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Introduction to Sociology (Decontrolled by Solidarity (Don Weenink) 2013,…
Introduction to Sociology
The Burden of Acting Wise
(Jonathan Mijs & Bowen Paulle)
2016
Iconic Studies
Coleman's Adolescent Society (2016)
Once immersed in their own relatively autonomous status hierarchies and value spheres, teens simply do not like school
More oriented towards things that schools don't teach such as dating, sports, good looks
Students understood that the grades they received depended on the grades of their classmates -> sanction (punish) hard work
Willis' Learning to Labour (1977)
Self-destructive 'cultural resistance' of working class lads
Embodying anti-school practices made them feel superior compared to the conformist youth
Fordham and Ogbu article
(1986)
Hard working "minority" students would be "burdened" by selling out fellow racially oppressed group members by 'acting white'
Collectively stigmatised ethnoracial minorities 'realise and believe' that regardless of their individual hard work, they would get substandard educations, face racialised job ceilings and remain oppressed
Educational institutions in NL
Ethnic minorities attend lower levels of education and score lower on achievement tests
Ethnic differences are attributed to social class background
If we remove the lower parental education, occupational class
--> ethnic differences in achievement (almost) vanish completely
Turks, Moroccans, etc. choose higher types of secondary schooling than natives with comparable class background
Data
Interviews with students and teachers + follow up interviews
Findings
'acting wise' (verstandig doen
You would be cool if you could get high marks without doing your best --> possibly help the other students as you have a lot more free time
Three (3) other descriptions make you popular: (1) having rich parents, (2) being physically attractive, (3) acting out in class
Standing out was important and it would be best with humour and verbal agility
Conclusions
Findings align with Tyson, Darity, and Castellino's (2005) work
Counter to Fordham and Ogbu's article
Social structural and institutional characteristics may explain the sanctions
Trapped in negative peer dynamics
Decontrolled by Solidarity
(Don Weenink) 2013
Abstract
Understanding of "recreational" youth violence against strangers in "moral holidays
Moral holiday
= an enclave (group different from the people around them), bounded in time and space, in which people suspend conventional norms and enjoy disturbance, disruption and order
Moral holidays shares features with decivilisation
Youth positively sensitised towards violence
Absorbed in group action, 'decontrolled by solidarity', guided by the group (social constraint) rather than internal monitory (self-restraint)
process of disidentification, identity of the victim was pointless
Introduction
Issue: people enjoy disorder and destruction
Question: wether violent moral holidays can be regarded as enclaves of decivilisation
Prevailing explanations of youth violence
Alcohol intoxication
Only a few (drunken youths) are violent + many instances of youth violence doesn't include alcohol
Differentiated civilising process
Degree of impulse control and extent to which people abhor violence differs across social classes
Violence more common in working-class masculine group but out of many only a few actually be have violently
Oppression and marginalisation
Conceptualising violent moral holidays as enclaves of decivlisation
What drives violent moral holidays forward?
Intense feelings of group membership, solidarity excitement
Spectator violence offers more intense opportunities to experience the sensation of rivalry and domination compared to regulated/controlled like sports
'Decontrolled by solidarity'
Participants are completely absorbed in the group action, entering a state of dissolving
homo clausus
Group action features
Attracted to engage in violent group action
Group increases excitement and works towards a shared emotional mood (shouting, name-calling) --> aligns the group towards positive violence
Attackers divided acts between them
Chasing one or two individuals with the whole group gives the group individuals a sense of dominance + a feeling of being in the middle of group action
Telling each other what happened afterwards, reviving and prolonging shared experiences
Self-restraint switched off, no feelings while they were violent
Attackers were decontrolled by solidarity
Desensitisation towards violence and dehumanisation of the victims?
