Heads Up Sociology

by DK

  CLASS CONFLICT

  Marx stated that a capitalist society could be divided into two distinct classes: the working class (proletariat) and the ruling class (bourgeoisie). He argued that the ruling classes, who owned the businesses and took the profits, exploited the working classes, who were forced to sell their skills and labour in order to survive. Marx believed that conflict between the two classes was inevitable and that the working classes would eventually overthrow the capitalist system and ultimately establish communism.

  a LIFE in EXILE

  Having been forced to leave Germany in 1843 because of his radical views, Marx spent the rest of his life in exile, moving first to Paris and then to Brussels. He was expelled from Belgium shortly after the publication of The Communist Manifesto in 1848. In 1849, he and his family moved to London where he wrote Das Kapital. After the death of his wife in 1881, his health deteriorated. Marx died in 1883 and is buried in Highgate Cemetery in London.

  a SENSE of ALIENATION

  Throughout his work, Marx was concerned with the emotional and physical costs of living in a capitalist society. He believed that many people experience a feeling of “alienation” – a sense of being unfulfilled in life and disconnected from other people. Marx believed that this feeling of alienation was especially common in the workplace, where people felt they had no control over their working conditions or the goods they produced.

  Marx spent most of his life in poverty, relying on support from Friedrich Engels, whose family had made their fortune in the textile industry.

  Sociology can tell us a lot about how people’s identities are formed. There are aspects of our identity we can choose and others on which the society in which we live exerts a great deal of influence. Key issues include social class, gender, sexuality, and race and, as we live ever longer, age.

  AN ANALYSIS OF CLASS

  In 1867 Karl Marx publishes the first volume of his best-known work Das Kapital. In it he outlines how the system of capitalism creates different social classes in society. The owners of factories were known as the bourgeoisie and those who worked in them, the proletariat. There have been many other studies of class since then.

  BLACK IDENTITY

  W.E.B. Du Bois publishes The Souls of Black Folk in 1904. He is strongly critical of the marginalization (pushing to the side) and undermining of Black American culture and identity. His work is one of a sequence of events in the US that lead to greater equality for African Americans.

  GENDER IDENTITY

  Some of the first feminist writing was by British academic Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792. In her book A Vindication of the Rights of Women she argues for women to receive an education. Over time, feminist writers challenge other ideas. French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir’s key feminist text The Second Sex (1949) questions the notion of natural gender difference.

  CHILDHOOD

  The notion of childhood as a special and innocent time of life is a recent social construction. French historian Phillipe Ariès’ book Centuries of Childhood was published in English in 1962 and explained how childhood as we know it did not exist until the 19th century. Before this people were either infants or adults.

  LIVING LONGER

  In 2015, the United Nations noted that the number of older people is steadily rising. By 2050, they calculate that there will be 2.1 billion older people, aged 60 years or over, up from 901 million in 2015. What it means to be older is changing. From being a marginalized group in society, older people are increasingly becoming more central.

  RISE OF GAY RIGHTS

  The Gay Rights movement can be traced back to events in Greenwich Village, New York in 1969. The Stonewall Inn was a popular venue for gay and lesbian people at a time when being gay and lesbian was illegal and culturally unacceptable. One night when faced with a police raid, people fought back. This was the starting point for gay liberation.

  INTERSECTIONALITY

  Identity is not made up of just one factor such as class or gender. Who we are emerges from the combination of several aspects. US sociologist bell hooks, in the 1980s wrote about what she called “intersectionality” based on her experiences as an African American woman.

  SUBCULTURES

  In Resistance Through Rituals, edited by Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson, published in 1975, the authors look at what young people are trying to communicate through music-based subcultures. The book deals with subcultures of the time such as Mods, Skinheads, and Rude Boys. Works since then have explored other youth subcultures.

  All societies need institutions, such as the law, communities, business, and religion to help them run more smoothly. These are the foundations upon which our society is built. Other institutions such as the family and education help to prepare people to be part of society. How these social structures affect us and how they are changing are of great interest to sociologists.

  What do schools TEACH?

  Are INSTITUTIONS a good thing?

  Who holds the POWER?

  What role does RELIGION play in society?

  Does RELIGION still MATTER?

  RURAL life versus URBAN life

  A sense of COMMUNITY

  WHY do we WORK?

  HOW is work CHANGING?

  WATCHING the workers

  do students learn only what is on the school curriculum? sociologists have varied ideas about what young people really experience in the classroom. Is education meant to fill us with useful information, provide social contacts – or just condition us for the workplace?

