6
i4 . ChFpter 1Sociological Perspecti ves NO - 1 ICE: THIS MATEIA! MA" #E POTECTE$ #" COP"I%HT !A& 'TIT!E 1() *.S. CO$E+ complex social system models showing how all parts of a society fit together to compose the whole. Sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset (1994) argues that despite the discipline's focus during this  period soci ologi sts t hemsel !es remained politi cally li"eral and were acti!ely in!ol!ed in social reform mo!ements. #ne sociologist in particular $. %r ight Mills (191&19&) la"ored against the conser!ati!e tide in the 19*s to +eep a li"eral perspecti!e ali!e in sociology. Mills tried to raise people's awareness of the connections  "etween their pers onal li !es a nd the social world. ,y using what he called the sociological imagination Mills  "elie! ed th at ord inar y peo ple co uld s ee the lin+s "etween the personal trou"les they experienced in their e!eryday li!es and the pu"lic issues that plagued their society. #nce they did this they would come to understand that most of their pro"lems were not caused "y their own failings or limitaions "ut rather "y "roader social forces  "eyond their contro l as i ndi!id uals. -n oth er word s Mills said the sociological imagination helps us to grasp the relationship "etween history and "iography (Mills 199). $. %right Mills was only fortysix years old when he died in 19&. ad he li!ed he pro"a"ly would ha!e rel ished what happened to sociology in the 19&*s. /ntiwar demonstrations the ci!il rights and women's mo!ements %a tergate and the disco!ery of large poc+ets of po!erty in the 0nited States led some sociologists to see their  fiel d as "eing too conser !ati!e. hey as+ed thei r  colleag ues 2%hose side are we on32 and called for more r ad ic al s oc ia l a ct i !i sm (,ec+e r 1 9& ). ,i tt er  disagr eement s and ideolog ical di!isi ons erupte d which may ha!e hurt sociology 's presti ge and credi"ility as a sci ent ifi c discipline (Lipse t 1994). 5e!ert hel ess dis agreement led to the de!elopment of new sociologi cal  perspe cti!es which as we will see shortl y includ ed the !oices of pre!iously marginali6ed groups. 7.. E .... ...L  The Origins and Development of Sociology 1. ow is sociology a social product3 . /lthough similarities were drawn "etween 8urope and the 0nited States what do you thin+ are the most important differences  "etween early 8urop ean and /merican sociology3 . -f you had to pi c+ a 2sociology hero or  heroi ne2 from among those we ha!e discussed so far who would it "e3 %hy3 4. -f you thin+ a"out the sociology department at your college or uni!ersity would you say that the participation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in sociology is different today  STEPNICK. SOC 101. Packet 2 CONTEMPORARY SOCO!O"CA! PERSPECT#ES / theory is a set of interrelated statements that explain how two or more phenomena are related to one another. /me ric an sociol ogy today is compose d of se!era l diff erent theoretic al perspe cti!es each of which has  "een influ enced "y the 8urope an foundi ng theori sts as well as "y pioneering 0.S. sociologists and "y !arious e!ents in this country and a"road during the twentieth century. -n this part of the chapter we will discuss four cont empora ry soci ological theori es: st ructur al functionalism conflict theory sym"olic interactionism and feminist theory. 8ach offers a lens through which to !iew the social world; howe!er <ust as changing the lenses on a camera alters the image that appears in a  photo graph so do each of these theori es pro!id e differing insights into social life. fj^Ch t)n4MSr  )   Jor A Str$ct$ral %$nctionalism -f any one sociologist may "e credited with the de!elop ment of a particular theoretical perspecti!e it is ar!ard sociologist alcott =arsons. =arsons was the chief architect of the contemporary sociological theory +nown as structural functiona lism. e was <oined in this wor+ "y 7o"ert Merton one of his students who went on to "e a prominent sociologist in his own right. ,oth theorists as we will see were strongly influenced  "y 8mile >ur+he im's ideas especi ally >ur+he im's emphasis on social order and social integration. =arsons "egan with the assumption that a society is made up of interrelated parts. 8ssentially these parts are social ins titut ions or  structures. hey include the econ omy go!ernment family education religion and the health care system. 8ach institution has a  function or role to play in +eeping society running smoothly. ?or exam  ple each institu tion in its own way p romote s coo pera tion among the mem"ers of societ y and helps preser!e social order. =arsons saw these in fact as two of the most impor tant functions of any society's ma<or social institu tions or structures. Merton ela"orated on this point "y distinguishing  "etween two types of functi ons: manifes t f unctio ns and lat ent functi ons. Manifest functi ons are o"se r!a "le conse@ue nces or outcomes that are intended; that is they are suppose d to happen. Latent func tions are o"ser!a"le conse@uences or outcomes that are unintended or unexpected. ?or example parents send their children to +inde rgarten to lear n some "asic aca demic s+ills such as the /,$s and to ac@uir e social s+ills such as learning to share with others; these are manifest functions of +inder garten. ,ut in in teracting wi th one another in +indergarten many chi ldr en also learn "eha !ior s that their parents and teachers consider undesira"lecalling each other names for instance

Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

7/26/2019 Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/theory-contemporary-sociological-perspectives 1/5

i4 . ChFpter 1Sociological Perspectives

NO-1 ICE: THIS MATEIA! MA" #E POTECTE$ #" COP"I%HT

!A& 'TIT!E 1() *.S. CO$E+ complex social system models

showing how all parts of a society fit together to compose

the whole. Sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset (1994)

argues that despite the discipline's focus during this

 period sociologists themsel!es remained politically

li"eral and were acti!ely in!ol!ed in social reform

mo!ements. #ne sociologist in particular $. %right Mills

(191&19&) la"ored against the conser!ati!e tide in the

19*s to +eep a li"eral perspecti!e ali!e in sociology.Mills tried to raise people's awareness of the connections

 "etween their personal li!es and the social world. ,y

using what he called the sociological imagination Mills

 "elie!ed that ordinary people could see the lin+s "etween

the personal trou"les they experienced in their e!eryday

li!es and the pu"lic issues that plagued their society.

#nce they did this they would come to understand that

most of their pro"lems were not caused "y their own

failings or limitaions "ut rather "y "roader social forces

 "eyond their control as indi!iduals. -n other words Mills

said the sociological imagination helps us to grasp the

relationship "etween history and "iography (Mills 199).

$. %right Mills was only fortysix years old when he

died in 19&. ad he li!ed he pro"a"ly would ha!e rel

ished what happened to sociology in the 19&*s. /ntiwar demonstrations the ci!il rights and women's mo!ements

%atergate and the disco!ery of large poc+ets of po!erty

in the 0nited States led some sociologists to see their 

field as "eing too conser!ati!e. hey as+ed their colleagues 2%hose side are we on32 and called for more

radical social acti!ism (,ec+er 19&). ,itter 

disagreements and ideological di!isions erupted which

may ha!e hurt sociology's prestige and credi"ility as ascientific discipline (Lipset 1994). 5e!ertheless dis

agreement led to the de!elopment of new sociological

 perspecti!es which as we will see shortly included the!oices of pre!iously marginali6ed groups.

7.. E .... ...L The Origins and Development of Sociology

1. ow is sociology a social product3

. /lthough similarities were drawn "etween8urope and the 0nited States what do you

thin+ are the most important differences "etween early 8uropean and /merican

sociology3. -f you had to pic+ a 2sociology hero or 

heroine2 from among those we ha!e

discussed so far who would it "e3 %hy3

4. -f you thin+ a"out the sociology department atyour college or uni!ersity would you say that

the participation of women and racial and

ethnic minorities in sociology is different today

 

STEPNICK. SOC 101. Packet 2

CONTEMPORARY SOCO!O"CA!PERSPECT#ES

/ theory is a set of interrelated statements that explainhow two or more phenomena are related to one another.

/merican sociology today is composed of se!eral

different theoretical perspecti!es each of which has

 "een influenced "y the 8uropean founding theorists aswell as "y pioneering 0.S. sociologists and "y !arious

e!ents in this country and a"road during the twentieth

century. -n this part of the chapter we will discuss four 

contemporary sociological theories: structuralfunctionalism conflict theory sym"olic interactionism

and feminist theory. 8ach offers a lens through which

to !iew the social world; howe!er <ust as changing the

lenses on a camera alters the image that appears in a photograph so do each of these theories pro!ide

differing insights into social life.

fj^Ch t)n4MSr )  JorAStr$ct$ral %$nctionalism

-f any one sociologist may "e credited with the de!elop

ment of a particular theoretical perspecti!e it is

ar!ard sociologist alcott =arsons. =arsons was the

chief architect of the contemporary sociological theory

+nown as structural functionalism. e was <oined inthis wor+ "y 7o"ert Merton one of his students who

went on to "e a prominent sociologist in his own right.

