SOC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Symbolic Interactionism, Erving Goffman, George Herbert Mead
Sociological Imagination: Chapter 1
Special Theory
• Theory- analytical framework; the lens we use to look at different social
phenomena
o Explains how and why the social world comes together
August Comte
• Positivism- social phenomena can be studied with the same methods as
natural sciences---social physics
• Need to make moral sense out of social order
• Decline of religious authority
• Need to identify scientific laws that govern human behavior
Karl Marx 1818-1883
• Marxism
• Limited amount of resources spurs competition
• Class differences
• Economics is primary factor in shaping economy
• Modern theory: Conflict Theory
• Economics
Max Weber 1864-1920
• Not just about the economy
• Ideas and values just as important as economics
• Religion, culture, etc. also shape institutions
• Verstehen
Emile Durkheim 1858-1917
• The main practitioner of positivism
• The division of Labor in Society—social solidarity (social cohesion)
o Mechanical Solidarity- rituals keep society together
o Organic Solidarity
• Suicide and anomie—sense of norm-lessness
Modern Sociological Perspectives
• 1. Functionalism
• 2. Conflict Theory
• 3. Symbolic Internationalism
• Differ on what they believe about:
o Nature of society
o Relationship between institutions and individuals
o What they look at and what they look for
Macro Social Theory
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