Chapter 1 Introduction Committing Sociology || SOC1100 Textbook Notes PDF

Preview

Summary

Chapter 1 Introduction Committing Sociology || SOC1100 Textbook Notes as instructed by Prof. Curtis Pankratz in the Fall 2021 Term...

Description

Chapter 1: introduction: Committing Sociology Sociology: An “Uncomfortable Trade” ● ●

● ● ●

● ●

● ● ●

● ●

Sociology: the study of social life and social relationships, social change, and social conflict It’s interest lies in actions and thoughts oriented towards others ○ Sociology focuses on society, psychology focuses on the individual, anthropology focuses on culture ○ Both sociology and anthropology take an interest in culture and in meaning-making Theories: explanations for observed realities Methods: techniques for collecting and making sense of information Critical Thinking: an approach that involved not taking things for granted or jumping to conclusions hastily but investigating available information to form opinions based on evidence A critical approach to sociology includes effecting social change to encourage greater social equality “Committing” sociology is based on the idea that sociology demands our active and deliberate action, it is something we do with careful intent ○ “Committing” a crime Committing also suggests that our actions might not be neutral but grounded in particular values Committing sociology is about combining intellectual endeavours with love for people and a belief that change is possible and necessary (Jasmine Hartov) Sociology is an “uncomfortable” trade because it is disruptive ○ Threatens existing power relations ○ its interest in promoting social equality and change shows more concern for the wellbeing of whole societies than of a powerful few Reflective Knowledge: stepping back from settings or groups that we are embedded in to think critically about what we are seeing and the implications thereof Sociology is about studying social life AND pushing changes to it

Committing Sociology: Responsibilities and Opportunities ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

What responsibilities and opportunities are associated with doing sociology? Responsibility to share its knowledge gained through research across sectors, regions, and cultures Knowledge shared must be systematically gathered evidence, and collected in a way that adheres to rigorous methods Knowledge should be made accessible and understandable to the general public ○ Makes it useful and potentially empowering to a wider range of people Responsibility to courageously notice and say what needs to be noticed and said Responsibility to people who have participated in research ○ What do participants get out of the research and broader research process Responsibility to connect sociological work across disciplines in the academic world ○ Sociology intersects with other fields in the social sciences and humanities

○

● ●

Collaborating with other disciplines to create and use knowledge for the betterment of society Sociology must bring ignored and silenced voices to the table if it is to truly inform and empower society There are many ways of looking at and gathering information about the social world

From Positivism and Consensus Sociology to Critical Discipline: The Emergence and Transformation of Sociology ●

● ● ● ● ● ●

●

August Comte, French philosopher and founder of positivism ○ Positivism: a philosophical theory and approach to social science that sees social reality as comprising objective facts and views and the research process as value-free Herbert Spencer, contributed theories of society’s development as a “social organism” Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Webber also contributed to the emergence of sociology The sociology that first took root in Canada and the US was deeply influenced by Comte and Spencer’s positivism Key figures of early-mid-twentieth-century sociology were consensus focused, such as Talbott Parsons Consensus-focused: sociology in the structural functionalist vein that sees society as a system of interrelated parts that promote stability Structural Functionalists: a theoretical framework in sociology that sees a society as a complex system, or organism, whose parts are interrelated and work together to promote stability and interdependence Parsons and other structural functionalists saw all the elements of society as important contributors to the stability of society ○ Poverty and crime are not problems to be solved

The Sociological Imagination and Public Sociology ● ●

● ● ●

● ●

C Wright Mills, American sociologist, challenges the discipline with a call to cultivate a sociological imagination Sociological imagination: way of thinking and seeing the social world by noticing connection between individual experiences on the micro level and broader societal relationships on the macro level This approach invites us to look critically at challenges or injustices we experience in our everyday lives and how they are linked to broader public issues Public Issues: macro level forces shaping society and individual lives Michael Burawoy: American sociologist, champion of public sociology ○ Argued the discipline would grow sttronger if we could make sociology more central to public discussion and debate ○ Work to back-translate Back-Translate: bring knowledge back to empower individuals and communities There is increasing acknowledgement of different worldview and sources of knowledge within the discipline

●

●

Different perspectives and goals within sociology are not bad and do not weaken it or make it difficult ○ We need more varietyin the voices at the table and more willingess to courageouslt try out new ways of collecting and making sense of information about the social world Debate and diversity enable growth

Approaches to understanding society Approach

Characteristics

Positivism

~ Social reality is made up of objective facts and truths ~ Sociology is the scientific study of empirical evidence and is driven by facts, not opinions or values

Structural Functionalism

~ Society is like an organism made up of interdependent parts ~ Different parts of society work together to maintain stability and cohesiveness

The Sociological Imagination

~ There are connections between the everyday and individual experiences in social life (micro) and broader societal relationships and issues (macro)