  Understanding education

  In many countries, young people are in full-time education between the ages of five and 16, or longer if they go on to college or university. Both students and their parents usually see education as a phase in life when young people acquire knowledge and skills that enable them to discover what interests them and to find jobs. But sociologists have more complicated views on education.

  The hidden curriculum

  In a classic work on education, Schooling in Capitalist America, published in 1976, US sociologists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis suggest that while education does provide knowledge and skills, it also has a role in maintaining the existing social order. Education accustoms young people to accepting certain behaviours and restrictions; in other words, it makes them do what they are told.

  In their book, Bowles and Gintis explained what they called the “hidden curriculum”. This has nothing to do with the formal programme of studies which every student knows about, with subjects such as mathematics, science, and languages. The hidden curriculum uses rules, punishments, and rewards to teach students to conform to such norms (social expectations) as punctuality, smart dress codes, and obedience to instructions from those in authority.

  Bowles and Gintis claimed that there is a parallel between the way school is organized and the way work is organized. In what they called a “correspondence theory”, they saw the power of teachers as similar to that of a manager at work, and the routine of school corresponding with the nine-to-five routine of the workplace. Neither students nor workers have much control over what they do.

  Classroom to workplace For many young people, work may not seem so different from school. Timekeeping, routine, and figures of authority are common to both.

  Gaining and losing

  French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in his analysis of education in the 1980s and 1990s, thought schools were important as places where people acquire useful contacts and join social networks: gaining what he called "social capital". He claimed that students also acquired "cultural capital", by which he meant they learned how to behave in society. However, social and cultural capital vary by social class and act as a means of maintaining class distinctions. Bourdieu noted that the social and cultural capital provided by expensive fee-paying schools helped the rich to stay rich but excluded children from more ordinary backgrounds.

  Following on from Bourdieu, US social scientist Garth Stahl looked at the education of white working-class
boys in England. His research, published in 2015, found that the modern schools in his study concentrated on individual ambition and competitiveness. Many working-class boys were uncomfortable with such ideals, rather identifying themselves as a group where equality and sticking together mattered more than standing out. As a result, the boys felt devalued and outside the school culture. Stahl believes this is why working-class boys often do not do well at school.

  There are many ways in which education is a preparation for adult society and the world of work. It appears that much of what we learn is not part of a formal classroom timetable.

  In 2015, researchers at the University of Oxford, UK, recommended a 10am start for the school day, to allow young people more sleep.

  See also: Who’s to BLAME?

  society is made up of more than the random actions of individuals making their way through life in different ways. instead our lives have a structure and the society we live in has order. this is due to the institutions, or building blocks of society, things such as education, religion, the family, and the law.

  We need structure

  Sociologists have observed that society has a range of structures or “institutions” that give pattern and form to people’s lives. In sociology an institution does not necessarily refer to a building but rather to the ways of doing things that are governed by sets of rules (or “norms” and “values” in sociological language). These rules may be official rules that are laid down by an organization (the church, a workplace, or the government, for example) or they may be informal rules that individuals have come up with. It does not really matter if they are official or unofficial as long as people agree to them and stick to them. By doing so, people’s lives are given some form of shape and meaningful order. Without them, things would fall apart and people would struggle to know what to do or how to behave.

  Foundations of society

  Social institutions provide the necessary stability and structure to make society possible. They are both the foundation and the building blocks of society. In a book called The Social Construction of Reality published in 1966, Austrian sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann noted that institutions played a key role in maintaining society. They argue that we often take institutions for granted and do not really notice them, but they play a vital role in giving shape to the society in which we live. Institutions also affect people’s identities, shaping in various ways how they think and act towards others.

  Structures of inequality?

  The most common types of institutions across all societies are education, religion, the family, marriage, government, culture, and business. Even though sociologists agree that institutions play an essential part in maintaining social order, they understand that institutions affect different groups in different ways. Some sociologists who come from a Marxist, feminist, or anti-racist background see institutions as ways of maintaining exploitation and oppression. For example, a feminist might see business institutions supporting men’s privileged position – indicated by the low number of women in top management and by the fact that women have lower-paid jobs.

  Others would see institutions as essential devices holding our society together and giving us rules to live by. Without them, they argue, there would be chaos and confusion.

