SOCIO 101 REVIEWER
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I. Introduction to Sociology
Peter Berger
- Austrian-born American sociologist
- wrote books on the sociological theory, the sociology
of religion, and Third World development
- 88 years old
Bakit natin pinag-aaralan ang Sociology?
- Patuloy natin pinag-aaralan ang lipunan dahil parte
tayo nito at kabilang tayo dito
Sociology
- “Sociology is more like a passion…., an intro to
sociology is therefore an invitation to a very special
kind of passion
- Scientific study of human life, social groups, whole
societies and the human world as such
o Man > groups > societies (from micro to
macro)
- Distinguished through viewing human actions as
elements of wider figurations; that is of a non-random
assembly of actors locked together in a web of mutual
dependency
o Lahat tayo ay parte ng lipunan. Bawat action
natin ay makaaapekto dito.
- Reveals what is hidden
Four Motifs of Sociological Consciousness
Debunking – “…the sociologist will be driven time and again by
the very logic of his discipline to debunk the social system he is
studying.”
- We can question what is already there; we can debunk
and show evidence; but stay theoretically informed
and empirically driven
Unrespectability – “…closely related to debunking… - its
fascination with the unrespectable view of society.”
- We can be unrespectable and debunk the accepted
views (e.g. two-gender society, dapat maputi tayo)
- We should first be knowledgeable of the
respectable/accepted view then we can give the
unrespectable alternative
- Exposing any taken for granted belief or position
Relativizing – “…sociology is so much in tune with the temper
of the modern era precisely because it represents the
consciousness of a world in which values have been so radically
relativized.”
- Realization that an individual’s or a group’s
views/values/ways are NOT absolute, are NOT
“truth/normality” itself
Ideas change when their situations or conditions
change
Cosmopolitan – “…much less far-reaching in its implications.”
- The foundation of other motifs
- Openness to other ways of thinking and acting without
prejudice with empathy
- A broad, open, and emancipated view on human life
- We all have to be open-minded in looking at truths
II. Introduction to the Sociological Imagination
Charles Wright Mills
- Social scientists should not merely be disinterested
observers engaged in research and theory but assert
their social responsibility
- The Promise
- “neither the life of the individual and the history of the
society can be understood without understanding
both.”
o We need to develop a way of understanding
the interaction between individual lives and
society
o Hence, the birth of the Sociological
Imagination: the quality of mind which allows
one to grasp ‘history and biography and the
relations between the two within society
o >> in trying to find a solution to a problem,
wider social issues related to the problem
should be tackled and recognized
The Promise
- Personal troubles of milieu
- Public issues of social structure
*May sociological imagination if Nakita ang
interconnectedness
*To formulate issues and troubles, we must ask what values
are cherished yet threatened, and what values are cherished
and supported, by the characterizing trend of our period.
*The sociological imagination is becoming, I believe, the major
common denominator of our cultural life and its signal feature.
III. Development of Sociological Theory
George Ritzer
Ibn Khaldun – “Blindly following ancient customs and traditions
doesn’t mean that the dead are alive but that the living are
dead.” – hindi maganda na we just follow everything
Social Forces in the Development of sociological theory
 Political revolutions
 Industrial revolution and the rise of Capitalism
 Rise of socialism
 Feminism
 Urbanization
 o Massive migration from rural areas to urban - Growing new literature on women that makes visible
areas all aspects of women’s unconsidered lives and
o Rise of the Chicago school experiences
 Religious change Structuralism and Poststructuralism
 Growth of science *PostStructuralism – precursor to Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Intellectual Forces and the Rise of Sociological Theory Synthesizers
 The Enlightenment - Micro-macro integration
 The Conservative Reaction to the Enlightenment - Structure-agency integration
 Development of French Sociology - Theoretical synthesis
o Mix of conservatism and radicalism – Claud
Henri Saint-Simon IV. Karl Heinrich Marx
o Auguste Comte
 coined the term sociology (from social Karl Marx – wrote Communist Manifesto with Engels; got
physics and positivism) evicted from Paris and Brussels because of his revolutionary
 Law of Three Stages (Theological ideas and views; financially supported by Engels
Stage, Metaphysical Stage, Scientific
Stage/Positive Stage) Capitalism – a historically specific way of organizing commodity
 Emile Durkheim of production
 Development of German Sociology - Mode of production based on unequal private
o Karl Marx ownership on the means of production
o Max Weber - Profit ang focus
o George Simmel Bourgeoisie – they own and monopolize the means of
 British Sociology production; sa kanila galling ang puhunan/capital; nakakagain
 Italian Sociology sila ng profit mula sa labor ng mga employees
Proletariat – wage-workers who work hard to meet production
The Chicago School demands
- Department of sociology was founded by Albion Small *The proletariat work to convert raw materials to commodities
- American Sociological Society was changed to which are sold by capitalists for profit – these profit are then
American Sociological Association in 1905 used to expand their ownership of private property while the
workers continue to work for minimal wages – kaya sabi ni
Women in early Sociology: Marx, ang problem ay palaki na nang palaki ang gap between
(Jane Addams, Charlotte Gilman, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida Wells- the two classes.
