Sociology was born out of the
French Revolution. It was a time of social and
economic changes, also the
industrial revolution in England brought about displacement of peasants, and were replaced with wage laborers.
The two founding fathers of sociology were
Henri de Saint Simon and
Auguste Comte. They produced causes of
society, and that our knowledge could be used to benefit socity. Their writings deal with
social class,
power,
religion, and
idealogy.
The basic insight of sociology is that human behavior is profoundly influenced and sometimes determined by the norms of the groups in which we interact. The smallest group studied in sociology is a
Dyad (Dyad - smallest unit for analysis in sociology, a group of two).
The three major sociological perspectives:
1. Symbolic interactionist perspective
2. Functionalist perspective
3. Conflict perspective
Symbolic interactionist perspective is the subject of meaning. Nothing in the universe in and of itself has meaning. Human beings assign a meaning to everythng.
The functionalist perspective is concerned with the way in which society is organized to create stability and order. (Stability and order for whose expense?) Often there is confusion between prescription and description. Functionalist is commited to the status quo.
The conflict perspective focuses on social dynamics and change:
wealth, power, and prestige.
(For whom is society serving? Whom is it not serving?)
The social construction of reality: We interpret meaning in order to construct our behavior in appropriate allignment with each other based upon our interpretation of the meaning of the event.