worth 20% of your overall grade in this course. The purpose of this assignment is to have you apply your sociological imagination and to reflect on your own life history by applying concepts and theor
History of Modern Sociology History of Modern Sociology Several events and revolutions that took place in the 18th century had a profound influence on the origins of sociology • The Enlightenment (1650 -1800) • American and French Revolutions • Industrial Revolution • Urbanization Enlightenment • The Enlightenment: • Produced an intellectual revolution in how people thought about social change, progress, and critical thinking • Emphasized individualism, reason, skepticism • Separation of Church and State • Liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government Enlightenment • The optimistic views of the philosophes and other social thinkers regarding progress and equal opportunity (at least for some people) became part of the impetus for political and economic revolutions, first in America and then in France. • The Enlightenment thinkers had emphasized a sense of common purpose and hope for human progress • The French Revolution and its aftermath replaced these ideals with discord and overt conflict. History of Sociology • Historically, the time was ripe for such thoughts because the Age of Enlightenment had produced a belief in reason and humanity’s ability to perfect itself • Early social thinkers — such as Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Herbert Spencer, and Émile Durkheim — were interested in analyzing social order and stability, and many of their ideas had a dramatic influence on modern sociology History of Modern Sociology • Natural scientists had been using reason , or rational thinking , to discover the laws of physics and the movement of the planets. • Social thinkers began to believe that by applying the methods developed by the natural sciences, they might discover the laws of human behaviour and apply these laws to solve social problems. History of Modern Sociology • Industrialization: The process by which societies are transformed from dependence on agriculture and handmade products to an emphasis on manufacturing and related industries. • 19 th and early 20 th centuries • This process first occurred during the Industrial Revolution in Britain between 1760 and 1850 and was soon repeated throughout Western Europe. Industrialization • By the mid -19th century, industrialization was well under way in Canada and the United States • Massive economic, technological, and social changes occurred as machine technology and the factory system shifted the economic base of these nations from agriculture to manufacturing. Industrialization • A new social class of industrialists emerged in textiles, iron smelting, and related industries. • Many people who had laboured on the land were forced to leave their tightly knit rural communities and sacrifice well -defined social relationships to seek employment as factory workers in the emerging cities, which became the centres of industrial work. History of Modern Sociology • Industrialization brought a massive systematic shift to the economic base of society from agriculture to manufacturing • Required rural communities to relocate to find waged employment in factories • Loss of skill, identity, massive shift in history History of Modern Sociology • Urbanization: The process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities rather than in rural areas • Many people moved from being producers to being consumers • Emergence of New Social Problems: inadequate housing, crowding, unsanitary conditions, poverty, pollution, and crime Urbanization/Industrialization • Urbanization accompanied modernization and the rapid process of industrialization • Although cities existed long before the Industrial Revolution, the development of the factory system led to a rapid increase in both the number of cities and the size of their populations. • People from diverse backgrounds worked together in the same factory Industrialization • At the same time, many people shifted from being producers to being consumers. For example, families living in the cities had to buy food with their wages because they could no longer grow their own crops to consume or to barter for other resources. • Similarly, people had to pay rent for their lodging because they could no longer exchange their services for shelter Industrialization • Wages were so low that entire families — including young children — were forced to work, often under hazardous conditions and with no job security. • As these conditions became more visible, a new breed of social thinkers turned its attention to trying to understand why and how society was changing. • For ex. Marx Miners and Factory Workers • Early factory workers had unsafe working conditions, little to no rights, breaks, or any job security, many workers died due to unsafe conditions • This widespread change led to observations about the exploitation of people, which began the attempt to change and gain workers rights • Still highly dangerous, low paid work around the entire world • Our current system of resource use relies on exploitation of others Industrialization • Urbanization • Example of Paris, Vienna (Haussmann) • “Fin -de -siecle Vienna” by Carl Schorske Paris Pre - Haussmann Paris Post - Haussmann Pre - industrial Europe Pre - industrial Europe Invention of Schools Railways and Mass Travel Development of Mass Cities Changes in Social Space • The emergence of the Parisian “Flaneur” meaning Idler, lounger, people -watcher Georg Simmel • German sociologist studied the impacts of urbanization on mental health • He found the urban lifestyle to be alienating and relentless • City dwellers, in an effort to limit the overwhelming stimulation of the city, will restrict their contact with others to cope • This leads to isolation and fragmentation, decreased social interaction and fewer shared experiences Industrial revolution brought:• Jobs, a revolutionary shift of work and economy • Cities and mass urbanization • Shift in gender roles • Loss of communities and social support • Time and regulation of individuals • Much Illnesses (rapid urbanization, lack of sanitary waste disposal systems and clean water, esp. In Paris) • Schools (factory workers) A Culture of Time and Space:
