Sociological Theory

Sociological Theory

1. functionalism

   • integration of individuals
     • integrated into social system
     • PARSON
       • mechanism
         • socialisation
         • social control
   • value consensus and social order
     • PARSON
       • social order=shared cultures/central value system
       • value consensus glue holds society together
   • society as a system
     • PARSON
       • society=biological organism
       • organic analogy
       • 3 similiarties
         • system
           • fit together in a fixed way
         • system needs
           • basic needs must be met f its to survive
         • functions
           • economy helps maintain social system by meeting needs
   • part of the social system
     • PARSON
       • society= building blocks
       • individual actions governed by norms
         • norms clustered= status-roles
       • status-roles= institution
         • related institution= sub-system
       • sub-system= social system
   • system needs
     • PARSONS
       • basic needs
         • Adaptaion
           • social system meets material needs
         • Goal attainment
           • society set goal&allocate resources to achieve
         • Integration
           • integrated to pursue shared goals
         • Latency
           • maintain society over time
   • types of society
     • PARSONS
       • traditional
         • students
           • are ascribed
         • immediate gratification
       • modern
         • deferred gratification
         • students achieve own goals= individual
   • social change
     • PARSONS
       • change is gradual
         • evolutionary process
         • occur through dynamic equilibrium

2. Marxism

   • Marx ideas
     • his theory 'scientific socialism'
     • Historical materialism
       • materialism
         • humans have to work to achieve materialism
         • means of production
       • social relations of production
         • humans cooperate with each other to meet their needs
         • led to division between classes
       • mode of production forms economic base
         • determines the superstructure
           • education
           • family
           • mass media
           • Politics
           • religion
     • class society&exploitation
       • no class/expolitation
         • primitive communism
       • class owns the means
         • controls the surplus benefits
       • class societies
         • ancient
           • exploitation of slaves
         • feudal
           • exploitation of serfs
         • capitalist
           • exploitation of free wage labourers
     • capitalism
       • division of labour
       • concentrated power
         • competition creates concentration
         • multinational companies
         • low wage = immiseration
       • Proletariat free
         • sell labour
         • difference in surplus
         • unequal
       • 2 warring camps
         • tech=deskilled workers
         • class polarisation
     • class consciousness
       • cause w/c develop consciousness
     • idelology
       • u/p control mental production
       • foster false consciousness
       • sustain class inequality
     • alienation
       • loss of control over due to separation
       • creates unskilled labourer
     • state,revolution&communism
       • state protects class owners
       • revolution= classless communist
     • critisims
       • class
         • simplistic view of inequality
         • class polarisation not occurred
       • economic determinism
         • revolution not come true
         • base-superstructure model criticised for economic dterminism

3. Feminist theories

   • liberal feminist
     • can achieve gender equality
     • cultural change
     • sex gender
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4. Action theories

   • WEBER social action
     • types of action
       • instrumentally rational action
         • actors calculate efficient way to achieve given goal
       • value-rational action
         • action towards a goal as desirable/own sake
           • no way of calculating
       • traditional action
         • customary/habitual action
           • 'we have always done it'
       • affectual action
         • expresses emotion
           • important religious/political movements
     • two levels
       • level of cause
         • objective structural factors that shape people's behaviour
         • the protestant reformation introduced new belief system
       • level of meaning
         • understanding subjective meanings
         • work took on religious meaning
     • evaluation
       • SCHUTZ
         • too individualistic
         • don't explain shared nature of meanings
       • difficult to apply
   • symbolic interactionism
     • MEADE
       • symbol vs instincts
         • behaviour is not shaped by instinct
         • meaning to things that are significant to us
         • create and live in a world of meaning
           • attach symbols to the world
             • symbols have variety of meaning
         • interpret meaning of things before we know how to respond to the stimulus
       • taking the role of the other
         • interpret other people's meaning by taking the role of other
         • put ourselves into others shoes
           • ability to develop through social interaction
     • BLUMER
       • 3 principles
         • meanings arise from interaction process
         • actions are based on meaning we give to situation
         • meanings we give to situation due to interpretive procedure used
       • our action is partly predictable/ we internalise expectation from others
     • Labelling theory
       • interactionist concept
       • definition of situation
         • THOMAS
           • if we believe something is true/it will effect how we act
       • looking glass self
         • COOLEY
         • self concept arises from ability to take role of others
         • self-fulfilling prophecy occurs/we become what others see us as
       • career
         • mental patient labelled by psychiatrist
         • hard to reintergrate into society
         • criticism
           • too deterministic
     • GOFFMAN'S dramaturgical model
       • actors acting out scripts
       • impression management
         • control impression our preformane
         • adjust performance to present a convincing image
         • many techniques for impression
           • language
           • tone
           • gesture
       • different settings of interaction:we act differently in different things
       • role
         • gap between our real self and our roles
         • we are not the roles we play
         • role loosely scripted by society
     • criticism
       • not all actions are meaningful
       • cannot explain the consistent patterns we observe in behaviour
       • ignores wider social structures
   • Phenomenology
     • SCHUTZ
       • typification
         • categories and concept used no unique to ourselves
         • meaning given to experiences varies to social context
         • stabilise & clarify when speaking the same language
           • possible to communicate
         • without shared typification= social order would be impossible
         • shared typification knowledge that we use to make sense of experience
       • members of society have shared' life world'
       • Natural attitude
         • society appears as a real/objective thing
         • we assume the unknown and unseen individuals
         • adopt to natural attitude
           • assumes the social world is solid
     • HUSSERL
       • world makes sense because we impose meaning & order
       • knowledge about the world
         • through mental acts of categorising meanings
     • criticism
       • BERGER&LUCKMANN
         • reject that society is merely an inter-subjective reality
   • Ethnomethodology
     • Garfinkel
       • how is social order achieved
       • rejects parsons reasons
       • social order is an accomplishment
         • construct using common sense
     • indexicality
       • nothing has a fixed meaning
       • threat to social order
         • meaning is unclear
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     • reflexivity
       • make us behave as if meaning are cleat&obvious
       • use common sense knowledge/ interaction to construct sense of meaning
       • stop indexicality
     • suicide and reflexivity
       • coroners make sense by selecting facts
       • impose order by seeking patterns
         • patterns are social construct
     • criticism
       • ignores wider structure of power and inequality affect meaning
       • denies existence of wider society
       • no reason to accept EM views
         • identify that patterns and producing explanation are fiction
   • structure and action
     • GIDDENS: structuration theory
       • duality of structure
       • structure&action cannot exist without each other
       • through actions produce and reproduce structures
       • structures are what make actions
       • reproduction of structure through agency
         • 2 elements
           • rules
             • norms, laws that govern/affect action
           • resources
             • economic&power over other
         • an reproduce/change through human actions
         • obeying law reproduce structure
           • inventing new technology
       • criticism
         • Craib
           • isn't a theory doesn't explain what actually happens in society
           • Fails to unite structure with action and apply it on a large scale
       • language would not exist if no one used it
       • change of structures through agency
         • reflexively monitor
           • our own action
           • late modern society individuals become more reflexive
         • actions might change the world
           • calvinist << created capitalism

5. Globalisation, modernity&postmodernity

   • globalisation
     • technological changes
       • echange info globally= risk society
     • economic
       • greater interconnectedness
       • becoming more weightless
     • political changes
       • globalisation power of nation-state
     • change in culutre/identity
       • harder for cultures to exist in insolation
       • 'global culture'
   • modern society
     • nation state
     • capitalism
       • economy modern societies
     • individualism
   • postmodernism

6. sociology&science

7. objectivity&values in sociology

8. sociology&social policy