Categorieën: Alle - sociology - cohesion - community - belief

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Sociology - Section E Arnaud

Religion is broadly defined as the belief in and worship of a god or gods, and encompasses various systems of belief or worship. From a sociological perspective, religion plays several roles:

Sociology - Section E Arnaud

o Respect for individual’s liberties o Promoting economic efficiency o Meritocracy  equal opportunities (public schooling) o Solidarity  reduce inequalities o Competitiveness and co-operation at the same time (meritocracy & solidarity

practices: individual\collective religious community\ society prayer\solidarity belief as a complexe reality : statistics depend on categories ( activists, believer in god, agnostics, atheists)

Religion (unit 6)

Religions and Modernity

status of the individual
Sacred value of individual\ Individual as subject of rights
Social and Political order
separation community - society

secularization\ multi-religious societies

The Laity Model: a respectful laity involves: Consensus believers/non believers in fundamental democratic values Acknowledgement of the public relevance of certain moral and religious issues (tension rights/sacred value: death penalty, Abortion, education…) Deliberation and democratic regulation

The Laicist Model: Religion is an individual issue, without public importance/relevance.

The Integrist Model: religion dominates society. Fundamentalism.

Cosmogony vs Cosmology
Religion

In order for one to start acting, there must be an ethical energy that comes from inside, that drives you, and that goes beyond yourself. And this is what religion provides: this possibility to transcend beyond yourself and to be aware that you are part of the world.”

Beyond Science (art, music, poetry, literature, religious narratives) +Religions invite to a quest + Religions invite to a new attitude in front of reality: consume vs harmonize

science

Science is a discourse that tries to describe reality, but there are different levels of reality to which science has not yet accessed. God doesn’t appear in the discourse of science. From a scientific perspective, it is not possible to prove God’s existence, or inexistence

Sciences (Physics, Biology, Psychology, Medicine Economy) ➔Goal: understand/master nature, society... people ➔ Instruments: Science, logical reasoning, experimental method.

The Axial Age

history: When, where, who from 900 to 200 b.C In China, India,Iran, Palestine, Greece Confucius,Buda, Zaratustra, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezechiel, Socrates, Plato, Sofocles, Euripides... 2nd wave: Jesus (1st century) and Muhammad (6th century)
Common traits: rites to perform: not killing animals \ Golden rule > when you love others you acess the sacred examples of judaism (Tobit, 4,15), christianity (Lc.6,31) and Islam (Azizullah, Hadiz 150)..... + foster another social order + inner transformation of individual\ sacred value of the human person +oppose exclusion and intolerance +he masters of this age proclaim values still today out of discussion : love (gratuity), benevolence, compassion, fair justice, inner life. + male, no master women but they do not hate them

Definition: The shift from a mythic awareness, to another awareness/consciousness where reflection and abstraction grow. or The shift from and awareness mainly collective to the emergence of an individual identity ( sacred value of identity) Possibility of social change

Collecitivist Religions

Individual : subordinated to the group
If someone tries to criticize or run away, she/he’ll suffer psychic sicknesses (Altruistic Suicide) under the form of “bad spirits invading his body” (Enchanted World)

the practices: the scapegoat ritual to expel evil and disagreements from the community.

Political and social order: difficulty in change critisizement of the powerful= punishment by the Gods
status of individual: subsumed in the group\ tribe
static order meaning difficulty to change
world= tribe
The world is the geographic context of the tribe. · Lack of scientific and abstract understanding of the world. · Outside or far from this “world”, there is darkness, chaos and under-men. · Inuits (Eskimos from the North Pole): “inuit = “man”

A Definition of Religion

Religion: “practices of contingency mastery.”(L. Duch) + contingency : immersion in space\ time , awareness of this immersion and that we do not master it or control (misfortune\happiness) +practices of mastery : meaning practices to control or master happiness or misfortune. Two kinds of Practices: Symbolic Practices and Ethical Practices.
practices or actions: individual (religion as a human need)> anthropology and typified actions ( religion as a social phenomenon) > sociology the individual or they preform actions or practice that connect space\time with the sacred ( invisible dimension beyond space\ time > god, brahmin, absolute reality) different from profane ( relating or devoted to which is not sacred, secular rather than religious )

ethical practices: in society attitudes experienced in community shape attitudes to live in society . political \ eco, business \ culturtal action

symbolic practices: in community example of rituals > marriage: readings, vows, ring exchange, kiss , sign of peace.

