SOCIOLOGICAL IMMAGINATION
- to understand one’s own self, we must know the
relationship between self and society
- scientific study of social behavior and human
groups (how relationships influence people
behavior, how societies develop and change)
- Sociological Imagination is important for
sociologists to help them in attempting to
understand social behaviors and also creating
powerful theories
- it is to view one’s own society as an outsider
would rather than only from the perspective of
personal experiences and cultural biases
- way to combine the complexity of everyday life
with larger historical and structural processes
- C. Wright Mills (1959)
- “The Sociological Imagination enables us to grasp
history and biography and the relations between the
2 within the society, that is its task and its promise.”
- “Intersection between Biography & History”
- understand the distinction between the struggles of
a person and public issues
- 1 person is unemployed: Personal Problem
- 1 million/10 million: Public Problem
- there is an intricate relationship between the
individual and the society; whatever a person does
is not just because it is their own choice or personal
preference
-society influences a person’s behavior and that
person’s behavior contribute’s o a social issue
- sa pag-aaral nang mga hamon ng isyung
panlipunan, mahalaga ang pag-unawa sa mga
istukturong bumubuo rito: pag-unawa sa kaugnayan
ng istrukturang panlipunan at kultura
- “Mahalagang malinang ang isang kakayahang
makita ang kaugnayan ng mga personal na
karanasan ng isang tao at ang lipunang kaniyang
ginagakawan” – C WRIGHT MILLS
Relationship between self & society
EXERCISE:
- can be looked at from multiple perspectives
- it has a lot of benefits in the social world
Health benefits: Lowers blood pressure
maintaining healthy weight alleviates stress
Social benefits: connect with friends & learn to be
a part of a team
Work benefits: Increase productivity better for
company
Community Benefits: Take action build trails (and
healthy communities)
OBESITY IN THE USA:
Public Issue or Personal trouble
- we all make personal choices and are responsible
for our own behavior but what we eat and how we
spend our time does not happen in a vacuum
Functionalist ground theory
- attributed to the works of sociology
- method of sociological analysis that focuses on the
abstract building and arrangement of society,
organizations, and structures
- concerned with the order of social models, not the
complex, messy, everyday lives of individuals and
their interactions
Isyung personal v.s. isyung panlipunan
ISYUNG PERSONAL:
- nagaganap sa pagitan ng isang tao at ilang
malalapit sa kanya
- ang solusyon ay nasa kamay ng indibidwal
-pribadong bagay na nararapat solusyonan sa
pribadong paraan
ISYUNG PANLIPUNAN:
- pampubliko
- nakaaapekto sa maraming tao at sa buong lipunan
*** magka-ugnay
1. The private parts of our lives are very much
influenced by the conditions in our society.
2. Unemployment – personal problem; However, if
billions of other workers are also losing their job for
the same reason, then it is a social and historical
problem
3. Food – Social Meaning, Identity, the society that
we live in limits the food options we have; personal
choice is influenced by the society
SOCIAL
PERSONAL HISTORICAL
“PRIVATE” CONDITIONS
SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE
- Aristotle: Man is by nature a social animal
- Society:
> group of people who shares territory and
culture, and has common rules and regulations
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
> Emile Durkheim
> tinitignan niya ang lipunan bilang isang organism
na binubuo ng mga bahagi na may kani-kanilang
mga tungkulin
> ang mga bahaging ito ay nagtutulungan para
makamit ang balance o stability ng organism
> society as a complex whole composed of groups
working together to achieve stability
> tinitignan sa macro-level
> Manifest Function: tungkulin na obvious, given.
Mga gampanin na alam mo na agad ang ginagawa
ng isang institusyon
> Latent Function – not obvious, covert
> Dysfunction – behavior that disrupts the smooth
flow of society
CONFLICT THEORY
> society is composed of groups that compete for
limited resources (food, money)
> tinitignan sa macro-level
> nagdudulot sa pag-aaway ng maraming tao
> Class Conflict Theory: inequality between 2
classes under capitalism
- bourgeoisie – owner of means of
production such as machines and factory
- proletariat – the working class sells
service to the bourgeoisie
> Racial Conflict - inequality due to the conflict of
races and ethnic groups
> Gender Conflict – inequality between men and
women
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
> Max Weber
> society is composed of people interacting through
the use of symbols
> Dog Representations may be a pet or best friend
but it some cultures, it is a food or delicacy
> Our interpretation of symbols affects our behavior
> micro level
> symbolic interactionism ay related sa 2pang
perspective because interaction can lead to the
unification of the people or pagkakaaroon ng
conflicts sa pagitan nito
Sociologists
 analyze social phenomena at different levels
and from different perspectives
 concrete interpretations to sweeping
generalizations of society and social
behavior
 specific events (the micro level of analysis
of small social patterns) to the “big picture”
(the macro level of analysis of large social
patterns)
THE PIONEERING EUROPEAN
SOCIOLOGISTS
 offered a broad conceptualization of the
fundamentals of society and its workings
 Their views form the basis for today's
theoretical perspectives, or paradigms,
which provide sociologists with an orienting
framework—a philosophical position—for
asking certain kinds of questions about
society and its people.
3 Primary Theoretical Perspectives
These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical
paradigms for explaining how society influences
people, and vice versa. Each perspective uniquely
conceptualizes society, social forces, and human
behavior
THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST
PERSPECTIVE
- also known as symbolic interactionism
- directs sociologists to consider the symbols and
details of everyday life
- what these symbols mean, and how people interact
with each other.
