SOCIOL 2L03 Lecture Notes - State Capitalism, Social Inequality, Critical Role

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 2L03
• Professor: David Young

Document Summary

Structure and agency: structure: refers to an organized, stable pattern within a social system, any institution is a structure (marriage, family, education, religion, politics, mass media, etc. , impact of structure: structure imposes constraints on individuals. Example: the institution of education is made up of schools, colleges, universities, etc: within, there are students, teachers, professors, and various other individuals, these individuals are constrained (i. e. respecting academic policies that a university creates) Structure, agency, and mass media: relationships between mass media and other social institutions, we need to understand how the institution of mass media is connected to the institution of economy and the institution of politics. The connection is one that involves structural constraints. Example: the issue of the institution of politics, constraining mass media. The broadcasting act is a structural constraint on the mass media. The broadcasting organizations have to comply with the broadcasting act (political: organization or groups that make up the mass media have agency.