Sociological Theories

Sociological Theories

A sociological theory is a set of ideas that provides an explanation for human society. Theories are selective in terms of their priorities and perspectives and the data they define as significant. As a result they provide a particular and partial view of reality. Sociological theories can be grouped together according to a variety of criteria. The most important of these is the distinction between Structural and Social action theories. Structural or macro perspectives analyses the way society as a whole fits together. Structural theory sees society as a system of relationships that creates the structure of the society in which we live. It is this structure that determines our lives and characters. Structured sets of social relationships are the 'reality' that lie below the appearance of 'the free individual' of western individualism. Structuralism focuses on the particular set of 'structural laws' that apply in any one society. Despite their differences, both functionalism and Marxism use a model of how society as a whole works. Many functionalists base their model of society around the assumption of basic needs and go to explain how different parts of society help to meet those needs. Marxists, on the other hand, see society as resting upon an economic base or infrastructure, with a superstructure above it. They see society as divided into social classes which have the potential to be in conflict with each other. However, the main differences between functionalist and Marxist perspectives then, is the way they characterize the social structure. Functionalists stress the extent to which the different elements of the social structure fit together harmoniously. Marxists stress the lack of fit between the different parts, particularly social classes, and so emphasize the potential for social conflict. Not all sociological perspectives base their analysis upon an examination of the structure of society as a whole. Rather than seeing human behaviour as being largely determined by society, they see society as being the product of human activity. They stress the meaningfulness of human behaviour, denying that it is primarily determined by the structure of society. These approaches are known as social action theory, interpretive sociology or micro sociology. Max Weber was the first sociologist to advocate a social action approach. Symbolic interactionists try to explain human behaviour and human society by examining the ways in which people interpret the actions of others, develop a self-concept or self-image, and act in terms of meanings. Ethnomethodology moves even further from a structural approach by denying the existence of a social structure as such. They see the social world as consisting of the definitions and categorizations of members of society. The job of the sociologist, in their view, is to interpret, describe and understand the subjective reality. Marxism is an economic and socio-political worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and a critique of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid-19th century by two German philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism encompasses Marxian economic theory, a sociological theory and a revolutionary view of social change that has greatly influenced socialist political movements worldwide. Functionalism

As a structural theory, Functionalism sees social structure or the organisation of society as more important than the individual. Functionalism is a top down theory. Individuals are born into society and become the product of all the social influences around them as they are socialised by various institutions such as the family, education, media and religion. Functionalism sees society as a system; a set of interconnected parts which together form a whole. There is a relationship between all these parts and agents of socialisation and together they all contribute to the maintenance of society as a whole. Social consensus, order and integration are key beliefs of functionalism as this allows society to continue and progress because there are shared norms and values that mean all individuals have a common goal and have a vested interest in conforming and thus conflict is minimal. Talcott Parsons viewed society as a system. He argued that any social system has four basic functional prerequisites: adaptation, goal attainment, integration and pattern maintenance. These can be seen as problems that society must solve if it is to survive. The function of any part of the social system is understood as its contribution to meeting the functional prerequisites. Adaptation refers to the relationship between the system and its environment. In order to survive, social systems must have some degree of control over their environment. Food and shelter must be provided to meet the physical needs of members. The economy is the institution primarily concerned with this function. Goal attainment refers to the need for all societies to set goals towards which social activity is directed. Procedures for establishing goals and deciding on priorities between goals are institutionalized in the form of political systems. Governments not only set goals but also allocate resources to achieve them. Even in a so-called free enterprise system, the economy is regulated and directed by laws passed by governments. Integration refers primarily to the ‘adjustment of conflict’. It is concerned with the coordination and mutual adjustment of the parts of the social system. Legal norms define and standardize relations between individuals and between institutions, and so reduce the potential for conflict. When conflict does arise, it is settled by the judicial system and does not therefore lead to the disintegration of the social system. Pattern maintenance refers to the ‘maintenance of the basic pattern of values, institutionalized in the society’. Institutions that perform this function include the family, the educational system and religion. In Parsons view ‘the values of society are rooted in religion’. Talcott Parsons maintained that any social system can be analysed in terms of the functional prerequisites he identified. Thus, all parts of society can be understood with reference to the functions they perform. A main supporter of Functionalism is Emile Durkheim who believes that sociology is a science. He is a structuralist and positivist and thus disagrees with empathy, meanings and the social action theory. Functionalists believe that society is based around a value consensus and social solidarity, which is achieved by socialisation and social control. These are two types of social solidarity Durkheim believed in: Mechanical Solidarity – These societies have people involved in similar roles so labour division is simple. Therefore, a similar lifestyle is lived with common shared norms and values and beliefs. They have a consensus of opinion on moral issues giving society a social solidarity to guide behaviour. As there is a societal agreement, there is pressure to follow the value consensus, so therefore most do. Organic Solidarity – Industrialisation meant population grew rapidly with urbanisation occurring. As society develops, a division of labour occurs. This is when work becomes separate from the home and the state organises the education, health care and criminal justice systems. A parent back then would be the teacher, doctor, judge and jury as well as a parent. Today people have such diverse and specialist roles that moral codes have weakened and anomie has occurred (a lack of norms and values and self-control). Social order is no-longer based on having a common set of values but rather is enshrined in the law and highlighted by deviance. Another in support of Functionalism is Talcott Parsons. Parsons claims that society is the way it is as social structures are interconnected and dependant on each other. Functionalists therefore see change as evolutionary – change in one part of society will eventually occur in another. Social ills e.g. crime and deviance, have disabling effects on society and gradually effect other parts. They recognise interconnections between various parts of society occur due to a value consensus. Parsons believes that as society changes, it develops and the pattern variables within it will become more complex. Change, therefore, trickles throughout society. Parsons summed this up as the ‘Organic Analogy’. Functionalists believe that sociological matters should be explained with scientific facts. This is otherwise known as Positivism. The founder of Positivism, Angste Comte, describes it as a method of study based primary facts, objectively measured, from which makes it possible to identify issues in society that effect individuals and leaves room for innovation in law and establishing new legislation. An example of this would be statistics. Positivists believe that sociology should adopt the methodology of the natural sciences and focus only on directly observable social facts and correlate them with other observable social facts.

