AHSS*3050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Social Constructionism, Flip Chart, Racialization
Document Summary
Social problems: an introduction (week 1)- ahss 3050 f19. Take a piece of paper and locate yourself. Which variable is most impactful in shaping your experience: me" interacting with social problems: the sociological imagination. Sociological imagination in action: defining social constructionism. Functionalist theory sees society like a body, with different systems that are orderly, stable functional. For them, society composed of institutions that interrelate and work together to make a whole: examples of social institutions: Conflict theory: conflict theory sees society as divided into unequal groups, groups fight for scarce resources (ex. jobs) Focus: unequal distribution of power, as privileged groups seek to maintain advantage: origins in karl marx"s critique of capitalism (conflict between owners and workers), furthered by max weber"s notion of non-economic conflict (between status groups). Feminism: gendering of experience, patriarchy/male domination, rejection of biological determinism, population health perspective: paying attention to health consequences of social problems. Indigenous identity: racialization, deciphering social problems: subjective and objective elements.