Violence didn't involve much prior ritualisation/other forms of emotional work to project negative identities onto the individuals
These interactions are not punishments/acts of vengeance but attempts to display dominance for the sake of it
Dehumanisation takes place
Two (2) moral holidays
1) Four friends at festival
Four drunk friends attacked several passers without any reason, just because they felt the need to "kick somebody's face"
2) A cruel group rules
Collective action of group of teenagers where everyone played a different role (some were cheering, others were fighting, etc.)
Conclusion
Violent moral holidays share features of decivilisation
Participants decontrolled by solidarity - form figurations in which the actions of the individuals are guided by social constraint
Process of disidentification - reject the identity of the victim as futile
Desensitisation of violence didn't appear but the participants attitude became positive sensitisation of violence
Why Do Churches Become Empty
(Dick Houtman & Peter Mascini) 2002
Tradition religiosity diminishing since 1960s while New Age is growing
Dual development poses a problem
Research question
How can the simultaneous erosion of traditional religion and growth of post-traditional types of religion be explained?
Why do churches become empty, while New Age grows?
Two (2) theories
Rationalisation: religious decline as a consequence of a process of rationalisation
Individualisation: religious change as a consequence of a process of individualisation
Rationalisation:
Religion declines with the rise of science
Critique: since 1960s rationalisation has not become more widespread but more challenged --> unlikely that the gradual erosion is due to rationalisation
Result:
Untenable and rejected
The old are not less but more rationalistic than the youth
Problem of New Age:
Growth of New Age inconsistent with this thesis as it predicts the decline of the religion
Individualisation:
Luckmann & Heelas
New Agers reject guidance of any "external" tradition/authority, they follow their "self" moral authority
Emphasis on the individual and lacks characteristics of tradition form of religion
Result:
Confirmed
Young are not only more individualistic but it also contributes to a preference for New Age than Christianity
Also embracing more non-religiosity rather than Christian tradition
Conclusion:
Decline of Christianity and growth of New Age and secularisation since the 1960s is caused by a process of (moral) individualisation
Argued that rising popularity of New Age is due to decreasing acceptance of traditions and authorities and increasing moral individualism
Measurement:
Trichotomy: Christian, non-religious, New Age
Interview with Danah Boyd (2014)
Worries
We've had moral panics every generation --> instead of using this new visibility to figure out new ways of helping the young, we panic. Resist the culture of fear
We try to keep kids out of danger but they need it to come of age
Fragmentation
Is a more natural state of being
You think of what you're looking for and you'll go to different places --> this parallels what we do as adults --> go to different bars when you're in a different mood
Facebook
It's not the heart and center of our play
Valuable when you want to reach everyone
We like to put forward what's relevant, even in real life --> dress differently, act differently
Difficult with Facebook, how do we handle multiple contexts --> multiple identities
Snapchat
Demanding that ephemerality (lasting for a short time) be the social norm
We don't want to be searchable all the time, text is searchable
History as Waves of Mediatisation
(Nick Couldry & Andreas Hepp) 2017
Mediatisation
Increase in complexity of social change coming from the increasing prevalence of infrastructures of communication
Wave of mediatisation
Fundamental qualitative change in media environment sufficiently distinctive to create a new phase in the ongoing process of mediatisation
Intensified interrelatedness
Waves of mediatisation:
Mechanisation: from just writing on paper to printing press --> a bigger reach
Electrification: transferred mechanical print to a higher level of production (electronic transmission)
Digitalisation: typically related to computer, internet, and mobile phone
Datafication: increasing proportion of communication relying on infrastructures of communication based on the collection & processing of data
Each of the waves are built on top of each other & took place in increasingly shorter time periods
Technical interrelatedness increased in each wave
Dialectical way of thinking: how society and culture influence each other in mediatisation
Media manifold: us in this complex web of media communication which has many
No More Need for Snobbism
(Koen van Eijck & Wim Knulst) 2005
Abstract
Older generation more highbrow culture while younger generation more focused on popular culture
Data from 1983-1999
Four potential explanations