Key beliefs of functionalism

There are a number of basics beliefs that underpinfunctionalism. These beliefs surround education, religion, the family, crime and the media. Education: To functionalists, a comparative can be drawn from education to a major organ in the human body that is a vital and integral part of the whole system. The education system is seen as a mini-society in which it prepares students for the workforce. Religion: Emile Durkheim defined religion as a “unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things.” He said that to understand religion, we must understand sacred symbols and what they represent. Durkheim said that “in worship, man finds it difficult to direct his feelings to something which is superior to him, so he directs his feelings at a symbol”. Talcott Parsons regarded religion as a source of general images of order and specific societal values, crucial to maintaining minimal coherence in any society. Family: Functionalists believe that the function of the family is to ensure the progression of society by reproducing and socialising new members. Theorist Robert Merton argued that the family and religion isn’t necessarily part of all human societies and can therefore be replaced by ideologies. Crime: Functionalists believe that a limited amount of crime is necessary and beneficial to society in order to set boundaries, so much so that society couldn’t exist without some form of deviance. Therefore, too much crime is bad for society and can lead to its collapse due to the disappearance of norms and values. Theorist Frederic P Miller argued that delinquent subcultures form as a reaction to a lack of social norms and values. This is because he believes that lower class youths never accept mainstream norms and values in the first place. He therefore offers an alternative cultural view on crime and deviance. Some lower class youths over conform to lower class values because of a concern to gain status within their peer group. In this situation, crime and deviance follow. Media: It is asserted that one of the main functions of the media is to create a reality. Exponents of Functionalism

Sociological research has seen some key exponents of the functionalist theory. The primary sociologists concerned with functionalism are Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton. Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917) was a French sociologist and one of the so-called ‘founders' of sociology. In Durkheim’s study “Suicide” , one of the most influential of all sociological texts, he explored links between social integration and suicide rates. Durkheim argued that society has a reality of its own over and beyond the individual who comprises it- structural functionalism. Durkheim attempted to explain any social institution in terms of the contributions that particular institution makes to society as a whole. For example, he believed that one of the most important functions of education is to bind members of society together, and create a sense of belonging to society - social solidarity. Durkheim had a “homo duplex” model of human nature; he believed that people had two sides, one selfish and another concerned with shared moral values. Writing over 100 years ago, his ideas are dated and “out of fashion”. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) was an American sociologist, who contributed to the development of structural functionalism. During the 1940’ and 1950’s Parsons became the dominant theorist is American sociology. Parsons most important work was “The Social System” in which he argued that institutions in society contribute to social order. Parsons believed in meritocratic society. For example, Parsons believed that schools operate a meritocratic principle and status is achieved on the basis of merit. Like Durkheim’s ideas, Parsons ideas are also seen as “out of fashion”. Robert Merton (1910 – 2003) was an American sociologist who helped develop structural functionalism even further and on a more sophisticated level. Merton popularised phrases such as “self-fulfilling prophecy”. He suggested that in different societies, institutions may have a high degree of “autonomy “. In other words, a change in a particular institution may have little or no effect on others. Unlike Durkheim, Merton believed that in society not all social systems necessarily perform a positive function. Merton argued that institutions like the family and religion aren't necessarily part of all human societies. He claimed that his method of analysis meant that functionalism wasn’t perceived as ideological.

