BSocSc : Introduction to sociology
Learner’s diary of Antonina Zhurba
According to the lecture materials, sociology is a science and it studies the phenomena of various chaos in form of face to face interactions to very large social processes such as globalisation. Another definition that is studies human societies, interactions and the processes that preserve and change them, examining the dynamics of constituent parts of societies as institutions, communities, populations, gender or age groups. Another parts of studies: social status or stratification, social movements and social change, societal disorder in the form of crime, deviance and revolution. Sociology is a science plus studying phenomena at various scales.
Distinctive features of sociology as a science:
Sociologist might study themselves and reflect on it from sociological point of view , this is kind of a reflective dimension in a sociological research.
The people studied by sociologists typically have their own preconceptions and interpretations of the social phenomena being studied.
Sociologists’ cultural backgrounds and their social positions may influence their research on social phenomena.
For me, sociology is particularly interesting because it encourages people to look beyond individual experiences and consider the wider circumstances behind them. Growing up in authoritarian state such as Russia made me ponder the topics of personal liberties, democracy, identity formation, feminism, impact of imperialism on societies, colonialism and so on. I have always had a question on my mind which would sound kind of like this: where are the limits of human consciousness, why are people willing to deceive themselves in the name of certain beliefs or ideals, and are we truly capable of thinking for ourselves. I think that sociology truly goes hand in hand with my questions. It teaches people new concepts and things that help to develop new knowledge about societies, it provides historical concepts, increases self-understanding and also teaches people the critical approaches towards changing society.
Lecture notes:
Large scale historical processes that influenced the emergence of sociology
Scientific revolution and enlightenment philosophy (-1500-1700)
Development of experimental method (natural scientists began to conduct experiments)
Mathematization of natural sciences (math to describe natural phenomena)
Enlightenment philosophy emphasised the role of reason and knowledge in society and gave rise to concept of human rights
Industrial Revolution (late 18th century)
Human labour was replaced by machines
French Revolution (1789)
Aim was to replace ancient regime (absolute monarchy, feudal relations and privileges of the estates) with a more egalitarian and democratic system of government in France
‘Liberty, fraternity, equality’ basic values of French Revolution
Formed a model for many subsequent political revolutions
European imperialism and colonialism (1500-1900)
“Voyages of discovery’ that Europeans made all over the world and subsequent violent colonization and enslavement of indigenous peoples
Imperialism and colonialism were also linked to the development of industrial capitalist economies in EU countries.
Early Sociologists
Applied scientific methods to the systematic and empirical study of industrializing and urbanizing societies in Europe and US from late 19s century onwards
Some of the early sociologists developed evolutionary theories that depicted European industrial societies as the most advanced societies in the world
Many other early sociologists were more aware of the social problems caused by industrialisation, capitalism and rapid urbanization and sought to provide solutions to these issues
Sociologists: Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Georg Simmel, Émile Durkheim, G. H. Mead, Max Weber, W.E.B. Du Bois
Early women sociologists: Harriet Martineau Addams, Marianne Weber
Non white: W.E.B Dubois, Franz Fanon
If we want to defend the idea that sociology is a science then it kind of narrows down also those classics or the potential sociological of classics.
What changed in Sociology?
Expansion of sociology, departments
It’s much easier to do sociological research in democratic society
There’s more inclusion in sociology now
New information, new fields
Social cohesion is a term that refers to the degree of connection, solidarity, cooperation and trust between individuals and groups that exist within a society. Society with a high level of social cohesion is the one in which people feel the sense of belonging, share common values and can freely participate in collective life. I also see a socially cohesive society as the one in which people can coexist safely without having to defend their rights to be themselves, in which people can differ from each other but still live and coexist as they are.
Lecture notes
Social cohesion and Durkheim
The problem of social cohesion: how do social entities, such as groups and societies sustain their relative stability and continuity over time instead of disintegrating?
Social cohesion is interactive bonds, beliefs and emotions that keep groups and societies together.
Closely related sociological concepts:
Social order
Social integration
Émile Durkheim was a Frech sociologist who was interested in understanding of what holds societies together as well as how social order is maintained. He aimed to define sociology as a distinct discipline, separate from biology, psychology, history, and economics. Contributed to the institutionalisation of sociology in French institutions.
Topics of concern:
How eu societies transformed from agricultural and feudal societies to industrial capital societies.
Social consequences of this transformation
Believed that sociological knowledge could be used to implement social reforms aimed at solving social problems
Social facts:
Advocated positivism (Sociology is an empirical science that studies social facts) —> Social facts are social and cultural phenomena that are greater than the sum of the properties of many isolated individuals.
Thought that social facts are sui generis or emergent phenomena and should be treated by external things by sociologists.