1) Divergence not because of changes in relation between people's stage of life and their cultural consumption
2) Not because of emergence of cultural omnivores (proportion of omnivores didn't increase and not found especially in younger generation
3) Upward social mobility isn't related to decreasing interest in highbrow culture in younger generation
4) Differences in socialisation between generations seems to be the best explanation
No longer socialised with the belief that Western white culture is elite
Introduction and Problem Definition
For a long time there was a classical idea of civilisation (
Bildungsideal
) --> encouraged for evoking reflection
Number of cultural participants expected to increased (esp. among younger people as average schooling years increased)
Omnivores: people who engage in both highbrow and lowbrow culture
Human Societies
(Abram de Swaan)
Chapter 1:
What People Need from One Another
Everyone is reliant on the products of others
Dependencies
are social arrangements --> society is the most comprehensive social arrangement
Social arrangements consist of people who are connected by mutual dependencies (interdependent people)
Conditions for human survival:
Food
Shelter (from heat and cold) (clothing & dwelling
Protection (from enemies and predatory animals)
Affection
Knowledge (about the surrounding world)
Direction/control (themselves0
Conditions for society to exist:
Production and distribution of the goods its people need
Reproduction (consecutive generations be absorbed into roughly the same networks so that society regenerates itself)
External security: protection against other societies
Internal security: protection against individuals in society
Solidarity: certain bond of affection between members of society
Orientation: ways of thinking that enable them to find their way in their social and physical surroundings
Types of social structure/sorts of societies:
Hunter/gatherer societies (subsistence)
Agricultural (subsistence, feudalism, colonialism)
Industrial
Post-industrial
Chapter 2: How People are Connected to One Another
Networks
Hierarchical/tree network: it consists of the smalles number of connections that suffices to connect all nodes, not directly but through intermediaries (army, class calling)
Some occupy central positions - nodes where numerous links converge (teacher, telephone operattor)
No links between lower ranking members -> can only reach each other through someone higher up, more centrally places in network
Networks and the course of life
Network someone belongs to change as the years go by
balance of dependence shifts in the course of a lifetime from maximum dependency on one caring figure to diverse mutual relationships of dependence with an increasing number of people, and finally to an increasing one-sided dependence on a shrinking circle of people
Kinship relationships
Traditional socities have strong kinship ties (most important connections). --> birth and descent come first, individua'ls own merits count for much less
You don't
achieve
a position through your own effort, it's
ascribed
to you on the basis of parentage
Nowadays family relations have retained their importance but people tend to live in nuclear families separated from parents and siblings
Achieved relations
In modern societies we have friendship networks alongside those based on kinship
Indirect ties
Think about the amount of people we encounter in life
The unfolding of networks
Development towards modern societies we see networks unfolding -> small, closed, fully and multiply connected networks of the past are expanding --> less closed
This process of unfolding of networks is characteristic of the transition from traditional to modern societies --> village communities are absorbed into a money economy with industrial production, large organisation and state intervention
Types of relations:
Direct vs. indirect
Familiar vs anonymous
Direct vs indirect
Thick vs thin
Comprehensive vs one-sided
Mutual vs one-directional
Hierarchical vs egalitarian
Chapter 3: What People Expect of One Another
Roles
Set of expectations of someone who occupies a particular position in a given society
Someone who's able to operate within society shares the whole spectrum of general expectations and is familiar with those attached to specific roles
However expectations do not always coincide
There may be incompatible expectations
The Thomas rule
"When people expect something to happen, these expectations affect what happens"
Self-confirming
Self-refuting
Disrupted expectations
Sometimes events shatter patterns of expectations (war time)
Blind process
Developments within a society are predominantly the result of human expectations --> end result is often something no one expected or intended --> outcome is came from a blind process
Chapter 4: How People Distinguish Themselves from One Another: stratifications
Three kinds of unequal social relations: power, property and prestige relations