Sociological Interpretations of Religion
Religion as legitimization of economic oppression (Marx) · Opium = Psychological evasion from reality
Religion as a driver of revolution or social change (Weber) · European Modern Religions
Religion as enforcer of social cohesion (Durkheim) · “Primitive religions”
In general: the belief in and worship, of a god or gods, or any such system of belief or worship.

Religions in Today's World

“Religions are one of the key defining features of civilizations” to understand the mindsets of a country \ population where the company is operating. religions present today: folk religion, judaism, christianity, Islam, Buddists,Hindus, Unaffiliated , and other religions.)
Open vision vs fundamentalist vision
Inner help> psychology vs Outer Imposition> sociology
positive vision\negative vision> ambivalence

SOCIOLOGY

Compare Mechanical solidarity to Organic solidarity (Durkheim) Based on the primacy of division of labour - Social order rests on free individuals pursuing different functions but united by their complementary roles - Individualism and heterogeneity replace communalism and homogeneity - Justice is restitutive rather than penal --> diminishing need of punishment - within o.s. there can be disengagement of man form the traditional restraints of kinship, class, …

Durkheim said that individualism itself has caused the suicidal currents in society. The high number of voluntary deaths manifests the state of deep disturbance from which civilized societies are suffering.

Rationality and world "without heart": Rationality is based on the conviction that phenomena find their explanation within and not outside themselves. For example, a truth is not accepted because it is traditional, but because it is logically and experimentally demonstrable (explained in an objective manner). Rationality can also be reduced to having faith in science.

Applied Sociology

History of Modern Societies
Models

Welfare State (unit 9)

A historical application: expansion and crisis

Social State of Law and Civil Society

o Social protection mechanisms  (+) and (-) freedom  Job market regulation  Setting up a social security system o Social justice  economic redistribution  Expansion of public services (G)  Progressive taxation (based on income brackets-T)  Social policies  subsidies/ aid for “at risk situations”

The cultural fundamentals of the welfare state

o Respect for individual’s liberties o Promoting economic efficiency o Meritocracy  equal opportunities (public schooling) o Solidarity  reduce inequalities o Competitiveness and co-operation at the same time (meritocracy & solidarity)

The political fundamentals of the welfare state

o Democracy deepening  Representative democracy  Civil and political rights (liberalism)  Economic, social and cultural rights (socialism)

Subtopic

The economics fundamentals of the welfare state

Objective: to reduce the duration and impact of capitalist recessionary periods.

State intervention in the economy

de-commodification: certain strategic sectors are kept out of the market

low de-commodification (commodified system) sold on the market like other goods

high de-commodification: welfare is provided publicly, not related to income

high economic regulation

Countercyclical policies

Public policies to create demand such as fostering city hall public expenditures: GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU TO SPEND MORE

Direct policies to foster consumer spending such as cars

Monetary policies: interest rates

Fiscal policies: expansionary or restrictive taxation: where sometimes state has to decrease taxes and increase policies to help (or vice versa)

The origins of the Welfare State

In order to maintain social order and reduce inequalities brought by capitalism:

welfare was founded to offer assistance to those in society found on the periphery of market economy.

As manufacturing economy grew, welfare state grew to meet the needs of the working class and the economic elite who depended on a healthy workforce.

Welfare programs were designed behind the fact that men were the "bread-winners" (made the money) and women took care of the home.

after World War 2, rather than solely concentrating on ill, focus of welfare was broadened to encompass all members of society.

