Sociology
1.
SOC vs PSY
Differences with psychology
- Psy states problem mostly at individual level, gives individual explanation. psyche
- Soc states problem mostly at societal level, give social explanation social
context
Sociology…
- Explores systematically human society…
- Explores human patterns of thinking, feeling and social action…
- Tries to see the particular in the general…
Everything is always different, but also a lot is the same
Pros and cons
- Debunking: not everything what we think is true…
- Understanding: better understanding of the situation we’re in
- Empowering: shows disadvantage for certain groups, which can mobilize groups
- Recognition
- Everything always changes
- Sociologists are people too distance and closeness
- Sociology becomes part of the public debate
Durkheim: the individual in mass society
“… an individual being … a social being … in so far as he belongs to society, the
individual transcends himself…”
What is sociology?
- Analyze and study society investigate, describe and explain the way people live
together
- Everything that happens in society raises questions
- Do not only look at the figures, but also the story behind them
- Interaction between people
- Looking for general elements in social behaviour
- categorize individuals look for similarities and differences
- Improve society and social interaction malleable society
- “science of society’’
Sociological vs social problems
- Sociological problems logical, objective
- Social problems issue of valuation, action
, Sociology vs common sense
- Sociologists tell what everybody knows, in such a way that nobody understands it
anymore
- Zygmunt Bauman:
1. Responsible speech: rules of responsible arguments
2. Size of the field: transcending your own social world
3. Making sense: explaining and interpreting human behaviour by looking at
different figurations and institutions people are embedded in
4. Defamiliarize: ability to discuss/question the familiar and the obvious
Three levels
- Micro family, friends
- Meso office, university interaction
- Macro government, country
Key questions of sociology
1. Social inequality: to what extent are scarce resources unequally distributed?
Karl Marx
2. Social cohesion: to what extent do members of a society live peacefully together?
Emile Durkheim
3. Rationalization or culture: to what extent is a society rationalized?
Max Weber
Genesis of sociology
Changes in structures of societies
- Premodern societies hunters and collectors, nomadic societies, agrarian
societies
- Modern society industrial societies
- Postmodern society post-industrial societies
Technological determinism: be ware!
- Technology is neutral, people determine it’s use
- Five societies no successive stages or “progressive”-“eurocentrisme”
- Technology is limited; no solution to everything
- Technology produces new problems
- Technological progress sets limits to environment
Societal changes in last 2 centuries
1. Economic changes capitalism growth and industrial revolution
2. Political changes French revolution freedom, equality, solidarity
3. Developments in religion
4. Growth of cities and genesis of social problems
Discovery of society and sociology 18th/19th century
1. Start modern science
, 2. Discovery of society
3. Sociology as study of society
- Auguste Comte invented the term “sociology”
- Herbert Spencer “survival of the fittest”
- Rise of social-darwinistic thinking
- Civilization labor
- Discipline
- Education of the masses
- Trust in science
- The “sociale quaestie” misery of urbanization and industrialization, rise of labor
movement, reaction liberals confessionals well understood self-interest
Research theme’s poverity, division of labour, class relations
Academics rise of people, social workers, anti alcohol moement
Law of three stages
1. Theological stage: explanation via gods and spirits
2. Metaphysical stage: explanation by abstract, philosophical speculation on “natural
order”
3. Scientific stage: scientific explanation by objective observations
Paradigmata
- a view upon society that steers scientific thinking and research:
- From a theoretical stance/methodology point of view
1. Structural-functionalistic paradigm
2. Conflict paradigm
Interactionistic paradigm:
3. Symbolic interactionistic paradigm
4. Rational choice paradigm
- a theory = a coherent system of statements about how and why specific facts are related part
of a paradigm
Problems
- Sociology is part of the position of the researcher, determines view
- A complete view or theory of society does not exist
- Always limited and selective “partial perspectives”
Sociological approaches
- Positivistic sociology objective, physical principles, empirical facts, deductive
- Interpretative sociology subjective, human behavior and symbols, inductive
- Critical sociology critique on positivism, enabling social change, improving
society
, 2.
Karl Marx
social change due to economic conflict which produce inequalities
- communist manifest working-men of all countries, unite!
Development in stages
- Base economic system: production and division of wealth
- Superstructure political, judicial, ethical, scientific, and philosophical ideas:
views, ideas and culture
Classical Historical Materialism
a. In capitalist societies
b. Wages of workers fall and profits of capitalists rise
c. Because labor can be replaced by machines coercion
d. Against this coercion and inequality resistance arises
e. If all workers are aware and unite, they win conflict and private ownership will
disappear
f. When the means of production are collective property, everyone will receive
products according to their needs
Centralisation hypothesis
a. In capitalist societies
b. The growing amount of capital concentrates within fewer capital owners
c. Large owners drive small owners out of competition
Capitalism hypothesis
- Capitalism hypothesis/accumulation = statement a+b
- Support Engels documents of government, own observations UK, more
industrial accidents and child labor
- Support Marx government statistics UK, more poor people, lower nutrition
value meals, more profit tax payer
Socialist revolution hypothesis
1.
