SOC 115- Introduction to Sociology

SOC 115-Introduction to

Sociology

Assistant Prof.Dr. Hiba Ghanem

E-mail: [email protected]

Basic outline

• Main Course Book :

Grading

• Midterm / 50

• Final Exam /50

What is sociology?

• “Sociology is the scientific study of human life, socialgroups, whole societies and the human world assuch”.

• Its subject-matter is our own behavior as socialbeings.

What is sociology?

•The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals on the street to the investigation of international relations and global forms of terrorism.

Drinking ‘Cay’ :What could we say, from a sociological point of view, about such a behavior?

• Symbolic Value: ‘It has symbolic value as part of our day-to-day social activities. Two people who arrange to meet for[tea] are probably more interested in getting together andchatting than in what they actually drink.’

• Set of economic and social relationships: ‘an individual whodrinks a cup of [tea] is caught up in a complicated set ofsocial and economic relationships stretching right acrossthe world.’

Sociological Imagination

•We conclude that ‘many events which appear toconcern only the individual actually reflect largerissues’.


•Doing sociological work depends on what the Americanauthor C. Wright Mills, in a famous phrase, called thesociological imagination (Mills 1970). It is the ability tobreak free from the immediacy of personalcircumstances and put things into a wider context.


•We are shaped by

•structures,

• institutions,

• the environment,

• individuals and

•groups.

• The daily experiences and existence of every human being is

in relation with the certain moment and certain map/ location in which he/she lives.

Sociological Imagination : an Example

Take the experience of people in Avcılar, İstanbul, Turkey in2020. Their income would be related with the economiccondition of Turkey. They will be educated according to therecent education system in Turkey. They will dress, socialize,eat, entertain themselves according to the present fashion /tendencies in Turkey.


But the question becomes:

Is the present condition of Turkey enough to explain the economic situation; the lifestyle in Avcılar, İstanbul?


•We said earlier that the daily experiences andexistence of every human being is in relation with thecertain moment and certain map/ location in whichhe/she lives.

• That is true; however, this is not enough.• Their life is also determined by a greater geography

and time. Their daily existence is influenced byhistorically longer and geographically larger processes.

• Example:


• People who live in Avcılar, İstanbul and Turkey are living also intoday’s world. Both the world and Turkey/ Istanbul have a longhistory. Take the education system as an example. Oureducation system is developed according to the moderneducation system. The roots lie back in the Enlightenment era(18th century).

Sociological Imagination:

• During the Enlightenment, the idea that science and educationis the key for progress was born. Even before theEnlightenment, there were universities. The first university (inthe modern sense) was established in Italy in 1088 (TheUniversity of Bologna). So, Universities were developed duringthat time, and the education system has been changing day byday.

• Therefore a student in Avcılar, İstanbul in 2020 also lives in ahistorically developed institution whose roots go back to the11th century and whose idea of education is still related with the18th century.


Lets take a simpler example:

Assume that a couple gets married in Avcılar.

• The fashion of marriage would be related to the present fashion;however, the marriage itself belongs to a long tradition ofmarriages both in Turkey which gives it its local aspects as wellas those that take place around the world.

• Even though marriage is a very old custom in all the world, it isstill one of the most important ways that explain ourrelationships with our selected partners.


• Therefore:

Neither our lives nor the lives of people around us, nor thefunctioning of systems or institutions (education, marriage) areindependent from the world history and the present world.

Lets experiment some more…

Imagine a very distant house in some remote island. The house and the household members are away from other houses in the town.

Can its household members be free?

The Case of the Distant House

Even these people cannot live a life independent from:

• The past and present historyof the world

•The structure of the family in the country they live in,

•The development of cities and towns in the world and in their country,

•The labor market

•The economic structure…

In this case, what would be the role of the sociologist?

Sociological Imagination: Role of the Sociologist

• The role of he sociologist is to relate the individuals in that distant house with:

1. First; the social circles, society, economic andcultural factors

2. Then the historical development of the presentcondition and the similar cases in the world.


• The term ‘sociological imagination’ has been proposed by the well known sociologist Wright Mills.

• The concept of sociological imagination means that weneed to take into account the relations between ourbiography and social and historical facts and developments.

• Sociological imagination helps us to see that many eventswhich seem to be individual problems/conditions are infact taking place in a larger net of relations.


• ‘Sociological imagination’ refers to a perspective that

understands the relation between individuals and

society without neglecting the effects of time and

history.

But what do we gain from thinking in terms of the‘sociological imagination’? What are the benefits ofsuch a concept?

Benefits of thinking in terms of the ‘sociological imagination’:

• To develop a better understanding of the life of individualsand the history of society,

• To connect the present time with the past,


•To be able to look at historical periods andthe facts of these periods from the aspect of the experiences of many different humangroups and the relations between theseexperiences.


• To understand the personal life and evaluate the future goals,

• To be aware of the historical period we live in and the condition of other people living with us,

Benefits of thinking in terms of thesociological imagination

•To understand whether the problems areindividual problems or structural problems.

And what do we gain from studying sociologyas a field?

Benefits of sociology:

• Individuals who are educated in sociology learn to think critically about social life and question it.

• The sociological perspective increases our awareness of our limitations and opportunities.

• The sociological perspective enables people to go and thinkbeyond the daily perspective.

The Benefits of Sociology:

•Sociology enables us to look at the social and culturalrelations in a comparative and historical way. We candiscover different human conditions that we have neverrealized before.


•Sociological education increases ourknowledge of other societies andinstitutions and enhances common sense(instead of polarization).


•Studying sociology enables a comprehensivesearch for solutions for societal problems.

Which of the below options would not be a subject that sociology deals with?

A) Relations between people who share a certain culture and certain social institutions

B) Behaviors shaped by affirmed meanings and directed to fulfil those meanings

C) The sum of all the roles played by the individual

D) The process of interaction through which individuals learn the attitudes, information and abilities (know-how) and briefly the culture of that society

E) All behaviors of the individuals

Resources

• Macionis, John J. Sociology. 14th ed. Toronto: Pearson,2012.

• Giddens, Anthony. Sociology. 6th ed. UK: Polity Press, 2009.

SOC 115- Introduction to Sociology

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