The crisis of Liberal Capitalism

Political challenge

social cohesion

conflict reduction

3rd way versus socialism

the third way was to: strengthen civil society, decentralize power from nation-state, and focus on social exclusion

Social challenge

redistribution

social justice

Economic challenge

productivity

efficiency

Socialism (unit 8)

A historical application: "Real Socialism"

Socialism has had positive and negative outcomes:

negative:

repressions

lack of democracy

economic inefficiency

Positive:

social conditions elevated to human rights

min living condition

initial reduction in inequalities

Cultural Fundamentals of Socialism

Co-operation

co-operation is the natural form of social organization

Internationalism

all humans are one race

Freedom

not the same freedom as in liberalism where freedom would be considered the fact to be able to make 'choices'

freedom to unfold and develop your potential

Work as unalienated labour

Work should be fulfilling because of it's 'social' nature

pleasures of work should exceed those of production

everyone should work at what he enjoys most.

Communal ownership of means of production

certain socialist disagree: because they consider communal means of production would reinstate a state to administrate them

eliminating private property of means of production to make them collective/communal means of production (factories, land, machinery,...)

class analysis

society is divided is different classes (oppressors and oppressed)(often economically determined). This classes should be eliminated so that status, privilege, material equality and gradations are eliminated

Poverty

reason of concern: property is the principal cause of social disorders

Human interdependence

"People are necessarily interdependent not only in the obvious material sense, but also in the cutural and spiritual sense..... man is totally unintelligable outside of society."

Popular Sovereignty

"The belief in the equal ablitiy of all humans to govern themselves"

Egalitarianism

Equality of treatment: equal opportunites > absolute equality

Marx: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"

Political Fundamentals of Socialism

Goals of Socialism: 1) distribute wealth equally among the people 2) government control of society 3) public ownership of most land.

"Socialism began as a revolt against capitalism and its conception of man and society was initially developed as an alternative to the one which in the socialist view underlay and reinforced capitalist society. - Bhikhu Parekh

"It really is impossible to understand either the French revolution or the early socialists unless one possesses some awarness of the challenge which the new liberal individualism represented to older ways of life" - George Lichtheim

Berki (pluralist approach): four basic tendencies in socialist ideology: eaglitarianism, moralism, rationalism and libertarianism.

Economic fundamentals of Socialism

Communal Ownership of the means of production

"It is not the conscience of human beings that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being which determines their conscience."

"means for attaining greater equality"

Durkheim: "the connection of all economic functions to the directing... centres of society"

Anarcho-communist view: "ownership by each local village producer group of land and factories."

Criticism of capitalism and the emergence of alternatives

The nucleus of Socialism

"Socialism began as a revolut against capitalism and its conception of man and society was initially developed as an alternative to the one which in the socialist view underlay and reinforced capitalist society." - Bhikhu Parekh

"It really is impossible to understand either the French revolution or the early socialists unless one possesses some awarness of the challenge which the new liberal individiualism represented to older ways of life." - Georg Lichtheim

Liberalism (unit 7)

A historical application: Classical Liberalism and Democratic Liberalism

democratic liberalism

Intervention in basic social rights

Welfare policy: “poor laws”

Creation of state-owned hospitals

Creation of state-owned schools

Start of labour laws

Labour safety legislation

Restrictions of working hours

Prohibition of child labour

Right to strike recognised

Freedom of expression and freedom of press

Legalisation of left wing parties and trade unions

classical liberalism

Practice

Monopolies, trusts...

