Introduction to Sociology Revision for Final Exam (III)

1. Introduction to Sociology Revision for Final Exam (III) Phua Kai Lit, PhD ADTP Sunway University

2. Society and Socialization • Gerhard Lenski’s model of the different kinds of society. Technology as an important factor. • Daniel Bell’s model of “post-industrial society” (knowledge production, and provision of services are of prime importance in such societies) • Socialization – learning to become a fully-functioning member of one’s society (learn the norms and values, acquire knowledge and skills necessary to hold a job and support oneself and one’s family). We learn to play roles in life e.g. role of “son”, “student”, “father”, “employee” etc. • Piaget – moral development goes along with age. Children below a certain age cannot distinguish between what is “ethical” and what is “unethical” behavior • The “Nature versus Nurture” debate e.g. genes versus socialization in development of children • Sigmund Freud’s model of human psyche • Carol Gilligan and her views on male-female differences in moral reasoning • Agents of socialization – family, peer group, school, mass media etc. • Resocialization – carried out in the army, prisons, monasteries • Social control – internal (norms, values) versus external (disapproval from others, laws, police)

3. How people interact with each other Informal and unwritten rules of social interaction e.g. greeting each other (such as shaking hands or bowing), using polite language, taking turns while engaging in conversation, eye contact, physical contact etc Erving Goffman and his writings of the “presentation of self in everyday life” and “impression management” Social Interaction

4. Groups and Organizations Primary Group e.g. family (expressive function) Secondary Group e.g. work mates (instrumental function) Peer Group i.e. your friends of similar age in school • In-group versus out-group (the in-group members may view out-group people with suspicion and hostility e.g. “Aryans” versus “Jews” in Nazi Germany) • Reference group – a group which we look up to • Conformity (pressure to conform while in a group) • Formal organizations – organizations bound by rules and regulations, with a formal structure & official positions • Max Weber’s ideal type image of “bureaucracy”

5. Non-material culture (intangible e.g. religious beliefs) versus material culture (physical objects e.g. clothes) Mainstream culture (prevailing norms, values, beliefs) Sub-culture: can be significantly different from the dominant culture A subculture is a culture within a broader mainstream culture, with its own separate values, practices, and beliefs Examples: teenage sub-culture e.g. “otaku” in Japan; criminal gangs; religious groups that reject mainstream values Culture shock (feel disoriented when you experience another culture with very different norms, values, beliefs and everyday behavior) Ethnocentrism versus cultural relativism Cultural imperialism (one culture tries to impose its values on another culture) Culture

6. Human sexual behavior in its various forms and expressions These can range from socially acceptable forms (“sexual norms”) to socially sanctioned forms (sexual deviance or sexual “perversions”) Compulsory heterosexuality versus sexualities (homosxual, bisexual, trans-sexual, “pan sexual”) Sexuality

7. Deviance • Not conforming to the prevailing norms and values of the society one is living in Albert Cohen – status frustration and reaction formation in lower class boys is the cause of sub-culture of delinquency Walter Miller – lower class boys become delinquent because they are influenced by deviant subcultures • Robert K. Merton – Strain Theory: Strain occurs when there is a big gap between goals (American Dream) and one’s current situation. Possible reactions include 1) Conformity 2) Innovation (including crime) 3) Ritualism 4) Retreatism 5) Rebellion • Labeling Theory: Deviance becomes amplified and eventually becomes part of the person’s self-identity (through being labeled “deviant” by others)

8. Inequality in distribution of power, prestige, wealth Affects “life chances” of individual persons Ascribed position (born into it) versus achieved position (you achieve it through your own efforts) Social mobility: intra-generational versus inter-generational Davis-Moore hypothesis – important jobs should be better-paying. This will result in inequality in society. This is good because people will be motivated/influenced to work hard to get the best jobs. Marginalization – people on the margins of society e.g. drug addicts, the homeless, long term unemployed Social Stratification

9. Global Stratification: Modernization Theory • Modernization – there must be modern thinking, modern values in order for poor countries to have economic development • Modernization theory proponents actually claim that traditional values hold back progress • “Need for achievement” (McClelland) is important • Modern institutions e.g. modern education system (to teach modern values) are also needed

