Notes from the lectures and powerpoints for the first part of the course 'Introduction to Sociology', held during the first block of the first semester.
Lectures 4, 6, 8 and 10 were guest lectures not following the normal structure of the modules by the lecturer Giselinde Kuipers.
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Week 1, Lecture 1 – 04/09/2018
What is sociology?
Sociology as empirical science
De Swaan: Social science studies people in the social arrangements they form with one another.
Social arrangements consist of people who are connected by mutual dependencies. In other
words, social arrangements consist of interdependent people. Many networks of
interdependencies.
Another definition comes from Giddens & Sutton: Sociology is the scientific study of interactions,
human groups and whole societies. Sociologists are scientists: they have specific ways of looking at
the world and studying its characteristics. They collect data and systematically interpret and
organize it. Since, in fact, Sociology is a science, it involves the disciplined marshalling of empirical
data, combined with the construction of theories which illuminate or explain those data.
Sociologists need theories (system of organized and connected statements) and empirical findings.
Theory is an attempt to identify general properties that explain regularly observed events.
Theories try to explain. Explaining means answering a why-question (using both theory/concepts
& empirical data/findings). Sociologists try to explain and this explanation stands from the
combination of empirical findings and theory.
One of the most important theoretical starting point: people as interdependent social beings
It is not about the individual but about the interdependencies between people. Sociologists study
(=ask and answer questions about) people, assuming that whatever these people do is shaped
fundamentally by and is impossible without social interdependence: the fact that humans need
other people for everything they do. Whatever you do is possible because you are connected to
other people in many different ways. These needs are addressed and dealt with through durable
social arrangements (institutions) and human societies that may outlast individual human beings.
We are not only part of interdependencies that are shaped during our life but we come into the
world and a lot of these interdependencies are already in place: family, country, government,
language … It is a world already connected; that consists of connected people.
What do sociologists do?
Sociologists ask and answer sociological questions: questions about human interdependencies
grounded in theory and in data about social reality. We shouldn’t take things for granted and start
questioning. Sociological questions are:
- Empirical: can be answered by finding “data” in social reality
- Precise and clearly delined
- Comparative (if only implicit)
- Not moralizing (“value free” -> BUT…).
- About the social, about the interdependencies
Some of these questions start from the wrong ASSUMPTIONS. There are sociological and un-
sociological questions/questions that are not sociological yet. The problem with some questions is
that they don’t specify who we refer to and there isn’t a reference to time or place. You have to
turn it into a question that can be studied from the sociological perspective. To turn it into a
sociological question we use the sociological glasses and tools.
,After you asked questions you do research, using our sociological glasses and other tools.
Research: 1. Describe 2. Interpret 3. Explain
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Week 2, Lecture 2 – 07/09/2018
What do people need from one another?
De Swaan: Sociology is about interdependence
Social science studies people in the social arrangements they form with one another. Social
arrangements consist of people who are connect by mutual dependencies. In other words, they
consist of interdependent people. Interdependencies are not only about individuals but also about
roles.
Starting point: people as interdependent social beings. Sociologists study people, assuming that
whatever these people do is shaped fundamentally by social interdependence: the fact that
humans need other people for everything they do.
These needs are addressed and dealt with through durable social arrangements and human
societies that may outlast individual human beings.
For what do people need from one another? EVERYTHING. De Swaan talks about 6 main social
conditions that we need from others: food, shelter (housing and clothing), protection (from
animals, germs, other humans), affection/attention (care, love and status or legitimacy, regard),
knowledge (general knowledge, common sense and specialized knowledge) and direction
(external and internal control).
To provide these needs, humans create social arrangements (institutions) and societies (“a society
is a configuration of people in certain patterns of interdependence”). Both of these also need
conditions in order to survive. People and individuals have a lot of needs. Interdependencies
create other interdependencies which create other interdependencies etc…
All the needs you fulfil create other needs.
Consumer culture and consumer society
Consumer culture/society is a historical type of society in which the satisfaction of daily need is
accomplished through the acquisition and use of ‘commodities’: goods that you can exchange and
which are on sale on the market. Consumers are people who buy commodities.
Types of social structure/sorts of societies
A social structure is enduring patterns and institutions that organize social life. “They are patterns
of interaction between individuals, groups and institutions. Most of our activities are structured:
they are organized in a regular and repetitive way.” – Giddens and Sutton
The society we live in now is industrial/post-industrial. The dominant way of organizing our
societies is now capitalism. Capitalism is a way of organizing a society based on the idea of selling
and buying in markets; markets as primary means of distributing goods. To keep this system in
place we have wages and wage labor. We work for money and we use the money we earn to buy
commodities. The medium is money which we earn doing wage labor. What’s typical of capitalism
is that is centred around profit (and interest) and growth -> notion that things should be more:
more money, more stuff, more profit, more growth.
Sociology is an attempt to understand this kind of new society of capitalism. Marx, Durkheim,
Weber (and others) tried to understand this new type of society.
, Consumption and identity
Consumption is a central need. We also need it for identity. Jeans play a paradoxal role in many
people’s lives. They make us fit it and feel normal. But at the same time, they also make us stand
out; they feel unique to us.
Fitting in: consumer goods help us form social group and give us a sense of belonging.
Standing out: we creatively use commodities to express our individualities. Our sense of self is
constrained by larger structural forces that make certain identities more accessible than others.
Consumer culture in a globalized world
Globalization increased the flow of goods, information and capital across national borders.
Since the variety of everything available has also increased, people can make choices and develop
their own taste and style. This gives rise to wider variations between people within a society and
individuals can adopt distinctive styles. The network of dependencies surrounding the supply
stretches much further in present-day society, and connects far more people than before.
Because the choices are there, we have to make a choice. You have to make a choice because the
possibility is there. It is a necessity but it is constrained by the social position and by the cultural
reality you live in.
In contemporary consumer societies, commodities are central to the fulfilment of all De Swaan’’s
needs, but what stands out are their importance for affective needs: belonging, self, status.
Material versus symbolic (cultural) needs.
There is much more variety but less diversity. Our need for diversity increased.
Why sociologists do not always agree: some basis tensions in sociology
Sociologists may occupy different positions on a number or fundamental issues in our thinking
about society. Different questions bring different answers which put sociologists in different
starting positions with different approaches.
Different positions and thinking frames:
- Level of analysis MICRO vs MACRO (and meso)
Where does society happen?
A micro sociological approach focuses on social interactions and meaning-making.
A macro sociological approach examines large collectives, entire systems or structures. It is at the
institutional, rational and global level.
These two different approaches are often used together and intertwined.
- STRUCTURE vs AGENCY
Agency is the ability of individuals to makes decisions and take action. How much choice do we
have? Our social location – one’s particular position in a social structure – shapes our perspective
and determines the kind of opportunities and choices we have. However, we still exercise choices
that reflect our own will, personality and interest.
MATERIAL vs SYMBOLIC (cultural) FORCES
Are we determined by matter or meaning?
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