THE Global Perspective PDF

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The Society communicates between it, even from the civilizations that we do not know and, from the 16TH century, trade exchanges are intensified. Through economic exchange, different forms of life, of religion, are also propagated... Industrialization makes communication even more intense. Technolog...

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THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE We Talked about global perspective because for 200-300 years so far, relationships in the world are broader. The Society communicates between it, even from the civilizations that we do not know and, from the 16TH century, trade exchanges are intensified. Through economic exchange, different forms of life, of religion, are also propagated... Industrialization makes communication even more intense. Technology in our day makes us have to talk in global terms. This Global Perspective, which is the study and analysis of phenomena and events that occur worldwide, will preside over the study of sociology... In This perspective it is necessary to take into account the position that the society occupies In relation to The others and within the global system. Three reasons: Societies around the world are increasingly linked to each other and in a faster way. Relationships are not only economic, but they have globalized the ways of life. The Global Perspective allows us to see that many of the problems we have in Europe are also suffered by other countries in the world and perhaps more intensely. The Solutions We need may have been found in other countries. To Think in global terms is an excellent exercise to understand ourselves and the society in which we live, helping us to avoid ethnocentrisms, complexes... WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? It Is The systematic, rigorous and scientific study of society. The social context Is studied. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE (The sociological imagination) According To Peter Berger: It basically Consists of seeing the general in the particular. It Means that we are thinking with a sociological perspective when we recognize that the categories with which a society classifies people will influence the vital experiences of those people. (Not: Youth, students, men, women...) It is Necessary to distance ourselves from what is familiar, from what is given of course, to learn to analyze: "Things are not what they seem" (P. Berger). With These two points we deduce that sociology shows us the patterns and social processes that end up affecting our actions, behaviors and our decisions. Often, the sociological perspective contradicts or qualifies ideas or perceptions that seem to us of common sense. Example: Is suicide an individual or social act? According to E. Durkheim, with the application of the sociological fact, he concluded that it is a social fact. He Classified suicide in three classes: selfish, altruistic (which are due to the favor that They make the society, like the camicaces of the Twin Towers) and anonymous (lack of norms, of values... Is pathological suicide)

The analysis is done in Central, with data from ppio Of the TWENTIETH century. He Found that the highest suicide rates are men, Protestants, with a high economic level, single... And the most typical place, northern Europe, more than in the south. Suicide is related to the degree of social integration. HOW THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE CAN INFLUENCE EVERYDAY LIFE Regarding Social marginalization: the greater the degree of social marginalization of any kind, the greater the possibility of developing a sociological perspective, a critical thinking of society or a sociological temperament. Social Crises: People often feel more disoriented, and this helps to think in the sociological way, although the fact is also conversed: when we are able to make an analysis from a social perspective, social change can be promoted. An Introduction to Sociology is an invitation to look at the everyday world in a different way than we usually do. The benefits that the sociological perspective brings are: It Ends Up becoming a way of thinking, a critical mood that serves to put the rules in question... It allows Us to know better the opportunities and the obstacles we are going to encounter in our lives, because it helps us to discover the rules that govern society and how they apply. This Sociological Reflection makes us active members of society. Sociology helps us to know and recognize that there are great differences between societies and, therefore, it will help us to face the challenge of living in a society so different and plural PROBLEMS OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Object of Study: It is society, which is constantly changing and also changes while we are doing the study. Sociologists are part and members of society; In other words, they are part of the same object of study, with its advantages and disadvantages (ethnocentrism). The sociologist must be totally objective when it comes to collecting the data and analyzing it and, of course, when it comes to drawing conclusions. The risk of subjectivism is going to be neutralized by sociological critique.

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Sociological knowledge ends up being part of society. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES Birth and Origins Her Sociology Social and political Changes Sociological theory Main Paradigms in Sociology: functionalist paradigm; Conflict sociology; Action Paradigm.

BIRTH AND ORIGINS OF SOCIETY The origin of sociology is the result of a set of factors. Is multicausal. It Is located at 1838, next to A. Comte. He was the first to have coined the term "sociology" in his work. Comte referred to that term as a new way of thinking about the world. Sociology is treated of society.