10. Dependency Theory • Poor countries are backward because they are dependent on and become exploited by rich countries • Unequal exchange – when poor countries trade agricultural products for industrial products from rich countries. Unfavorable terms of trade. • Andre Gunder Frank – “the development of underdevelopment” e.g. India became underdeveloped after coming under British colonial rule

11. World-Systems Analysis • Wallerstein argued that capitalism first arose in Western Europe and then spread out to envelope the rest of the world. • Today, there exists a "capitalist world-economy" which consists of many competing political units within a global capitalist economic system. The nations of the world are divided into the core, semi-periphery and the periphery. The core nations such as USA, Japan, Germany etc. dominate the system at the expense of the semi-periphery and periphery. The periphery are the poor and weak nations of the Third World while the semi-periphery consists of nations which have both the characteristics of the core and the periphery. • Core countries focus on higher skill, capital-intensive production, and the rest of the world focuses on low-skill, labor-intensive production and extraction of raw materials. This constantly reinforces the dominance of the core countries. • Wallerstein argues that nations can rise (South Korea) or fall (Argentina) in the world-system.

12. Marxist Theories of Imperialism Lenin – imperialism (Western countries colonizing the rest of the world) is the highest stage of capitalism. Revolution by workers in rich countries is prevented by giving them some of the wealth stolen through imperialism in foreign colonies. • Western countries keep collaborator elites in power in poor countries (military support etc) and this allows the Western countries to continue exploiting the natural resources and labor force of poor countries e.g. workers’ wages are suppressed by force. 12

13. Gender (socially constructed sex roles and identity) versus Sex (biological basis) Gender is socially constructed Patriarchy – male domination of females Sexism – prejudice and discrimination against females Feminism (different kinds of feminism) – liberal, Marxist, radical Reproductive rights i.e. rights of women to control their own bodies, their sexuality and reproductive behavior Essentialism – the view that males and females are “essentially different”. One view is that females are more peaceful and nurturing than males, so the world would be a better place if it is ruled by females! Gender

14. Race and Ethnic Relations Social construction of reality – Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. They argued that there are two levels of reality – the objective (the real world) and the subjective (the world as a person sees it) Social construction of ethnicity; W.I. Thomas and his theorem • Ethnicity versus “race” • Prejudice (negative views) and discrimination (actual behavior) • Robert K. Merton’s model of prejudice and discrimination • Stereotype i.e. unfavorable label applied indiscriminately to all members of a particular ethnic group (there is no recognition of individual differences) • The “racialized other” i.e. non-whites in USA (African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans) • Institutional racism – rules etc that de facto discriminate against some groups 14

15. Slavery in the USA – one person (usually a white person) can own another person (often a black person). Slaves are considered less than a full human being, and can be bought or sold, or treated as the slave-owner likes. Female slaves often experience forced sex with slave owners, and their babies are sold into slavery. Conquest of Native Americans in the New World after Christopher Columbus – deaths of Native Americans through introduced diseases (e.g. smallpox) and through battles, including deliberate genocides. Race and Ethnic Relations .

16. Individual aging (a person grows older over time) versus population aging (the percent of old people increases in a population over time) Ageism – prejudice and discriination against people because of their age Categories of the elderly i.e. young-old, middle-old, old-old Elder abuse i.e. abusive treatment of the elderly Death and dying – Elisabeth Kuble-Ross’ “stages of dying” Aging

17. Economy/Work • Work: any activity that produces useful goods or services • Career inheritance – inherit job from one’s father • Career socialization e.g. learning to be a doctor • Structural-functionalism and work e.g. Davis-Moore hypothesis • Conflict theory and work e.g. Marxism and exploitation • Changing nature of work – globalization, automation, ideology • Unemployment and underemployment • Formal sector (primary, secondary, tertiary) versus informal sectorof economy • Glass Ceiling – women in the workplace reach a certain level and then they have trouble getting promoted beyond this level • Comparable Worth – the “equal pay for equal work” movement among feminists i.e. women and men should get equal pay for doing the same work 17