- Although symbolic interactionism traces its
origins to Nicole Weber's assertion that
**individuals act according to their interpretation of
the meaning of their world**, the American
philosopher George H. Mead - (1863–1931)
introduced this perspective to American sociology
in the 1920s.
-people attach meanings to symbols, and then they
act according to their subjective interpretation of
these symbols.
- Verbal conversations, in which spoken words
serve as the predominant symbols, make this
subjective interpretation especially evident. The
words have a certain meaning for the “sender,” and,
during effective communication, they hopefully
have the same meaning for the “receiver.” words are
not static “things”; they require intention and
interpretation.
- Conversation is an interaction of symbols
between individuals who constantly interpret the
world around them.
- Consider applying symbolic interactionism to the
American institution of marriage. Symbols may
include wedding bands, vows of life‐long
commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a
Church ceremony, and flowers and music.
- American society attaches general meanings to
these symbols, but individuals also maintain their
own perceptions of what these and other symbols
mean.
- For example, one of the spouses may see their
circular wedding rings as symbolizing “never
ending love,” while the other may see them as a
mere financial expense. Much faulty
communication can result from differences in the
perception of the same events and symbols.
- Critics claim that symbolic interactionism neglects
the macro level of social interpretation—the “big
picture.” In other words, symbolic interactionists
may miss the larger issues of society by focusing
too closely on the “trees” (for example, the size of
the diamond in the wedding ring) rather than the
“forest” (for example, the quality of the marriage).
The perspective also receives criticism for slighting
the influence of social forces and institutions on
individual interactions.
THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
-also called functionalism
- each aspect of society is interdependent and
contributes to society's functioning as a whole.
- If all goes well, the parts of society produce order,
stability, and productivity. If all does not go well,
the parts of society then must adapt to recapture a
new order, stability, and productivity.
- For example, during a financial recession with its
high rates of unemployment and inflation, social
programs are trimmed or cut. Schools offer fewer
programs. Families tighten their budgets. And a new
social order, stability, and productivity occur.
- Functionalists believe that society is held together
by social consensus, or cohesion, in which
members of the society agree upon, and work
together to achieve, what is best for society as a
whole. Emile Durkheim suggested that social
consensus takes one of two forms:
 Mechanical solidarity is a form of social
cohesion that arises when people in a
society maintain similar values and beliefs
and engage in similar types of work.
Mechanical solidarity most commonly
occurs in traditional, simple societies such as
those in which everyone herds cattle or
farms. Amish society exemplifies
mechanical solidarity.
 In contrast, organic solidarity is a form of
social cohesion that arises when the people
in a society are interdependent, but hold to
varying values and beliefs and engage in
varying types of work. Organic solidarity
most commonly occurs in industrialized,
complex societies such those in large
American cities like New York in the 2000s.
- The functionalist perspective achieved its greatest
popularity among American sociologists in the
1940s and 1950s.
- While European functionalists originally focused
on explaining the inner workings of social order,
American functionalists focused on discovering the
functions of human behavior. Among these
American functionalist sociologists is Robert
Merton (b. 1910), who divides human functions
into two types: manifest functions are intentional
and obvious, while latent functions are
unintentional and not obvious.
- The manifest function of attending a church or
synagogue, for instance, is to worship as part of a
religious community, but its latent function may be
to help members learn to discern personal from
institutional values. With common sense, manifest
functions become easily apparent. Yet this is not
necessarily the case for latent functions, which often
demand a sociological approach to be revealed.
- A sociological approach in functionalism is the
consideration of the relationship between the
functions of smaller parts and the functions of the
whole.
- Functionalism has received criticism for
neglecting the negative functions of an event such
as divorce. Critics also claim that the perspective
justifies the status quo and complacency on the part
of society's members.
- Functionalism does not encourage people to take
an active role in changing their social environment,
even when such change may benefit them. Instead,
functionalism sees active social change as
undesirable because the various parts of society will
compensate naturally for any problems that may
arise.
THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
- originated primarily out of Karl Marx's writings on
class struggles, presents society in a different light
than do the functionalist and symbolic interactionist
perspectives.
-focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever‐
changing nature of society.
- Unlike functionalists who defend the status quo,
avoid social change, and believe people cooperate
to effect social order, conflict theorists challenge the
status quo, encourage social change (even when this
means social revolution), and believe rich and
powerful people force social order on the poor and
the weak.
- Conflict theorists, for example, may interpret an
“elite” board of regents raising tuition to pay for
esoteric new programs that raise the prestige of a
local college as self‐serving rather than as beneficial
for students.
- Whereas American sociologists in the 1940s and
1950s generally ignored the conflict perspective in
favor of the functionalist, the tumultuous 1960s saw
American sociologists gain considerable interest in
conflict theory.
-They also expanded Marx's idea that the key
conflict in society was strictly economic. Today,
conflict theorists find social conflict between any
groups in which the potential for inequality exists:
racial, gender, religious, political, economic, and
so on.
-Conflict theorists note that unequal groups usually
have conflicting values and agendas, causing them
to compete against one another. This constant
competition between groups forms the basis for the
ever‐changing nature of society.
- Critics of the conflict perspective point to its
overly negative view of society. The theory
ultimately attributes humanitarian efforts, altruism,
democracy, civil rights, and other positive aspects
of society to capitalistic designs to control the
masses, not to inherent interests in preserving
society and social order.