,oth theorists as we will see were strongly influenced

 "y 8mile >ur+heim's ideas especially >ur+heim'semphasis on social order and social integration.

=arsons "egan with the assumption that a society is

made up of interrelated parts. 8ssentially these parts aresocial institutions or  structures. hey include the economy go!ernment family education religion and the

health care system. 8ach institution has a  function or role

to play in +eeping society running smoothly. ?or exam

 ple each institution in its own way promotes coopera tionamong the mem"ers of society and helps preser!e social

order. =arsons saw these in fact as two of the most

important functions of any society's ma<or social institu

tions or structures.Merton ela"orated on this point "y distinguishing

 "etween two types of functions: manifest functions and

latent functions. Manifest functions are o"ser!a"le

conse@uences or outcomes that are intended; that is

they are supposed to happen. Latent functions areo"ser!a"le conse@uences or outcomes that are

unintended or unexpected. ?or example parents send

their children to +indergarten to learn some "asicacademic s+ills such as the /,$s and to ac@uire

social s+ills such as learning to share with others; these

are manifest functions of +indergarten. ,ut in in

teracting with one another in +indergarten manychildren also learn "eha!iors that their parents and

teachers consider undesira"lecalling each other names

for instance

Page 2: Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

7/26/2019 Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/theory-contemporary-sociological-perspectives 2/5

t u might a structural functionalist describe what is hap~rurtin this picture? What concepts and questions would ~, ro st

relevant? For instance, how does the scene depict nrrativeconsensus? In contrast, how might a conflict 

- , ~Jrist describe what is happening in relation to the

larger .r! < onte"t? For instance, what competing

interests and r1i iacqualities might be involved? #owwould a s$md%, nleractionist go about stud$ing the

 situation?

n#using to touch certain people or things "ecausethey iA c 2cooties.2  &eer sociali'at ion or social learning

from luhlrcn their own age whether positi!e or

negati!e is a Btcrtt function of +indergarten.

-the institutions of a society function together 1111'(t the

society's "asic needs which results in social d,r ~,r, asfunctionalists would say a state of equilib

(rr "alance. -n addition the mem"ers of the

society a Cct of !alues customs and expectations forap'2hrtate "eha!ior that functionalists call the

normati!e mAcnsus. owe!er Merton recogni6ed

that at times !ar 11 tn titutions and !alues of the social

system may not '*urn well for all the society'smem"ers so he stressed 'rcc(l to study dysfunctions as

well as functions. >ys 'anktirais are any conse@uences or 

outcomes produced "y the social system that lower

social integration. 2D.tmple in the 0nited States we!alue family pri!acy ' --- : premium we place on pri!acy

hides the a"use 2'C'2 and children often suffer in the

home and lea!es 2' rcrt unaccounta"le for their crimes.2rtctural functionalists emphasi6e the orderlywor+' 2r t 11*ciety and see the sociologist's <o" as

studying 2 t'callB how particular structures

contri"ute to order E '.thilita tas+ not without

merit. owe!er it iserliphasis on order and consensus that

draws 'sm. $ritics point out that our society and

many 2F arc di!ided along lines of social classrace and 2ex age and sexual orientation. 7ather

than

$ontemporary Sociotogical =erspecti!es

.

 producing e@uili"rium and agreedupon !alues these di

!isions generate considera"le tension at "est and widespread ine@uality conflict social unrest and e!en

!iolence at worst. ,y focusing on order and consensus

functionalists help to preser!e the status @uo instead of 

 promoting social change and o!erloo+ or downplay themany sources of strain and di!isi!eness in a society.

Conflict Theory

Structural functionalism en<oyed tremendous popularity

from the 194*s to the early 19&*s when the social cli

mate of the 0nited States was decidedly conser!ati!e.owe!er as noted earlier sociology was not untouched

 "y the social unrest that swept the country during the

19&*s. $ertainly it appeared then that society was char

acteri6ed more "y conflict than "y order and thereseemed to "e little agreement among !arious segments of 

the population regarding !alues. -n one study for

instance people were as+ed whom they consider

2de!iant.2 he researcher recei!ed more than *different answers including some we would expect such

as criminals alcoholics and drug addicts "ut others that

should surprise us: women young people >emocratsand men with "eards (Simmons 19&9).

