is no single natural path of social development and that ideas can play an independent causal role in history. Specifically, he argues that The Spirit of Capitalism (i.e., the systematic acquisition of wealth combined with the strict avoidance of all spontaneous enjoyment) derived from ascetic Protestantism (e.g., Calvinism and Methodism) played a major role in the emergence of Capitalism.
The Iron Cage: Weber fears that under capitalism, formal rationality is increasingly coming to dominate the modern Western world He argues that whereas early Protestants wanted to work in a calling, we are forced to do so. That is, once capitalism is established, its becomes an all encompassing mechanism--driven by competition--which forces us to compete or be shunted aside. George Ritzer has attempted to update Webers argument about the spread of formal rationality with his concept of McDonaldization the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society, as well as the rest of the world. Its five basic dimensions are efficiency, calculability, predictability, control through the substitution of technology for people, and, paradoxically, the irrationality of rationality. Ideal Types of Authority and Associated Administrative Structures: Weber postulated three ideal types of authority: Traditional Authority, based on an established belief in the sanctity of custom and conventions. Traditional authority gives rise to Gerontocracies (rule by elders), Patriarchalism (the household as an organizational model) and Patrimonialism (e.g., a King/Queen and his/her subjects). Rational-Legal Authority is authority based on written rules. Rational-legal authority gives rise to Bureaucracies which have a clear division of labor, a hierarchical arrangement of offices, rules governing performance, a separation of personnel and official property, personnel selection on the basis of technical qualifications and employment viewed as a career. Charismatic Authority is authority based on the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of some individual. This type of authority gives rise to Personalistic and Idiosyncratic forms of organization. Weber argued that only traditional and rational-legal forms of authority are stable and that in the modern era the latter is gradually replacing the former because bureaucracies give quicker and less ambiguous responses to routine questions. This trend towards increasing bureaucracy is sometimes interrupted by political and economic crises which give rise to Charismatic Figures and movements. However, such movements typically succumb to a Routinization of Charisma when the circle of adherents expands to include less committed participants, systematic support replaces voluntary support, personal ties are replaced with impersonal ties and rules of succession are instituted after the death of a charismatic figure. The end result is a reversion to one of the other two forms of authority. An Ethic of Ultimate Ends: political conduct oriented to the securing of an ideal without regard to rational calculation of means. An Ethic of Responsibility: political conduct which takes into account not just the integrity of motivations but also rationally calculates the probable consequences of action. Concepts from the Recent Social Movements Literature Social Movements: are collective challenges, based on common purposes and social solidarities, in sustained interaction with elites, opponents, and authorities. Repertoires of Contention: In any given society at any given time there are a limited number of relatively structured routines or forms of protest--e.g., petitions, marches, strikes, rallies etc. Definitions of Political Opportunities and Constraints (for impacts of the latter see parentheses): Sidney Tarrow: but Consistent not necessarily formal or permanent dimensions of the political environment that provide incentives (disincentives) for collective action by affecting peoples expectations for success or failure. Charles Tilly: Any actions, decisions, or changes in power relations which increase (decrease) the governments vulnerability to new claims or which reduce (increase) contenders costs will increase (decrease) levels of collective action. Dimensions of Political Opportunity: Divided Elites: Divisions among elites weaken what otherwise might be a united front against challengers thereby increasing levels of collective action. Influential Allies: Having allies within a given polity encourages collective action. Allies can legitimize challengers claims, protect challengers against repression and negotiate for challengers with the government or elites. Increasing Political Access: The relationship between social movement activity and political access is curvilinear (it goes up then down). Both low and high levels of access produce low levels of collective action. But situations where challengers are starting to gain access can produce high levels of collective action. Shifting Political Alignments: Instabilities and realignments within and between political parties create opportunities by encouraging challengers to use what little power they have to try to influence political outcomes Repression and Facilitation: Repression is any action by a government or other group which raises the costs of collective action for a challenger. Facilitation is any action by a government or other group which lowers the costs of collective action for a challenger. Repression decreases collective action while facilitation increases collective action
