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SOCIOLOGY
KEY DEFINITIONS
Sociology (from the
Greek logos [study of] and the Latin socius [member, friend
or ally]) is the study of human social interaction and, thus,
human relationships in general.
It usually concerns itself with the social rules and processes that
bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of
associations, groups, and institutions, and includes the examination
of the origins, organization, and development of human life.
Conflict Theory
advances the view that inequalities in property and power
are a feature of all social structures; competition over
scarce resources (especially money and property, but also
phenomena such as leisure, sexual partners, and so on),
rather than consensus, is the basis of all social
relationships; individuals and groups which enjoy the
greatest benefits exploit those who do not and strive to
ensure that this privilege is maintained and the status quo
is preserved; and social change (which is often abrupt and
revolutionary, rather than evolutionary) occurs as a result
of conflict, rather than accommodation, between competing
interests.
Functionalism contends that
societies and organizations cohere because each individual
and group performs a specific role or function in a way
analogous to that performed by organs in the body. It
accordingly focuses on the ways in which social institutions
fill social needs, especially social stability.
Functionalism is predicated on a number of assumptions:
firstly, society is viewed as a system – a collection of
interdependent parts, with a tendency toward equilibrium;
secondly, there are functional requirements that must be met
in a society for its survival (such as reproduction of the
population); thirdly, phenomena are seen to exist only
because they serve a particular function.
Hermeneutical-Interpretive-Rhetorical Sociology:
Antipositivism
Verstehen
Ethnomethodology (literally,
the study [-ology] of people's or folks' (ethno-] methods) focuses on
the ways in which people make sense of their world,
interact with and communicate this understanding to
others, and produce the mutually shared social order in
which they live. Anne Rawls contends that if "one
assumes, as Garfinkel does, that the meaningful, patterned, and orderly
character of everyday life is something that people must work constantly
to achieve, then one must also assume that they have some methods for
doing so. . . ." That is, "members of society must have some
shared methods that they use to mutually construct the meaningful
orderliness of social situations."
Interactionism focuses on the process of social interaction,
consisting of actions, reactions, and mutual adaptation, between two or
more individuals. Interaction includes all language (including
body language) and mannerisms. The goal of the social interaction
is to communicate with others. Symbolic Interactionism
contends that "people act toward things based on the
meaning those things have for them; and these meanings
are derived from social interaction and modified through
interpretation" (Herbert Blumer).
Rhetoric of Sociology:
Rational Choice Theory assumes that
human behaviour is guided by instrumental reason.
Accordingly, individuals always choose what they believe to
be the best means to achieve their given ends.
Social Exchange Theory explains
social change and stability as a process of negotiated
exchanges (of both material and non-material or symbolic
goods) between parties.
Sociological Positivism is the view
that serious scientific inquiry should not search for
ultimate causes deriving from some outside source but must
confine itself to the study of relations existing between
facts which are directly accessible to empirical observation
(Edmund Leach).
Sociology of Culture (or Cultural Sociology) considers material products,
ideas, and symbolic means and their relation to
social behaviour.
ASSOCIATIONS
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CONFERENCES
2010:
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2008:
- Social Theory and the Sociological Discipline(s),
Eighth Social Theory Conference, European Sociological
Association, Innsbruck, September 11-13
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The Cultural Turn, Conference Series in Sociology of Culture
and Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
COURSES
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JOURNALS
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PERSONS
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SOURCES: PRIMARY Off-Line:
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Anthologies:
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General:
- Ashley, David, and David Michael Orenstein, eds. Sociological Theory: Classical Statements. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, 1995.
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Collins, Randall, eds.
Four Sociological Traditions: Selected Readings. Oxford:
OUP, 1994.
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Coser, Lewis A., ed.
Sociological Theory: a Book of Readings. Waveland, .
- Calhoun, Craig, Joseph Gerteis, James Moody, Steven Pfaff and
Indermohan Virk, eds.
Classical Sociological Theory.
Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
- Calhoun, Craig, Joseph Gerteis, James Moody, Steven Pfaff and
Indermohan Virk, eds.
Contemporary Sociological Theory.
Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
- Hechter, Michael, and Christine Horne, eds. Theories of
Social Order: a Reader. 2003.
- Owen, David, ed. Sociology after Postmodernism.
London: Sage, 1997.
- Turner, Stephen, ed.
Social
Theory and Sociology: the Classics and Beyond.
Oxford: Blackwell 1996.
- Worsley, Peter, ed. The New Modern Sociology Readings.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966.
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Sociology of Philosophy:
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Sociology of Psychology:
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Sociology of Religion:
Selected Individual Works:
Overington, Michael.
"Sociology and Rhetoric: Some Personal Musings."
Technostyle
16 (2000): 165-169.
Overington, Michael. "A
Critical Celebration of Gusfield's 'The Literary Rhetoric of Science.'"
American Sociological Review 42.1 (1977): 170-174.
Overington, Michael.
"The Scientific Community as Audience: Toward a
Rhetorical Analysis of Science." Philosophy and Rhetoric
10 (1977): 143-63.
Weaver, Richard M. "Concealed Rhetoric in Scientistic Sociology."
Georgia
Review 13 (1959): 19-32.
- Language is Sermonic:
Richard M. Weaver on the Nature of Rhetoric. Ed. Richard L.
Johannesen, Rennard Strickland, and Ralph T. Eubanks. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State UP, 1970. 138-158.
Weaver, Richard M.
"The Rhetoric of Social Science." Journal of General Education
4 (1949-50): 189-201.
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The Ethics of Rhetoric.
Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1953. Rpt. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum, 1995. 186-210.
Schools of Thought:
Sub-Fields:
Sociology of Law:
Sociology of Perception:
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Berger, John. Ways of Seeing.
Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
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Crary, Jonathan. Techniques of the
Observer: on Vision and Modernity in the 19th Century.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990.
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Foti, Veronique. Vision's Invisibles:
Philosophical Explorations. Albany: SUNY Press, 2003.
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Jay, Martin. Downcast Eyes: the Denigration of
Vision in Twentieth Century French Thought. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1993.
- Shapiro, Gary. Archaeologies of Vision: Foucault and
Nietzsche on Seeing and Saying. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003.
Sociology of Philosophy:
Political Sociology:
Sociology of Psychology:
Sociology of Religion:
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SOURCES: SECONDARY
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UNIVERSITY PROGRAMMES / RESEARCH CENTRES / RESEARCH
PROJECTS
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WWW GATEWAYS
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