Power relations
Affection as a vehicle of power
People dependent on other to direct their own actions
Manipulation
'Kingship mechanism' --> fighting for budget
Property relations
The actual power to dispose of goods (land and livestock)
Exclusive power of disposal
Capital
: can be used for production
Prestige relations
Value that others attach to an individual occupying a particular network position
Modern societies prestige derives from individual achievement --> acquired
Status discrepancy
: gap between position and same person's position in ranking order of prestige
Status conversion
: conversion of power into property and prestige or vice versa
Stratification
Social layers which are dmarcated more or less sharply from one another but within the social stratum people occupy roughly similar positions
Relations between men and women
Prosperous and peaceful societies have less inequalities in relation between men and women
Old and young
Young people in less esteem, less property and occupy weaker positions
Generations = age groups --> 'birth cohort' = set of people who were born in a particular period
Established groups and newcomers
To achieve exclusion the differences between established people and newcomers are exaggerated
Chapter 5: How People Form One Another: Socialisation and Civilisation
Society continues to exist while the people who are part of it die (someone else takes their place)
Through socialisation the newcomers are formed to occupy their places
Sometimes it involves civilisation
Social formation of inborn abilities
Acquisition of knowledge, skills, views and attitudes
Entire learning process in which a human child develops into a competent member of society = socialisation
Socialisation as a learning process
Civilisation
decivilisation
Chapter 6: What People Believe, Know and Think: Orientation
Language
'Blind process' --> came about unintentionally through interaction between people
Sociolect: a variety current in certain social circles
Religion
Gives meaning to events that are impossible to understand, imposes a pattern, may provide comfrot in times of adversity
Strengthens sens of solidarity within society
Law
Resolve disputes without violence arising
invovles a certain amount of rationalisation
Science
The arts
All the means of orientation here are part of culture =/= nature because they are added by people to their surroundings
A Day in the Life of Your Jeans
(Josee Johnston, Kate Cairns, and Shyon Baumann) 2017
Concepts:
Sociological imagination: connect private troubles to public issues and social structures
Capitalism
Consumer culture
Sociology grew up alongside capitalism
Three (3) thinking frames highlight three key modes of sociological thinking
Material/cultural
Structure/agency
Micro/macro
Introduction: sociological imagination and global jeans
Sociology helps find meaning in the mundane --> trains us to connect individual lives and broader social factors
Sociological imagination
allows you to make these connections between "private troubles" and "public issues"
Able to appreciate multiple meanings in everyday life
Jeans play a paradoxical role in many people's lives:
Makes people feel "ordinary" (fitting in with the crowd)
Makes them feel unique and special (a new pair of jeans)
Feel included but also excluded (being told you look "too big" in them)
In our contemporary consumer culture we often feel pressure to have the newest most up to date things which include jeans --> in capitalist economy we have enough opportunities to buy new stuff --> money stressed to keep with the trend though can feel liberating
Norms and desires of consumer culture often get into our heads in subtle yet relatively unconscious ways
Consumer culture enmeshed in serious social problems (ecological and social exploitation)
Private troubles remain connected to public issues --> extreme body standards
Individual lives powerfully shaped by social factors
How we came to be a society of shoppers
Capitalism, consumerism and sociology grew up together
Roberta Sassatelli
"consumer culture"
: satisfaction of daily needs is accomplished through acquisition and use of 'commodities'
Used to capitalism (market economy) now, used to be subsistence economies (people made their own things) --> core element of
social structure
(enduring patterns and institutions that organise social life)
Conspicuous consumption: consumption of high-status, visible luxury goods by wealth elites to signal their power and distance from the working class
Social structure Giddens&Sutton:
Patterns of interaction between individuals, groups and institutions. Most of our activities are structured: they are organised in a regular and repetitive way
Second half 17th century: members of emerging middle class accumulating more stuff
18th century Industrial Revolution: manufacturing capacity grew
Early 20th century: system of mass consumption emerged
