Theory and Methods

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Durkheim

  • Society controls the individual which controls and constrains us.
  • We can sutdy society scientifically.
  • The difference between sociology and philsophy is that sociology can be tested.
  • He identifies social facts. Morality sets people free or they would be at the mercy of their instincts. Collective conscious which was stronger in primitive societies. Collective representations which are ideas, myths, symbols and role models which embody our cultural norms.
  • Division of labour in society affects how we all get on. Organic solidarity is where everyone has different jobs/roles which encourage moral individualism, restitutive law and less religious. Mechanical- earlier societies were shared through shared experiences, , activities, responsibilities and had strict laws.
  • Dynamic Density- the population increased whilst there were fewer resources. This increased competition and finding new way to resolve conflict. People took more diverse roles, so we could get what we need.
  • Sociology can tell if a society is sick. Crime was normal and functional. He blamed sick societies on anomie.
  • He studied suicide to explain different rates in different countries. Different countries had different levels of social facts which produce different social currents.
  • Durkeim argued there is a 'cult of the individual'. 1.Isolated Individuality- how we feel about ourselves being on our own? 2. Our social being- what others think about us? He calls this the homo-duplex. (People have become sacred in our society.)
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Durkheim

  • Society controls the individual which controls and constrains us.
  • We can sutdy society scientifically.
  • The difference between sociology and philsophy is that sociology can be tested.
  • He identifies social facts. Morality sets people free or they would be at the mercy of their instincts. Collective conscious which was stronger in primitive societies. Collective representations which are ideas, myths, symbols and role models which embody our cultural norms.
  • Division of labour in society affects how we all get on. Organic solidarity is where everyone has different jobs/roles which encourage moral individualism, restitutive law and less religious. Mechanical- earlier societies were shared through shared experiences, , activities, responsibilities and had strict laws.
  • Dynamic Density- the population increased whilst there were fewer resources. This increased competition and finding new way to resolve conflict. People took more diverse roles, so we could get what we need.
  • Sociology can tell if a society is sick. Crime was normal and functional. He blamed sick societies on anomie.
  • He studied suicide to explain different rates in different countries. Different countries had different levels of social facts which produce different social currents.
  • Durkeim argued there is a 'cult of the individual'. 1.Isolated Individuality- how we feel about ourselves being on our own? 2. Our social being- what others think about us? He calls this the homo-duplex. (People have become sacred in our society.)
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Criticisms of Durkheim

  • Cannot empirically study everything. Interpretations have to be involved.
  • Conservative- limits social change.
  • Does not address the causes or solutions to conflict.
  • Cannot operationalise collective conscious.
  • Modern society is more complicated.
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Functionalism- Parsons

  • Social world is defined by reciprocity.
  • Four aims of social systems: how we change to meet the needs of a modern society, how we use our personalities to get what we want from life, how we take on norms, values and culture and how we pass on our cultural norms and values.
  • Focuses on how society has evolved over time.
  • Socialisation and social controll- allow the social system to maintain balance and an equilibrium.
  • Divided up functions into latent and maninfest. Latent is the intention and maninfest is what actually happened. REF: BANNING THE BURKHA.
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Parsons criticisms

  • Ignores the history behind society.
  • Based on American society.
  • Ignores conflict.
  • Has a conservative bias.
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Orthodox Marxism

  • Labour is fundamental to our identity, through labour we all have a purpose.Clear relationship between our needs and objects which results in changes to human nature.
  • Alienation is where the relationship between human labour and nature is changed and controlled by capitalists.
  • Workers forced to sell their labour to gain a wage. Labour is used to make money for capitalists, in boring, repetitiive, low-paid, low-status.
  • Competition distracts us from our exploitation.
  • Capitalism is presented to us as normal. REF: Education.
  • Commodity Fetishism means materialism which supports capitalism.
  • Bourgeoisie benefit from the exploitation of the poletariat.
  • When capitalism got greedy, Marx decided it must be replaced with communism.
  • The infrastructure is exploitative  and to prevent uprising the superstructure is used to promote the dominant ideology onto the poletariat.
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Classical Marxism criticisms