Social facts cannot be reduced to the psychological or biological facts that are studied by psychologist and biologists.
Attributed of social facts according to Durkheim:
Empirically accessible by using sociological methods
External to individuals
Coercive of the individual
Explained by other social facts
Ex. Legal codes and languages
Durkheim distinguished between two types of solidarity: mechanical and organic solidarities. He observed that the emergence of early industrial societies in Europe involved the deepening of the division of labour.
Mechanical solidarity – the kind of social connection that is based on shared experiences and collective consciousness (shared values, beliefs, traditions etc). One of the examples of mechanical solidarity is religion in a traditional community. People of these kind of communities share the same religious practices, traditions which lead to also sharing the same expectations of how life should be organized.
Organic solidarity is a contrast to the mechanical one. It is characteristic of modern societies where people do not necessarily share the same beliefs, however they depend on each other based on their societal roles. As societies became more complex, more of new occupations, skills and lifestyles have developed. For example, somebody who is a doctor is dependent on restaurant workers where he gets a lunch, restaurants in their turn depend on transport workers to deliver the food to the facility and so on. These relationships create interdependence which is mandatory no matter what beliefs or lifestyles people share.
Inequality refers to unequal distribution of resources, opportunities, wealth and power among individuals and groups within a society. In. sociology, inequality can be examined at both national and global levels.
One of the important terms for the topic is social stratification. It describes the hierarchical arrangement of individuals and groups in accordance to their access to economic resources, social status and other forms of advantages. Global stratification particularly focuses on differences in wealth and living conditions between countries and populations.
One important aspect of global inequality is the distinction between high-income, middle-income and low-income countries. However, country’s economic classification does not truly reflect on the living conditions of specific individuals. Even in wealthy countries, there are people who experience extreme poverty, unemployment and impossibility to access essential resources like education. If I take example of my country of origin (Russia), there is a great issue of the division between extremely rich people – oligarchy and people who belong to poverty. This gap creates the level of inequality which in its turn makes some people rule the others. The ones who have money can basically dictate the rules of living for the ones who come from poor background. I do think that this kind of inequality has a straightforward connectivity to issues like corruption and dictatorship. People do not choose to be born in low income families and it is tragical that in most cases it defines their future, in countries alike. Based on my conclusion, I can advocate that poverty is one of the main consequences of social and economic inequalities. Sociologists distinguish between relative, extreme and subjective poverties.
Relative poverty – people can afford basic needs but cannot maintain the standards of living that are considered normal within their society. For this kind of poverty I can provide a personal example from childhood – there is a family who has an apartment to live in, food in the fridge and can afford public transportation. However, the family lacks sufficient money for unexpected expenses like having a dinner out in a restaurant, which can be necessary for specific type of social participation.
Extreme poverty in its term, refers to situation when people are unable to afford basic needs like clean water, food, safe housing and healthcare. According to the textbook – World Bank’s historical extreme poverty threshold means living on less than 1.90 US dollars per person per day, while also discussing higher threshold used to recognize people who remain economically vulnerable. These figures illustrate how poverty is measured, although the threshold used by international organizations can change over time.
Subjective poverty concerns how individuals or families evaluate their own financial situation in relation to their needs and expectations.
Another important concept for the topic is the Human Development index (HDI). It measures the development through three dimensions:
Health
Education
Standards of living
Health is assessed through life expectancy, education is measured through specific indicators of educational attainment, standards of living – through gross national income per capita. The index provides a broader understanding of the picture of the development than economic output alone. As I mentioned before, the country may have a high income while still experience significant inequalities in healthcare, education or access to resources. The inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) takes distribution into account by adjusting the HDI according to inequality in these dimensions. Once again, this distinction demonstrates that average national achievements do not necessarily represent the experiences of the entire population.
Sociologists use different theoretical perspectives to explain why inequality exists. The functionalist perspective examines how different parts of society contribute to social order and stability. From this perspective, social institutions perform functions that help society operate. One interesting perspective on inequality comes from functionalism - a sociological perspective that examines how different parts of society contribute to social order and stability. While conducting a small research on the topic, I found out about sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore who argued that social stratification can serve a function by encouraging people to train for positions that require specialized skills and considerable responsibility. For example, a surgeon spends years studying and training. Higher salaries and social prestige can in their turn serve as incentives for people to pursue such demanding careers. However, I want to state that in my personal opinion, I do not believe that inequality benefits a society. Racial and economic discriminations create tensions in a society, prevent individuals from believing in themselves, create mental problems for people, weaken social cohesion. Which is most likely to lead to dysfunctions and lack of stability in a society.
