unit 2

Cards (22)

  • Preindustrial societies
    Small, rural, dependent on local resources with few specialized occupations
  • Industrial societies
    Have more control over the impact of their surrounding and thus develop different cultural features
  • Post-industrial/information societies
    Based on the production of information and services, not material goods
  • Functionalism
    • Focuses on social solidarity and social facts to analyze society
    • Sees society as an interconnected organism
  • Mechanical solidarity
    Type of social order in preindustrial societies, maintained by collective consciousness
  • Organic solidarity
    Social order in industrial societies, based on acceptance of economic and social differences
  • Anomie
    Situation where society lacks firm collective consciousness, experienced in times of social uncertainty
  • Conflict theory
    • Sees society as a competition for limited resources
    • Identifies conflict between bourgeoisie (owners) and proletariat (laborers)
  • Alienation
    Condition where individual is isolated and divorced from society, work, or sense of self
  • False consciousness
    Beliefs, ideals, or ideology of a person that are not in their best interest
  • Class consciousness
    Awareness of one's rank in society
  • Rational society
    One built around logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition
  • Iron cage
    Situation where individual is trapped by institutions and bureaucracy
  • McDonaldization
    • Increasing presence of fast food business model in social institutions
    • Includes efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control
  • McDonaldization
    Reduced variety and uniformity of products, but also increased availability and profits
  • Contemporary efforts can be referred to as "de-McDonaldization": farmers markets, microbreweries, and various do-it-yourself trends
  • Even McDonald's seems to be de-McDonaldizing itself with recent advertising and products emphasizing individuality
  • Groups like political parties are prevalent in our lives and provide a significant way to understand and define ourselves
  • Groups are enduring social units that help foster shared value systems and are key to the structure of society
  • The functionalist perspective is a big-picture, macro-level view that looks at how different aspects of society are intertwined
  • The conflict perspective is a microanalytical view that focuses on the genesis and growth of inequality
  • The symbolic interaction perspective analyzes groups on a micro-level, looking at the day-to-day interactions of groups