  During the 2016 US presidential elections, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders both claimed that US political and economic institutions were not working. Coming from very different political positions and offering different solutions, they each stated that the institutions were biased to maintain the wealth of an elite and were letting down the majority of ordinary people.

  part of the institution

  In his book Asylums (1961) US sociologist Erving Goffman investigated the issue of “institutionalization”. This applied to people in prisons, long-stay hospitals, or mental health facilities where the institution became so dominant in their lives that they could not eat, sleep, dress, or play without the routine laid down by the institution.

  In the US only 4.4% of the top 500 companies have women CEOs. In the UK there are 7 women CEOs in the top 100 companies.

  See also: What role does RELIGION play in society? | BREAKING society’s RULES | What does FAMILY mean?

  Born in Texas in the USA, Charles Wright Mills was a hugely influential social thinker. He studied sociology at the University of Texas and was a professor of sociology at Columbia University until his death from a heart attack at the age of 45. Influenced by the ideas of Max Weber, he believed that sociology should be used to bring about social change. He is best known for his work on social inequality, class structure, and the nature of power.

  the NEW MIDDLE CLASS

  Wright Mills was particularly interested in the changing nature of the middle classes in the United States. In his book White Collar, published in 1951, he claimed that “white-collar” workers, who are workers employed in offices, had lost touch with traditional values, such as pride in craftsmanship. While enjoying the benefits provided by white-collar jobs, the middle classes had little control over their lives and had become uninterested in political and social affairs.

  the POWERFUL few

  In his book The Power Elite, published in 1956, Wright Mills analysed the way a small minority of political, business, and military leaders – the power elite – were able to dominate US society. He pointed out that ordinary people in “mass society” are unaware that only a small number of individuals are responsible for the decisions that affect their everyday lives.

  sociological IMAGINATION

  In The Sociological Imagination, published in 1959, Wright Mills explores how the private problems of an individual are linked to wider social issues. When a worker is made redundant, the problem is a private one – it affects the individual who has been made unemployed. However, a firm’s decision to cut staff is usually based on wider social and economic developments such as increased taxes or the cost of raw materials.

  a LETTER of HOPE

  Wright Mills believed that sociologists should use their knowledge to change and improve society. His ideas influenced several social movements in the United States during the 1960s. In 1960, he wrote an open letter to the political movement known as the “New Left” that paved the way for wider changes in the law on issues such as gay rights, abortion, and gender equality.

  In 1960, Wright Mills went to Cuba to find out about the Cuban revolution. He interviewed revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

  power is the ability to influence, control, or manipulate other people. sociologists are interested in who has power, why they have it, and how they use it. power can be exercised in the workplace or the home, as well as in many other subtle ways throughout society.

  The power of employment

  One of the founders of social science, Karl Marx, saw that power was held by a small, unelected elite in society. They held that power because they owned, in his words, the “means of production”, by this he meant that they owned businesses. Today, this elite are the owners of big businesses and the chief executive officers (CEOs) who run companies. This business class is an influential force in society because it has the power to give people jobs or take them away, and without a job it is difficult to survive financially and socially. People find it hard to pay their rent or mortgage, socialize with friends and family, and they may feel very unhappy.

  Marx noted that ordinary people, the workers, also possess a great deal of power, only they do not realize they have it. He argued that if working people joined together they could resist the power of the capitalists. This is how trade unions work. By joining forces and having the option to go on strike, if necessary, workers can challenge the power of employers to set low wages and offer unsatisfactory working conditions.

  Men’s power over women

  In a different sphere of society, British feminist Sylvia Walby, in her influential book Theorizing Patriarchy (1990), marked out six ways that men had power over women. First, in the home, wit
h women doing most of the mundane household chores. Second, in the workplace, where women tend to do the majority of low-status and low-paid jobs. Third, by the state, who make laws and policies that benefit men over women. Fourth, by male violence, when men use their power to physically and mentally intimidate women. Fifth, by control over sexuality, with the needs of heterosexual males given priority over other sexual preferences. Finally, sixth, in most areas of culture, male interests take preference over women’s. An example is sport, where sports played by men dominate the media.

  Arrangements of power

  French sociologist and philosopher, Michel Foucault, was interested in how power is used, particularly on a day-to-day basis in people’s lives. Foucault claims that power is not exercised by a strong figure using physical force as it would have been in the Middle Ages. In modern society power takes on a more subtle form. People are controlled by the way that space and time are organized in society, which makes people’s bodies and minds comply with dominant ideas. Think of how a school classroom is arranged: the way chairs and tables are set out creates a power relationship where the teacher can oversee what the students are doing and regulate who does what and when. There is also a strict timetable dictating when and where students have to be.