  • Some countries that are communist have embraced capitalism. REF: China.
  • Marx was sexist.
  • Did not operationalise his hypothesis.
  • Humanity has caused global warming.
  • Deterministic.
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Neo-Marxism

  • Focuses more on how the poletariat are kept in the dark. This is called a flase class consciousness. 
  • Commercialisation, consumerism and profit making are a part of modern societies' way of life.
  • EGS: McDonald's, Sony and Disney.
  • Gramsci argued that ideological control is the highest form of hegemony which is a form of consent rather than coersion. People are convinced socialism is a better way of life.
  • We are in an ideological battleground as those who want to reveal the exploitation are opposing those who would like to conceal it.
  • They use hegemony to  refer to how the bourgeosie exploit dominate our culture with their norms and values. As well as ways to make sure the poletariat do not try to oppose them.
  • Gramsci saw revolution as essential to overcome the cultural domination and to be freed from the norms and values.
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Criticisms of Neo Marxism

  • Tries to make Orthodox Marxism relevant to modern society.
  • Economic reductionism.
  • Provides a platform for explanation on a race and ethnicity level.
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Weber theories

  • Mixed Macro and micro theories. (Both structural and action theories)
  • Into the concept of "verstehen."
  • Into Cause and Effect.
  • Prodestant ethic of Calvinists was one causal factor in the development of modern capitalism.
  • Ideal types organise social phenomena into categories so that sociologists can take parts of social reality and compare them to real examples. REF: scientology.
  • Value freedom or value relevance. Should try to keep biases or values out of research.
  • Social action is where they are doing something, so they can achieve a particular thing. Rational action is done to achieve something material. Value rational action achieves emotional or spiritual reward. Affectual action is an emotional response. Traditional action is customary behaviour. Eg. Marriage.
  • Class, status and party is really important. Not straight forward categorising people. 
  • Weber did not like capitalism and wanted to reduce it.  Authority of structures in which he identified legal, traditional and charasmatic authority. Legal Authority is hierachal. Traditional authority is centered around religion and belief and is to stagnate rationality. Charasimatic rationality changes the minds of forces and is revolutionary. 
  • Formal rationality is where we try to earn more and be more, but it is an iron cage that slaves us. As a result, the world is less enchanting. Substantive rationality is where everything we know is based on values or beliefs.
  • Formal rationality has eclipsed sustantive rationality in the modern world. 
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criticisms of Weber

  • He wants to use Verstehen ,but empathy is full of biases.
  • Offers no alternative to how we could organise ourselves.
  • Pessimistic
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Symbolic Interactionism

  • This is an action theory which takes a micro perspective because it argues that sociologists must take a view at social interactions and to find out individual perceptions on reality. 
  • People use and interpret symbols in order to communicate. These include: the star of david, language and signs.
  • Our survival is based on the ability to classify things.
  • Role taking involves getting inside someone's head to understand them.
  • The self- develops during childhood and it make us different from animals. Game stage is where children are aware of their relationship to other people and how they need to behave.
  • Being self conscious is what it means to be human as it provides a basis for thought, survival and communication. Without it we would not understand what is going on. Allows us to control ourselves. Role models suggest behaviours that are appropiate. 
  • People have a choice on whether to reject roles. This is because of several reasons: cultural norms are not specific, there is a huge variety of jobs and roles, some roles encourage diversity of human behaviour, people can join subcultures if they want to and sometimes people are unable to play an expected role, so a new solution is found.
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Criticisms of Symbolic Interactionism

  • Acknowledge face-to-face interaction, but fail to take account the historical and social context. 
  • Fail to look at the roots of the norms.
  • Fails to look at why we conform.
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Feminism Overview

  • Structural theory
  • Conflict theory
  • Pays attention to the position of women in society.
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Radical Feminism

