Developing a Sociological Consciousness Ibn Kaldun 1300s Tunisia.

Developing a Sociological Consciousness

Ibn Kaldun 1300s Tunisia

Origins of Sociology1. Sociology emerged:

a. with census taking in the Roman Empireb. in the “dark ages” ….476 to 1000 ADc. as a rebirth of consciousness during the

Renaissanced. about the middle of the 1800s when

observers began to use scientific methods to test their ideas

e. the 1950s and early 60s

“…humans have had a long interest

In understanding themselves and their social arrangements” (3)

YET it has only been in the last two centuries or so that human beings have sought answers to these and related questions through science.”

Social sciences looked to the natural sciences….

Invitation to Sociology (Peter Berger)

"People who like to avoid shocking discoveries, who prefer to believe that society is just what they were taught in Sunday School, who like the safety of the rules and maxims of what Alfred Schuetz has called the "world-taken-for-granted," should stay away from sociology. …(Berger 1963, 24)

Sociology…a “special kind of passion”“A demon that possesses on…” (11)

“…the Sociologist…is a person intensively, endlessly,

shamelessly interested in the doings of men. His natural habitat is all the human gathering places of the world, wherever men come together” (8)

What is part, parcel and unchanging about Sociology as a discipline?

How has the field changed over time?

How does this passage reflect some of these changes?

Relation to other disciplinesexploring “social worlds”Individual…society…culture

“Culture”

Ethnography

Exotic/ familiar

Culture shock

Argonauts of the Western Pacific, Bronislaw Malinowski, 1922

Part 1: The Study of Sociology

Simmel-symbolic interactionist

Mills- Conflict theorist

The Study of SociologyWhat do Sociologists do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdUtCAXAUM

What do they study?

Sociology as a Social Science

Methodology

Theory (theoretical perspective)

Style of writing

Methods:

a. secondary analysisb. ethnography….participant

observationc. formal/ informal interviews…

snowballingd. documentse. surveysf. experimentsg. unobtrusive measuresh. network analysisi. oral historiesj. auto-ethnographyk. visual ethnography

Ethics

No harm to subjects

Informed consent

Purpose of Sociology?The Debate: Heuristic or Reform?

Three theoretical perspectives:FunctionalistConflict theoristSymbolic Interactionist

Feminism (need attention to women’s perspectives and voices)

Rational choice theory (self-interest)Postmodernism (pluralism in flux)

Do you think a sociologist should study society dispassionately or get involved…apply what they know to reforming society…or applying knowledge to pressing social matters of the day?

How did the authors address this?

Main Theoretical OrientationsFunctionalism: This perspective stresses the maintaining

of social order, building consensus, social order, social integration, social solidarity. Holism/ society as an organism. Social “functions” keep groups and society in equilibrium)

Conflict Theory: Groups compete for scare resources. Alliances are “surface alliances” as underneath is a struggle for power.

Symbolic interactionism: Individuals evaluate their own conduct by comparing themselves to “others” through symbols, associations, labels, etc…(“Verstehen”)

Two Levels of Sociology:

Macrosociology

Microsociology

Macro or micro & why?Tally’s Corner (Elliott Liebow, 1967)

19% of American children live in poverty (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor and Smith, 2009)

National study that conducts research on newest waves of immigrants and how they are adjusting to relocation (five cities)

Examination of global patterns in low-wage work…mobilities of migrant or immigrant workers from one region of the world to another

What is “The Sociological Perspective”?

How would you “define” it?

What did C. Wright Mills mean by it?

“Understanding

human behavior by placing it within its broader social context” (Glossary)

Bourdieu, “cultural capital” in Delaney 284)

Sociology:

Offers perspective; eg: a socio-cultural one

Opens a window onto unfamiliar worlds;Offers a fresh look…

A new vision….of social life.

