1. Be related to a concept or subject we have discussed in this course 2. Be something that you are interested in researching in an academic fashion 3. Ask a specific question that you’ll try to answe

• A social theory is a suite of ideas, arguments, explanatory speculations, and thought experiments, grounded in empirical observations and scientific models, that provide a lens through which sociologists investigate and explain the social world • Social theories are predicated on specific understandings of human nature 4 Human Nature is… Well, it depends… • John Locke – “tabula rasa”; interested primarily in liberty and the protection of private property • Thomas Hobbes – Human beings are self - interested, power -hungry, and rational actors ; they will do what they can to gain power and hold it • Rousseau – Early humans lived in an idyllic state characterized by complete equity; humans were perfectible, they strove to better themselves 5 Can we critique or challenge the notion of a single, universal “human nature”? 6 Sure we can. We could ask the following questions: • Where does this universal human nature come from? • Where can we find it in ourselves? Our brains? What part? • If our nature is universal, how come people act so differently around the world and across time? • Why does our contemporary understanding of human nature so easily fit our contemporary pattern of living? These ways of thinking about human nature are the product of The Enlightenment 7 Review: The Enlightenment was a period of European history (generally) where intellectuals (philosophes) began to challenge the teachings of the Church with secular ideas. • Liberty (of thought and action), Equality (of all men under the law), Fraternity (solidarity of all mankind – sort of… not for slaves, or women, or poor people, or non -Europeans, or the ‘wrong’ Europeans [Jews, Roma, etc.]) Not everyone was happy with that though… 8 There was a conservative pushback to these ideas • Conservative thinkers saw the revolutions sweeping Europe and North America as inherently destructive to society. • Conservatives began to push back against the Enlightenment and this new generation of social thinkers Conservative (or traditionalist) arguments against progressive social and political change • Society exists apart from the individual • Society is the most important unit of consideration • Individuals do not make society, institutions do; individuals just fill the roles • The smallest social unit is the family • Social parts are interrelated and interdependent 9 Conservative Pushback, continued… • Change is threatening to individuals and society alike • Social Institutions are beneficial to everyone • Modern social changes that produce fear (or instability) must be stopped • Traditional elements of society (religion, for example) are important and provide necessary stability • Social hierarchies are good for society and for individuals 10 The conservative pushback, in part, resulted in the birth of sociology As we will see, some of the earliest sociologists were more concerned with stabilizing society (with the ‘right’ people on top), than with anything else. 11 Durkheim, Spencer, Merton & Functionalism CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES 12 Functionalism: A Primer • Society is best understood as an organism , with discrete organs (social institutions) that are both interconnected and interrelated . When all organs are functioning properly, society is stable and everyone thrives. • The society provides its citizens with morality, laws, protection, and a sense of identity , and the citizens provide the society with a workforce to fill all the roles required for the society to function (teachers, soldiers, doctors, priests, etc.) • As a result, any threat to this homeostasis is a threat to the society, and must be dealt with as quickly as possible. 13 Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903) • Society, like nature itself, functions according to survival of the fittest (a concept Darwin didn’t accept) • Spencer believed that evolution (of a sort) governed who prospered in a society, and those who didn’t, clearly weren’t meant to • Social services, therefore, were a net evil, as they allowed the ‘unfit’ to continue living and thereby harm society • Of course, this means that anyone with money in Spencer’s utopia would be capable of simply buying moral rightness 14 Emile Durkheim (1858 - 1917) • Considered one of the founders of sociology • Believed that the origins of human nature – and human action – lay in relationships between individuals and the collective • What we wear, who we love, where we work, etc. are products of the social forces that surround us • Culture exists outside of the individual, without the individual; it precedes us, and continues after we die; it’s the vehicle, and we’re all just along for the ride • Durkheim provided us with some fairly important concepts, many of which continue to influence sociology today 15 Durkheim’s contributions (a few of them at least) • Collective Consciousness: Not a hive mind; the social forces that act on people without their even being aware of them. • Social Facts: Concepts, institutions, or other features of a society that exist independently of any one person’s belief. Examples: money, laws • Anomie: When one’s society no longer provides them with a sense of purpose, or a clear set of goals to strive for. When people lose this sense of purpose or certainty, they drift away from society (which is a bad thing) • Organic & Mechanical Solidarity: In early (mechanical) societies, little differentiation; in complex societies (organic), high degrees of differentiation, and therefore higher degrees of interdependence 16 Critiques • Functionalist approaches tend to take a dim view of rebellions/revolutions/social unrest (as they ‘harm’ the equilibrium of a society) • Seriously underplays the importance of human agency in society; people are free agents, they can choose to submit to, or resist the social structures they are embedded in • Employs a universal claim about human societies that assumes all – or most – societies will (or should) eventually resemble Euro - American ones. 17 Talcott Parsons (1902 - 1979) • One of the most influential sociologists of the 20 th Century • Continued to use the structural -functionalist approach of Durkheim, but with his own unique model of social action • During WWII he was a staunch anti -fascist; after the war, he attacked communism as well – both were forms of fundamentalism that he opposed • Ironically, during the McCarthy era in the United States, he was accused of being a communist • Attempted to create a sort of unified theory of social action that would unite Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology into a single kind of social science. (AGIL model of social action) 18 The AGIL model in its “pure” form 19 Adaptation Systems must be able to adapt to changing environments, and provide the necessities of life for their members Goal Attainment Systems must provide a clear series of priorities that guide people to act in certain ways. It tells them what to strive for and how to do it. Integration There needs to be a method for absorbing new members into the community (usually through norms and value - systems), and there needs to be a way to sanction people who choose to violate community boundaries. Latency (pattern maintenance) A way for the whole system to remain together by providing people with signs and symbols to allow them to transmit meaning to one another (and to release stress in appropriate ways), and by providing a framework through which people can achieve a “harmonious society” Robert K. Merton • Merton was a bit of an oddball by functionalist standards • Like Parsons, Durkheim, and other functionalists, Merton saw society as being composed of different structures, each with its own specialized function • Unlike them however, Merton recognized that sometimes, social structures actually worked against the best interests of people • In other words, sometimes social structures could be bad 20 Merton believed that social structures have a primary or “manifest” function, and a secondary, unintended function (that can harm people sometimes) • Manifest Functions : these are the “working as intended” functions of a social structure.