Public Sociology

~ Sociological knowledge should be brought beyond the academic world into many arenas ~ Sharing sociology with multiple publics promotes discussion and debate about social issues

The Domains of Sociology ●

●

The discipline of sociology is made up of four complementary domains ○ Professional Sociology: the main activities that sociologists typically do in universities and colleges ○ Critical Sociology: aspects of the discipline where social issues are debated ○ Policy Sociology: putting sociological knowledge to use in planning the courses of action followed by governments or other institutions ○ Public Sociology: Sharing sociological knowledge and debates beyond university and college contexts in ways that are accessible to the general public Many sociologists hope that public sociology will expand its reach and enjoy growing respect in the discipline

Value-Free or Value-Committed? ● ● ● ●

Values: shared cultural belief that influences thought and action Seems odd to talk about a social science that champions the value-driven stance of committing sociology Positivism assumed that research was done from a value-free or value-neutral stance Critical Approaches: approaches that are oriented toward critiquing society and pushing for social change

○

● ●

Challenges the positivist stance by acknowledging that values impact research at different stages The challenge of having a value-free society is that the social world we study is filled with values, ideologies, meanings, and ethical issues Our role is to acknowledge and be clear about how values underpin our research and influence how it is shared ○ A “value-committed” sociology is necessary for enacting social change through research

Considering our Social Locations ● ●

●

● ●

Standpoint Theory: as researchers, we all have a specific social location, and that we see the world and gain knowledge of it through this unique standpoint Key parts of our identities come together to influence why and how we interpret the social world ○ How can we claim neutrality/ objectivity (positivism) when who we are has coloured our perspectives Openly acknowledge our social location and its imprint on our worldview ○ Reflexivity: remaining aware of how our prior knowledge and experiences are influencing any assumptions we may have about the social world and what we are studying ○ Bracketing: conscious setting aside of our assumptions in order to see the social world without undue influence from our social locations No researcher stands fully outside of the social world they are examining A multiplicity of truths and perspectives and challenge positivism’s claim to a single “truth”

In the Media Science, Advocacy, Activism: Serving the Public Good ● ●

●

●

●

●

Canada’s three major research agencies created a joint policy statement that set out guidelines for ethical conduct in research involving humans The policy rests on three core principles ○ Respect for Persons ○ Concern for Welfare ○ Justice Ego, fear of retaliation from research funders or powerful government bodies, and desire to avoid controversy can all drive researchers to prioritize their interests and agendas while disregarding the impacts of research on populations Example: 2014 Flint water crisis ○ 100,000 people were exposed to high levels of lead and 12 people died ○ Despite knowing of the city’s water problems, powerful government agencies deemed it unnecessary to stand up for an economically depressed city Example: Walkerton, Ontario ○ May 2000 ○ Half the small town’s residents became ill as a result of E. coli bacteria in the water supply These examples highlight the dangers of policies that devalue citizens welfare; researchers have an obligation to protect the public’s well-being

Thinking Sociologically: New Approaches and Challenges ●

● ●

Many classical approaches to thinking sociologically remain compelling and popular today ○ Marx’s critical, conflict-focused lens ○ Mills’ sociological imagination Recognize more diversity in worldviews and produce research that is relevant and useful to communities beyond academia Sociology is an “uncomfortable trade” because it confronts the status quo in a global political climate that is increasingly hostile to its message

Public Sociology in the Time of the “Scissors Movement” ●

●

● ●

Scissors Movement: the recent ideological shift whereby sociology has moved to the left, ideologically, while society and world politics have moved to the right ○ Sociology has embraced critical perspectives and society has done the opposite Knowledge Mobilization: connecting research findings with appropriate applications across relevant sectors and publics ○ Using research to educate and improve society Not all sectors or publics welcome opportunities to recieve sociological knowledge How can sociology find a way forward, into broader and more diverse publics? Persistent effort and innovation in knowledge mobilization

Committing Sociology Through Decolonization, Reconciliation, and Community-Engaged Scholarship ●

● ● ●

Two major currents have gained momentum ○ A growing commitment to the inclusion of Indigenous voices, issues, and worldviews within sociology ○ The growth of community-engaged scholarship: direct involvement with communities that are often local, and aims to make the communities central to research and teaching processes Reclaiming space for indigenous perspectives and strengthening the relationship between indigenous peoples and other Canadians Each of these currents demands greater time commitments from teachers, students, and communities They are both rooted in authentic, reciprocal relationship-building and co-creation of knowledge between researchers and communities

Committing Sociology by Creating “Ethical Space” ● ●

●

Ethical Space: recognizing the abstract space that exists between Indigenous and Western thought worlds Western scholarship has wrongly assumed “one model of humanity and one model of society” ○ These incorrect assumptions become the foundation of social institutions (legal system, educational system, etc) Cultivating ethical space is also an act of reconcilitaion

●

Gives an opportunity to work positively across worldviews without claiming that one is superior or demanding that the world be seen through one perspective...