5) Right to strike not recognised

4) Non universal suffrage

3) prohibition of trade unions

2) newspaper censorship

1) Persecution of worker activists and prohibition of leftwing parties

project

Bourgeois limited democracy

rule of law (formal equality)

civil and political rights

Free market

Cultural fundamentals of Liberalism

Sujet secondaire

Political fundamentals of Liberalism

- concept of negative freedom : no one is imposing you to be free

- rule of law : legal procedures which will best advance the goals of individual freedom and happiness is thus the fist time of a liberal system and the rule of law is one of its central tenets and proudest boats

monopoly of legitimate violence

- state as a guarantee of security

- the social contract ( Rousseau) - contract theory :is the paradigm way in which free rational knowledgeable individuals would deal with each other

- citizenship and equal rights

Economic fundamentals of Liberalism

theory of the invisible hand (A. Smith) : through their selfishness and self-interest, citizens contribute to the society

- free markets but laws in defense of competition

- anti-monopoly : to big to compete

- anti-cartel : price agreements

freedom of the contracting parties

the right to private property

The emergence and characteristics of capitalism

Model of Analysis

Techno-economic Area

Socio-political Area

Cultural Area

Sociological Theory

Social Stratification (unit 4)
Sources of inequalities:

Status group

Cultural background

Gender

Social Classes

According to Weber

Aspirations

Meritocratic society

Blue-collar workers

White-collar workers

Petite bourgeoisie

Educated owners

Technical knowledge

According to Marx

Aspiration

Socialism

Classes

Capitalists

Proletariat

Criterion

Private ownership pf means of production

Types of Social Stratification

Class

Estate

Cast

Slavery

Definition: compact system consisting of the collection of social strata and their mutual relationships and interactions
Axis of social inequality
Systems of social stratification
Social Stratum: group of individuals with common traits and occupying the same position in the social scale of distribution of material and symbolic resources in a given society
Socialisation (unit 3) - Chiara & Jessica
Cognitive Dissonance

George Maed

Theory

Combination

TEAMWORK

Me

Object

I

Subject

Looking-Glass Self

Self-image

Who are we?

Society in

Post-modernity (unit 10)

Characterístics of post-modern society

The crisis of Modernity

Modernity (unit 5 & 10)

Problems

Crisis of meaning

Impersonalization

Romanticism and conservative resurgence

The change and innovation are not warmly welcomed. It threatens to break up the basis of intellectual order. Conservatism which characterizes traditional mentality is a. protection against everything that menaces tradition.

Bureaucratization (Weber): Weber believed bureaucracy was the most efficient way to set up an organization and administration. He thought that bureaucracy was better than traditional structures. In a bureaucratic organisation, everyone is treated equal and the division of labour is clearly described for each employee.

Normative relativism

Higher suicide rate

Anomie (Durkheim)

Anomie is a social condition in which there is a disintegration or disappearance of the norms and values that were previously common to the society. Durkheim discovered that anomie occurs during and follows periods of drastic and rapid changes to the social, economic, or political structures of society.

crisis of traditional authority

Guiding institutions weakened

Loss of community

Individuals are freer but

less sense of cohesion

Social isolation

Individuals release from community and tradition. This, resultes in despair and insupportable aloneness, which makes them melancholically and anxious.

weak social integration

For Durkheim, modernity has destroyed all the established social contexts, making people more individualistic and getting used to the fact of not needing to form part of a group.

Less sense of belonging

As society weakens in modernity, individuals feel less attached to others. This creates a sense of loneliness and of belonging. to a group.

solidarity: In modernity there is a devitalization of the sense of society, making people more individualistic and feeling alone.

more individualistic = selfishness: Instead of community, tribe and group we are more individualistic. We are free to move among social collectivities, we can choose our membership at will, we are self-determined and responsable for our own actions, successes as well as failures.