The Nature of society was one of the most thoughtful subjects of the writers of the past. The main writers on society have been: Confucius (s. VI a.C.) Plato and Aristotle (S. V and IV BC), a whole reflection on society. In the Illustration, Montesquieu, Rosseau, Locke. But, in reality, until the NINETEENTH century, with Durkheim, it is not possible to say that the study of society in a scientific way is addressed. With This moment sociology emerges as science. The difference in this new way of seeing society in relation to previous ones is that philosophers, theologians, etc., merely described, at best, how society should be; But none of them tried to really analyze it as it was. Comte and Durkheim reversed the order of priorities. For them the main objective was to understand and explain how society is and how it works and, to achieve this, the only alternative was to apply the scientific method to the study of society. (They Are positivists) Marx and Weber are also considered as important representatives of sociology, as they made great contributions. Comte lived in the years after the revolution French and this transformed society. He was Also the son of the industrial revolution. He Was Born in a small town of French But soon he was attracted to Paris and went there to live. All These events made Comte want to understand the quick and profound changes that were occurring and thought What Understanding them, men would have a better future. He Says that sociology is going to be divided into two: Understand the mechanisms that keep society together ("Social static") Study of social changes and transformations ("Social dynamics") He believed he had discovered one of the laws that govern the world. Comte says that the history of humanity is divided into three stages, according to the way men have tried to understand or explain the world: 1st Phase: Theological: Corresponds with the European Middle Ages. The understanding of the world is around God, by divine Design, by divine will. 2nd Phase: MetaPhysics: Corresponds with the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Stop Understanding the world in supernatural terms from the theological stage to go on to understand them in abstract and metaphysical terms. 3rd Phase: Scientific: It tries to explain nature in its own terms, that is to say, applying the scientific method to understand, explain and improve the organization of society. Believes that we can only get true knowledge of the Things applying the scientific method, because he believes that the society is governed by certain laws, like nature, and we must discover them.

The fundamental critique is that certainly the scientific method is necessary for the understanding of society, but most recognize that it is not possible to find those laws because they do not exist. The Historical method gives us that we are going to find very different societies in time and if there were temporary laws there would be no changes in society. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES Social transformations Scientific and technological Advances that come with the Enlightenment and give rise to manufacturing production. The Industrial Economy: There is no more barter economy. The first migrations from the field to the city Are produced, especially to the industrial ones. Peasants and small artisans lose their autonomy of work to be a link in the chain of production. Large concentrations of production, which give rise to industrial cities, which are going to look very populated. The term of overpopulation Arises. It will Also give rise to profound changes in families. These changes produce transformations that are going to be a source of big problems. Political Changes During the Middle Ages as Comte pointed out, society is a divine product. In The EIGHTEENTH century it began to abandon that idea and understood as a product of men and interactions between them. At the end of the 18TH century, the French Revolution (1789) was a radical rupture with the social traditions of the past. There Is A change of mindset with the traditions of the past. "The Rev. French implies the regeneration of the human species. " Changes Arise in France, Germany (Marx) and England, because it is where the social changes were stronger and it is there where the first authors that give answer to the same, but from different points of view: Comte believes that the solution is the order and the Progress and Marx believes that the solution is the revolution. Everyone agreed that society is more than the sums of individual decisions of its members and recognizes that the lives of those members are conditioned by the factors that surround them. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY It Is Another aspect of Sociology. Theory is a statement that expresses how and why certain facts are related. E.g. Durkheim elaborated a theory with the suicide rates of different variables... MAJOR PARADIGMS IN SOCIOLOGY Kuhn was the first to talk about paradigm. He Was a philosopher dedicated to epistemology (philosophy of science). Paradigma is a theoretical framework that helps us to discover new concepts and helps us to reflect on the new theories. The paradigm also serves to reflect on the conclusions.

Sociologists don't usually agree on what to study. If There are coincidences in what should be studied it is very difficult to match how the study is approached. It is Also very difficult to coincide when it comes to giving solutions or consequences. This happens because sociology is a critical science. That doesn't mean it's chaos. The approaches of the last hundred years are mainly three, the three major theoretical paradigms of Sociology: functionalism, Sociology of conflict and theory of action (including symbolic interactionism) (Cf. Table) Functionalism It Considers society as a tidy, stable, comprehensible whole, with a "natural" order. Therefore, our lives are marked and oriented by the social structures in which we unfold. (Structure are relatively stable guidelines that result in family, educational, economic, religious structure...) Functionalism understands the social structures in term of the social functions that they fulfil or perform, that is, the basic functions for the maintenance of the society. The weak point of functionalism is that it does not contemplate the possibility that one of the "parts" or components varies, change... The main functionalist authors are: Comte: Concerned about finding the mechanisms of social integration: "Order and consensus". Sociology, according to Comte, is the physics of the social sciences, is the science that summarizes all the sciences and that comes to complete the whole of the knowledge. Sociology comes to seek the laws of the functioning of society: theology, Physics and metaphysics. -Spencer: 1820-1903, United Kingdom. Scholar of the human body and of society. It Maintains that there are great parallels between society and the human body: like all members and organs of the body are interdependent and necessary, in society social structures are interdependent to ensure the functioning of The Society. His is the phrase "time guarantees the survival of the strongest", associated with human societies, although Darwin applied it to animal species. Therefore, Social Darwinism (with great influence in the X. XIX), which justifies unfettered competition, gives rise to the survival and success of the best. This will ensure that society develops and is better each time. Spencer was supported by the richest, who found in his theory the scientific justification for exploitation and development. Although Darwinism found criticism very soon, in the social sciences he found support from conservative policies. -Durkheim: I Did Not agree with Spencer's theories. Oriented to study human solidarity (= How societies are able to stay together, even though they are so different in space and time). Solidarity can be mechanical (small societies, with direct relationships, based on knowledge and mutual affection) or organic (= When society is complex, where the organizations that regulate it begin to function) The second stage of functionalist sociology takes EE. UU., with the 2nd Rev. Industrial.

