SOC 1001 Midterm Open Response PDF

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SOC 1001 Midterm Open Response...

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BRIEFLY argue in DETAIL how the concept of the Sociological Imagination is reflected in ANY THREE of the following works; and how "The Problem" reflected in each could be effectively addressed through Sociologically-informed social policy. - Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs and Steel (Both episodes), - Emile Durkheim’s “Suicide” - Max Weber's "Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" - Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael" - Lisa McIntyre’s “Hernando Washington. ” The social imagination coined by C Wright Mills is the idea that personal aspects of our lives are influenced by broader social-historical conditions (Duque). In the late 19th century, Durkheim studied the rates of suicide among different countries and people (McIntyre, 173). Rather than questioning the individual decision, he asked what about society was causing this increase in suicide rates. Despite the typical belief that suicide is a personal decision, he found that social influences primarily caused these suicide rates. Durkheim investigated the idea of social integration or the degree to which people have ties in social groups (McIntyre, 174). When he looked at the statistics on suicide in` Europe, he saw a massive increase that correlated with the shift from traditional to modern society. Traditional societies like those of feudal Europe were highly socially integrated where people knew their place in society and what that place meant. Modern society however suffered from a loss of social integration (Duque). The decreasing importance of religion and other traditional ways of thinking resulted in weaker common consciousness. The common consciousness is essentially the collection of all the beliefs, morals and ideas that are the social facts in a given society. This holds a society together. As a result, people were less held to their society and didn’t understand how they fit (Duque). For example, unmarried people were more likely to be lack social integration and thus be more likely to commit suicide than married people. They had less to live for and less reason to not kill themselves. People would then have social confusion as to what their place in society was. Durkheim’s “suicide” is an example of social imagination because it shows how suicide which is typically seen as an individual choice, is socially patterned and the cause of suicide rates changes when you look at the situation from a different perspective. The problem of societal influenced suicide could be effectively addressed by educating people about how being socially isolated or too involved in society can influence suicide rates. Informing the public that suicide is not simply an individual matter, but it is a public matter would help change people’s minds. Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is the study of the correlation between the ethics of protestants and the emergence of capitalism. He explored the idea that religion could be the cause of economic conditions. One branch of Calvinism explained the pursuit to profit. They believed that success and financial wealth were signs of God’s favor

(Duque). This way of thinking gave Calvinists an individualistic attitude since they only could rely on themselves when it came to salvation. This idea of doing things to achieve specific goals is what he called rational behavior (McIntryre, 18). An example of the opposite, irrational behavior, might include art collectors and how they collect artwork for the beauty of the painting rather than seeing it as an investment (McIntyre, 18). Weber believed that this new perspective broke down the traditional economic system, thus creating a trail for capitalism. Once capitalism arrived, the protestant values were of no use and the spirit of capitalism became productive for modern society. The sociological imagination is reflected in this because to understand where capitalism is rooted from, you have to understand and see that it is rooted in the religious traditions of the Calvinists. The case of Hernando Washington investigated by Lisa McIntyre is a great example of the sociological imagination because it shows the impact of social norms. The odds of Sara Gould being murdered by Hernando were very low and it never should’ve happened (Duque). Washington’s social environment played a large role in causing this murder. From the South Side of Chicago, he lived in a world where murder was very common. It was important in that community to display your ability to be violent and make your name known in society. You had to be regulated and make your place in society. Psychiatrists said that he demonstrated an impoverished internal world where fantasy and imagination are often enacted according to the basic laws of “kill or be killed” (Duque). Washington denied the entire situation and he was embarrassed for his parents and his lawyer, but he acted like this because he is the result of his upbringing and social world (McIntyre 24). He spent his entire life in an environment that promotes raping, killing and kidnapping with no consequences for it. Looking at the situation with a sociological imagination, one can see that Hernando didn't think he deserved punishment because his environment taught him that there were no consequences for his actions (McIntyre, 25). Washington was eventually executed even though that would change nothing, but it was about social policy. It is by these socially implemented ideas and rules that we skew our choices and it has an effect on everyone in society. Public awareness about the sociological imagination in this situation may help people learn to see from a new perspective and potentially prevent things like this from happening again.