SOC vs PSY
Differences with psychology
- Psy states problem mostly at individual level, gives individual explanation. psyche
- Soc states problem mostly at societal level, give social explanation social
context
Sociology…
- Explores systematically human society…
- Explores human patterns of thinking, feeling and social action…
- Tries to see the particular in the general…
Everything is always different, but also a lot is the same
Pros and cons
- Debunking: not everything what we think is true…
- Understanding: better understanding of the situation we’re in
- Empowering: shows disadvantage for certain groups, which can mobilize groups
- Recognition
- Everything always changes
- Sociologists are people too distance and closeness
- Sociology becomes part of the public debate
Durkheim: the individual in mass society
“… an individual being … a social being … in so far as he belongs to society, the
individual transcends himself…”
What is sociology?
- Analyze and study society investigate, describe and explain the way people live
together
- Everything that happens in society raises questions
- Do not only look at the figures, but also the story behind them
- Interaction between people
- Looking for general elements in social behaviour
- categorize individuals look for similarities and differences
- Improve society and social interaction malleable society
- “science of society’’
Sociological vs social problems
- Sociological problems logical, objective
- Social problems issue of valuation, action
, Sociology vs common sense
- Sociologists tell what everybody knows, in such a way that nobody understands it
anymore
- Zygmunt Bauman:
1. Responsible speech: rules of responsible arguments
2. Size of the field: transcending your own social world
3. Making sense: explaining and interpreting human behaviour by looking at
different figurations and institutions people are embedded in
4. Defamiliarize: ability to discuss/question the familiar and the obvious
Three levels
- Micro family, friends
- Meso office, university interaction
- Macro government, country
Key questions of sociology
1. Social inequality: to what extent are scarce resources unequally distributed?
Karl Marx
2. Social cohesion: to what extent do members of a society live peacefully together?
Emile Durkheim
3. Rationalization or culture: to what extent is a society rationalized?
Max Weber
Genesis of sociology
Changes in structures of societies
- Premodern societies hunters and collectors, nomadic societies, agrarian
societies
- Modern society industrial societies
- Postmodern society post-industrial societies
Technological determinism: be ware!
- Technology is neutral, people determine it’s use
- Five societies no successive stages or “progressive”-“eurocentrisme”
- Technology is limited; no solution to everything
- Technology produces new problems
- Technological progress sets limits to environment
Societal changes in last 2 centuries
1. Economic changes capitalism growth and industrial revolution
2. Political changes French revolution freedom, equality, solidarity
3. Developments in religion
4. Growth of cities and genesis of social problems
Discovery of society and sociology 18th/19th century
1. Start modern science
, 2. Discovery of society
3. Sociology as study of society
- Auguste Comte invented the term “sociology”
- Herbert Spencer “survival of the fittest”
- Rise of social-darwinistic thinking
- Civilization labor
- Discipline
- Education of the masses
- Trust in science
- The “sociale quaestie” misery of urbanization and industrialization, rise of labor
movement, reaction liberals confessionals well understood self-interest
Research theme’s poverity, division of labour, class relations
Academics rise of people, social workers, anti alcohol moement
Law of three stages
1. Theological stage: explanation via gods and spirits
2. Metaphysical stage: explanation by abstract, philosophical speculation on “natural
order”
3. Scientific stage: scientific explanation by objective observations
Paradigmata
- a view upon society that steers scientific thinking and research:
- From a theoretical stance/methodology point of view
1. Structural-functionalistic paradigm
2. Conflict paradigm
Interactionistic paradigm:
3. Symbolic interactionistic paradigm
4. Rational choice paradigm
- a theory = a coherent system of statements about how and why specific facts are related part
of a paradigm
Problems
- Sociology is part of the position of the researcher, determines view
- A complete view or theory of society does not exist
- Always limited and selective “partial perspectives”
Sociological approaches
- Positivistic sociology objective, physical principles, empirical facts, deductive
- Interpretative sociology subjective, human behavior and symbols, inductive
- Critical sociology critique on positivism, enabling social change, improving
society
, 2.
Karl Marx
social change due to economic conflict which produce inequalities
- communist manifest working-men of all countries, unite!
Development in stages
- Base economic system: production and division of wealth
- Superstructure political, judicial, ethical, scientific, and philosophical ideas:
views, ideas and culture
Classical Historical Materialism
a. In capitalist societies
b. Wages of workers fall and profits of capitalists rise
c. Because labor can be replaced by machines coercion
d. Against this coercion and inequality resistance arises
e. If all workers are aware and unite, they win conflict and private ownership will
disappear
f. When the means of production are collective property, everyone will receive
products according to their needs
Centralisation hypothesis
a. In capitalist societies
b. The growing amount of capital concentrates within fewer capital owners
c. Large owners drive small owners out of competition
Capitalism hypothesis
- Capitalism hypothesis/accumulation = statement a+b
- Support Engels documents of government, own observations UK, more
industrial accidents and child labor
- Support Marx government statistics UK, more poor people, lower nutrition
value meals, more profit tax payer
Socialist revolution hypothesis