-Parsons: (1902-1979) Considered the maximum representative of the functionalist paradigm. Society is a system that tends to balance (it is an unstable equilibrium) and survival: When equilibrium is broken there are elements of society that recompose it. In Addition, the society tries to reorganize itself to survive, to stay. -Robert Merton (1910): He reformulated the concept of social function because he pointed out that the consequences of a guideline, of social action, could be different for different individuals. There May be positive functions for individuals who are negative for others. Merton differentiated the functions in the following way: Manifest Functions: Known consequences of social action, intentional and recognized. Latent Functions: Unknown or unintentional of social action. Social dysfunctions: Negative consequences for the balance and the progress of society as a whole; They derive from the functioning of some structure or guideline. (Practice: Manifest, latent functions and dysfunctions of the University) Criticism of functionalism: 1. How is it possible to defend that there is a natural order in society when we are seeing great differences between different societies at the same time or between different times of the same society? If There was an order, societies would be more homogeneous, in space and time. 2. Puts so much emphasis on the balance that runs the risk of underestimating social inequality, social conflicts... 3. It'S too conservative. Sociology of conflict If functionalism was characterized by aesthetics, order and stability, inequality, conflict and social change were maintained in the sociology of conflict. It Is occupied, the sociology of the conflict, of the aspects that functionalism forgot. It will Seek the causes and effects of social inequality (economic, racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, gender...) Social structures do not make everything work harmoniously and as an organic whole, but rather the opposite: they perpetuate inequalities in the distribution of economic, political, social resources... Among the population. It will highlight the relations of domination that confront countries, categories of people... This is How the dominants ' strategies are analyzed to maintain their situation And his position of domination against the dominated. There will Also be strategies of the dominated to change their situation, and These Strategies are studied by this current. This leads to social conflicts that can lead to social crises, which have their roots in the same social organization. The greatest Representative is Marx. His work is the origin of this paradigm. His goal was not only to understand society, but to transform it; That is why the possible solutions always arise. Criticism of the Sociology of conflict

By highlighting both the differences and the conflicts, one forgets in part the mechanisms that favor the balance, the consensus, the social peace... It "forgets" the values and elements that make a dependency exist between individuals and institutions. Coincides with the functionalism in which both understand society in terms of "macros", society is a set of social structures that allow us to understand society as a whole. They "Forget" the individual people. The criticism to both will come by the theories of the action. Action Theories It Carries Out The study of the society from the point of view of the person (micro orientation). They Do Not depart from the study of structures, but from the analysis of interactions between people and in different contexts. Max Weber (1864-1920) will be your chief representative. It Goes from the need to understand a social context from the perspective of the individuals who participate in it. The actions of the individuals and the meanings that they themselves give to their actions is what is setting up the society. He Shares some ideas with Marx on social conflicts, but his approach is less materialistic; He believes that the explanation comes from ideas, not from economics, especially from beliefs and heats, which orient the actions of individuals in one direction or another. They end up conditioning societies to develop in a certain sense. In Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of capitalism, Weber asserts that personal success is to be a good Christian, implying capitalist development. Weber will make comparisons between societies (space-time), compares religious beliefs, political, administrative, economic organizations... and of These Analysis created the "ideal types" or "ideal type", which is a conceptual tool that serves to schematically reconstruct a pattern of social relations. It'S a comprehensive sociology. Symbolic interactionism Escuela de Chicago: Park, Burges; Coole (1885-1971); Mead (1891-1939); Blumer... Part of Weber's theories and focuses on studying how people are building their own identity and defining themselves through their social experiences (of their interactions). It Focuses its research, especially in urban Sociology: What happens in cities, in relationships between people, where they are located... A society is the result of the daily interactions of people, who are giving meaning to the social world around them. Of course, this process does not guarantee that all people attributed the same meaning to actions or act in the same way. A very close approach to symbolic interactionism is the dramaturgic approach of Goffman (EE. UU., 1922-2982): People are like actors who have to play the social roles that correspond to them and make them credible. This will be adapted people... It Is The culture that defines the roles, the guidelines, and redefine them: that Is why in a society there are different cultures... Criticism of the theories of action

It Is a good counterweight to the previous macro paradigms, because these micro approaches help us to understand how individuals are creating and recreating society. But it is easier to lose the weight of the macro or structural variables. Summarizing... In Order To have a good understanding of society, all theoretical approaches must be taken into account, since they offer different perspectives on social issues. None of them is enough by itself, neither better or more correct than the others. SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE Sociology is a science because it is based on the scientific method. The first example of the application of the scientific method was made by Durkheim, (1897), in his work The suicide, where he proposed to constitute sociology as science. To this end, he wanted to demonstrate that the scientific method can be applied to social behavior and that the results of sociological research added a new dimension to the understanding of our world and of ourselves. For Some, sociology is science because it uses the scientific method and be...