SOCI 210: Sociological perspectives

Theoretical anchors

  1. Administrative
  2. Durkheim, Weber, and Marx
  3. Social theory
  4. Theoretical tradition 1:
    Structural functionalism
  5. Discussion

Administrative

Readings

  • Chapter 1 from Conerly, Holmes, and Tamang (2021) is optional, but it is still a good idea to take a look at it

Other questions or issues?

Durkheim!     Weber!         Marx!

European tradition

  • Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max weber often credited as 'founders' of sociology
  • Erikson emphasizes the emergence of sociology as a discipline (as opposed to the study of society in general) in the European context
  • Contemporary sociology is global, but retains a bias toward Western topics and ideals

Theory is contextual

  • Marx, Durkheim, and Weber were developing theory to explain particularities of European society at the time
  • They were responding to the political and historical moment
  • Theory, though it often aims to be general in scope, should be understood in context
three early-20th-century photographic portraits of Durkheim, Weber, and Marx

Social
theory

A series of pencil sketches of people and pairs of people. Faces are vague but they have expressive postures. Several are sitting on park benches

What is Social theory?

A soci(ologic)al theory is a framework used to explain the things we see in the social world

Generate

  • Theory can help to generate hypotheses about why or how something happens

Generalize

  • Theory can lend weight to a specific empirical case by framing it as an illustration of a broader social reality

New situations

  • Theory gives us tools to think about novel situations and events (e.g. prediction)

Perspsective

  • Theory can offer new perspectives on topics we can already explain
Two men standing on either side of a whiteboard with a soccer field. Blue magnets show player positions on the board. They are explaining something to a third person, barely visible in the foreground. One of the men is tapping his index finger against his head.

Social theory

Scope

  • General theory aims to explain society as a whole
  • Narrow theory limits itself to explaining a tightly bounded domain of social reality
    Theory of organizational influence
    Theory of occupational mobility
  • Narrow theories often fit within the framework of a particular general theory

Micro- vs macro-level

  • Micro-level theories start from the behavior and interactions of individuals, explaining larger structures in terms of these small-scale subjects
  • Macro-level theories start from a view of society as a whole, explaining individual experiences through the broad, society-wide forces

Social theory

Good sociological analysis needs to incorporate appropriate social theory and methods of inquiry

Theory:

  • Means of explaining and predicting the social world

Methods:

  • Means of collecting data and
    making observations about the social world
Photo of two extremely muscular arms with their hands tightly gripped together.

Three theoretical traditions

Throughout the semester, we will be be using three broad theoretical lenses to make sense of social phenomena:

Today

1. Structural functionalism

2. Conflict theory

3. Symbolic interactionism

Structural function­alism

A photo portrait of a hippopotamus with studio lighting and a black background

Structural functionalism

A large square labeled 'Society'. The interior of the square is broken up into several irregularly shaped regions. Each region is labeled with a social institution, e.g. 'government', 'science', 'family', 'industry', 'religion', etc.

Structural functionalism

The outline of hippopotamus labeled 'Society'. The interior of the hippopotamus is broken up into several irregularly shaped regions. Each region is labeled with a bodily organ, e.g. 'brain', 'skin', 'blood', 'stomach', 'liver', etc.

Structural functionalism

Some major themes from structural functionalism:

Photo of the head of an impala with a red-billed oxpecker staning on its forehead

Social cohesion

  • Mutually dependent components of society foster a sense of unity that holds society together
  • Émile Durkheim theorized a historical shift from mechanical (pre-modern) to organic (modern) forms of solidarity
Photo of several worker bees surrounding a queen bee, who is marked with a red dot on her back

Social roles

  • The roles that people occupy (mother, banker, leader) are built socially
  • Talcott Parsons theorized that roles are necessary for society to function, and become institutionalized over time
Photo of several agricultural wooden bee hives among tall green plants

Function and dysfunction

  • If an institution exists, it exists to fulfill a purpose for society
  • Robert Merton: manifest vs implicit function

Discussion

Photo of a small-scale postal sorting station, with large bags labeled with different town names

Discussion: Postal worker strike

  1. How does Canada's pro-union culture shape/influence the Canada Post Strike in comparison to other countries?

  2. How does SES impact individuals reactions to the strike? Further, how do these varying reactions impact the behaviours that follow (ex. joining in protests, complaining, simply doing nothing, etc.)

  3. How do strikes in crucial industries influence the possibility of strikes in other industries?

1. In pairs:

  • Discuss one of the three student quesions on the left from last week

2. Consider:

  • Structure: what other institutions is McGill athletics linked to? What institutions depend on it? For what?
  • Function: what does institutionalized athletics provide to McGill? To Montreal? To Society?
  • Consider the elements of social cohesion, roles, and function related to McGill athletics
  • It might help to take some notes

3. Everyone

  • Share and discuss your ideas with the class

Image credit

three early-20th-century photographic portraits of Durkheim, Weber, and Marx

Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx, via Lo Sé y Me Importa

A series of pencil sketches of people and pairs of people. Faces are vague but they have expressive postures. Several are sitting on park benches

Artist unknown, from Pinterest

Two men standing on either side of a whiteboard with a soccer field. Blue magnets show player positions on the board. They are explaining something to a third person, barely visible in the foreground. One of the men is tapping his index finger against his head.

Still from Ted Lasso (2020)

Photo of two extremely muscular arms with their hands tightly gripped together.

Still from Predator (1987)

A photo portrait of a hippopotamus with studio lighting and a black background

Photo by Petra Bouchalova on Unsplash

Photo of the head of an impala with a red-billed oxpecker standing on its forehead

Photo by Wikimedia user Charles J. Sharp

Photo of several worker bees surrounding a queen bee, who is marked with a red dot on her back.

Photo by Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service

Photo of several agricultural wooden bee hives among tall green plants

Photo by Wikimedia user Jonathunder

Photo of a small-scale postal sorting station, with large bags labeled with different town names

By Kerry Raymond via Wikimedia