Theory

Introductory Sociology William Brigham Classical theorists

    Socio-political foundation
    1) 17th, 18th & 19th century Europe
    2) Political revolution (England: 1640's; France: 1789, 1830, 1848, 1871; Germany, Austria & Italy,
         1848)   (In addition, of course, the American Revolution of 1776.)
    3) Humanism (intellectual inquiry and focus on secular concerns), rationalism (reason and systematic
         thinking yield truth and knowledge--vs. mysticism/superstition/religion), nobility of human nature (equality
         and individual rights; "man" in relation to the universe and his fellow beings)
    4)   Industrial revolution; evolution of social classes

Emile Durkheim     Suicide
    The Division of Labor in Society
    Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

1) Social facts
    a. Our behavior and actions are guided by what we learn from our environment
    b. They are actions external to ourselves; we wear them like clothes
    c. They become customary
    d. We don't even think not to do them
    e. Human nature is passive; society creates the individual
2) Because we are creations of society, we must depend upon it (and each other)
    a. Order is necessary to control this dependence
        i. Moral order (codes, laws, etc.)
        ii. Behavioral order (individual "conscience")
            a. Is the latter possible without the former?
3) Division of labor
    a. This allows society to continue to function
    b. Usually divided by social categories (classes, gender, age, etc.)
4) Social facts (customs) held societies together with their hidden coercive power
    a. For example, we are bound by custom to not spit in each other's face. If we begin to
    reject that custom, social order breaks down. The moral code disappears.
    b. Therefore, that rather benign (and unconscious) custom actually has inherent power
    c. When social facts are disregarded, a state of anomie (normlessness) exists.
5) There is a set of rules and laws that explain human behavior; that is, positivism (cf. Weber re: science always
     evolving)
6) Durkheim suggested two types of social cohesion based upon different societies:
    a) Mechanical solidarity (primitive societies)
        i) In simple societies, all people are alike and are bound to each other for
        this reason
    b) Organic solidarity (industrial societies)
        i) In technical societies, people are bound to each other because of their
        differences and dependence on each other's skills.
Summary
1) Humans are naturally passive and shaped by society.
2) They are not born with a moral or ethical code.
3) Societies were losing their cohesiveness due to industrialization and secularization.

Karl Marx
Das Kapital
The German Ideology
The Communist Manifesto
The Grundrisse
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
Das Kapital was an expression of Marx's views on the nature of western society, social structure, and social change. There were two broad facets to Marx's work: economic and sociological. The latter was framed as a general theory of society which Marx called historical materialism or dialectical materialism.
Marx's fundamental insight was that societies are divided into potentially conflicting groups on the basis of the ownership and control of productive property (i.e., land, natural resources, commercial and industrial enterprises, etc.)
It was the class conflict between the bourgeoisie (property owning capitalists) and the proletariat (exploited property-less) which was to propel society on to its next historical stage, socialism.
There was a contradiction between the forces of production (the material means by which commodities are transformed, produced and sold) and the relations of production (the relationship between owners and workers, the distribution of income). The forces would always be revolutionized by the bourgeoisie; the relations usually not.
Therefore, strain develops between owners and workers (alienation) and conflict--in the form of class struggle--is inevitable.
Ideas simply mirror material reality. Therefore, revolutionary ideas are impotent without a basis in material reality, such as a proletarian class experiencing privation and misery. Men's consciousness does not determine reality, the social reality determines consciousness.
The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas; i.e., the class, which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.
The rulers regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age (e.g., public education, universities, mass media).
The ruling class must represent its interest as the common interest of all the members of society, put in an ideal form. Result is a false consciousness on the part of the masses: hegemony.
The basis of much of Marx's philosophy is the concept of dialectical change:

Thesis (idea) conflicts with antithesis (opposing idea) resulting in synthesis (resulting change)
Conflict is natural, according to Marx, because it is a normal and inevitable means toward change.
Marx viewed the individual as inherently decent and good; individuals are inherently not evil. If life is unjust for some, it is not the fault of others but rather the social system, the dominant institution of capitalism. Marx argued for the live of the universal man, who worked for subsistence, recreated when he wished, and studied the ideas of the great thinkers.

Dominant social institution
This theory of Marx speaks to the key element in the social structure that is causing class differences.
In western society, capitalism (the economic institution) is dominant. It, therefore, is the cause of social injustice.
(Cf. the church of the middle ages.)
The contract became the means toward social interaction. People were used and manipulated by contracts. This destroyed the natural cooperation and good will of humans.
E.g., in your everyday life: becoming defensive about getting something of quality in a commercial transaction
Production for human use vs. production for exchange
The latter creates wealth, uses people, and creates social classes (bourgeoisie and proletariat:).
The proletariat have no inherent interest in their work and become alienated from it. The proletariat must overthrow the bourgeoisie (conflict leading to change).
Marx's theory of exploitation:
    (1) The value of a commodity is roughly proportionate to the quantity of average human labor power
    crystallized in it.
    (2) Labor power is rented at its value, and the value of labor power is determined by the value of those articles
    indispensable to the life of the worker and his family.
    (3) The necessary quantity of work--i.e., the quantity of work needed to produce the value in the
    merchandise indispensable to the life of the worker and his family--is less than the total working day.
    Therefore, the worker works part of the day for himself and the rest for his employer.
    (4) The part of the working day necessary to produce the value crystallized in his wage is called "necessary
    labor time"; the rest is called "surplus labor time." The value produced in surplus labor time is called
    "surplus value." And the rate of exploitation is defined by the relation between surplus value and the wages
    paid. (Aron, Main Currents in Sociological Thought)

