Transcript File
Chapter 1 The Sociological Perspective Sociology The scientific study of society and human behavior. © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Seeing the Broader Social Context • How groups influence people • How people are influenced by their society - People who share a culture - People who share a territory • The sociological perspective focuses on the importance of groups, and how people are influenced by their society. © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociological Imagination An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society. © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociological Imagination • Personal trouble versus public issue • Link between public and private © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Location - Corners in Life • • • • • • Jobs Income Education Gender Age Race/Ethnicity © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Origins of Sociology • Tradition vs. Science – The social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution, which changed the way people lived their lives – The political revolutions in America and France – The rise and success of the natural sciences © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. European Founders From left to right: Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Auguste Comte and Positivism • Applying the scientific method to social world • Comte began to wonder what holds society together • Coined the term “Sociology” • “Armchair Philosophy” © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Herbert Spencer - Social Darwinism • Second founder of Sociology • Disagreed sharply with Comte’s idea that sociologists should guide social reform • Lower and higher forms of society • Coined phrase “survival of the fittest” • Spencer’s idea that it was wrong to help the poor offended many © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Karl Marx and Class Conflict • • • • Engine of human history is class conflict The Bourgeoisie vs. The Proletariat Marxism not the same as communism Marx thought that people should try to change society • Marx did not think of himself as a sociologist © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Durkheim and Social Integration • Got Sociology recognized as separate discipline • Studied how social forces affect behavior • Identified “social integration” - degree to which people are tied to social group © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic • Religion and the origin of capitalism – Disagreed with Marx’s claim that economics is the central force in social change – Said that role belongs to religion • Favored social over material causes • Verstehen (“to understand”) • Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sexism in Early Sociology • Attitudes of the Time - 1800s sex roles rigidly defined - Few people educated beyond basics • Harriet Martineau - Published Society in America before Durkheim and Weber were born - Few people educated beyond basics In Martineau’s day, women were suppose to devote themselves to the four Kirche, Küche, Kinder, und Kleider (church, cooking, children, and clothes). © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Racism at the Time: W.E.B Du Bois • B.A. from Fisk University • First African American to earn PHD at Harvard • It is difficult to grasp how racist society was at this time • Published a book each year from 1896-1914 • Neglected by sociologists until recently © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Major U.S. Contributors Influential U.S. Sociologists. From left to right, Jane Addams, C.W. Mills, and Talcott Parsons © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Jane Addams: Sociologist and Social Reformer • Member of American Sociological Society from start • Came from background of wealth and privilege • Co-Founded Hull House • Co-founded American Civil Liberties Union © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills • Many early North American sociologists saw society as corrupt & in need of reform • Parsons developed objective analysis and models of society • Mills deplored theoretical abstractions in favor of social reform • Continuing tension in Sociology © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.