Characteristics of modern society

Diversity of beliefs and ideas Individualism: personal freedom Less social control Plurality (Durkheim) Rationalism

Politics

Human rights Equality Democracy Critical thinking Autonomy/independence Pluralism Social change Emancipation

People were enlightened through Science and reason

Separation of institutions:

Rational explanation

Science

Natural phenomena weren't explained by gods will anymore, but by scientific facts

Church and state Privatisation of religious morals

Sacred and secular Secularisation of world

Rationalism Science Progress Religion lost power

population learned to read and write --> bible published in common tongue (not only latin)

Society's structure

Tax regime

Based on privilege

bourgeoise as emerging class:

Educated bourgeoise developed in modernity

contractual societies

class society:

Industrial bourgeoise, farming nobility, petite bourgeoisie, proletariat (workers)

Economy

Expansion of markets

Accumulation & Reinvestment

Labor:

Factories

Wage labor

Mining

Industry

Tradition (unit 5)

Factors of social and cultural change

Cultural

Consequences - Sacralisation of work (Beruf = vocation & work) - Doctrine of predestination (Success as a sign of salvation)

Factors of change - Protestant revolution - Luther, Calvin

Economical

Consequences - Increased productivity - Surplus rural workforce - Rural-to-urban areas migration - Growth of cities - Birth of the proletariat

Factors of change Revolution in farming techniques

Technological

Consequences - Trade expansion - Accumulation of capital - Investment in technology - Birth of industry

Factors of change - Navigation developments - Discovery of the New World - First banks

Characteristics of traditional society

Culture

Values

Concept of community

strong social cohesion Deep social integration Mechanical solidarity (Durkheim) Based on moral and social homogeneity and reinforced by discipline of the small community - Tradition dominates - Individualism is lacking - Justice is directed to the subordination of the individual - Ties to kinship, localism and sacred give substance to the whole Uniformity and strong social control

Collective Mentality - Institutions as guides - Individual subject to the community - Induced biographies

Emotional bonds Strong sense of belonging Shared social imaginary

Outlook

Cult of traditions Sacred texts, Ancestral legends, Customs Meaning obtained from the past High cultural reproduction, Conservative mindset, Resistance to change --> Conservatism Change and innovation = NOT welcomed, may appear threatening and break up intellectual order BETTER: to trust in useful knowledge that has been proved over time

Beliefs

Enchantment of the world - Weber Ubiquity of the supernatural Magical thinking Magic consists of the manipulation by man of invisible forces or forms of energy - Magic has a practical applied goal - Magic does NOT replace technology or empirical science but COMPLETES them - Magic is to action what myth is to thought --> the integration of the invisible and the visible Great ritualization

Sacralized society Theocentrism Mythical Tales In traditional society, mythology takes the place of theoretical science (natural/social science and history). Myth links together incoherent fragments of knowledge, gives them meaning and coherence. Sacralization of everyday life Fusion of the sacred and the secular - Mircea Eliade In traditional societies, things and events refer back to something else: an “invisible order” that develops parallel to the visible order. The visible and invisible order are part of one total cosmos. Ad invisible order = sacred - It completes the visible order and gives it meaning - Events and things: not explanatory; truth must be revealed with reference to a sacred world --> Reason for traditional symbols

Society´s structure

+ Empiricism

Economy & Labour

Economy = subsistence Production base Agriculture, livestock, fishing, mining natural resources, craftsmanship and trade

two conflicting beliefs

Triviality

add more cognitions

change behaviour

alter one belief

Institutions

To reduce options

Distinctive complex of social actions

Social Control

Circles of social control

Self

Family

Informal groups (Peer group)

Organisations (work)

Community (morality)

State

Types of social control

self-control

morality, custom, manners

ridicule, gossip, descredit

various sanctions

social separation

violence

as last resort

foundation of political order

used when socialisation fails

Identity

Important figure

Types

Self-Identity

Social Identity

Social Roles

Nurture vs Nature

Nurture > Nature

Feral children

Nature - fixed, instinctive nature

Genetics

Nurture - conditioning in early childhood

Watson

Behaviourism

Inseparable

Reality

Literature

Pirandello

The Mask

Thomas Theorem

Self-fulfilling Profecies

Social Construction of Reality

Malleability of Reality

HOW?