Early sociologists (Marx, Durkheim, Weber) interested in class divisions between proletariat (factory workers) and the bourgeoisie (business owners)
Globalisation: 1970s onwards, period of heightened global capitalist expansion
We hella rely on the market for our goods now
Global economy characterised by tremendous inequality
Wider variety of styles in society because of the more choices people can make
The sociology of stuff: the chapters ahead and three thinking frames
Material/cultural
Dual-sided material and cultural nature of social life
Consumer culture rooted in the world of material goods
Cultural dimension of jeans --> it's a very symbolic fabric
Sociologists also study how these two dimensions intersect
Structure/agency
Agency: the ability of individuals to make decisions and take action within their lives --> all actors have some degree of agency
Social location: one's particular position in a variety of social relations
--> influences how freely your agency is
--> shapes our perspective of the world + how others view it
--> impacts the opportunities and choices available to us
Micro/macro
Microsociological approach: focuses on social interactions and meaning-making
Macrosociological approach: examine large collectivities or even entire systems/structures
--> how society works at the institutional, national, and global level
Frequently used together to generate a greater understanding of a particular problem/issue
Sociology 8th Edition - Giddens and Sutton
2017
Local Social Networks and Social Resources In Two (2) Dutch Neighbourhoods
(Fenne M. Pinkster & Beate Volker) 2009
Research question and hypothesis
To what extent do neighbourhoods provide social support and instrumental support and how does the amount of support differ from a low income neighbourhood to a socio-economic mixed neighbourhood?
There is a difference in the amount of social resources that is provided through local relationships between the two neighbourhoods
Local social contacts in low-income neighbourhoods bear an instrumental disadvantage
'Limited resources' or 'social isolation' hypothesis --> homogeneous low-income neighbourhoods lead to homogeneous social networks which lack the resources to climb up the social ladder --> residents of low-income neighbourhoods are expected to be worse off than residents of socio-economic mixed neighbourhoods
Method/data used
Position-generator method:
The degree to which one has possible access to social resources
Resource-generator method:
The degree to which one receives various forms of social support in their daily lives
Key points
Social relationships are an important source of social and instrumental support
Type and amount of social resources that are available to us form our lives and later social outcomes
Expressive social resources: support in everyday life
Instrumental social resources: providing new information and opportunities
Composition of neighbourhood influences personal networks and their diversity, therefore what resources are available to people
Residents low-income neighbourhood lack useful contacts
Social capital or useful connections
Results
Residents low-income neighbourhoods receive similar amount of expressive social support as residents mixed neighbourhoods
--> strongly locally orientated networks, but less diversity in networks
--> no instrumental support
Residents socio-economic mixed neighbourhoods also rely to a large extent on family and friends to provide daily support
--> likely to know more people in different occupations but they're of low prestige and shown not to be helpful in providing upward social mobility
On National Habitus
(Giselinde Kuipers) 2010
Many things end at national border
Why are they different on the other side? How can we compare countries and what do we compare?
Physical evidence: amount of bikes
Many factors determine national identity including happiness, suicide rates, health problems
Habitus
: learned practices that have become part of ourselves, feel self-evident and natural: second nature
--> learned national habitus
Four (4) things that make people alike
Increasing interdependence
People become more aware of each other
Mutual adaptation and identification makes people more similar
Density of networks increase
People become connected with more people in more ways (nationwide institutions
Vertical diffusion of standards, tastes and practices
Occurs within and outside institutions
Cultural phenomena trickle down from upper class in which they are usually established first
Changed now with the emergence of new media and other means of communication
Less accepting of people that are 'higher'
--> growing distance between strata
Development of 'we-feelings'
People that are similar tend to identify with each other
Symbols, stories and rituals to bind a large mass of people together is provided by mass media
Globalisation increases cross national interdependence
Many institutions embedded in international networks
National institutions still play an important role