A place to “observe others”And to question one’s own assumptions

(4)

The Sociological Perspective

Allows us to grasp the connection between history and biography” (CWM)

What does this mean? What did he mean? And is that “old” perspective (1959) or is it relevant for 2015?

“Seldom aware of the intricate connection between patterns of their own lives and the course of world history”

“Men (and women) usually do not define the troubles they endure in terms of historical change and institutional contradiction” (13)

“the Power Elite”

Studies:Micro or Macro?

1. What is the structure of this particular society as a whole?

2. Where does the society stand in human history?

3. What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and in this period? (16)

According to Mill…..Questions for Social Study

Individual and Social Levels of Problems

Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between 'the personal troubles of milieu' and 'the public issues of social structure.' This distinction is an essential tool of the sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work in social science.

Personal troublesSocial issues

Personal problem or social issue?

In these terms, consider unemployment. When, in a city of 100,000, only one is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the individual, his skills and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million people are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. (CWM)

Think about the life problems faced by your family, friends or self.

Are any of them attributable to structural factors as opposed to individual characteristics? (p. 6)

Can you think of any contemporary issues where structural changes and structural factors could be considered an important factor as to what could shape a person’s circumstances? Their behavior? Their “personality”?

Key terms in Mills

“Personal” experiences and issues vs public social “structure”

“Individual” and “social”

(Criticisms of) “Power elite”

Sociological imagination

Peter Berger (1963) and C. Wright Mills (1959)

Peter Berger b. 1929

Main idea?

1. What do you think characterizes Simmel’s “Stranger”? Do you think Simmel employs this term in a conventional way or does this sociological concept present a paradox?

2. What are some of the attributes that Simmel posits as being characteristic of the stranger? How would you summarize the role of the stranger?

Insider/ outsider status

Georg Simmel ‘s “The Stranger”

Simmel discusses the stranger in terms of spatiality and sociality…in

“position as a full-fledged member” …inside the group and outside, and as an insider has to a degree gained the trust and confidence of the group ? Does commitment come into play in the role of the stranger? Why or why not?Can you think of any examples from people you’ve known or have met who took on this role, or perhaps you’ve had this form of relationship in a particular group; anything you would care to share in class?What do you think are some possible interactions between one who is considered a “stranger” & an “insider”? (refer to the text and/or brainstorm a list)

Questions? Comments? Anything to clarify before moving on?

Is there a passage you’d like clarified something that you’d like to better understand? What questions would YOU raise for in-class discussion? Does this essay prompt any questions for you NOT covered, here?

Next class: 6. “Telling the Truth about Lies Damned Lies and Social Statistics” (Joel Best) AND #7 .“Public Sociologies: Contradictions, Dilemmas, Possibilities (Burawoy)

Which essay (who) did you respond to most, and why? (C.W.Mills or Georg Simmel)

Do you think a sociologist should study society dispassionately or get involved…apply what they know to reforming society…or applying knowledge to pressing social matters of the day?

How did the authors address this?

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

“What makes sociology different?”-Functionalist perspective - “Social facts”- Constraint

Works Cited:Berger, Peter. Excerpt. “Sociology as an Individual Pasttime” from Invitation to Sociology. In Readings for Sociology edited by Garth Massey. Sixth edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2009: pp 3-12.Best, Joel. “Telling the Truth about Lies and Damned Statistics” in Readings for Sociology pp: 53-59.Brandt, Allan M. “Racism and Research: The Case of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.” In Readings for Sociology pp: 60-74. Burawoy, Michael. “Public Sociologies: Contradictions, Dilemmas and Possibilities” in Readings for Sociology pp: 27-33.Durkheim, Emile. “What Makes Sociology Different”? In Readings for Sociology pp: 19-26. Henslin, James M.”The Sociological Perspective.” In Essentials of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. Seventh Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2006.

Hughes, Michael and Carolyn J, Kroehler. Sociology: The Core. 10th edition.McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Mills, C. Wright Mills. In Readings for Sociology pp: 13-18.

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