SOC102H1 Chapter Notes -Conflict Theories, Georg Simmel, Erving Goffman
Document Summary
Measurable features of a negative social condition (crime, poverty, alcohol abuse) Can be studied without being judged as trivial or serious eg. sexual abuse, environmental pollution. Based on positivism: a philosophical premise of a material reality we can perceive with our senses. Subjective responses social construction of problems (search for villains) Claims-making: trying to capture attention and mobilize public opinion around problems and solutions. Condition: that threatens the well-being of a significant part of society. Process: in which members of society come to see a condition as a social problem that needs collective action. Ability to see connections between one"s own life (micro-events) and the social world in which one lives (macro-events) Sociologist c. wright mills (1959) eg. unemployed people affect not only them and their family but also millions of people through economic recession. *micro sociology- interactions between individuals in small groups.