-n the midst of antiwar protests pu"lic

demonstrations demanding e@ual rights for women and

,lac+ /mericans and a widespread @uestioning of whatconstituted core /merican !alues many sociologists

turned to the study of social conflict and ine@uality. he

sociological perspecti!e +nown as conflict theory

de!eloped from their wor+. $onflict theorists owe muchto the writings of the classical social theorists Garl Marx

and Max %e"er especially their analyses of social class.

$onflict theory's emphasis on studying and sol!ing social

 pro"lems also "ears the influence of the $hicago School./nd although he wrote "efore the theory "ecame popular

$. %right Mills is often identified as a founding conflict

theorist largely "ecause of his focus on the struggles

 "etween the powerful and the powerless. Mills (19&)argued that the political influence wielded "y top

corporate and military leadersthe power elite, as he called

themwas undermining democracy "ecause it drowned

out the !oices of the rest of the population denying themany say in decision ma+ing. /lthough his research to

 "ac+ up his claims was later critici6ed for its lac+ of

 precision his analysis of class conflict pro!ided a strong

foundation for conflict theorists to "uild on ($oser19).

$onflict theorists "egin with the o"ser!ation that so

cieties are characteri6ed "y ine@uality. hat is societies

are arranged in such a way that resources and rewards areune!enly distri"uted among the population. his in

e@uality gi!es rise to conflict. $onflict from this per

specti!e is not necessarily "ad for society since it is a

source of social change "ut ine@uality itself has serious

Page 3: Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

7/26/2019 Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/theory-contemporary-sociological-perspectives 3/5

16 Chapter 1 Sociological Perspectives

consequences in the lives of individuals.Most people in our society suer from the-eects of inequalit! "hile a fe" reaptremendous #ene$ts from it. Moreover!those fe" at the top of the hierarch canuse their greater economic and politicalresources to preserve their advantageousposition. Con%ict theorists tell us that instuding societ! sociologists mustcarefull consider the competing interestsof the haves and have-nots.Con%ict theorists also argue thatsociological research should not #eseparated from sociological practice. &othe con%ict theorist! separatingsociological research from the "as in"hich the research can #e used isirresponsi#le. &he sociologist's (o# is not tostud societ (ust for the sa)e of increasing)no"ledge! #ut rather to use the )no"l-edge gained to develop strategies forma)ing societ #etter. &o the con%icttheorist! a *good* societ is a societ in"hich resources! re"ards! andopportunities are distri#uted equita#l.&he con%ict perspective! though popular! isnot "ithout its critics. Some sociologistsargue that focusing on con%ict and changee+aggerates their importance in the overall"or)ings of the social sstem "hiledo"nplaing the signi$cance of order!sta#ilit! and consensus. ,thers #elievethat in advocating the rights of theoppressed! con%ict theorists loseo#(ectivit and are thus #lind to alternativepoints of vie". nterestingl! still otherscharge that "hile con%ict theor focuseson inequalit! it does so in an unequal "a!not giving suicient attention to "omenand other oppressed groups.

 Another criticism! though! has #een

 Symbolic Interactionism

hile structural functionalism and con%icttheor ma #e characteri/ed as top-do"n

approaches to the stud of social life andsocial organi/ation! sm#olic interaction-ism ma #e vie"ed as a #ottom-upapproach. 0 this "e mean that sm#olicinteractionists start "ith the assumptionthat culture! organi/ations! and socialstructures are created through dailcommunications and interactions among

tions #ecome so much a part of peoplives that the do them almostautomaticall! li)e actors plaing a "rehearsed part. t is onl "hen thepatterns or rules are #ro)en as in th2oing Sociolog #o+ on page 13! thasocial actors #ecome consciousl a"athe rules' e+istence-and their importain everda life.Social realit! then! is constructed. &h"hat "e recogni/e as social life and!indeed! the social lives "e lead.. arelargel products of a multitude of socinteractions that have ta)en place ovtime. 4rom a sm#olic interactionistperspective! there can #e no societ"ithout a group of individuals "horoutinel interact "ith one another.Moreover! interacting generates smthat have a shared meaning among thmem#ers of the group. A sm#ol isanthing that stands for something eSm#ols can ta)e man forms-fore+ample! "ords! sounds! gestures!o#(ects-#ut no sm#ol has intrinsicmeaning. 5ather! the meaning of a sis assigned to it # the people "ho dethat the "ord! sound! gesture! or o#(ehas signi$cance. 4or instance! there nothing inherent in the color red thatpeople the must stop their cars "hethe see a light that color. nstead! inparticular societies! that meaning ha#een assigned to red lights # peoplehave decided to use them for thispurpose.t "as sociologist eorge 7er#ert Me8196:-1;:1< "ho $rst emphasi/ed thimportance of sm#olic communicatifor understanding human interaction7o"ever! it "as 7er#ert 0lumer "hodeveloped Mead's ideas into the theosm#olic interactionism. 0lumer 81;pointed out that people's actions deri

