Sociology 101
August 28, 2013
Emma Lunning
Ooooookay
Taking a New Look into a Familiar World
What makes sociology distinctive?
-Soc. As a discipline; is the study of human society?
-Social interactions that occur- focus on the GROUP not the individual
-Individual perspectives are insufficient to understand social dynamics
Example: you go to Minneapolis to a twin’s game; your assignment is to write a report on what you observe at the game. -Most kids- -comment …
-on the players -mediocre food -rowdy fans -dirty restrooms/ long lines -Sociologists- - question … -what keeps fans reasonable orderly? - No major fighting amongst -what makes organized sports possible? -why do sports figures make so much money??? - are sports class stratified...? Do some sports favor certain classes over others? Upper class- yachting, rugby, lacrosse upper middle class- golf, tennis, skiing, XC?, soccer Working class- Football, Baseball, Basketball middle class- NASCAR, bowling
1 sociology argues that individual perspectives are insufficient
C. Wright Mills- what sociologists do is exercise the sociological imagination – attempts to make connections between private troubles and public issues WE interpret social events on the basis of our own experiences (private troubles)
SOCIOLOGISTS look for relationships of individual experiences
Ex: ~ why unemployment~ UMA Arizona has the highest unemployment rate
They suffer from emotional OR physical disabilities-lazy, irresponsible, drug addicted?, never learned appropriate habits????? Brought it on themselves? Because of circumstances beyond their control? -de industrialization and de investment Moved overseas by the millions (displaced workers) usa loses 10.5 million jobs/yr. * Hyper-ghettoization * Informal labor markets * Racial and sexual discrimination
Indirect consequences * When savings are depletes, families lose their abilities to address short term
