How did Weber differ from Marx

9- What concerns did Durkheim have about society? How was his view on conflict different from Marx’s view on conflict?
chapter 1

sociology: study of human society
looks at patterns of interaction between individuals; individuals and groups; between different groups

two (of many) ways to make divisions within sociology (distinction of micro / macro)
macro: larger societal context
social structures & how they are related to each other
micro: within very small groups; can even be thought of as intra individual

relationships between individuals & social structures

sociological thinking: analyzing our own assumptions about society; question those things we feel are ‘natural’ not to be questioned

sociological imagination C. Wright Mills
if we want to fully understand our individual circumstances (personal troubles), we must see and understand the connections between our ‘ordinary,’ day to day lives and larger society (i.e. historical (including current issues such as the state of the economy) and cultural issues)
to see the connection between personal and the larger society, it is important to acknowledge that humans are born into a pre-existing society
this pre-existing society has expected roles

[roles: behaviors expected from a particular status (at this point the term ‘roles is being used to refer to both the behaviors and the

importance of social structure: roles that we think are individual, are actually imbedded within a social framework that includes multiple roles and social networks
seemingly individual roles are imbedded within a framework of multiple roles and social networks
therefore when a person is born, they are born into existing social networks
we are born into a system with pre-defined statuses and roles; we are expected to fit within this system

Sociological Imagination (making the familiar strange)
personal troubles (individual situations)
public issues (larger society)
what may appear personal is impacted by the public sphere (larger society)
awareness allows greater understanding of links between individual situations and our social structure

social institution: one of numerous components of a society
these institutions are interdependent with one another
institutions’ existence transcends name, time, location, individuals involved (that is, an institution can change its name, exist over several generations, move and continue to exist when people enter into and exit it)
institutions replicate themselves (not always exactly; the institution of education has been replicated in our society; but, the concerns of education have changed with new technology)
institutions shape the behavior of individuals / groups that are a part of it

social identity: who we think ourselves to be, socially, impacted by groups we associate with

history of sociology

Auguste Comte founder of what he called ‘social physics’ or ‘positivism’ felt that sociology would become like physics that absolute laws would be identified
positivist sociology: attempts to reveal the social facts that affect social life by developing and testing hypotheses based on theories about how the social world works
to understand society need to use logic, scientific laws
this perspective not held by many sociologists today

Harriet Martineau known for both translating the work of Comte, and for being a scholar herself

Karl Marx: set of complex theories
historical materialism the economy is the most important institution in a society; class conflict is behind all change; conflict is good because it brings about needed change
wrote about what he saw Industrial Revolution
inequality / exploitation
2 and only 2 classes (bourgeoisie: those who own the means of production / proletariat: those who sell their labor for subsistence wages)
conflict is the basis of change (Marx considered ‘father’ of power/conflict paradigm)
conflict resolution social change
most important factor in society: economy
‘father’ of power conflict paradigm

Max Weber
agreed with Marx that the economy is important, but felt that prestige and power were also important
emphasis on subjectivity (pre-curser to interpretive sociology)
sociologists should be objective, value-free
important to know patterns of behavior
more important to know the subjective meanings attached to behavior
ex: pattern of high divorce / important to consider how the meaning of marriage has changed
proposed that capitalism emerged from early Protestant religious values of self-discipline, thrift, individualism
proposed concept of ‘ideal type’ not as what should be, but as a standard to measure

Emile Durkheim associated with positivist sociology and structural functionalism (added to Comte’s idea of positivism)
concern: order, stability in society (order, stability are important)
concerned with ‘glue’ of society, solidarity
type of cohesion, ‘glue’ of society impacts how different societies work (such as division of labor)
individuals are constrained by the moral standards of socializing community
confines our behavior
&allows a feeling of ‘belonging’
all parts of society are interconnected
a change in one part effects changes in other parts
‘father’ of structural functionalist perspective
contrary to Marx, conflict is not good not good is society is unstable
if there is change, it should be gradual so that society is not made unstable

Georg Simmel formal sociology, or a sociology of pure numbers (for instance, how a group of two is different than a group of three)

4 paradigms (lenses) to study society
structural functionalist macro (larger societal concept)
power conflict macro (larger societal concept)
symbolicinteractionist micro (more intimate)
feminist theory

structural functionalism (macro)
concerns: social organization & how it’s maintained
society inter-related parts
some parts are functional, others dysfunctional (what are the patterns in society? which are functional or dysfunctional?)
functional: positive impact on society
assumptions: stability, harmony, slow evolution
supports status quo
avoid conflict
if there is change, it should be slow so not to make society unstable

power conflict (macro)

concern: stress & conflict in society
what groups, individuals have access to power, resources (result in inequalities) asks the question: who benefits? (those who benefit work to maintain status quo & their position within status quo)
assumptions: competition, structural inequalities, social change from conflict

symbolic interactionism (micro)
symbolic: importance of symbols, subjective meanings
humans concerned with subjective meanings associated with actions, interactions
interactionism: through interaction we determine how symbols are created, maintained, negotiated
assumptions:
importance of symbolic meanings (specific behaviors, gestures, words can be interpreted differently due to differing meanings/symbols various groups put on them)
meanings grow out of relationships (are not arbitrary); if relationships change, meanings may change
meanings are negotiated
asks: how do individuals & social structures shape each other?

feminist specifically concerned with how the world is experienced differently according to being male or female (in general, acknowledging that throughout history, women have been pretty much ignored, or, at least, not given priority)
assumption that males and females are perceived of as and treated as they are fundementally different (and that research, etc has considered the male model as the only valid one)
therefore acknowledge that women’s experiences are valid and should be looked at separately from men’s experiences
a lot in common with power conflict perspective (importance of power, competition, conflict and political reform)
focus on inequalities based on gender

Interchangeable ‘lenses’
none of 4 paradigms can fully understand, explain, predict all societal aspects
exploring a social issue from at least 2 of these paradigms enriches our understanding of that issue

history of sociology in US

Charles Horton Cooley (Looking Glass Self)
George Herbert Mead (generalized other)
W.I. Thomas (definition of the situation)
W.E.B. DuBois (double consciousness)
Jane Addams (Hull House applied and tested Chicago School ideas)

influence from the ‘Chicago school’ focus on empirical research; belief that the behavior and personalities of individuals are shaped by our social and physical environments

Sociology and Its Cousins
Sociology focuses on making comparisons across cases to find patterns and create hypotheses about how societies work now or how they worked in the past
Sociology looks at how individuals interact with one another as well as at how groups, small and large, interact with one another.
Distinctions are important, but a lot of overlap exists between the work done in different academic disciplines

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