Course Description

This course helps the students see and observe the outward and inward
realities of the society that guides their lives, as well as appreciate
ever-present forces of change that shape and reshape the society. This
also lets them place this society in a global context, highlighting the
worldwide structures and systems that affect us all. It covers Culture,
Groups and Organizations, Social Interaction in Everyday Life, Social
Inequality Worldwide, Family, Collective Behavior, Politics &
Government, the Economy & Work, Traditional and Postmodern
Societies, Social Change and Technology in their multicolored
features.
 Course Objectives

This course has been designed keeping the following objectives in mind:
1. To enable students to observe the outward and inward realities of the
society that guides their lives, as well as analyzes ever-present forces of
change that shape and reshape the society.
2. To enable the students to have a deep, broad and conceptual insight into
the multidimensional world of various social forces that is universal,
ever-changing and continuous.
3. To enable students to place this society in a global context, highlighting
the worldwide structures and systems that affect us all.
 Learning Outcomes
After completing this course a student will be able to:
Get familiar with many-sidedness of the human social dynamics in all
the landmark stages of history and to discuss the past, present and
future of the society.
 Discuss the various factors responsible to reshape the society and the
parts of society fit together and change and the consequences of social
change.
Analyze that we are all creatures of the various groups, organizations
and governments in our environment, we are also their creators.
Possess a theoretical awareness of the subject and its connection with
other subjects like Organizational Behavior, Human Resource,
Marketing etc.
 Teaching Methodology

Learning will be accomplished through lectures, outside

readings, case analysis and student participation in classroom
discussion and presentations. Grading will tend to focus on
students’ overall personality rather than on one or two aspects.
 Code of Conduct
Students have to follow the rules stated below to avoid a failing grade in the
course:
 Understand and follow the University policy regarding attendance.
 Arrive in and leave the classroom strictly on time. Late arrival will be marked as
absence. If you leave the classroom in the middle of a session even for a short
while, you will be marked absent.
 Keep your cell phone off during the class.
 Do the assigned readings for a class before coming to the class.
 Maintain a disciplined, pleasant, and respectful attitude towards the teacher and
your fellow students.
 Submit your homework on the due date before the class begins.
 Do not plagiarize from books, journals, or the internet.
 Do not cheat (make someone else do your work or present work
for some other course as work for this course).
 The teacher’s decisions about marks and grade will be final.
 Unit # 01
Introduction to Sociology: Origin & Theoretical Perspective
 Sociology

From the Latin "socio-" (socius),(member,

friend, People)
From Greek "-logy" (study of)
 What is Sociology
Think about the major questions that we ask about our social
world. Are men and women really that different? Why do we have
problems such as racism? What motivates people to have social
status and respect? These questions are hugely important to life as a
human being, and they are studied by the field of sociology.
A general definition of sociology is the systematic study of
human society, culture, and relationships on a group level.
 Sociology is:
• the study of society
• a social science involving the study of the social lives of people,
groups, and societies
• the study of our behavior as social beings, covering everything from
the analysis of short contacts between unspecified individuals on the
street to the study of global social processes
• the scientific study of social combinations, the units through which
humans move throughout their lives
• an overarching union of all studies of humankind, including history,
psychology and economics.
Sociology is the scientific study of society, including patterns of
social relationships, social interaction, and culture.
 Broader Social Context

 How Groups Influence People

 How People are Influenced by Their Society

 Scope of Sociology
The scope of sociology: studying all human relationships, groups,
institutions, and societies.
Family, law, education, religion , health & illness, culture & ethnic
conflicts, poverty, immigration, sexuality, gender, class, and crime
& punishment, environment & economic development all come
under the scope of sociology.
 What Do Sociologists Study?

Sociologists study all things human, from the interactions

between two people to the complex relationships between
nations or multinational corporations. While sociology
assumes that human actions are patterned, individuals still
have room for choices. Becoming aware of the social
processes that influence the way humans think, feel, and
behave plus having the will to act can help individuals to
shape the social forces they face.
 Knowledge of sociology can be used in the following areas of social life:
1. Teaching
2. Social research
3. Social work
4. Professions—medicine, law, engineering, business, etc.
5. Industry
6. Rural and urban planning
7. Public administration—civil services
8. Policy making
9. Business consultancy
10. Politics
11. Architecture
12. Child welfare and health care
13. Gerontology (study of old age people)
14. Computer industry
15. Military intelligence and military
16. Entrepreneurship
17. International relations
18. Criminal justice
19. City management
20. New emerging careers
Why Sociology is important in Business?
 Handling Employees
 Market Opportunities
 Public Relations
 Analytical Process
 Developing critical thinking
 The Origins of Sociology

Striking transformations during the eighteenth

and nineteenth centuries greatly changed
European society. These changes were specially
important in the development of the sociology.
Tradition vs. Science
Industrialization
Explosive growth of cities
Grew Out of Social Disturbance
Political change (new ideas about democracy and political
rights)
Rise of the Scientific Method
Sociology develops in the middle of the 19th century as a result
of three factors:
a) The social disturbance in Europe as a result of the industrial
revolution and the political revolution in America & France.
b) The development of colonization, as the Europeans conquered
other nations, they came in contact with different cultures and
began to ask why cultures varied.
c) The success of the natural sciences which created a desire to
apply scientific methods in order to finds answers for the
questions being raised about the social world as well.
The Development of Sociology
Early Sociologist & Their theories

Auguste Comte --- France

Herbert Spencer ---- England
Karl Marx ------ Germany
Max Weber ------- Germany
Emile Durkheim ----- France
Auguste Comte and Positivism
 Recognized as father of sociology

 Coined the Term “Sociology”

Believed social behavior had to be studied

scientifically.

