Transcript The Social Construction of Ideas

The Social Construction of
Ideas
Jobs – Identification and
Priorities
• Identity can be defined though work we perform
• In 1904, sociologist Mark Webber noted a great
change in the organization of society with
respect to work
• People worked to develop trade and enterprise
while increasing personal wealth and investment
• Paid work became the means of distinguishing
the worker as a successful individual
• Wealth accumulation became an important
part of the new capitalistic society as
masses strove to produce more and
accumulate wealth
• This work ethic was viewed as one of the
originators of modern-day capitalism
• Life was organized around producing,
consuming, and increasing personal
wealth
• Modern example of this idea is the cyclical nature
of workplace advancement
– A worker with a family must
ensure that his or her children
are looked after during work
hours. If work demands extra
time the worker must extend
these hours, which may be
inconvenient. Work can also
extend beyond the workplace to
the home or social life of a
worker. Earning more money
can lead to elevated spending
on lifestyle. The worker may
feel that they earned certain
luxuries and will indulge in
them. To pay for this lifestyle,
worker must earn more, and so
the cycle continues
Ideal Types
• According to Weber, human organization followed the
idea that a formalized process must be obeyed for a
society to function well
• His ideal types represented a means of comparing
social structures to better understand them and their
context
– Ex: people create an ideal of how institutions like
businesses should be run, how we should behave at
grocery stores or funerals, or how we should
address people who are in positions of authority
• We then evaluate our own behaviour and of others
based on the fixed ideals for each situation or aspect of
society creating a “normal” or “acceptable” code of
conduct for our society
– Considered “normal” if we stick to it and those who
do not are deemed socially unacceptable.
• We are able to measure our progress and our
place in society by comparing ourselves socially
to other societies or past social situations
• There can be intergenerational differences in
what is considered important.
– Ex: One generation may consider the
accumulation of material goods to be
important, a different generation may have an
environmental focus
• Which ideology becomes dominant can be
influenced by how the ideals are promoted to
society and who promotes them
Bureaucracy
• At the root of a bureaucracy are the following:
impersonality, hierarchy, written rules of conduct,
specialized division of labour, promotion based
on achievement, and efficiency
• Weber viewed the bureaucracy as an ideal type,
as a form of authority that would guard against
subjective and unjust use of power.
– In the real world, we can see how this ideal
type is often overshadowed by examples of
bureaucrats who misuse their position of
authority
Rationalization
• In order for idealism to achieve a sustainable outcome,
decisions must be guided by applying practical
knowledge to achieve a desired end.
• People become comfortable with social norms and
rules for acceptable behaviour, changing what people
deem as acceptable to suit a changing society is often
met with some resistance.
• To effect social change, an individual must work within
the constraints of society.
– Social structures such as schools, laws (the legal
system), and the political process are designed to
promote change without shocking the system.
•
Change may not occur quickly but there is
less chance for chaos when the change is
gradual and within the accepted limits of social
rules.
– Following a moral compass where the good of
the people is the goal helps to guide decisions
made during this process.
Feminism
• Feminism is a social perspective devoted to equality and
equal rights between the sexes.
• Gender inequality is embedded in the daily practices of
various social institutions such as the family, religion, and the
workplace.
– Inequality- the condition of being unequal, of not
possessing the same rights and privileges as another
person or group
• During Canadian society in the 1700s, a power imbalance
between men and women existed, but they shared a mutual
respect for their different roles.
– Native men hunted for meat and might be away from the
village for many days. Women and children remained near
the village and tended to crops and daily life. Women
made the important village decisions and grew the
remainder of the necessary calories for their family’s diet.
•
With the rise of technology and the increase in
specialized roles in large production factories in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, families moved
from the country to cities.
• A single family wage was earned by the man while the
woman stayed at home and raised the children.
– Bringing home a wage was given a higher status
compared to that of raising a family, and the power
disparity between men and women was created.
– Housework and raising children, or “women’s work,”
was viewed as less important.
• More rights and privileges were granted to men
because they were running the social systems outside
the home.
• Inequality was not only between the sexes
but also between the different classes
emerging from the Industrial Revolution
• Differences in wages among men also
created a hierarchy within the wage
earners
– Men earning more money were seen as
having a higher status and possessing more
social power.
• Feminist theories can be used to
understand power in social interactions.
Legislating Equality
• Affirmative action programs seek to equalize past
discriminations through legislation to ensure equal
opportunity.
• Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that
affirmative action–type legislation does “not [prevent]
any law, program or activity that has as its object the
[improvement] of conditions of disadvantaged
individuals or groups including those that are
disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic
origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability” (Canadian Heritage, 2011).
• Laws intended to protect disadvantaged individuals
and groups in power relationships and to address
historical injustices have a role in changing society.
Positivism—A Means to an End
• Positivism focuses on knowledge
accumulation through the senses rather than
through intuition, also on reality and on
formalized processes to make sense of
behaviour.
– Positivism - the use of the scientific
approach to research and understand social
behaviour
• Logic and clearly defined processes are used
to categorize and explain human behaviour.
• Positivist theory uses the scientific method and
scientific firmness to obtain solid results that will
hold up against examination.
• Some social scientists believe that including
statistics and scientific methodology legitimizes
the results, making the findings of the study
more credible and less likely to be questioned.
– Ex: when researching participation in
postsecondary education, positivist research
would examine a child’s family dynamic to
determine his or her chance of attending a
post-secondary institution.