This document entails a very extensive summary of the book "Sociology - A Global Introduction", by Macionis and Plummer, edition 5.
The following chapters are summarized in a very detailed and understandable way: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,15,16,17,18,19,22,23,26 and therefore excluding chapters 1...
Part 1
Chapter 1 - The Sociological Imagination - Page 2
Chapter 2 - Thinking Sociologically, Thinking Globally - Page 7
Chapter 3 - Studying the Social: An Introduction to Sociological Method - Page 13
Part 2
Chapter 4 - Societies - Page 21
Chapter 5 - Culture - Page 26
Chapter 6 - Groups, Organizations and the Rise of the Network Society - Page 32
Chapter 7 - Micro-sociology: The Social Construction of Everyday Life - Page 41
Part 3
Chapter 8 - Inequality, Social Divisions and Social Stratification - Page 53
Chapter 9 - Global Poverty/Global Inequality - Page 62
Chapter 10 - Class, Poverty and Welfare: The Case of the UK - Page 68
Chapter 11 - Racism, Ethnicities and Migration - Page 74
Chapter 12 - The Gender Order and Sexualities - Page 83
Part 4
Chapter 15 - Economies, Work and Consumption - Page 93
Chapter 16 - Power, Governance and Social Movements - Page 103
Chapter 17 - Control, Crime and Deviance - Page 111
Chapter 18 - Families, Personal Life and Living Together - Page 120
Chapter 19 - Religion and Belief - Page 126
Chapter 22 - Communication and the New Media - Page 132
Chapter 23 - Science, Cyberspace and the Risk Society - Page 140
Part 5
Chapter 26 - Living in the Twenty First Century - Page 146
1
,Part 1
Chapter 1 - The Sociological Imagination
This chapter answers the following questions:
- What is sociology?
- How can sociological perspectives help us understand everyday life?
- What do sociologists do?
- How did sociology develop?
Sociology
Sociology can be defined as the systematic, skeptical and critical study of the social. A form of
consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the social as well as challenging the
obvious, questioning the world as it is taken for granted and de-familiarizing the familiar.
Peter Berger defined the sociological perspective as seeing the general in the particular,
meaning that specific examples can help us see general patterns of social life.
Sociology basically shows us the patterns and processes by which the society in which we live
in, shapes what we are doing
The different levels of reality that we need to consider:
- Cosmic - the widest reality. It is not often used but it is important to be aware of the
complex presence that is behind the way we think about our social world
- World and globe - the interconnectedness of the social and cultural across the world.
This includes economies, political systems, media, internet, etc.
- Social and cultural - this level refers to the communities, societies, nations, etc. that have
a defined structure and a symbolic meaning over us
- Interactional - the way we experience the world in the face-to-face present with others,
such as family, friends, groups and strangers in specific places
- Individual - the inner world and the smallest reality. It includes our inner world, our
human subjectivity and the inner biological workings such as genetics and hormones.
Some people think of society as individual prison walls around each of us. The walls may be
made of cultures, social division, economies, power structures, families, religion, education,
media and/or science and technologies.
We often believe that our acting is individual, however, much of our social life is shaped by
factors that are not in our control.
Suicide and Sociology
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) studied suicide in relation to social forces affecting human
behavior. He found that there are some “categories of people” who are more likely to commit
suicide than others. The typical suicide victim is a protestant, wealthy man who is not married.
2
,Especially the degree of social integration, meaning how they bonded, connected and tied into
society affects the likelihood of a suicide. The more socially isolated and individualistic a person,
the higher the chances of suicide. According to Durkheim, there are different types of suicide:
- Anomic suicide - due to too little integration
- Altruistic suicide - due to too much integration (suicide bombers for example)
- Egoistic suicide - due to too little regulation
- Fatalistic suicide - due to too much regulation
Interestingly, Asia accounts for 60% of all the suicide deaths worldwide. China takes on 40% of
all suicides. Additionally, China is the only country in which women outrank men when it comes
to the death rate due to suicide.
The task of sociologists is broad. Some of them are researchers, theorists, critics, educators
and teachers, artists, commenters and public intellectuals, dialogists and finally, critical citizens
in society. The last role is the most general and most important one.
Public Sociology
Public sociology is a branch of sociology that can understand the audience it is trying to reach. It
can clarify language and definitions, recognize positions, provide basic background knowledge,
assist in understanding research findings, present public debates, as well as appreciate the
different kinds of media that can present these issues and identify key spokespeople and
organizations that work on these public issues.
The circle of sociological life by Plummer (2010: 192)
People and
Policy and Professional
Practitioners Public and
Sociology can be described as an outsider perspective and/or outsider discipline. Taking a step
back from our familiar routines helps us establish a sociological perspective.
Sociological thinking often leads to social change, since once we learn more about “the system”
our wish to change it grows. Thanks to sociology we can learn how to look differently at familiar
patterns of social life.
Benefits and Issues of Sociology
3
, There are 4 general benefits of applying a sociological perspective to our daily lives:
1. It becomes a way of thinking that challenges familiar understandings of ourselves and
others. We may realize that ideas that we have taken for granted are not always true.
Sociology challenges these ideas and asks awkward questions
2. It enables us to assess both the opportunities and the constraints that characterize our
lives. Basically, sociology lets us see the patterns of society and helps us pursue our
goals more efficiently.
3. It helps us to be active participants in our society. This can either mean embracing
society as it is, or wanting to change the entire world in some way.
4. It enables us to recognize human differences and human suffering and to confront the
challenges of living in a diverse world. Additionally, it helps us see how many problems
are caused by the way that societies are organized
However, there are also 3 general problems that arise with the sociological perspective:
1. Sociology is part of a changing world, studying moving objects that change rapidly
2. Sociologists are part of what they study. It is hard to distance yourself from your own
world, so ethnocentrism is a common issue
3. Sociological knowledge becomes part of society, making the work of sociologists
recursive
Enlightenment
The origin of sociology can be traced back to the age of enlightenment. Following ideas were
highlighted by the world-view of enlightenment:
1. Rationality and reason became a key way of organizing knowledge
2. Empiricism
3. Science
4. Universalism
5. Progress
6. Individualism
7. Toleration
8. Freedom
9. Human nature was uniform: rational, individual and free
10. Secularism
Auguste Comte
Comte is seen as the founder of sociology and of positivism in the social sciences. He sees
these as “religion of humanity”. As he grew up during the French Revolution, he wanted to
understand the things that were happening around him. He divided his new discipline into two
parts:
- How society is held together (social statistics)
- How society changes (social dynamics)
Additionally, Comte split the world into three stages:
1. Theological stage - thoughts about the world were guided by religion and society was an
expression of God’s will
4
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