"People's distaste for work is the result of a capitalistic system that serves to alienate workers from the processes and products of their labor, from other workers, and, ultimately, from themselves" (Marx, "Alienation in Work").
Marx wrote (at a much different time, of course) about issues which we face now: globalization, inequality, political corruption, monopolization, technical progress, the decline of high culture, and the enervating nature of modern existence.
Summary
1) Marx viewed the individual as decent and good
2) Western society was exploitative
3) This could and would be changed via conflict.

Max Weber
Economy and Society
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Sociology is a science of rational social action
Four types of social action:
1. Rational (relative to a goal)
2. Evaluative (relative to a value)
3. Affective or emotional action
4. Traditional action
Society tends toward rational action: Economic enterprise, bureaucratic state
Science (including sociology) is incomplete, always evolving (cf. Durkheim on set of rules/laws)
Value reference: Concept by means of which Weber selects and organizes a part of the reality to be studied.
For example, "freedom"
Cf. freedom as a value judgment (something personally held)
No science can ever tell people how they should live or organize their social life (this distances him from Durkheim)
No science can ever tell humanity what its future is (this distances him from Marx)
Weber viewed human behavior as being based upon social relations; people gathered together act according to how others act.
When this behavior is disruptive or not conducive to the (e.g.) goal at hand, authority is added.
Three types of authority:
1. Charismatic: lead, sway
2. Traditional: always there, assumed leader
3. Rational-legal: organizational; according to rules
Summary
1. Cooperation and accommodation describe human nature
2. Rationality
3. Increased rationalism = social change
4. Trend: traditional authority leads to charismatic leads to rational-legal

Theoretical perspectives
Functionalism
Theorists associated with functionalism include
Emile Durkheim
Max Weber
Talcott Parsons
Robert Merton.
Principal concepts in functionalism include:
    Structure
    Function
    System
Comparison to an organic system is a useful way of conceptualizing functionalism:
    Certain functions must be performed by the system
    The various elements of the system must be integrated
    Structures emerge or evolve in order to perform the necessary functions
    Equilibrium and stability must be maintained
Functionalism explains a given pattern of activity by defining its contribution or function:
    Function: An act that contributes to the existence of a unit
    Dysfunction: An act that leads to the change or destruction of a unit
    Manifest function: Intended and recognized
    Latent function: Unintended and unrecognized
Functionalist analysis of the institution of education
Manifest functions:
    Transmission of culture
    Facilitating class/racial/ethnic integration
    Creating an informed citizenry, which is necessary for democratic system
    Producing cognitive skills
    Screening, sorting and selecting talent
    Developing new knowledge
Latent functions:
    Delaying entry into workplace
    Babysitting so parents can work
    Teaching discipline and obedience
    Reproduction of social class
Dysfunction:
    Credentialed society mandates necessary entry qualifications, but not necessarily content
    Property tax base not sufficient/equal
    Teacher strikes/school district lockouts
    Bureaucratization of system leads to top-heavy administration

Conflict Theory
Theorist most associated with conflict theory is Karl Marx, who suggested that economic factors are the basic cause of conflict. There is always, Marx said, an imbalance of authority and power.
The focus in conflict theory is on conflict and discord
Competition and conflict are common in social interaction
A study of these processes is the best way to understand how societies function
Ask who benefits and who is deprived?
What are the economic forces at work?
Competition for scarce resources (wealth, power, status, authority) leads inevitably to a class system; the haves and the have-nots.
Conflict may occur over differences in values and interests
Conflict may range from hostility, tension, competition, and rivalry to outright violence
Conflict with outside forces binds group members together
Conflict over issues may lead to positive social change
Conflict theory analysis of the institution of education
Hidden curriculum
Do schools teach compliance, punctuality and conformity OR independence, self-reliance and nonconformity?
     Depends on who is being taught and for what reasons, what occupational goals
         Working class students vs. middle-/upper-class students
         Public schools vs. private
Credentialing
Elevating status of profession by requiring greater credentials to enter it, thereby maintaining exclusivity
Social reproduction model              vs.                     Democratic model
Tendency to reproduce the                                         Struggle to provide equal opportunity
social class of the student                                            for all and to reward ability regardless of class origin

Symbolic Interactionism
Theorists commonly associated with SI:
George Herbert Mead
Charles Cooley
Social life is viewed as a process
Language (symbols) serve as the means of socialization and communication in social interaction
We rely upon shared meanings, a code of sorts common to a particular social group or society
Through this process we come to know ourselves and how to relate to others
SI analysis is most commonly at the level of person-to-person (cf. functionalism and conflict theory)
Through the process of socialization we develop the self; we evolve from "I" to "me"
We change according to what we see in the "mirror" held up to us by others
Primary groups (family, peers, schoolmates, co-workers, etc.) are the most important and impactful
SI analysis of institution of education
Socialization agent
Language
Primary group