Consensus Mobilization and Identities (Framing Processes): Constructivist theories of social movements have expanded upon one of Erving Goffmans later works, Frame Analysis. Some of the concepts their concepts include: Ideology: An intricate web of beliefs about reality and social life that is institutionalized as public knowledge and disseminated throughout society so effectively that it becomes taken-for-granted knowledge for all social groups Frame: a schemata of interpretation that enables individuals to locate, perceive, identify, and label occurrences within their life space and the world at large. Injustice Frame: an frame created by a social movement to challenge the dominant ideology or world view in a given society. Injustice frames define the actions of an authority system as unjust and simultaneously legitimate noncompliance. Injustice frames provide a Diagnosis of the Problem, a Proposed Solution, a Rationale for Taking Action and help Define Boundaries between proponents and opponents of the movement. Frame Dispute: a disagreement between organizations within the same social movement over objectives, strategies or tactics. Frame Alignment Processes: the various rhetorical strategies used by social movement organizations (SMOs) to mobilize resources and attract members to a social movement. Frame Bridging: the linkage of an SMO with individuals and groups who share common concerns and grievances. Frame Amplification: the clarification and invigoration of an interpretive frame that bears on a particular issue, problem or set of events. Value Amplification: (ends) the identification, idealization, and elevation of one or more values presumed to be basic to prospective constituents but which have not inspired collective action for any number of reasons. Belief Amplification: (means) the identification, idealization, and elevation of one or more beliefs concerning the seriousness of a grievance, the locus of causality or blame, stereotypic beliefs about antagonists, the efficacy of collective action and beliefs about the necessity of standing up for a cause. Frame Extension: the broadening of an SMOs primary framework in order to appeal to a larger pool of potential constituents. Frame Transformation: the redefinition of activities, events, and biographies that are already meaningful from the standpoint of some primary framework, such that they are now seen by the participants to be something radically different. Resource Mobilization and Mobilizing Structures: Resource Mobilization: resource mobilization theorists argue that social movement activity increases when the level of resources in society increases. Mobilizing Structures: social movements typically assemble resources using various mobilizing structures. This concept highlights the 3 different types of organizational structures found within social movements. Formal Hierarchical Organizations: refers to complex, formal organizations with relatively stable and defined structure, stated goals and objectives which attempt to implement the values and objectives of a social movement. Organization of Collective Action at the Point of Contact with Opponents: temporary assemblages of challengers engaged in collective action e.g., people engaged in a march or sit-in. Connective Structures: structures which link various elements of a social movement into a coordinated whole-e.g., informal social networks, churches, newspapers, lecture tours, prayer meetings etc.
George Herbert Mead Biography of George Herbert Mead: Mead was born in South Hadley Massachusetts in 1863. Along with Marx, Weber and Durkheim, Mead is sometimes considered one of the founding fathers of sociology. He is also considered the founder of Symbolic Interactionism. After attending Oberlin College, Mead went on to do graduate work in psychology and philosophy at Harvard University as well as various European Universities. After teaching for one year at the University of Michigan, Mead moved in 1892 to the University of Chicago, where he later became chair of the philosophy department. His most noted works are Mind, Self and Society, The Philosophy of the Act, The Philosophy of the Present. Pragmatism: A school of American philosophy which included William James, C.S. Pierce and John Dewey. Pragmatists argued that the meaning of a concept or belief can be judged only in relation to the practical effects of holding that concept or belief. That is, a belief is true to the extent that, in holding and acting from it, we are more successful interacting with the world than we otherwise might have been. Symbolic Interactionism: A form of constructivist sociology derived principally from the writings of George Herbert Mead which stresses the symbolic nature of human interaction, linguistic and gestural communication and particularly the role of language in the formation of mind, self, and society. The Act: The most basic element of Meads theoretical system is the act. Mead argues that, unlike lower animals, human think before they act. The act involves four stages: (1) Impulse the actor reacts to some external stimulus and feels the need to do something about it, (2) Perception the actor consciously searches for and reacts to stimuli that relate to the impulse and the ways of dealing with it, (3) Manipulation the actor manipulates the object, once it has been perceived and (4) Consummation the actor takes action that satisfies the original impulse. Acts involve only one person. Mead also discusses Gestures where movements by one party (person or animal) serve as a stimulus to another party. A series of such instinctive actions and reactions constitutes a Conversation of Gestures where gestures by one party automatically elicit responding gestures from the other party. Only humans are capable of eliciting Significant Gestures i.e., gestures that require thought before a response is made. A more advanced stage of symbolic communication involves Significant Symbols which arouse in the person expressing them the same kind of response (it need not be identical) as they are designed to elicit from those to whom they are addressed. Language represents the most important form of significant symbols and is crucial to the