Class 2- Sociological Imagination

• The three foci of sociology are:

  Social change, social inequality, and institutions.
• Social inequality:

  the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged.

  i.e. the differences between people are consequential.
• Social institutions:

  norms, values, and rules of conduct that structure human interactions.

  i.e. family education, religion, the economy, and government.
• Social change:

  the examination of how and why institutions and the differences between social groups change.
• Social patterns-

  social institutions

  • Imply action that is honoured, important, and directive
  • grooves that people follow
  • allow actions to work smoothly in organizations over time
  • institutions socialize, integrate, and are adaptive, both facilitating and hindering social change
• Examples of social patterns:

  • getting married
  • holding the door open for someone
  • waiting in line at a bus stop (rather than budging)
  • buying gifts for Christmas
  • drinking juice with breakfast
  • social stratification
  • legal system
  • dating
• The sociological imagination is about the individual and society
• To conduct social analysis, one must ask..

  1. What is the structure of this particular society as a whole
  2. where does this society stand in human history
  3. what varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and in this period
• Emile Durkheim:

  • helped establish sociology as a new discipline in universities.
  • examined how society shapes the action of individuals
  • key concept: social facts - "external social structures, norms, and values that shape individuals' actions."
• Examples of social facts:

  • Marriage, language, religion, morality, and laws

  These are examples of social institutions that structure our everyday interactions with other members of society.