• E.g. Education systems designed to teach children what they need to know • Latent Functions : describes the unintended consequences of a structure, practice or process in action.

• E.g. By going to school, students also get to meet new people, form friendships, perhaps even find a partner 21 QUESTIONS? 22 CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES Marx & Conflict Theory 23 In order to understand Marx, we need to first understand Hegel • Hegel argued that ideas emerge from a process called “the dialectic ” •  That’s the dialectic there • Contradictions emerge between an idea and its opposite (thesis/antithesis) • Through attempts to reconcile these contradictions, new ideas ( synthesis ) emerge and, once adopted, become the new thesis in a new dialectical cycle 24 Marxian “Dialectical Materialism” 25 Rejects Hegel’s emphasis on ideas and replaces it with a concern for the dialectics of the material world Each historical epoch contains within it the seeds of its own antithesis As those contradictions grow, epoch becomes unstable until it collapses under the weight of its contradictions From this collapse, a new epoch emerges As the world evolves, this cycle moves towards its conclusion (a communist utopia) Key terms to understand here:

• False Consciousness: Buying into – and defending – the system that oppresses you (caring more about your boss’ wealth or success than your own well -being) • Class Consciousness:

Recognizing that you and others from your class are being oppressed and deciding to do something about it 26 The structure of society • Marx argued that the base determined the superstructure in a unidirectional relationship • Modes of Production • Relations to means of production • Later thinkers, including Antonio Gramsci, argued that the superstructure legitimizes the base, and can sometimes even influence it • This structure governed every part of peoples’ lives, while also serving to alienate workers from themselves 27 When people are forced into this system, they become alienated (which is bad) • In a capitalist society, we don’t simply work; we are workers – labour is a core element of our identity. When we are removed from the things we build, we are separated from an element of our own identities. • Our “species -being” is irreparably harmed when we are separated from the things we produce. 28 Critiques 29 Early Marxian lenses tended to be too focused on establishing universal claims, without any real attempt at supporting them empirically.