Conflict theory emphasizes competition over sacred resources, power and economic advantages. According to this perspective, inequality is connected to the interests of groups that possess greater control over resources and institutions. These groups attempt to preserve their advantages, while less powerful groups have fewer opportunities to influence social and economic decisions. Here, I would like to provide an example of Open AI. To be honest, I have not yet conducted a proper research on the topic, however based on my knowledge I can state that this is a tool that is already used worldwide, while actually being extremely useful, it creates a great dependence on it. However, it is absolutely clear that it belongs to small group of oligarchs that do not wish to solve problems like world hunger, poverty, lack of clean water and so on. Simply because they could have already done that considering the amounts of their wealth. And here it comes – the wealthy groups will do everything to keep their advantages over humanity. They can, for example, create a tool which in its turn will create a dependence on it, with the goal of becoming richer, whilst leaving no space for people to influence a further technological development or decision making process over how the existing technologies can already be used.
Inequality also connects to race, ethnicity and minority status. The social construction of race means that racial categories and their ‘meanings’ are shaped by historical and social processes rather than representing biological divisions. Throughout history, racial classifications have been used to justify unequal treatment and maintaining existing power structures.
Functionalism focuses on social order and the consequences of racial tension for society
Conflict theory emphasizes inequality of power relations and the interests of dominant groups
Rationalization is a sociological concept associated with Max Weber. He examined how modern societies increasingly organize social life according to efficiency, calculation, predictability and formal rules. Rather than relying on traditions and personal relationships, rationalized institutions tend to use systematic procedures and measurable objectives to achieve specific goals. This process can basically be found in modern businesses, educational institutions, technological systems. The issue with rationalization is that it makes social organization more efficient whilst creating new forms of control and inequalities. Weber’s concept of rationalization is closely connected to bureaucracies. For example, universities use formal admission requirements, assessment criteria and procedures to organize education. Such systems create certain predictability and ‘fair’ convenience of decision making processes. However, bureaucratic procedures tend to become impersonal, particularly when institutions only follow the rules instead of understanding individual circumstances. Another aspect of Weber’s theory is an increasing importance of calculability.
Technology has transformed the way people communicate, work, access information and maintain relationship. From a rationalization perspective, these developments increase the speed of certain processes, convenience and efficiency. However, the growing and in my opinion unstoppable dependence on digitalization also brings inevitable changes to societies and people themselves. People are pressured to remain constantly available and maintain online presence. From biological perspectives, this is absolutely not natural for nervous system and so on. Another personal example can be provided here as well. I myself have grown up with my phone and constant social media presence since I was 10 years old. When I compare myself to the people of older generation, I notice that people who grew up without constant access to technology tend to have less problems related to social cohesion. Obviously, I will not speak for everyone, however I do think that technology makes people much more distant from each other in some physical way while at the same time it can help to express themselves in totally new ways. I find it to be truly artistic to learn how to express yourself using new digital tools, for example, if somebody has a dream that they want to recreate, they can use AI and another technology to show their fantasy to the real world.
Identity formation is a social process through which individuals develop an understanding of themselves, their values, beliefs and position within society. To understand this process it is important to know what is socialization – a lifelong process through which individuals learn how to exist in a society by understanding some norms, values and expectations of a specific society. Identity is not formed independently of the social environment, instead it develops through interaction with families, peers, school, media and other social groups.
One of sociological perspectives on identity formation comes from George Herbert Mead, who argued that the self develops through social interaction. According to Mead, individuals learn to understand themselves by taking perspectives of other people and gradually developing the recognition of how their behavior is interpreted by people around them. If we take an example of children, there is a preparatory stage where they imitate the behavior of others without fully understanding the meaning behind their actions. During the play stage, the start to try particular roles, such as being a parent, teacher or doctor. During the game stage, children learn to understand several roles simultaneously and recognize the expectations of the group. These stages is an illustration of how social interaction contributes to development of self awareness and social competence. Personally, I believe that it is highly important to carry that play stage throughout your whole life because adults tend to forget that they can change their ways of living, learn something that is completely new and be anyone that they would like to potentially become.
There are different agents of socialization which are important for that process. Family is generally the first and one of the most influential agents because this is the first environment where a child learns how to speak, behave etc. Socialization also reproduces social inequalities because each family comes from different economic conditions, cultural values and educational opportunities.
A particularly shocking example of the importance of socialization is the case of Oxana Malaya, a Ukrainian woman who was neglected by her parents and spent her early childhood years living among dogs. She adopted a dog-like behaviors including walking on four legs and barking. Her case illustrates the necessity of a normal social environment for a child to grow up into a properly functioning adult. At the same time, this example shows that humans are not just the products of their surroundings. It shows the complex relationship between social experience, human development and the formation of the self.