Concepts of Functionalism

A number of key concepts underpin Functionalism. The primary concepts within Functionalism are collective conscience, value consensus, social order,education, family, crime and deviance and the media. The concept of function: Functionalist sociologists like Parsons and Durkheim have been concerned with the search for functions that institutions may have in society. However, another functionalist sociologist R. Merton has adopted a concept of dysfunction - this refers to the effects of any institution which detracts from the conservation of society. An example of a function which helps maintain society is that of the family, its function is to ensure the continuity of society by reproducing and socialising new members. Another institution which performs an important function is religion functionalist sociologists believe that it helps achieve social solidarity and shared norms and values, however it could be argued that it fails to do this as a result of increasing secularisation in recent years and therefore it creates a divide between members of society rather than binding them together (moral glue). Collective conscience and value consensus:
Functionalists believe that without collective conscience/ shared values and beliefs, achieving social order is impossible and social order is crucial for the well-being of society. They believe that value consensus forms the basic integrating principle in society. And if members of society have shared values they therefore also have similar identities, this helps cooperation and avoids conflict. Value consensus also ensures that people have shared: - Goals, Roles and Norms. Norms can be described as specific guidelines of appropriate behaviour; for example, queuing when buying things. Functional alternatives: R. Merton suggested that institutions like religion and the family can be replaced with alternatives such as ideologies like communism and he argued that they would still be able to perform the same functions in society. Social Order:
Functionalists believe that there are four main basic needs that an individual requires in order to exist in society. They also believe that these four basic needs are essential for maintaining social order. They are: food, shelter, money and clothing. Functionalism and Education: Durkheim believes that education transmits society’s norms and values. Education brings together a mass, and changes them into a united whole which leads to social solidarity. Parsons (1961) believes that education leads to universalistic values and that education performs a link between family and the wider society which in turn leads to secondary socialization. Education also allows people to train for their future roles in society.
Schools instil the value of achievement and the value of equality of opportunity.
Education helps match people with jobs suited to them. Functionalism and Family: George Peter Murdock believes that the family provides four vital functions for society: sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. The family is the primary point of socialization in that it provides children with values and norms. Family also stabilizes adult personalities. A family unit provides emotional security for each person in the relationship. Functionalism and Media: The media operate in the public interest by reflecting the interests of the audience. It portrays public opinion. The media understands that society has a wide diversity of culture and this is shown by the different amounts of stories it covers. Functionalism and Crime and Deviance: Durkheim shows us that there is such a thing as society, and that it is this entity called society that creates crime and deviance. Crime and deviance are socially constructed - they are not natural, obvious, or theologically inspired categories. They are concepts that were brought into the world solely by humankind. Moreover, Durkheim goes beyond this and shows us how socially constructed definitions of crime and deviance are linked into a wider social structure. Functionalism and Religion: Religion contributes to the social structure and well-being of society. It does this by teaching values and consensus. Emile Durkheim argued that all society’s divide into the sacred and the profane (non-religious). Durkheim found that totenism was the most basic form of religion with small groups using symbols such as plants or animals. Durkheim saw social life as impossible to achieve without the shared values and norms achieved through collective conscience. Religion comes with values and norms that are shared between groups. This helps strengthen the integration of society. Parsons argued that religious beliefs provide guidelines and that these guidelines establish general principles and moral beliefs which provide stability and order for society. Functionalism and Politics: Talcott Parsons believed in value consensus. Power is used to achieve collective goals, e.g. material prosperity. Everybody benefits from power (a variable sum of power). Authority is usually accepted as legitimate by the majority as it helps to achieve collective goals. Marxism

The two founders of Marxism were Karl Marxand Friedrich Engels. Karl Marx wrote “The Communist Manifesto” which lays out the foundations of Marxism. He also wrote ‘Das Kapital’. These volumes critically analysed capitalism. Engels edited in part ‘Das Kapital’ and he also wrote ‘The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State’, a book which links capitalism to the family. Historical materialism is the idea that development is in correlation to the emergence of the maintenance of social classes. Historical materialism sees history as progressive but rejects the idea that it is the actions of individuals. Marxists see that the key dynamism is economic development. Historical materialism is a theory of historical development through economic or material forces rather than political or social ones. In the ‘Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts’ of 1844 Marx identified four types of alienation in labour under capitalism: There is the alienation of the worker from the work he produces, from the product of his labour. The product's design and the manner in which it is produced are determined not by its actual producers, nor even by those who consume the products, but rather by the capitalist class, which appropriates labour - including that of designers and engineers - and seeks to shape consumers' taste in order to maximize profit. The capitalist gains control of the worker - including intellectual and creative workers - and the beneficial effects of his work by setting up a system that converts the worker's efforts not only into a useful, concrete thing capable of benefiting consumers, but also into an illusory, concept - something called "work" - which is compensated in the form of wages at a rate as low as possible to maintain a maximum rate of return on the industrialist's investment capital. Furthermore, within this illusory framework, the exchange value that could be generated by the sale of products and returned to workers in the form of profits is absconded with by the managerial and capitalist classes. This is coupled with the alienation of the worker from working, from the act of producing itself. This kind of alienation refers to the patterning of work in the capitalist means of production into an endless sequence of discrete, repetitive, trivial, and meaningless motions, offering little, if any, intrinsic satisfaction. The worker's labour is commodified into exchange value itself in the form of wages. A worker is thus estranged from the unmediated relation to his activity via such wages. Capitalism removes the right of the worker to exercise control over the value or effects of his labour, robbing him of the ability to either consume the product he makes directly or receive the full value of the product when it is sold: this is the first alienation of worker from product. There is the alienation of the worker from himself as a producer, from his or her "species being" or "essence as a species". To Marx, this human essence is not separate from activity or work, nor static, but includes the innate potential to develop as a human organism. A man's value consists in his ability to conceive of the ends of his action as purposeful ideas distinct from any given step of realizing them: man is able to objectify his intentional efforts in an idea of himself (the subject) and an idea of the thing which he produces (the object). There is the alienation of the worker from other workers or producers. Capitalism reduces labour to a commercial commodity to be traded on the market, rather than a social relationship between people involved in a common effort for survival or betterment. The competitive labour market is set up in Industrial Capitalist economies to extract as much value as possible in the form of capital from those who work to those who own enterprises and other assets that control the means of production. This causes the relations of production to be based on conflict... i.e. it pits worker against worker, alienating members of the same class from their mutual Interest, an effect Marx called false consciousness. Marx believed that capitalism can only thrive on the exploitation of the working class. Marx believed that there was a real contradiction between human nature and the way that we must work in a capitalist society. According to Marx, capitalism largely shapes the educational system. Without the education system, the economy would become a massive failure as without education we are without jobs and employment which is what keeps society moving. Education helps to maintain the bourgeoisie and the proletariat so that there can workers producing goods and services and others benefiting from it. Schools transmit an ideology which states that capitalism is just and reasonable. The ruling class project their view of the world which becomes the consensus view (hegemony). Secondly, schools prepare pupils for their roles in the workforce. Most are trained to accept their future exploitation and provided with adult qualifications to match their future work roles. Bowles and Gintis introduced their correspondence theory that there is a close correspondence between the educational system and the workforce. This is essential for social reproduction. Marx also believed in the myth of meritocracy in that people are led to believe that we achieve according to merit in society. However, it could be related to class and affluence. Marxists do not believe that society is based on a value consensus and operates to benefit all. The family is seen as one of a number of institutions which serves to maintain the position of the ruling class. The family is shaped by the requirements of capitalism to serve, support and maintain it. As the family is unit of consumption the economy largely relies on the funding of the family, they buy things which largely benefit a capitalist society. This also links to economic determinism which is another reason as to why the family is essential, without the family there would be no economy. The family also reproduce a labour force another thing that benefits the economy and the family have authority when raising children and conforming them to their ways of society. Marx predicted that the working class would get poorer (pauperisation); that the rich would get richer and that society would move to two different diametrically opposed areas (polarisation); Marx believed that the middle class would be sucked into one of these areas but would not remain a separate entity and that a class struggle between the rich and the poor would lead to revolution in which the poor would remove the rich. Marxist Concepts