Social interaction

Types of Socialisation

Resocialisation

Replaces earlier socialisation

Secondary socialisation

Agents: School, Peers, Organisations, Media

Later childhood - maturity

Primary socialisation

Agent: Family

Early childhood

Culture and Society (unit 2)
Definition: Sociologists define culture as "designs for living": the values, beliefs, behaviour, practices and material objects that constitute a persons way of life. Culture is a toolbox of solutions to everyday problems. Non-material Culture (ideas created by members of society) and material culture (tangible things created by members of society, e.g. mobile phones). Both involve cultural practices.

Ethnocentricity and (cultural) relativity

Theory: Glocalisation is the ways in which global phenomena are responded to differently in local cultures. e.g. karaoke has a different meaning and ritual in Japan verses London.

Theory: Cultural Relativism is the practice of judging a culture by its own standards. Interpretative perspective called Emic: The internal perspective

Theory: Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of ones own culture. Interpretative perspective called Etic: interpretation according to the meanings and the symbolic universe of the observer (external perspective)

(Cultural) Change

Definition: Cultural Lag is the fact that cultural elements change at different rates, which may disrupt a cultural system. It is the maladjustment created by unequal patterns of evolution and change and causes frictions resulting from the dislocation of the parts of culture. It is resolved by gradual reintegration of the various maladjustment components.

Definition: Cultural Integration is the close relationship among various elements of a cultural system.

(Cultural) Diversity

A Global Culture?

Definition: A global culture is the spreading of culture to the point that the worlds cultures become united as one through the major components of culture (e.g. language, symbols).

Action Theory:

Conflict Theory: People from rural areas/poorer households left out? People might lose about due to the divide between groups.

Functionalist Perspective: good to have a global economy, language, etc.

Definition: A hegemonic culture is a culture that dominates by ideology and culture, through ideas and not force. E.g. Americans preserving hegemony (expecting you to speak English), by convincing the mainstream to stop speaking other languages such as Spanish in America.

Definition: A counterculture is a culture that goes against the fundamental principles of the hegemonic culture and society and thus cannot exist without a hegemonic culture. Every counterculture is a subculture but not vice versa.

Definition: A subculture is a culture that sets itself apart from mainstream culture and excludes itself from it, however it is know adapted by the mainstream. E.g. the Amish

Definition: Cultural Capital is the practices where people can wield power and status because of their educational credentials, general cultural awareness and aesthetic preferences.

These are learned from family, and school, helping one to prosper in society/climb the social ladder. This includes knowledge, skills, taste, style of talking, dressing to have an advantage in society, such as learning to speak Greek to be hired.

Definition: Language is a system of symbols that allows members of society to communicate with one another. These symbols take for I'm spoken and written words, which are culturally variable and composed of various alphabets and ideograms around the world.

Theory: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that people perceive the world through the cultural lens of language.

Linguistic Relativism suggests that distinctions found in one language are not found in another. E.g. inuits having 20 different words for snow.

Linguistic Determinism suggests that language shapes the way we think.

Languages and cultural reproduction: language its he major means of cultural reproductions the process by which one generation passes culture to the next. Our symbols carry cultural heritage and language gives us the power to gain access to centuries of accumulated wisdom.

Definition: Popular culture designate cultural patterns that are widespread among a society's population. E.g. certain types of music.

Definition: High Culture are cultural patterns that distinguish societies elite. This includes things such as classical music, contemporary art, and a specific way of speaking English. Low culture is the opposite and is represented by football, etc.

Racism, Ethnicities and Migration

Definition: A Stereotype is an exaggerated description applied to every person in a category of people.

Definition: Prejudice is a rigid and irrational generalisation about an entire category of people.

Definition: Diaspora refers to the dispersal of a population from its homeland and into other areas.

Definition: Ethnicity is a shared cultural and historical heritage.

Definition: Race refers to the category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of society deem socially significant.

Definition: Racism refers to the beliefs that one racial category is superior or inferior to another.

The major components of Culture

Definition: Material Culture includes the tangible things created by members of society, involving cultural practices. An example of this would be mobile phones or pottery.

