SOC 2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, Human Behavior
Lecture 1: 1/11/18
• What is Sociology?
• Latin Roots
• social= “albed, associated”
• socious= “associate; companion”
• -ology= “the study of”
• Literal Definition: study of companions, allies, and associates
• Definition: The science of social phenomena that emerge from, are sustained by, and
shape actions, associations, and interactions between people, groups, organizations,
institutions, and nations
• “Life is a glass maze”
• Human behavior doesn’t belong to a vacuum
• The Self
• Kinda the secular version of the “soul”
• Unchanging and inherent
• Everything about a person and how their actions affect others
• Sociology is the study of relationships and how people interact
• What can Sociology tell us about “The Self”?
Why people act a certain way towards specific crowds and in diff. scenarios
Lecture 2: 1/11/18
C Wright Mills, “The Promise,” from The Sociological Imagination → understand sociology
Mills argues → P.3
• “The Promise” : connect history to our biologies and understanding of who we are
• Individuals are shaped by their social environment: relationships, group affiliates, orgs,
general Milieu set of meanings
• Milieu shaped society: patterns, hierarchies, laws, relations of nations
• Society shaped by History
o History → Society → Milieux → individual
• Groups are local reps of broader social patterns, historically created arrangements
• Socialized into context if internalized → normal
Milieu: our social environment including our group of affiliations, organizations, generally shared
set of meanings for things
Sociological imagination> ability to shift from one perspective to another
• From political to the psychological
• From impersonal and remote transformations in society to the most intimate feature of
the human self and see relationship between the two
Public Restrooms & Social Imagination
• Etiquette: “prescribed behavior”
o Customs or rules governing behavior regarded as correct or acceptable in social
or official life
• Manners guide behavior in public
The History of Etiquette
• Social etiquette is a product of historical changes → recent invention
o Industrialization: transformation of economy by machines
- factories that mass produce -> workers needed
o migration/immigration
- to factories
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 1: 1/11/18: what is sociology, latin roots social= albed, associated , socious= associate; companion . Ology= the study of : literal definition: study of companions, allies, and associates, definition: the science of social phenomena that emerge from, are sustained by, and shape actions, associations, and interactions between people, groups, organizations, institutions, and nations. Why people act a certain way towards specific crowds and in diff. scenarios. C wright mills, the promise, from the sociological imagination understand sociology. The promise : connect history to our biologies and understanding of who we are. Milieu: our social environment including our group of affiliations, organizations, generally shared set of meanings for things. Sociological imagination> ability to shift from one perspective to another. From political to the psychological: from impersonal and remote transformations in society to the most intimate feature of the human self and see relationship between the two.
