SOCIOLOGY - Lecture Notes[1]

SOCIOLOGY (definition: Science of society, social institutions, and social relationships, and specifically the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behaviour of organized human groups. It emerged at the end of the 19th century through the work of Emile Durkheim in France, Max Weber and Georg Simmel in Germany, and Robert E. Park and Albion Small in the U.S. Sociologists use observational techniques, surveys and interviews, statistical analysis, controlled experiments, and other methods to study subjects such as the family, ethnic relations, schooling, social status and class, bureaucracy, religious movements, deviance, the elderly, and social change.) limitations of the definition. References to key words from Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought – Culture, Sociology, Popular Culture, gestalt, material culture, non-material culture

C

civilization (they go hand in hand – chicken & the egg – raison d’être for each

other)

U

urban (a predominantly urban phenomenon – so even the so called “folk” culture has arisen as a result of the bourgeoisie conditioning )

L

language (mother tongue – how we are genetically coded in the language of our birth – importance of biology as much as environment) (Foucaldian genealogy)

T

tradition (rites / rituals / prevalent customs – folk & popular culture) (Foucaldian archaeology)

U

Uniqueness (peculiarities within each group of individuals due to their own particular histories)

R

region (climatic, landscape, geography)

E

ethnicity / experience

The sum total of the above - culture as a ‘gestaltic’ phenomena Infra cultural – biological understanding Pre cultural – physiological understanding Micro cultural – day to day understanding Importance :  

transition from nomad to “settlement” – oral folk established institutions Who we are inside is how we build naturally (separate from desire)

CONCEPTS OF CULTURE    

Cultural diversity (differences between cultures) Cultural Identity (uniqueness / U.S.P. within a culture) Cultural relativism (all cultures are equally valid & to be judged relative to their own value system) Cultural Universals (commonalities irrespective of culture – need for sustenance & shelter, human bonding familial ties – modes & mechanisms may vary but essential need is common)

APPROACH TO CULTURE      

Anthropological Hierarchy of needs (Maslow’s pyramid) Self reference criteria Diffusion theory High & low context Perception

GRADATION OF CULTURE Folkway – every day customs Mores – Accepted norms

towards a more formalized “rigid” structure

Laws – formal, “coded” retribution down the line

violation gradually invites stricter

Values – abstract ideals Norms – definitive rules (LAWS) INSTITUTIONS (an institution is an established complex pattern of behavior in which a number of persons participate to improve group interests – schools, marriage)

CULTURE

MATERIAL (artifacts) NON MATERIAL (beliefs, values, knowledge, behavior)

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE MATERIAL CULTURE   ARTEFACTS, TOOLS, TECHNOLOGY  BUILT FORM (architectural remnants – not the theory)

NON - MATERIAL LANGUAGE   

STORIES, HISTORIES, MYTHS, LEGENDS , JOKES ROLE OF THE COMIC BOOK HERO RITUAL, RITES, CEREMONIES, CELEBRATIONS, HEROS

AESTHETICS    

SYMBOLS & SYMBOLIC ACTION BELIEFS, ASSUMPTIONS MENTAL MODELS

EDUCATION ATTITUDES & SOCIAL ORGANISATION  

ATTITUDES RULES, NORMS, ETHICAL CODES, VALUES

YANTRA, MANTRA, TANTRA

R E L I G I O N

CULTURAL LAG THEORY (technological evolutionism) William F. Ogburn, 1922 – Social Change with respect to culture & original nature & On culture and Social Change “A cultural lag occurs when one or two parts of culture which are correlated, changes before or in greater degree than the other part does, thereby causing less adjustment between the 2 parts that existed previously.” - 1957 Culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations and social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag.

MATERIAL CULTURE (lag , drag) ADAPTIVE CULTURES

RESULTANT IMPACT (particularly critical in a 21st century context) : RESOURCE DEPLETION Desirable : Interaction of technology / geography / culture

CULTURAL CHANGE RAPID 

due to war / conquest

GRADUAL 

  

INVENTION o Material o idealogy

: agriculture

ACCUMULATION DIFFUSION ADJUSTMENT

: industrial revolution transport

: writing

: internet

printing

COLLECTIVE ACTION PERCEIVED BENEFIT THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE : THEORY OF NOSTALGIA (GOLDEN AGE) : THEORY OF INEVITABLE PROGRESS (FOR A BETTER WORLD) : THEORY OF CHANGE RUNS IN CYCLES

: OTHERS – SUPERNATRAL, RACIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL

MAN

Dynamic

ENVIRONMENT

RESISTANCE TO SOCIAL CHANGE o o o o

Stability of folkway, more, social institutions prevalent Habit Value attachment Vested interest

SOCIALIZATION IN HUMANS SOCIAL INTERACTION phenomena)

CIVIL INATTENTION (predominantly urban

Why do we need to study socialization & related processes? 

The routine of daily life forms the bulk of social activity (microsocialization)



Eventually become larger social systems & institutions (macrosocialization)

COMMUNICATION 

Verbal – social rules, conversation



Non Verbal – facial expressions & body gesture o

Happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear surprise (these constitute symbolic notions)

INNATE * INDIVIDUAL * CULTURAL

ETHNOMETHODOLOGY – term coined by Harold Garfinkel – the folk methods people use to make sense of what others do and say Language + Context = shared understanding

Response Cries - slip of the tongues -Sigmund Freud – CONTROLLED ALERTNESS ENCOUNTERS - A life of markers & brackets 

Focused interaction



Unfocussed interaction

Dramaturgical model – actors on a stage - a recreation of a perception FRONT REGIONS - formal, stylized roles, on stage performances BACK REGIONS – behind the scene, private, PROXEMICS (ref. E.T. Hall, The Hidden Dimension) – microcultures - fixed features / semi fixed features / informal PERSONAL SPACE Intimate distance distance

Personal Distance

(1 – 1.5 ft)

(1.5 – 4 ft)

Social Distance (4 – 12 ft)

Humphrey Osmond – Socio Petal & Socio Fugal – Star & Grid SOCIO VARIATIONAL FEATURES

Physical Voice Odour (body & mouth) Physical proximity Eyes

(> 12 ft)

Public

Inside / outside REDUNDANCY Cultural Religion Movies Literature Architectural Street patterns (star & grid) House – inside / outside Doors / windows / rooms Façade 

The concept of the line & the concept of the point.



The nothing space of the ‘ma’