from their interpretation of "hat goearound them! and much of thisinterpretation is learned throughinteracting "ith others. e do not crne" meanings ever da= this "ould dail life #urdensome at #est! chaotic"orst. nstead! as "e live in a societlearn the meanings that have #een

C

Page 4: Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

7/26/2019 Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/theory-contemporary-sociological-perspectives 4/5

What Does Rule Breaking 

Teach You about Rules?

ocial life we ha!e said is

go!erned "y a set of rules a"out

 "eha!ior that de!elops out of people'songoing interactions with one

another. hese rules "ecome so

routine that most people are unawareof themuntil they are "ro+en. -ndeed

some sociologists ha!e de!ised

experiments in which rules of social

interaction are deli"erately "ro+en inorder to re!eal them for more careful

study.

he leading ad!ocate of this approach

is arold Harfin+el (19&) whoas+ed his students to !iolate some of

the most "asic unspo+en rules of

social interaction. -n one experiment

for example students "eha!ed li+e

door and waited for an answer "efore

entering the house; they addressed

their parents or roommates "y formaltitles such as 2Mr.2 or 2Mrs.2; they

as+ed for permission to watchtele!ision or ta+e something from the

refrigerator. -n other experimentsHarfin+el's students would mo!e

closer and closer to the person they

were tal+ing to until they were

 practically touching or they would "oard an ele!ator and instead of loo+

ing politely at no one would stare di

rectly at a fellow passenger.

 5one of these experiments too+ muchtime either "ecause the experimenter

felt too uncomforta"le to continue for

long or "ecause the unwitting partic

ipants in the experiments reacted sostrongly. 7egardless of the specific

experiment participants responded in

much the same way: hey were usu

all sur rised and confused "ut soon

$ontemporary Sociological =erspecti!es

4

em"arrassed and others appearedafraid @uestioning the experimenter's

sanity. /ccording to Harfin+el such

reactions re!eal the significance of these ta+enforgranted rules of 

interaction in e!eryday liferules we

don't reali6e we !alue until they are

Harfin+els' experiments are

straightforward and easy toreplicate. ry one yourself. Ioucould go into a department store

and try to "argain for an item or 

you could use one of the ex

 periments we'!e discussed here. -f you need more ideas consult

Harfin+el's "oo+ (tudies in

 )tbnomethodolog$. %hate!er 

experiment you choose "e sure torecord in a note"oo+ the rule you

 "ro+e and others' reaction to you

as well as how long you were a"le

to carry out the rule "rea+ing andyour own feelings during the

experiment. Sharing your results in

class will enerate some

nant !alues and rules of the larger society and the !ery

organi6ation of the society. So for example we mayteach our children that racism is wrong "ut if they li!e in

racially segregated neigh"orhoods and go to racially seg

regated schools where their text"oo+s teach only a"outthe accomplishments of %hite people they are li+ely togrow up with many of the same pre<udices as pre!ious

generations. hus while social learning can contri"ute to

social change its effect is limited without simultaneous

efforts to "ring a"out macrole!el change.

Feminist Sociology

Iou may ha!e noticed that all of the mainstream sociol

ogists we ha!e discussed in this chapter shared se!eralcharacteristics: %ith few exceptions they wereJare all

%hite men of 8uropean ancestry. he fact that this social

group has dominated the discipline means that to a largeextent mainstream sociology has "een "oth 8urocentricand androcentric ($hafet6 199). -t is 8urocentric in that

it has tended to focus on "eliefs and concerns rele!ant to

%estern societies with 8uropean roots. -t is androcentric

 "ecause it traditionally has "een malecenteredsociological research and writing has "een done primarily

 "y men using mostly men as research su"<ects

 producing findings and theories from a male perspecti!e.