Barnett, Marianne Weber, Beatrice Potter Webb) *He predicted today’s global economy: expansion of capitalism
- Emphasis on women’s lives, works, and experiences create capitalist societies whose progress is defined by the
(these are as important as men’s) extent of their bourgeoise capitalist culture – ‘yung kakayahan
- Awareness that they spoke from their own standpoint nilang mameet ang demands ng capitalism sa pagproduce ng
- Purpose of sociology and sociological theory is social commodities for local and global consumption
reform *Marx’s theory is often called historical materialism (because
- Claims that the chief problem for development in their he focuses on the economic conditions in society and how
time is inequality these determine social structures and social relations
*He predicted that the expansion of capitalism with its
Contemporary Sociological Theory endless pursuit for profit will lead to its own downfall –
Structural Functionalism – (SEARCH!) capitalism produces economic crises that threaten its very
Marxian Sociology (Frankfurt School) – (SEARCH!) foundation – with these crises, the working class would
Symbolic Interactionism develop a class consciousness – this would propel wage-
- the sociology of everyday life workers to revolt against capitalism – to overthrow it and usher
- Exchange theory a new society
- Dramaturgy *despite the many crises created by capitalism, it has
- Phenonmenological Sociology also developed ways on how to prevent its predicted downfall
- Ethnomethodology *he predicted that an expansion of capital would also
Feminist Sociology increase the need for laborers and that with a large population
of laborers which he also predicted to remain poor didn’t occur
because of technological advancements and whilst there is still
inequality and a widening gap between the rich and the poor,
the working class are still relatively well-off.
Dialectical Materialism
Dialectic – dialegein (to argue)
- This method follows a pendulum-like thesis-
antethesis-synthesis form
- Means that historical change is the result of conscious
human activity emerging from and acting on the
socially experienced contradictions of historically
conditioned economic forces and relations in order to
produce a new form of social existence.
Communism
- Believed by Marx to emerge followed by the
overthrow of capitalism
- The abolition of private property, profit, division of
labor and social classes
- Requires everyone to contribute labor to supply
everyone’s needs
- There would be equality between people (no rich, no
poor)
- Labor would no longer be converted into capital, rent,
money, social power capable of being monopolized
- No one class would rule and control the means of
production
- Leads to a universal human emancipation
Human Nature
*Our ability to produce an economic and social existence
(food, tools, entertainment) is what distinguishes us as
humans
*We live with nature, we act on nature, we produce and
continually reproduce our means of economic life
*we create and recreate a mode of existence that is
compatible to us
*Marx is not against work – he rather thinks that it is integral
to being human; however, he is against division of labor
Capitalism as a distinctive social form
*Capitalists only employ wage workers and make use of them
up to the extent that they are useful in the production of
profit. Once they have nothing to contribute, capitalists can
easily dismiss them
*they only care about wage workers as long as they have
their use-value
*Use-value is the extent to which wage workers can be put to
use to produce something useful that would result in capital
and profit
*Wage-workers are not actually free, their labor power is a
commodity bought and sold for other people’s profit
Surplus Value
- Surplus value = use value – exchange values (wages)
- Since capitalism is the accumulation of profit, profit
comes from the extra value or the surplus value
created by the wage-workers’ labor
- Wage-workers are paid less than their use-value
- Wages are determined through the actual cost of
production
- The more productive the workers are, the more
capitalists earn profit
Division of Labor – dominant feature of a capitalist society
- Marx argues that individuals have the ability to do a
lot of things or develop lots of hobbies and skills but
division of labor leads to specialization where
individuals are reduced to a specialized activity which
he has the most use-value in the production of capital
and hinders them to be more productive in many
different fields.
