SOC150H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills, Generic Point
Document Summary
Sociology is the systematic study of human action (what humans do, how they feel, what they think) in context (particular historical, cultural, economic and social) Structure and agency: social scientists believe our freedom of action is constrained by institutions and other people, point of agency and structure is a critique of neo-liberal subject, opportunities and constraints are not evenly distributed. Sociology and other fields: sociology is an elastic discipline that shares some elements in common with many other fields, history, philosophy, psychology. Early social philosophers contributed to classical sociology theory through these fundamental tenets: thomas ho(cid:271)(cid:271)es"s assertio(cid:374) that gover(cid:374)(cid:373)e(cid:374)t"s appropriate role lies i(cid:374) preservi(cid:374)g pea(cid:272)e while allowing individuals to pursue their self-interests. Birth of sociology: the scientific revolution encouraged the use of evidence to substantiate theories, the democratic revolution encouraged the view that human action can change society, the industrial revolution gave sociologists their subject matter.
