Lecture 3
September 23, 2014
Review
Functionalism -> Macro
S.I -> Micro
Conflict theory -> Macro
Functionalism -> Organs of society
Intuitions of society.
Stasis would stay around long time until it disappears
Conflict Theory
Change is ongoing.
Conflictive.
The Sociological Imagination
C.W. Mills
Published in 1959
Series Of Traps
People experience life as series of traps
Seek the answers in their immediate existence, jobs, family, careers
Internalize their cause, individualize the experience.
Underlying Causes
Structural changes in society
“The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the success and failure of individual men & women.”
The Connection Missed
Connection between the patterns in our lives and the course of the world history
The interplay of individuals & society, of biography and history; of self and the world.
The Lessons are terrible and magnificent
3 questions
What is the structure of this particular society? What are the essential components & how are they related to one another? How does it differ from varieties of social order? Within that what is the meaning of any particular feature of its continuance and for its change?
Capitalism
Money
Competition
Where does this society stand in human history? What are the mechanics by which it’s changing? What’s its place within and its meaning for the developmental of humanity as a whole? How does any particular feature we are examining affect, and how is it effected by the historical period in its move? And in this period, what are