*commodification of labor power (workers are reduced to
commodities) produces alienation
Alienated Labor - result of the economic and social
organization of capitalism, of capitalism’s production
objectives and processes such as the division of labor
4 Kinds of Alienation
 Alienation of workers from products they produce –
estranged from the products they produce, they are
not his/her own
 Alienation of workers in the production process –
labor is coerced and performed for capitalists
 Alienation of workers from their species being –
production process reduces humans to objects
 Alienation of individuals from one another – work
becomes the individual’s life rather than the means by
which individuals enjoy their life with others; it
becomes demanding
Ideology – everyday ideas that permeate the society;
determined by the ruling economic class
Ideology of consumption – Consumption pervades our
existence, that is why a lot work hard so that they can buy the
things they want
- The power of money to buy all things we do not
possess lures us to reproduce capitalism through
consumption
- We are enchanted with consumption because that is
what is real to us
Fetishism of commodities
- We see the commodities as the objects itself not
recognizing what it really is: raw materials
transformed by human labor for other’s profit
Capitalist Superstructure
Superstructure – non-economic social institutions whose
routine institutional practices and activities promote the
beliefs, ideas, and practices that are necessary to maintaining
and reproducing capitalism
Economic Base – the economic structure or the mode of
production of material life in capitalist society
V. Maximilian Karl Emil Weber
*domain of sociology is subjective meaningful action
Verstehen – German for “understanding”; refers to the
process by which sociologists seek interpretive understanding
of the subjective meanings that individuals and collectives
give to their behavior/social action
- Putting self in shoes of others, having empathy for
others
*Weber probed the historical and cultural origins of social
phenomena and the particular institutional practices they
produced
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism – his most
famous book; link between religion and economics; relation
between this-worldly and other-worldly concerns
*through empirical observation, Weber finds that, historically
in modern capitalism, Protestants rather than Catholics
predominated in business…. that Catholics tend to opt for
non-business occupations
Protestant Ethic: the earning of money within the economic
order, so long as it is done legally, is a calling and an
obligation to please God.
- Embracing work as duty with its own intrinsic reward
of giving glory to God, and thus working hard,
preceded the expansion of capitalism
*Living a life of simplicity and asceticism
- this work ethic got harnessed by capitalism to a disciplined,
methodical rationality toward the pursuit of profit
*Economic success became the objective
Calvinism – the doctrine of predestination – individual’s
salvation was already predetermined
- They took it as their duty to demonstrate their
salvation to themselves through material success.
- Diligence in business
Ideal Types – exhaustive description of the characteristics
distinctive to, and expected of a given phenomenon
Rational Social Action
Value-Rational Action – when an individual, group,
organization, or a whole society values some idea or belief
such that they decide to rationally act on that value, to
demonstrate their commitment to that value
Instrumental-Rational Action – strategic, cost-benefit
action
Non-Rational Action
Emotion – determined by the actor’s specific
feeling states
Tradition – motivated by customs and habits
Power, authority, and domination
Three ideal types of domination/authority:
Legal/Rational Authority – authority in modern
society; rule-grounded; ruled by state and other
bureaucracies
Traditional Authority – feudal societies and other
traditional societies; loyalty to estate lord and loyalty to
community’s traditions secure individual obedience and
compliance
Charismatic Authority – charisma – special charm that
gives an individual power over others; always resides in a
particular individual
*Legal/rational authority is institutionalized through
bureaucracy
VI. David Emile Durkheim
Functionalism/Structural Functionalism – society as a complex
system whose component parts or structures are all
interrelated but whose independent functioning is necessary
to the functioning of the whole society
*for him, sociology is the science of civilization
Social facts – external and collective ways in which society
shapes, structures, and constrains our behavior
*Society is more than the individuals that comprises it; it
includes social relationships, social patterns, and forms of
social organizations
*Society has its own reality – sui generis reality – a collective
reality that exerts its own force independent of individuals
Methodological Rules
Sociological Objectivity – social facts exist I society
and can be studied
Data-centered sociology – analysis of social
phenomena is based on statistics; research proceeds from
things/data to ideas and not reverse
Social problems are normal
*The core task of sociology is analyzing morality – formal and
informal social rules that regulate individuals’ behavior
*Social solidarity emerges from social rules and other social
structures
*Humans have certain selfish biological drives but as a social
species, we take account of other individuals
- we are able to cooperate with others and be
attached to something other than ourselves
*Cooperation as key to social life
*we are taught how to socialize(interact and behave as social
beings) – to sacrifice an amount of self-interest to the interest
of the collectivity
*society exists independent of the individual, and it
necessarily constrains individual and group behavior
*although social change occurs, it is not simply willed by
individuals – accomplished collectively and in tune with
collective forces
Mechanical Solidarity – structural and cultural sameness that
characterizes the beliefs and social relationships in traditional
societies
Organic Solidarity – interdependence that is required by and
results from the highly specialized division of labor
Density of social interaction
Physical density: the number of people we encounter
during the day
Moral density: interaction with more people means
more constraint to social and moral norms
(e.g. walking on a busy street, we make sure not to bump to
someone, same way goes with others – reciprocity and
cooperation)
*Social cohesion results from the interdependence of
individuals, each with his or her own specialty
Suicide
- Different societal contexts produce different
conditions leading to suicide
4 types
Altruistic – failure in fulfilling community’s
expectations
Egoistic –
Anomic - absence of established norms