BRIEFLY narrate the last 10,000 years of human civilization as it CHANGED from one economic/cultural base to another; and offer detail of how ANY THREE theorists/social thinkers below overlap AND/OR contradict each other in explaining the causes and impacts of these changes: - Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs & Steel" (BOTH episodes) - Daniel Quinn's "Ishmael" - Emile Durkheim - Karl Marx - Max Weber

After the Ice Age humans had to adapt to their surroundings and began to move from hunting and gathering, to farming in order to survive and thrive in a difficult climate (Guns, Germs & Steel 1 22:00). Once humans began to domesticate the plants and animals around them villages became larger and more prosperous, this method was being used all over earth (Guns, Germs & Steel 1 31:00). This was possible due to the fertile nature of where humans chose to settle like the fertile crescent in what is the middle east today (Guns, Germs & Steel 1 40:00). Once the early civilizations developed useful technology to enhance farming they had more time to make technological advances like steel (42:10). Technology advanced through to Egypt and Europe and then eventually to north America (49:00). Jared Diamond argues that all the advancements are due to the fertile crescent and that this offers an explanation as to why some civilizations today are more "successful" than others (49:52). In the practical skeptic (pg 6) the author says our social world began to change due to revolutions and war. Humans began to question ideals and beliefs about the world they lived in and the structure that was put into place (Practical Skeptic pg 10). The industrial revolution brought new technologies, but also further strained the social instability of the time (Practical Skeptic pg 11). Emile Durkheim theorized that people needed a collective conscious in order to live in solidarity, such as the pre-modern people had (Practical Skeptic pg 13). In the modern world people had different interest, Durkheim argues that this organic solidarity is the reason why our society works, we each need people with different interest to make a part of the whole that is our modern society (Practical Skeptic pg 14-15). Karl Marx was more interested in the types of relationships that people had such as "class consciousness" which is the conflict between social classes (Duque lecture 1/29).

Your narration of how human civilization has changed over the last 10,000 years is very thorough. Through the film of “Guns, Germs and Steel, we see that geography played a large role in developing civilizations as certain populations had access to specific crops and animals that would allow them to become agricultural based societies (Guns, Germs, and Steel 29:22).

Because of this development, populations could spend less time hunting/gathering and instead making technological advancements (44:33). All of the innovative technology that followed this is a result of the geographic luck that some populations had over others. Following this, is when humans began to question the norms and traditional beliefs they knew (McIntyre, 6). Karl Marx’s theory is based on social conflict whereas Durkheim focused on the influence of social factors. Marx and Durkheim both focused on structures that imposed themselves on individuals. They both found specialization of division of labor problematic for modern society, but they had different takes on this. Durkheim is associated with the functionalist paradigm where social structures serve a function and maintain order and stability. He also talks about the collective conscience which is “the totality of beliefs and sentiments common to average citizens of the same society” (McIntyre, 13). People enter society and are shaped by society. He also talked about solidarity that people have the connectedness to a group and the more connectedness, the more solidarity (McIntyre, 13). When people are disconnected from a group, people can suffer from Anomie which is a sense of `normlessness”. Unlike Marx, Durkheim was interested in seeing how Western societies in modern society maintain their coherence and integrity. Marx looks at conflict that is caused by inequality. The two major groups at conflict were the proletariat or the workers and the bourgeoisie or the capitalists who own the factories (McIntyre, 21). Capitalism was a system that created inequality. Workers were exploited and they suffered from false consciousness which means they didn’t question it. He thought that the workers would eventually get together and overthrow the capitalists and share and participate equally, but this never happened....