SOCIOL 1 Chapter Notes -Class Conflict, Social Class, Auguste Comte
23 Feb 2014
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Document Summary
Sociology - the scholarly discipline concerned with the systematic study of social organizations attempts to understand the social forces that shape our lives, interests and personalities. Personal level - causes and consequences of love, violence, identity, conformity, deviance . Societal level - poverty, racism, sexism, crime, etc. Global level - inequality, war, conflict resolution, immigration, etc. Individuals are socially determined (products of their social environment) Identity is socially bestowed - personalities shaped by how people receive us. We are like puppets - dependent on and manipulated by social forces. Social determinism - the assumption that human behaviour is explained exclusively by social factors. But the puppet metaphor doesn"t go that far. Society isn"t static and rigid; there are nonconformists and deviants. Human beings shape and are shaped by society. Social organizations are imperfect - there are winners and losers. Individuals can change society"s structure through collective action.