Certain concepts are key to an understanding of Marxism, a political theory that has shaped world politics for over 150 years. Key Marxist concepts are diametrically the opposite to capitalism and some believe have created a mentality of a society that is very much a ‘them and us’ one. Marxism believes that capitalism can only thrive on the exploitation of the working class. Marxism believes that there was a real contradiction between human nature and the way that we must work in a capitalist society. Marxism has a dialectic approach to life in that everything has two sides. Marxism believes that capitalism is not only an economic system but is also a political system. The profit difference between what goods are sold for and what they actually cost to make, Marxism refers to as a “surplus profit”. Marxism believes that economic conflict produces class (rich, middle and poor) and inherently class produces conflict. A Marxist analysis called ‘Polarisation of the Classes’ describes the historical process of the class structure becoming increasingly polarised – pushed to two ends with noting in the middle. It says that soon classes will disappear and be absorbed either into the bourgeoisie or the proletariat. Capitalism largely shapes the educational system, without the education system the economy would become a massive failure as without education we are without jobs and employment which is what keeps society moving. Education helps to maintain the bourgeoisie and the proletariat so that there can workers producing goods and services and others benefiting from it. Schools transmit an ideology which states that capitalism is just and reasonable. Ruling class project their view of the world which becomes the consensus view (hegemony). Marxists believe that a key part in the control of the Proletariat is the use of alienation in all aspects of society, including the family, the education system and the media. This provides the Bourgeoisie with a supple mass of workers who do not mind working for the external rewards of a constant wage. Marxists believe that deviance is any behavior that differs from the societal norm. It is seen as deviant because as a society, we do not accept it. Deviance can vary from simply odd behavior to behavior that can harm society or is considered dangerous or disrespectful. Neo-Marxism is based on ideas initially projected by Karl Marx. Marx believed that economic power led to political power and that this is the key to understanding societies. Neo-Marxists believe the economic system creates a wealthy class of owners and a poor class of workers. They also believe that certain social institutions such as churches, prisons and schools have been created to maintain the division between the powerful and the powerless. Social Action Theory
The social action theory was founded by Max Weber. There are two main types of sociological theories; the first is the structural or macro theory while the other issocial action, interpretive or micro perspectives. At the two ends of the argument as to which is a better theory are Durkheim, the founding father of functionalism, and Weber, the mastermind behind social action theory. As the ‘micro’ name suggests, social action perspectives examine smaller groups within society. Unlike structuralism, they are also concerned with the subjective states of individuals. Very much unlike a structuralist perspective, social action theorists see society as a product of human activity. Structuralism is a top-down, deterministic perspective that examines the way in which society as a whole fits together. Functionalism and Marxism are both structuralist perspectives: as such, they both perceive human activity as the result of social structure. Giddens “Theory of Structuration” (1979) sees structure and action theories as two sides of the same coin: structures make social action possible, but social action creates the structures. He calls this the ‘duality of structure’. Critics of Giddens, such as Archer (1982) or (1995), argue that he placed far too much emphasis on the individual’s ability to change social structure simply by acting differently. Interestingly, although Weber believed that sociology was a study of social action, he also advocated the combination structuralist and interpretative approaches in his general approach to research. Max Weber believed that it was social actions that should be the focus of study in sociology. To Weber, a ‘social action’ was an action carried out by an individual to which an individual attached a meaning. Therefore, an action that a person does not think about cannot be a social action. Eg. An accidental collision of bicycles is not a social action as they are not a result of any conscious thought process. On the other hand, a wood cutter cutting wood has a motive, an intention behind that action. It is therefore ‘a social action’. Social action sociologists reject the views of structuralists. However, Weber acknowledges the existence of classes, status groups and parties, but challenges Durkheim’s view that society exists independently of the individuals who make up society. Phenomenology and ethnomethodology deny the existence of any sort of social structure. Most of the social action and interpretavists perspectives deny the existence of a clear social structure that directs human behaviour. However, those who do believe in a social structure see it as being shaped by individuals. Weber referred to two types of understanding:

‘Aktuelles verstehen’, which is direct observational understanding.