Like Functionalist approaches, early Marxian analysis often rejected individual agency and resistance to oppressive social forces, outside of collective appeals to agency or resistance. Early Marxian analysis rejected just about any other form of social marginalization; class was the only oppression that existed.

Relied on a utopian vision of an achievable, classless future that depended on the universal acceptance and application of Marxian ideas. This was a bit presumptuous… CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES Intro to SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM 30 Symbolic Interactionism: A primer • There is no ‘objective’ society – nothing that exists outside of human interactions; if people define situations as real, they become real in their consequences ( Thomas theorem ) • E.g. Race isn’t objectively real, but the consequences of socially constructed racial identities are • Everything we see around us (our buildings, institutions, clothing, behaviours) are products of human interactions, and imbued with social information; they are archives of social information that tell us a great deal about the society that produced them • Things aren’t just things; they mean something to us 31 The 7 principles of Symbolic Interactionism – according to Ritzer Humans have the capacity for thought Thinking is shaped by interaction Symbols allows humans to interact in meaningful ways, thus manifesting our capacity for thought Interactions use symbols to convey meaning in unique ways People can change the meanings attached to symbols in response to social situations People can change the meanings of symbols in response to self -reflection All of these patterns, symbols, and interactions form societies and social groups 32 Cooley: The “looking glass self” and “reflexivity” • 3 principle components:

• We imagine how we appear to others – not just in terms of our appearance but also in terms of how we interact with others. Do we interact with people abruptly or with sympathy?

Does our appearance resemble the norm, or do we deviate? • We imagine how others might judge that appearance – We attempt to empathise with other people, to see how they might view us based on their own lived experiences or social position. Do they see us in a positive light, or a negative light? • We reflect on that judgement and develop some sort of feeling about it (pride, embarrassment, shame, etc.) – How do we feel about the judgements of others? Do their reactions cause us to want to change our behaviour or embrace it? 33 Edwin’s additions: Goffman • Irving Goffman developed what he called “Dramaturgy” or the “Dramaturgical analysis” • Basically, he argued that society is like a play; we all have roles and scripts, and we are all expected to perform those scripts in the appropriate ways. If we perform our parts well, we are rewarded (or at least, not punished); if we deviate from the script, society tries to force us back on track • We are mocked or policed by friends and family • We might be literally policed if our actions are deemed “degenerate”, “dangerous” or otherwise wrong (see: homosexuality in the 1950s ) • We constantly reflect on our performances by reflecting on how others might judge us. In this way, Goffman was talking about the same thing as Cooley:

reflexivity. 34 Critiques 35 Despite symbolic interactionism’s utility in understanding the nuances of interpersonal interactions, early symbolic interactionist models often overlooked the role of larger structural forces Its focus on the arbitrary nature of socially constructed reality underplays the fact that even socially constructed artifacts are difficult to change, once established As a result, the sometimes hyper -granular (extremely fine or narrow) focus of Symbolic Interactionist theories can miss the forest for the trees. It focuses so much on the micro - scale that it misses obvious macro -level structures If a theory can be critiqued, does that mean it’s a bad theory? 36 It’s important to remember that in the social sciences – like in all academic research – an imperfect theory isn’t’ the same thing as a bad theory Theoretical lenses are narrow by design; they focus on specific variables or experiences, which means they omit discussing other ones Some models – like early functionalism – aren’t really used anymore, because they have lost much of their explanatory power Others, like Marxist analysis, have undergone significant revisions and are almost unrecognizable compared to their root versions Theories that have no utility ought to be dropped; theories that do have utility will be refined for as long as they remain useful QUESTIONS? 37 Classical social theory:

questions to reflect on… • 1. Of the theories discussed, which one appeals to you the most? What is it that draws you to it over the others? • 2. Which of these social theories do you wish to learn more about? Why? • 3. What do you think makes people want to study society the way that sociologists do? • 4. Do you feel that humans all share in a universal human nature? How might someone challenge your position? 38