development of the Mind which is conversations that people have with themselves using language. The mind is closely related to the development of a sense of Self which is the ability to take oneself as an object or, to put it another way, a capacity for Reflexivity i.e., the ability to put ourselves in others places: think as they think, act as they act. Mead, building upon Charles Horton Cooleys notion of the Looking Glass Self (i.e., the self as seen by others), argues that the Self can only emerge through social interaction with other human beings. For example, when children enter the Play Stage at the age of 45 they begin Taking the Role of the Other. That is, by imitating adult behavior and roles they internalize the attitudes of real and imagined others. By so doing they develop a capacity to distinguish between the I (the self conceptualized as an agent) and the Me (the self seen as an object from the perspective of others). Mead argues that during the Game Stage, around age 8-9, children develop the capacity to take the role of the Generalized Other. That is, they are able to internalize all the various roles and interrelationship of complex group situations (e.g., a game such as baseball). Erving Goffman Biography of Erving Goffman: Goffman was born in Canada in 1922. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1945 and later received his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He later taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Berkeley and Pennsylvania and carried out field research in the Shetland Islands, and in a public mental hospital in Washington, D.C. His most noted works are The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Asylums, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity and Frame Analysis. Dramaturgical Perspective: Goffman's theoretical approach is referred to as dramaturgical--a form of constructivism--because he views social life as a series of dramatic performances akin to those that take place in the theater. Goffman uses metaphors and concepts drawn from the theater in order to analyze micro-level social interactions.
The Presentation of Self: Goffman focuses on how people attempt to manage and manipulate micro-level social interactions in order to present positive and negative self-images to others. This often involves Impression Management the techniques actors use to maintain certain impressions in the face of problems they are likely to encounter and the methods they use to cope with these problems. Goffman argues that the presentation of self always involves a mixture of sincerity and cynicism. People use symbolic behavior strategically by putting up Personal Fronts or Masks which are the items of expressive equipment that the audience identifies with the performers and expects them to carry with them into the setting. Fronts and masks are projected definitions of self which may hide our real goals and intentions. Information Games involve reciprocal attempts to conceal one's own projected self-image while penetrating the personal fronts and masks of other's. The players in such games pay particular attention to discrepancies between Expressions Given, which are verbal communications and Expressions Given Off, which are non-verbal communications. Goffman views the presentation of self as a Self-Conscious Performance involving various expressive resources used by the performers, including: Setting, the physical scene that ordinarily must be there if the actors are to engage in a dramaturgical performance. Appearance, the way the actor looks to the audience; especially those items that indicate the performer's social status. Manner, The way an actor conducts himself (polite, rude, etc.); it tells the audience what sort of role the actor expects to play in the situation Goffman also distinguishes between the Front Stage which is that part of a dramaturgical performance that generally functions in rather fixed and general ways to define the situation for those who observe the performance. The front stage is where performances take place and where social fronts are most rigorously maintained. The Back Stage is where facts suppressed in the front stage or various kinds of informal actions may appear. A back stage is usually adjacent to the front stage, but it is also cut off from it. Performers can reliably expect no members of their front audience to appear in the back. They are thus able let down their guard or remove the masks that they present to others. Outside is a residual area which is neither front nor back; it is literally outside the realm of the performance. According to Goffman, Role Distance refers to the degree to which individuals separate themselves from the roles they are in. A Discrepant Role refers to a role that disrupts a performance by not fitting the assumptions of either the players or the audience. Goffman argues that sometimes such disruptions are engineered as a means of social control. The Real or Naked Self is the self behind all the varied masks that we present to society as well as the definitions of self imposed on us by society. The naked self is most often revealed in acts of resistance. When such acts of resistance do not openly challenge the roles and definitions imposed by more powerful actors Goffman refers to them as Secondary Adjustments because they tend to reinforce the status quo by confirming the power of the superordinate over the subordinate. Finally, Goffman is interested in Stigma which is the gap between a persons Virtual Social Identity (what a person ought to be) and their Actual Social Identity (what a person actually is). Goffman distinguishes between Discredited Stigma where the actor assumes that the stigma is known by the audience members or is evident to them and Discreditable Stigma where the stigma is neither known by audience members nor discernible by them.