And ‘erklärendes verstehen’, where the sociologist must try to understand the meaning of an act in terms of the motives that have given rise to it. To achieve this type of understanding you must put yourself in the shoes of the person whose behaviour you are explaining to try and understand their motives. In social action theory, Weber believes that bureaucratic organisations are the dominant institutions in society. Weber believes that bureaucracies (institutions) consist of individuals carrying out rational social actions designed to achieve the goals of bureaucracies. Weber views the whole development of modern societies in terms of a move towards rational social action. Thus, modern societies are undergoing the process of rationalization. Weber argues that all human action is directed by meanings. He identified various types of action that are distinguished by the meanings on which they are based: Affective or emotional action – this stems from an individual’s emotional state at a particular time. Traditional action – this is based on established custom; people act in a certain way because of built-in habits: they have always done things that way. Rational action – involves a clear awareness of a goal.

The social action theory gives researchers a better understanding of actions behind human behaviour, be they ‘traditional’, ‘affective’ or ‘rational’. However, the social action theory tends to ignore wider social structure. There are also notions that research is biased due to the subjectivity of researchers, thus results are, at least partially 'fictional' accounts. It would seem that as social action theory is generally subjective, it is not as ‘solid’ as structuralist approaches where research is based on facts.

In The McDonaldization of Society, author George Ritzer takes the central elements of Max Weber’s work and expands and updates them, producing an analysis of the impact of structural change on human interaction and identity. It is not about McDonald’s itself, but rather how the principles of the fast food industry have come to dominate all parts of American society and the rest of the world.
The central theme in Max Weber’s analysis of society was the process of rationalization in which traditional ways of thinking were being replaced by an ends/means analysis concerned with efficiency and social control. A perfect example of this, according to Weber, was the bureaucracy – a large, formal organization characterized by a hierarchical authority structure, a well-defined division of labor, written rules and regulations, impersonality, and a an emphasis on technical competence. According to Ritzer, the fast-food restaurant has since become the organizational force representing the process of rationalization. InThe McDonaldization of Society, he uses McDonalds as a case model to illustrate this argument.
The term McDonaldization refers to “the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world. “(Ritzer, 1993:1). The central concepts employed in the fast-food industry have spread not only to other types of restaurants, but also to industries like toy stores, bookstores, newspapers, childcare, learning, and more. What is happening is what is called the Chain mentality.
Central Themes of the Book
In The McDonaldization of Society, Ritzer outlines five major themes within the process of McDonaldization: Efficiency, calculability, predictability, increased control, and the replacement of human by non-human technology. These are all concepts that the fast-food industry initiated and have now spread to other parts of society.
Efficiency. Efficiency means reaching a specific end rapidly while using the least amount of cost and effort. The idea is specific to the interests of the industry or business, however it is typically advertised as a benefit to the customer. Examples include: the drive-thru, salad bars, self-serve gasoline, ATM’s, microwave dinners, and self-serve soda fountains. What is interesting here is that the customer often ends up doing the work that was previously done for them, however they are now paying for the “privilege” to do it themselves. The customers end up spending more time, being forced to learn new technologies, remember more numbers, and often pay higher prices in order for business to operate more efficiently and therefore have a higher profit margin.
Calculability. The fast-food industry places a great deal of emphasis on things that can be calculated, counted, and quantified. That is, they tend to emphasize quantity over quality. For example, the Big Mac, Whopper, Big Gulp, Wendy’s Biggie Meals, and food sold by it’s weight (such as Taco Bell’s 8-ounce burrito) all emphasize the size of the product instead of its quality. Another example relates to time: Quicker is better. Things like microwavable meals allow for people to spend less time in the kitchen while claims to “lose weight fast” make the consumer believe that time is more important than safety or quality of how the weight loss is done.
Predictability. Predictability refers to the attempt to structure our environment so that people know what to expect. It is the belief that rational people want to be sure that the fun, satisfaction, taste, and benefits they received at McDonalds last week in New York will be the same next week in Texas. A Big Mac is the same no matter where in the world you are. This spills into all sorts of other industries too, from shopping at a mall to the movie industry that make sequel upon sequel. This makes our lives are structured and controlled so that we go through the motions on autopilot.
Control and the replacement of human by non-human technology. In the book, Ritzer combines these two elements of the McDonaldization process because they are closely linked. That is, the replacement of human by nonhuman technology is usually oriented towards greater control. When things are pre-packaged, pre-measured, and automatically controlled, the human employee is no longer required to think. They simply have to follow the instructions and occasionally push a button.
For example, checkers at the grocery store don’t have to think – they simply scan the barcode. Now, customers are even doing the scanning as self-serve scanners are replacing the checkers. Airplanes are also under the control of computers – pilots simply oversee the process. This means that the skills and capabilities of the human being are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Who we are and how we interact, Ritzer argues, is becoming defined by our dependence upon and subordination to the machine.
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by sociologist and economistMax Weber in 1904-1905. The original version was in German and was translated to English in 1930. It is often considered a founding text in economic sociology and sociology in general.
The Protestant Ethic is a discussion of Weber’s various religious ideas and economics. Weber argues that Puritan ethics and ideas influenced the development of capitalism. While Weber was influenced by Karl Marx, he was not a Marxist and even criticizes aspects of Marxist theory in this book.
Weber begins The Protestant Ethic with a question: What about Western civilization has made it the only civilization to develop certain cultural phenomena to which we like to attribute universal value and significance? Only in the West does valid science exist. Empirical knowledge and observation that exists elsewhere lacks the rational, systematic, and specialized methodology that is present in the West. The same is true of capitalism. In this context, capitalism does not refer to the pursuit of gain and greatest possible amount of money, but rather to the pursuit of forever-renewable profit. Economic action is therefore based on the amount of profit made. In this sense, capitalism has occurred in every civilization, however it is in the West that capitalism has developed to a degree that has never existed elsewhere. Weber sets out to understand what it is about the West that has made it so.
Weber found that, according to Protestant religions, individuals were religiously compelled to follow a secular vocation with as much enthusiasm as possible. A person living according to this worldview was more likely to accumulate money. Further, the new religions, such as Calvinism and Protestantism, forbade wastefully using hard earned money and labeled the purchase of luxuries as a sin. These religions also frowned upon donating money to the poor or to charity because it was seen as promoting beggary. The way these issues were resolved, Weber argued, was to invest the money, which would give a large boost to capitalism. In other words, capitalism evolved when the Protestant ethic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world, developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the accumulation of wealth for investment. The Protestant ethic was therefore the driving force behind the mass action that led to the development of capitalism.

Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology is a study concerned with the methods used by people to construct, account for and give meaning to their social world. Ethnomethodology means a study of the methods used by people. Ethnomethodologists such as Schutz believe there is no real social order, as other sociological perspectives assume. Social life appears orderly to members of society only because members actively engage in making sense of social life. Societies have regular and ordered patterns only because the members within that society perceive them in this way, therefore leading social order to become a convenient fiction.

The point of ethnomethodology, according to Zimmerman and Wieder, is to explain how members of society go about the task of seeing, describing and explaining order in the world in which they live.

Ethnomethodologists are highly critical of other branches of sociology. They argue that conventional sociologists have misunderstood the nature of social reality. They have treated the social world as if it has an objective reality that is independent of member’s accounts and interpretation. Thus they have regarded aspects of the social world such as suicide and crime as facts with an existence of their own. They have then attempted to provide explanations for these facts.

By contrast, ethnomethodologists argue that the social world consists of nothing more than the constructs, interpretations and accounts of its members. The job of the sociologist is therefore to explain the methods and accounting procedures that members employ to construct their social world. According to ethnomethologists this is the very job that mainstream sociology has failed to do.

Phenomenology
Phenomenology is different from the social action approach in that it denies the possibility of explaining social action. It emphases is upon the internal workings of the human mind and the way that humans classify and make sense of the world around them. It is not concerned with the casual explanations of human behaviour in the same way as other perspectives. Phenomenologists try to understand the meaning of phenomena or things rather than explaining how they came into existence.

The general approach adopted by phenomenology is a type of knowledge rather than a sociological perspective. Alfred Schutz was the first to try to explain how phenomenology could be applied to develop insights into the social world.

The main contribution of Schutz was to insist that the way that humans classified and attached meaning to the outside world was not a purely individual process. Symbolic interactionism
The symbolic interaction perspective, also called symbolic interactionism, is a major framework of sociological theory. This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction. Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world, the American philosopher George Herbert Mead introduced this perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.
Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors. Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believe that people behave based on what they believe and not just on what is objectively true. Thus, society is thought to be socially constructed through human interpretation. People interpret one another’s behavior and it is these interpretations that form the social bond. These interpretations are called the “definition of the situation.” For example, why would young people smoke cigarettes even when all objective medical evidence points to the dangers of doing so? The answer is in the definition of the situation that people create. Studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of tobacco, but they also think that smoking is cool, that they themselves will be safe from harm, and that smoking projects a positive image to their peers. So, the symbolic meaning of smoking overrides that actual facts regarding smoking and risk.
Critics of this theory claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level of social interpretation—the “big picture.” In other words, symbolic interactionists may miss the larger issues of society by focusing too closely on the “trees” rather than the “forest”. The perspective also receives criticism for slighting the influence of social forces and institutions on individual interactions.
Feminism

Feminist theory is one of the major contemporary sociological theories, which analyzes the status of women and men in society with the purpose of using that knowledge to better women's lives. Feminist theorists have also started to question the differences between women, including how race, class, ethnicity, and age intersect with gender. Feminist theory is most concerned with giving a voice to women and highlighting the various ways women have contributed to society.
There are four main types of feminist theory that attempt to explain the societal differences between men and women:
Gender Differences: The gender difference perspective examines how women's location in, and experience of, social situations differ from men's. For example, cultural feminists look to the different values associated with womanhood and femininity as a reason why men and women experience the social world differently. Other feminist theorists believe that the different roles assigned to women and men within institutions better explain gender difference, including the sexual division of labor in the household. Existential and phenomenological feminists focus on how women have been marginalized and defined as the “other” in patriarchal societies. Women are thus seen as objects and are denied the opportunity for self-realization.
Gender Inequality: Gender-inequality theories recognize that women's location in, and experience of, social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's. Liberal feminists argue that women have the same capacity as men for moral reasoning and agency, but that patriarchy, particularly the sexist patterning of the division of labor, has historically denied women the opportunity to express and practice this reasoning. Women have been isolated to the private sphere of the household and, thus, left without a voice in the public sphere. Even after women enter the public sphere, they are still expected to manage the private sphere and take care of household duties and child rearing. Liberal feminists point out that marriage is a site of gender inequality and that women do not benefit from being married as men do. Indeed, married women have higher levels of stress than unmarried women and married men. According to liberal feminists, the sexual division of labor in both the public and private spheres needs to be altered in order for women to achieve equality.
Gender Oppression: Theories of gender oppression go further than theories of gender difference and gender inequality by arguing that not only are women different from or unequal to men, but that they are actively oppressed, subordinated, and even abused by men. Power is the key variable in the two main theories of gender oppression: psychoanalytic feminism and radical feminism. Psychoanalytic feminists attempt to explain power relations between men and women by reformulating Freud's theories of the subconscious and unconscious, human emotions, and childhood development. They feel that conscious calculation cannot fully explain the production and reproduction of patriarchy. Radical feminists argue that being a woman is a positive thing in and of itself, but that this is not acknowledged in patriarchal societies where women are oppressed. They identify physical violence as being at the base of patriarchy, but they think that patriarchy can be defeated if women recognize their own value and strength, establish a sisterhood of trust with other women, confront oppression critically, and form female separatist networks in the private and public spheres.
Structural Oppression: Structural oppression theories posit that women's oppression and inequality are a result of capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. Socialist feminists agree withKarl Marx and Freidrich Engels that the working class is exploited as a consequence of the capitalist mode of production, but they seek to extend this exploitation not just to class but also to gender. Intersectionality theorists seek to explain oppression and inequality across a variety of variables, including class, gender, race, ethnicity, and age. They make the important insight that not all women experience oppression in the same way. White women and black women, for example, face different forms of discrimination in the workplace. Thus, different groups of women come to view the world through a shared standpoint of "heterogeneous commonality."

