SOC101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Industrial Revolution
Document Summary
The systemic study of human action in context: what humans think, feel and do. A comparative study of how people think about the world in different countries and different time periods (otherwise: what makes people think about the world differently) Agency- the ability or notion of individuals to make choices. Structure- all the elements that open and close the options we have to chose from. Not all structures (opportunities and constraints) are evenly distributed: people have different opportunities. Early philosophers were the sociologists of their times. Two branches of philosophy that are crucial to sociological studies: The scientific revolution (16th c. ) encourages the use of evidence to substantiate theories. The democratic revolution (18th c. ) encourages the view that human action can change society. Sociological perspective- seeing the general in the particular: noticing the patterns that bind us.