Sociologist Lyn Lofland (19) for instance re!iewed thesociological research on ur"an communities and found

that it focused on settings in which men were li+ely to "e

 present such as city street corners or neigh"orhoodta!erns whereas areas of ur"an life where women wereli+ely to "e found such as playgrounds with their children

or grocery stores were almost entirely o!erloo+ed.

$onse@uently although these ur"an sociologists claimed

to "e studying community they were studying malecommunity not human community. 2Most of what we

ha!e formerly +nown as the study of society is only the

male study of male society2 (Millman K Ganter 19 p.

!iii).>uring the 19&*s an increasing num"er of sociologists

 "egan to call for a more inclusi!e sociology one gi!ing

!oice to multiple perspecti!es particularly those from

groups that had historically "een silenced or marginali6ed./lthough some of these sociologists were men the

ma<ority were women inspired "y their personal expe

riences in society and the discipline as well as "y the writ

ings and actions of those in!ol!ed in the women's orfeminist mo!ement (Laslett K horne 199). $onse

@uently the perspecti!e that these sociologists de!eloped

is called feminist sociology.

Page 5: Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

7/26/2019 Theory Contemporary Sociological Perspectives

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/theory-contemporary-sociological-perspectives 5/5

 >! Chapter 1 Sociological

I TABLE 1.2

 *evel of 

 &erspective +nal$sis

Structural Macro

u!ctio!alis"

Co!#ict Theor$MacroLevel

S$"%olicMicroLevel

I!teractio!is"

e"i!ist MacroLevel

Sociolog$ or "icro

level

the gro"th of the discipline. 2iversitpromotes dialogue! not al"as friendl!that can help us to see the social "orldin'alternative "as. &his is especialldiicult #ecause sociologists are part of "hat "e stud e are participants in the

social "orld. t's li)e the $sh "ho doesn't)no" its environment is "et. &his ma)es iteven more important to include a pluralitof voices in sociolog! especiall those of people "ho have traditionall #eenconsidered *outsiders * #ecause the often

4or useful resources for stud

CON N E C T I O N S

mpact of social

mpacts of se+and race in the

Sociological

 +ssumptions

Societ$ is "a&e up o' i!terrelate& parts(each o' )hichco!tri%utes to the'u!ctio!i!g o' societ$as a )hole.

Societies are arra!ge&i! such a )a$ that re*sources a!& re)ar&sare u!eve!l$&istri%ute& a"o!g thepopulatio!( a!& thisi!e+ualit$ pro&ucesco!#ict.

,ealit$ is sociall$ cre*ate& through people-sever$&a$ i!teractio!sa!& s$"%olicco""u!icatio! )ith

o!e a!other.e!&er is a ce!tralorga!i/i!g 'actor o' the social )orl&.

7o" do social locating factors such as age! se+! people's e+periences as mem#ers of a societ? n

ho" does occupation relate to "ealth! po"er! and1@! ho" does gender orientation relate to

 2ierences in social locating factors form the #asisn Cha ter 1@! ho" do the conce ts of lass ceilinillustrate gender inequalit? n Chapter 11! ho" does

 discrimination relate to racial

S 8 = 5 - $ G . S # $ 1 * 1 = a c + e t

 asic uestion

hat 'u!ctio!&oes a specici!stitutio! provi&e'or societ$ as a)hole

ho %e!etsa!& )ho loses'ro" a particularsocialarra!ge"e!t

hat are theshare& "ea!i!gso' a particulari!teractio! 'or the"e"%ers o' a

social group3o) &oes ge!&ershape people-ssocial

 As our "orld gro"s ever smaller#ecause of the increasing num#er of glo#al ties that #ind us! sociolog gro"sever more important. n fact! at least oneo#server has argued that sociolog isentering a ne" *golden age* 8*Sociolog's

e" olden Age!* 1;;;<. t is anessential tool for anal/ing andunderstanding our personal lives and oursocial interactions and theirinterconnectedness. ,ur goal in this te+t!

 

Chapter 1 'on our Biving

 e$ &eople

5urkhei"(Parso!s(

Mar4(e%er( Mills

Mea&(6lu"e

"a!i'est'u!ctio!s( late!t'u!ctio!s(!or"ative

co!se!sus(

i!e+ualit$(

s$"%ol

ge!&er(

 e$ /oncepts