Definition: Norms are the rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviour of its members. Some norms are proscriptive, mandating what we should not do (e.g. Chinese couples holding hands in public) while other norms are prescriptive, spelling out what we should do (e.g. European schools teaching safe sex).

Folkways (William Graham Sumner) is the theory referring to society's customs for routine and casual interaction. This includes notions about proper dress, appropriate greeting and common courtesy. While mores distinguish between what is right and wrong, folkways distinguish between what is right and rude.

Mores (William Graham Sumner) is the theory referring to societies standards of proper moral conduct. This includes all mores essential to maintaining a way of life (e.g. prohibiting sexual relations between adults and minors).

Definition: Values are the standards people have about what is good and bad, which vary from culture to culture (ethics and morals).They are abstract standards of goodness. Beliefs are specific statements that people hold to be true and refer to particular matters.

We learn from families schools and religious organisations to think and act according to approved principles, to pursue worthy goals and to believe a host of cultural truths while rejecting alternatives as false.

Definition: Symbols are anything that carries a particular meaning recognised by a shared culture (e.g. a flashing red light, a fist in the air, a white dove). We can see the human capacity to create and manipulate symbols reflected in the very different meanings associated with simple things in different cultures (e.g. winking)

Symbols allow us to make sense of our lives, and without then human existence would be meaningless. Manipulating symbols correctly would allow us to engage others readily within our own cultural system.

A cultural shock is the inability to read meaning in ones surroundings and a consequence of being outside there symbolic web of culture that joins individuals in a meaningful social life.

Definition: A Racial or Ethical minority is a category of people distinguished by physical or cultural traits, who are socially disadvantaged.
Culture, Civilisations and their Characteristics

Definition: Civilisations refer to the broadest most comprehensive cultural entities.

Contemporary civilisations are often defined as Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Hindu, Islamic, Orthodox, Western, Latin American and African. Religions are also one of the key defining features of civilisations.

Introduction to Sociology (unit 1)
Principle Sociological focuses

Social action perspective, micro-level orientation

Critic : By focusing on day-to-day interactions, this theory can obscur larger social structure

Definition : Theory that focus on how actors assemble social meanings ; in other words, the structures of a society change because of the individuals and their actions.

Conflict perspective, macro-level orientation

Critic : Gloss over how shared values or interdependence generate unity among members of a society and also may relinquish any claim to scientific objectivity

Definition : Theory that envisages society as an area of inequality that generates conflict and change

Fonctionnaliste perspective, macro-level orientation

Critic : Gloss over inequalities based on social class, gender-divisions that may create tension and conflict.

Definition : Theory that envisages society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.

Herbert Spencer, the survival of the fittest

Herbert Spencer, Organism metaphor, human body and society are interdependent because they contribute to the survival of the entire organism

Origin and meaning of Sociology

Development among the 19th-20th centuries thanks to scientific & technologies advances, revolutions (industrial, urban, liberal), rise of workers movement and secularization

Methodological approaches

Quantitative : statistics, try to assess representativity

Qualitative : narrative techniques, try to assess meanings of behavior

Sociology is the systematic study of human society as a critical way of seeing the social.

Benefits and issues with the sociological perspective

Issues

Sociological knowledge becomes a part of society : sociologists create ideas that can shape the ways in which societies work

Hard to distance ourselves from the world as sociologists are part of what they study

Sociology is a part of changing the world : society changes overtime and therefore sociology too

Benefits

C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination, sociology shapes our lives ans we have to connect them to history and society

Recognize human differences and sufferings which help us to confront the challenges of living in a diverse word

Empowers us to be active participants in our society ; ex : Wright Mills, Great Depression = the more we learn about the system the more we want to change it

Development of a form of consciousness, challenges the "taken for granted"

Main concepts

Peter Berger, Invitation to sociology, sociology is about seeing the general in the particular

Zygmunt Bauman, Sociological Thinking, sociology is about seeing the strange in the familiar

Definition: Racialisation is the process of ranking people on the basis of their presumed race sociologists now call racialisation.