PowerPoint Presentation
The Sociological ImaginationVariety of societies in history
(imagine you were born in the year 1700)in todays world (imagine
you were living in Sierra Leone or in UK)in a world that is yet to
come (just imagine)
Social forces that organise society in very different
ways.1700s: small communities; you would not have travelled
anywhere except perhaps to a nearby town.Today: shopping centers,
cars, telephones, McDonalds, mobiles, planes, Iphones,
IpadsTomorrow: trends; new technologies, babies in test tubes,
designer babies, genetic engineering, new technologies implanted in
our bodies 1What is sociology?Systematic study of human
societies.Understanding society in a disciplined way.A form of
consciousness, a way of thinking, a critical way of seeing the
social. (=> political => a martial art (P. Bourdieu))The
study of socius (companionship), bases of social membership.The
analysis of the structure of social relationships constituted by
social interactions. It asks how does it matter that humans live
always (and cannot but live) in the company of, in communication
with, in an exchange with, in competition with, in cooperation with
other human beings?
The science of the origin, history and constitution of human
society
=> Societies change => Meanings change
Theory and practicePeter Berger:*Seeing the general in the
particular (categories of people => shape our particular life
experiences)
*Seeing the strange in the familiar (things are not what they
seem; defamiliarise the familiar (Z.Bauman)
Differences / ranking in the hierarchy: class / ethnicity /
gender;Society showing the patterns and processes shaping what we
do
Teen Facebook party goes viral in Netherlands (22 Sep 2012)
The teenage girl forgot to mark an invitation on social
networking site Facebook as privateRiot police have been called
into a sleepy Dutch town to contain 4.000 party-goers after a
teenager's birthday party invitewent viral."She posted the
invitation on Facebook and sent it to friends, who then sent it to
other friends and soon it spread like wildfire across the
Internet.Police were pelted with stones, bottles, bicycles, and
potted plants when they tried to enter the house in Haren(with a
population of 18,000).A scene of "chaos: several people had been
injured, two seriously.Cars and doorways were damaged by objects
thrown at police blocking the street where the girl
lives.Previously "Project X" parties have run riot in different
parts of the world including Germany, Australia and especially the
US. 5Society as a prisonWalls of our imprisonment:CulturesSocial
divisionsEconomiesPower structuresFamiliesReligionSciences and
technologiesOr the capitals for our freedom?Society is in
workIndividuality in social contextSociological perspective
challenges common sense: human behaviour is not as individualistic
as we may think.Ex: suicide (very personal?)Socially shaped by
society;Peoples degree of social integration strong or weak social
ties.The sociological perspective in everyday lifeSociology and
social marginalitySociological thinking social outsiders Being
aware of social patterns.
- Sociological perspective: step back a bit of familiar routines
=> new awareness and curiosity.- Questioning of all that is
taken for granted (margins, boundaries, etc.).The experience of a
Turkish worker in Germany (or a Pakistani in England) who learns
how much race affects his personal life.Or an Armenian in Turkey
Women, gays, disabled people We are all experiencing social
marginality from time to time But not in acute ways.8 Sociology and
social crisisPeriods of massive social change or social crisis
=> stimulating sociological vision.(I cant find a job or The
economy has collapsed I cant find a job ?)
-Sociological thinking often fosters social change=> learning
about the operation of the system, wishing to change it
Benefits of sociological perspective
1) A form of consciousness challenging familiar understanding of
the order (ourselves and others)=> critically assessing the
truth of commonly held assumptions.Asking questionsModernity:
freedom?Religion: backwardness?
2) Enables us to assess both the opportunities and constraints
that characterise our lives.=> the pattern and order;
understanding the game!=> being effective players!
3) Empowers us to be active participants in the society (not
accepting the status quo)=> no one particular political
orientation; but a critical tendency..
4) Helps us to recognise human differences and human suffering
and to confront the challenges of living in a diverse world.
=> our natural livings / different life styles / ways of
life=> poverty, illness, war, exclusion, prejudices,
exploitation Problems with the sociological perspective 1)
Sociology is part of changing world=> a moving object: a finding
of today may soon be wrong tomorrow.2) Sociologists are part of
what they study=> danger of ethnocentrism3) Sociological
knowledge becomes a part of society
Reflexivity: sociology and society; society thinking about
itself Social change and the origins of sociologySocial events:
products of powerful social forces (complex, only partly
predictable)The term sociology: 1838, Auguste ComteProduct of
modern societies, EnlightenmentReason; a way of organising
knowledge,Empiricism; senses,Science; experimental,Universalism;
general laws,Progress,Individualism,Toleration,Freedom,Uniformity
of Human Nature,Secularism
The age of Reason and ProgressR. Descartes (1596-1650) I. Kant
(1724-1804)Cogito ergo sumRationalism and empiricism
A. Smith, D. Hume, Diderot, Voltaire, J-J. Rousseau, T. Hobbes,
J. LockeThe social contract general willLeviathan absolute
authority or chaosLaw Science and sociologyBefore sociology: ideal
society (philosophical issue)Pioneers: A. Comte, E. Durkheim, F.
Tnnies=> how society could be improved=> understanding how
society operates
Comte: scientific approach (from Copernicus, Galileo,
Newton):-medieval period: theological stage (religious),
-Renaissance: metaphysical stage (natural)-the final: scientific
stage..
Positivism: society conforms to invariable laws (as nature)
But todays perception: human behaviour is more complex than
natural phenomena (maybe the universe is much more chaotic!)Change,
transformation and sociologyMODERNITYEurope: Massive social
transformation => sociology2 revolutions: 1789, 18th century
industrial revolutionScientific discoveries, technological
advances,
A new industrial economy: the growth of modern capitalism
(larges machines, anonymous, industrial workforce, change in the
production)The growth of cities; factories attracting people
(housing, social problems, poverty, crime, social crisis) => New
classes: bourgeoisie, working class 3) Political change (changes in
political thought; tradition under attack)Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
(17th), Adam Smith (18th), American Declaration of Independence,
Tocqueville (19th)From loyalty to the rulers => to the idea that
society is the product of individual self-interest
4) The loss of communityTnnies (19th): Progressive loss of
GemeinschaftIndustrial revolution undermining the social fabric of
family and tradition => individualism, businesslike emphasis on
facts and efficiency, rootless, impersonal, self-interest =>
Gesellschaft Sociologists: order, movement and the the futureFrench
revolution / Industrial revolutionExciting and dangerous times
Radically different prescriptions for the problems of modernity-A.
Comte, F. Tnnies => fear of uprooting => conservative
approach => to shore up the family and traditional morality,-K.
Marx => great wealth in the hand of a small elite, others facing
hunger and misery..Common conviction: society rests on much more
than individual choice.
Going faster? Returning to the past?Developing new forms of
social organisation? combining modern rationality with traditional
collective responsibility?Today; continuous changeDigital
technologies, new media, reproductive technologies, global
interconnectionsTraditional families, religions, patterns of work
and government => rethoughtDivisions of class, ethnicity, age,
genderNew world conflicts over religion and culturePostmodern /
Information societyPivotal social forces: social class, culture,
race, ethnicity, the economy and the family (ways in which
individuals are guided, united and
divided)InterdisciplinarityHistory, philosophy, anthropology,
literature, or more recently, womens/feminist studies, media/film
studies, cultural studies, cyber studies, ethnic studies, human
rights, queer studies
Sociology is not some dry enterprise detached from life (C.W.
Mills)The sociological imagination: grasping history and biography
and their relations in the social structure.