The basic assumption shared by all feminists is that women suffer certain injustices on account of their sex. Feminists stress the importance of gender divisions in society and it portrays these divisions as working to the overall advantage of men. Although feminists are united with their common desire for sexual justice and their concern for women’s welfare, there is a range spectrum of feminist views. Liberal feminism focuses on equal rights;radical feminism focuses on the sex war and separatism (they see patriarchy as built into the structure of society);Marxist/socialists feminism focuses on the impact of capitalism while black feminists focus on racism and ethnicity. Two of the more famous proponents of feminism are: Ann Oakley, a British sociologist and writer, born 1944. Her works include ‘Women Confined: Towards a sociology of childbirth.’(1980) and ‘Who’s afraid of Feminism?’ (1997). Her father was a social policy theorist. Claire Wallace, a British sociologist and writer. Wallace was a professor at Aberdeen University. Her most famous work is ‘An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives’ (1990). Wallace was president of the European Sociology Association 2007-09. Feminism has five major concepts embedded into it: Patriarchy - the dominance of men in society, and the oppression of women for men’s gain. Example: ‘The family is patriarchal because women must do housework without pay.’ Discrimination - unfair/unequal treatment of women i.e. by the law. Example: Women paid less than men until Equal Pay Act 1970. Gender stereotypes - negative generalisations/misconceptions about women. These are perpetuated in the media, as well as the education system. Example: ‘Man are better drivers then women.’ Economic dependency - women giving up work to take care of childcare/housework responsibilities, thus becoming dependent on their husbands for money. Emotional work - women are expected to do the majority of emotional care for their family, on top of their job and housework; the so-called ‘triple shift’. Feminism and Education: feminists believe that education as it stands promotes male domination; that there is gendered language within education, education produces stereotypes, education misses women from the curriculum, ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ subjects have been allowed to develop eg: (girls do Food Tech while boys do Woodwork). Feminists believe that the education system is patriarchal; they believe that the ‘Hidden curriculum’ reinforces gender differences. Girls tend to do better now, although boys demand more attention from teachers. Men dominate top positions in school (head teachers ect.) Liberal feminists: want an equal access to education for boys and girls. Marxist feminists: want to consider gender inequalities combined with inequalities of class and ethnicity. Radical feminists: men are a bad influence and we should have female-centred education. Illich 1971: ‘get rid of school completely’. He wanted to de-school society as the functions it performs are not good enough to run schools and schools do not create equality or develop creativity. Feminism and Family: Feminists believe that the family is patriarchal, dominated by men and it exploits and oppresses women. The family supports and reproduces inequalities between men and women. Women are oppressed because their socialised to be dependent on men and remain in second place. They reject the new rights view of the separate roles, and also reject the ‘march of progress 'view in that society has not changed and it is still unequal. Feminists believe that marriage remains patriarchal and that men benefit from wives. Feminists reject the idea of ‘one best’ family type, they welcome freedom and diversity. Feminism and the Media: Feminists believe that the media often presents women as cleaners, housewives, domestic servants providing comfort and support for men, a man’s sex object to service men’s sexual needs, ect. Feminists believe that this gender representation is an aspect of patriarchy. Feminists believe that the media suggests these roles are natural and normal. Feminists see this as an example of patriarchal ideology- a set of beliefs which distorts reality and supports male dominance. Feminism and Crime: Feminists argue that the behaviour of women when criminality is involved can only be understood in the context of male dominance. Pat Carlen argues that women’s crimes are largely ‘crimes of the powerless’. She draws on control theory, arguing that working-class women turn to crime when the advantages appear to outweigh the disadvantages. Feminists believe that women have been socialised to conform; women’s socialisation and domestic responsibilities plus the controls imposed on them by men discourage deviance from social norms. Frances Heidensohn believes that the most striking thing about women’s behaviour is their conformity to social norms. She explains this in terms of their socialisation and control over their behaviour by men. As a result women have less inclination, time and opportunity for crime. Feminism and Religion: Feminists believe that religion is a patriarchal institution.They criticise the sacred texts as in almost all the world’s religions, the gods are male. (Hindus come close to being an exception, with its female goddesses).Feminists have also been written and interpreted by males by incorporating many traditional male stereotypes and biases. Supernatural beings and religious professionals are overwhelmingly male, and in many religions, women play a secondary role in worship. In strongly religious societies, women tend to have fewer options and less favourable treatment. Feminist methodology: There are a number of feminist methodologies. The ‘weak thesis’ states that overgeneralisation is found in all aspects of the research process. Research methods, in and of themselves, are not sexist. Once researchers learn to use them in a non-sexist way, the problem will be solved. Some feminists see women’s struggle and feminist methodology as inseparable. The feminist researcher should be