 Positivism: using scientific observation in the study

of social behavior.

 Applying the Scientific Method to Social World

1798-1857
 Herbert Spencer
He was concerned with overall structure of society, the
inter-relationship of the parts of society, and the
functions of the parts for each other as well as for the
system as a whole. He had compared the society with a
living organism. He said that like a body, society is
composed of many parts working together to promote
its well-being and survival.
 He coined the term” survival of the fittest”
 Helping poor was wrong that this merely helped the
less fit survive.
 Social Darwinism

1820-1903
Karl Marx and Class Conflict

 Believed that the Engine of Human History is Class

Conflict
 A clash between the Supreme class and
the class of wage earners.
 Resulting in classless society
 He introduced “ Conflict theory”

Bourgeoisie
Proletariat

1818-1883
His life’s work and theories are often condensed into a single theory
known as Marxism. This describes societies as going through stages of
class struggle in which exploitation is necessary for the entire system
to function. Under capitalism, the masses are forced to exchange their
labor for unfavorable wages to the ruling class.
All the systems within society are structured so that members of the
working class accept their position and have very little chance of
rising out of it. The level of exploitation was however expected to
steadily rise until eventually those at the bottom of the social pyramid
achieve ‘class consciousness’ or awareness of their own hopelessness.
This would lead them to take power from the ruling classes and
redistribute it evenly throughout society in a new system known as
communism.
Durkheim and Social Integration
 Believed that society exist because of a broad
agreement among members of society.
 As a result members of society are dependent
on one another.
 Identified “Social Integration”—Degree to
Which People are Tied to Social Group

 Studied how social forces affect behavior

 Studied suicide rates believed they very

1858-1917 depending on group characteristics.
Max Weber
Understanding the meaning of human
action
Research - Weber believed the
following:
Sociological research Should be
Value-Free (personal beliefs should
not affect research)
Sociological research Should be
Objective (neutral, not bias)
1864-1920
 Max Weber & Bureaucracy
In the late 1800s, Max Weber criticized organizations for
running their businesses like a family, or what some of us
might refer to as 'mom and pop'. He felt that employees were
loyal to their bosses and not to the organization. Weber
believed in a more formalized, rigid structure of organization
known as a bureaucracy. This non-personal view of
organizations followed a formal structure where rules, formal
authority and competence were characteristics of appropriate
management practices.
 Sociological theories
Functionalist perspective
Conflict perspective
Interaction perspective
Post modern perspective

34
35 Founders of the functionalist
perspective :

August Comte (1798-1857)

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Émile Durkheim (1858-1917)

TOK202
36 Functionalism
 Society is a combination of different
parts/institutions such as: Family, religion,
economy and educational system
 These institutions secure the evolution
and growth of society

TOK202
Society: The community of people living in a
particular country or region and having shared
customs, laws, and organizations; e.g
‘the ethnic diversity of British society’
‘modern industrial societies’ (Oxford university Dictionary)
The
38
characteristics of society
 Well planned uniformity
 Stability and equilibrium between different parts
 Consensus of the main values
 Every institution has a function which helps society to remain stable
 Likeness; recognition of' belonging together'
 Differences
 Inter-dependence
 Co-operation and Conflict
 Society is a network or web of social relationship
 Permanent Nature
 Comprehensive Culture

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Conflict perspective
39

Founders
 Karl Marx (1818-1883)
 Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)

TOK202
 Marxism
40
Marxism is a political, social, and economic philosophy derived
from the work of the 19th-century historians Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels. It views human history as a struggle between social
classes and stresses that capitalism is fundamentally unequal &
unfair. Marxism advocates a "revolution of the masses" in which the
working class will seize political power internationally and establish
new societies based on collective ownership. In the 20th century,
communist governments, such as those in the Soviet Union and
China, declared their devotion to the principles of Marxism.
However, Marx himself never described a specific operational form
of government based on his philosophy.

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41 Conflict perspective in modern sociology

Not only focusing on class struggle as Marx did, but on the overall
power structure in society, such as conflicts between different groups
of interests such as producers and consumers, employers and
employed, teachers and students, parents and kids, personality and
culture.

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 Conflict
42
causes social change

In every society there are conflicts; conflict is the

driving force of social change
Conflict does not necessary mean violence,
rather tension, competition or disagreement
about objectives and values.

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43 Conflict vs. functionalist perspective
The conflict paradigm highlights parts of
society where functionalists usually do not
focus on
The weakness of the conflict paradigm is that
they miss the consensus- and balance in
society

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 Symbolic Interaction perspective
The symbolic interaction perspective, also called symbolic
interactionism, is a major framework of sociological theory.
This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that people
develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction.
Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max
Weber's declaration that individuals act according to their
interpretation of the meaning of their world, the American
philosopher George Herbert Mead introduced this
perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.
Postmodernism/post
45
structuralism
Modernism: The enlightenment-humanist rejection
of tradition and authority in favor of reason and
natural science. This is founded upon the
assumption of the autonomous individual as the
sole source of meaning and truth.

TOK202
Review of 1st Chapter
Introduction to Sociology: Origin & Theoretical
Perspective
 What is Sociology ?
 Sociology in Broader Social Context
 Scope of Sociology
 What Do Sociologists Study?
 Importance of Sociology in Business
 The Origins of Sociology
 The Development of Sociology
 Early Sociologist & Their theories
 Sociological Theories