  • Women are exploted by all men.
  • Society is patriarchal.
  • Family is the main institution that opresses women.
  • Some believe that females are opressed due to their biology. Firestone advocates the use of reproductive technologies, so that babies could be grown outside the womb. Hysterectomies  help females ,so their lives are not affected by periods.
  • Women's oppression is due to culture which advocates rapes and violence.
  • Lesbianism is the only way to achieve independence and freedom from men.
  • some female supremicists want matriarchy.
  • Radical liberatarian feminists argue gender is a social construction. Aondorgynous children raised in an androgynous way prove it.
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Criticisms of radical feminists

  • Ignores other forms of oppression.
  • Ignores positive relationships.
  • Females remarry.
  • Cannot demand seperation from men.
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Liberal Feminism

  • Men AND Women are oppressed by rigid gender roles. No-one wins with gender inequality and both men's and women's potential is suppressed by rigid expectations. 
  • Socialisation and disrimination.
  • Equality of oppurtunities.
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Criticisms of Liberal Feminists

  • Beliefs of Liberal Feminists are based on male norms and values.
  • Emphasises public at the expense of private life, substitutes relationships for power.
  • It is rejected by black and postemodern feminists for assuming all women have the same issues.
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Marxist Feminists

  • Women are exploited by capitalism through umpaid labour in their families. REF: BENSTON.
  • Historically, caused by the inheritance of private property. REF: Engels
  • Marxist feminists see themselves as having alot in common with the working class and urge them to cooperate with working class men and women so they can challenge capitalist oppression.
  • Want to turn communist.
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Criticisms of Marxist Feminism

  • Marxism is a male theory which ignores culture, violence and sexuality.
  • Communist societies have exploited women more than capitalist societies. They have not reached positions of power and have had their fertility controlled.
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Black Feminism

  • Black and white womens have different experiences due to racism. This makes black women's lives twice as hard.
  • There are black women role models, like Sojourner Truth who identified that slavery was the main difference between men and women.
  • In todays society, white women are allowed into the corperate world, whilst black women from the developing world face an elitist world which is barring them from doing well.
  • Mainstream feminism has always focused on white women.
  • Black and Asian women have issues to deal with. For example: FGM, mass ****, HIV epidemic. Masculine bias in black social thought and a racist bias in feminism has left Asian females disciplining themselves through academic means.
  • Race, class and gender impact on women's lives in the form of racism, poverty and sexism.
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Black Feminism Criticisms

  • Black feminism emphasises race over sex.
  • Accents?
  • White women get oppressed.
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Postmodern Feminism

  • Women are exploited by different things as they all have seperate identities.
  • Every woman has different pressures.
  • They focus on the language and unraveling sexist ways in which frames our thought.
  • Political correctness movement.
  • Hysterectomy- hysterical which is shown to be a female state.
  • Treated as an insigificant other. Footballer's wife. 
  • Cixous says the english language is phallocentric. It is a word relating to male genitalia which shapes how we think and express our experiences. It also prevents females from speaking out. Women think and act in cycles ,whilst men are linear.
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Criticisms of Postmodern Feminism

  • Haste argues that women have become more sexually autonomous and can meet their desires. The feminine view of the world can blend with the masculine view.
  • Females have a male view imposed on them. Laddish cultures; plastic surgery. "Male gaze."
  • Looses sight of actual and acute oppression, like that of self ammolating women in Afghanistan and reduces it all down to phallocentric language.
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Postmodernism

  • The modern age is characterised by: social class, family life and science.
  • The post modern age is characterised by: consumption, many family types and plurality of truths.
  • Truth is relative.
  • Consumerism.
  • Transformation of 'the self'.
  • Disillusionment  with the idea of progress- turning backs on technology going back to nature.
  • Fragmentation of social life.
  • Uncertainty. 
  • Choice.
  • Globalisation.
  • Increased technology
  • Hybridity.
  • Lyotard- People have lost faith in religion as a metanarrative and science as a metanarrative.
  • Baudrillard- We are now consumers. We pursue images attached to products. Hyper-realities. 
  • Derrida- modernism was characterised by logocentrism or an obsession with consumption. But, trying to tell the big story is impossible. Meaning is now socially constructed.
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Comments

Callum Clark

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is this a joke 

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