consciously partial and actively participate in women's liberation.Postmodern feminism rejects pre-set, pre-determined categories. It emphasises diversity and variation. It argues that there are multiple interpretations of any observation and that this should be reflected by multiple voices in research reports. Critics of feminism: Critics argue that there is too much focus on negative aspects, and that feminists sometime ignore recent social changes . Critics claim that feminists portray women as ‘passive’ victims, as if they are unable to act against discrimination. The same critics believe that feminists focus on one specific group, ignoring women from other cultures and ethnicities (black feminism). Sociological stance on feminism: Feminism is a structuralist (top-down) theory. Postmodernist sociologists argue that society has ‘fragmented’ since the ‘modern’ era and can no longer be explained with rigid rules and structures. Instead, postmodernists believe in social action (bottom-up) theory. Marxism shares some similarities with feminism: it argues that society is unequal and that it is characterised by oppression. However, Marxists believe that the oppression is of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. Functionalist sociologists disagree with feminists. Unlike feminists, they emphasise the positive aspects of society. Functionalists believe that society’s institutions (education, media, religion etc.) are vital so that society can function. However, functionalists are often criticised for ignoring negative aspects of society, such as domestic violence Modernism vs Postmodernism --The features in the table below are only tendencies, not absolutes. In fact, the tendency to see things in seemingly obvious, binary, contrasting categories is usually associated with modernism. The tendency to dissolve binary categories and expose their arbitrary cultural co-dependency is associated with postmodernism. For heuristic purposes only; don't try this at home. (Ha)
Modernism/Modernity
Postmodern/Postmodernity
Master Narratives and Metanarratives of history, culture and national identity; myths of cultural and ethnic orgin.
Suspicion and rejection of Master Narratives; local narratives, ironic deconstruction of master narratives: counter-myths of origin.
Faith in "Grand Theory" (totalizing explantions in history, science and culture) to represent all knowledge and explain everything.
Rejection of totalizing theories; pursuit of localizing and contingent theories.
Faith in, and myths of, social and cultural unity, hierarchies of social-class and ethnic/national values, seemingly clear bases for unity.
Social and cultural pluralism, disunity, unclear bases for social/national/ethnic unity.
Master narrative of progress through science and technology.
Skepticism of progress, anti-technology reactions, neo-Luddism; new age religions.
Sense of unified, centered self;
"individualism," unified identity.
Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; multiple, conflicting identities.
Idea of "the family" as central unit of social order: model of the middle-class, nuclear family.
Alternative family units, alternatives to middle-class marriage model, multiple identities for couplings and childraising.
Hierarchy, order, centralized control.
Subverted order, loss of centralized control, fragmentation.
Faith and personal investment in big politics (Nation-State, party).
Trust and investment in micropolitics, identity politics, local politics, institutional power struggles.
Root/Depth tropes.
Faith in "Depth" (meaning, value, content, the signified) over "Surface" (appearances, the superficial, the signifier).
Rhizome/surface tropes.
Attention to play of surfaces, images, signifiers without concern for "Depth".
Faith in the "real" beyond media and representations; authenticity of "originals"
Hyper-reality, image saturation, simulacra seem more powerful than the "real"; images and texts with no prior "original".
"As seen on TV" and "as seen on MTV" are more powerful than unmediated experience.
Dichotomy of high and low culture (official vs. popular culture); imposed consensus that high or official culture is normative and authoritative
Disruption of the dominance of high culture by popular culture; mixing of popular and high cultures, new valuation of pop culture, hybrid cultural forms cancel "high"/"low" categories.
Mass culture, mass consumption, mass marketing.
Demassified culture; niche products and marketing, smaller group identities.
Art as unique object and finished work authenticated by artist and validated by agreed upon standards.
Art as process, performance, production, intertextuality.
Art as recycling of culture authenticated by audience and validated in subcultures sharing identity with the artist. Knowledge mastery, attempts to embrace a totality.
The encyclopedia.
Navigation, information management, just-in-time knowledge.
The Web.
Broadcast media, centralized one- to-many communications.
Interactive, client-server, distributed, many- to-many media (the Net and Web).
Centering/centeredness,
centralized knowledge.
Dispersal, dissemination, networked, distributed knowledge
Determinancy
Indeterminancy, contingency.
Seriousness of intention and purpose, middle-class earnestness.
Play, irony, challenge to official seriousness, subversion of earnestness.
Sense of clear generic boundaries and wholeness (art, music, and literature).
Hybridity, promiscuous genres, recombinant culture, intertextuality, pastiche.
Design and architecture of New York and Boston.
Design and architecture of LA and Las Vegas
Clear dichotomy between organic and inorganic, human and machine cyborgian mixing of organic and inorganic, human and machine and electronic
Phallic ordering of sexual difference, unified sexualities, exclusion/bracketing of pornography androgyny, queer sexual identities, polymorphous sexuality, mass marketing of pornography the book as sufficient bearer of the word; the library as system for printed knowledge hypermedia as transcendence of physical limits of print media; the Web or Net as information system