18. Definition of Power – ability to get things done your way, in spite of resistance from others Authority – power that is regarded as being legitimate by subordinates Max Weber’s model of authority: Traditional authority; Charismatic authority; Legal-rational authority Elite Theory – Mosca, Pareto, Michels (democracy is fake, there is only replacement of one group of ruling elites by another group) Marxist analysis of power (power arises from ownership and control of the means of production; the State is the “Executive Committee of the Ruling Class”) Politics

19. Family • Nuclear family (father, mother and kids) versus extended family • Different forms of the “family” e.g. single-parent family, blended family, family with two gay partners • Family formation – exogamy (must marry “out”) and endogamy (must marry “in”) • Family dissolution • Socioeconomic issues – division of labor within the family, power relations within the family, economic issues, childcare pressures) • Talcott Parsons view of the family – viewed the traditional family positively • Radical feminists and the family – the family reproduces patriarchy Rules of Descent • Patrilineal descent versus Matrilineal descent Residence • Patrilocal residence versus Matrilocal residence

20. Structural-functionalism: religion exists because it serves various functions for society Durkheim on religion – religion serves to hold society together through its value system Weber on religion – Calvinism helped to pave the way for capitalism in NW Europe Conflict Theory and religion – Marx argued that religion is the “opium of the people” Secularization – decline of religious influence in Europe Religious revivalism – strengthening of religious influence e.g. Islam in Malaysia, the Middle East Religion and politics e.g. Christian Right in the USA New religions (new religions can come into being) Religion

21. Formal education (learning in schools, with fixed curriculum), informal education (learning on the job), nonformal education (e.g. agricultural extension programs in the USA) Structural-functionalism and education: Selects the best people for the most important jobs, promotes citizenship, promotes social mobillity) Conflict Theory and Education: Education system reproduces inequality e.g. working class kids do not do well in school, and end up in working class jobs “Learning to labor” Hidden Curriculum (teaches working class kids to obey orders, teaches middle class kids critical thinking skills) Education

22. Medical Sociology – Sociology in Medicine (applied) versus Sociology of Medicine (theoretical and empirical analyses of medicine and doctors) Disease (objective state of bad health) versus illness (subjective feeling that one is “sick”) Social construction of health – culture-bound illnesses (some illnesses are found in some societies, but not in other societies e.g. eating disorders do not exist in poor countries) Impairment, disability, handicap Medicalization (e.g. alcoholism, bad behavior) and demedicalization (e.g. homosexuality) Social class and health (lower class people tend to have worse health than upper class people) Central issues – availability, cost, quality of medical care Market provision versus state provision (of medical care) ? Medicine

23. Population • Demography – scientific study of population phenomena • Births (fertility), deaths (mortality), migration • Demographic Transition Theory • Population Pyramid – triangular shape in the case of countries with high fertility; more rectangular in the case of low fertility countries • Population Aging • Urbanization – migration of rural people to cities and towns; urban sprawl as cities grow in size 23

24. Collective Movements • Definition of Collective Movement – people united to reach common goals • Reform movement versus revolutionary movements • Violent versus non-violent • Civil Rights – ethnic minorities, feminist, sexual minorities • Working class movements e.g. trade unions, left-wing political parties • Religious revivalism & “new religion” movements • Theory – Ted Gurr (people revolt when they experience high levels of frustration); Barrington Moore (social origins of dictatorship and democracy ); Theda Skocpol (comparative study of revolutions i.e. French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Chinese revolution). Skocpol argued that profound social change only occurs under specific conditions. Resource Mobilization Theory (rational behavior - acquire needed resources, mobilize people to achieve the goals of the collective movement) • Classifications of collective movements (see your textbook) 24

25. What Causes Social Change? Marx – changes in the mode of production; the Class Struggle Max Weber – ideas and social change (religion i.e. Protestant Ethic) • Technology and social change i.e. technological determinism. William Ogburn and “cultural lag” theory. Social Media and social change. • Population composition and social change • Ideas and social change – “democracy”, “equality”, free market capitalism, socialism, religion • Globalization – technology and “space-time compression”, economic ties, sociocultural influences from overseas • Ferdinand Tonnies: gemeinschaft (groups based on feelings of togetherness i.e. a community) versus gesellschaft (groups based on sharing a common instrumental goal i.e. a means for an individual to further his or her own goals, such as a commercial company) 25

26. Thank You