Soc 100 Final

•patterned social arrangements and relationships that are produced by-but also constrain or shape-individual actions and experiences•make up the broader social terrain of a given place and time-certain kinds of economic roles, cultural expectations-changes based on culture and time

•common ways of patterning social relationships in a given society. They have a particular purpose; and they are governed by various rules, roles, rituals, cultural practices, and normative expectations that operate within that social setting•how people arrange themselves to accomplish a particular task or provide a role in the functioning of society

•common ways of patterning social relationships-building blocks but also variation (some single or same-sex families for example)•often have a particular purpose-raising children, support, sharing of wealth, etc.•governed by various rules, roles, rituals, cultural practices, and normative expectations-holidays, family dinners, parent-child roles/partner roles

•the family is an engine of social reproduction•the family has recently undergone a lot of change-divorce rates rising, increases in single parenthood, increases in dual-career couples, more cohabitation outside of/in place of marriage, more flexibility for same sex couples•these changes are characterized by some as a "moral decline"-failing education systems, increased poverty/crime and people blame family for this-blamed for all kinds of social ills

•recent changes in the American family•research question: is the American family becoming de-institutionalized?-looser expectations and harder to know roles•historical story-institutionalized marriage (until mid-20th century)-companionate marriage (mid-20th century)-individualized marriage (late 20th century)

•education•organized religion•industry•law enforcement•government

•Community high school•First congregational church of Ann Arbor•Ford Motor Co.•The AAPD•the IRS

•how class shapes how much education you get•graph showing the relationship between your family's class position and how much education you are likely to get (numbers only looking for white men)•history of education in the US-schooling has more to do with maintaining the existing social hierarchy-rise of Public education was emerging more out of the need to control the poor than for creating equal opportunity for education

•1896: Plessy vs.

Ferguson•1954: Brown vs. Board of Education•1954-1990s: opposing and avoiding integration•1990s: Federal courts dismantle mandates of Brown•present: de facto school segregation in inner cities

•educational institutions involving interactions•working-class students-seeing cultural capital everywhere (fluency and fluidity: fitting in)-feeling out of place: first recognizing the ways in which you are not like your classmate-faking it: roll engulfment or challenging your stigma-ambivalence: have difficulty with or don't want to move out of their stigma-resolving ambivalence: picking one and not being stuck in the middle

•art, music, literature, film, etc.•obvious things we think of when we think of culture•sociology of culture

•norms, behavioral expectations, values, shared knowledge, symbols, language, communication styles•shape what is meaningful to us and how we see situations but we don't think about it all the time•not an obvious part of culture•cultural sociology-how these impact sociology of culture

You can approach any sociological question from a cultural standpoint•class relations-uncultural: thinking of class in terms of group material conditions, differences in terms of income, money and materialistic things-cultural: what are the meanings that we attribute to different class positions? How the different classes see themselves? how we explain these classes and how the media influences these things

•"high" culture-elite culture, enjoyed by a small number of people with "refined" tastes•"low" culture-popular culture, enjoyed by many people with "less refined" tastes•sociologist of culture is equally interested in both-also about how outsiders view

•the fashion industry•the symphony•the media•food cultures•music scenes•museums•the film industry

•all artistic work, like all human activity, involves the joint activity of a number, often a large number, of people..

. the forms of cooperation... often become more or less routine, producing patterns of collective activity that we can call an art world•all human activity is the product of joint activity-art no different•common sense is that artistic product is the result of the lone genius working in isolation•sociological perspective is that the set of all people oriented toward making that product have roles in bringing works like that into existence

•earliest•you signal your class position by what you can afford to purchase

•the wealthy tend not to go around buying these conspicuous things•conspicuous is considered in poor taste•mark class position by subtlety and taste in high end things

•marker of high status is being a cultural omnivore-being well-rounded

•the capacity for individuals or groups to act in a way that changes their circumstances

•the stable perpetuation of the basic patterns of a given social structure over time

•the transformation of a given social structure

•individuals have the ability to make anything they wish of themselves (they have only themselves to blame for their failures and only themselves to congratulate for their successes)-individualistic-agency rather than structure-social change rather than social reproduction

•individuals are embedded in complex and overlapping social structures that shape and constrain their actions, as much as they enable them

•life happens in a larger geographical area and our social worlds are bigger than in the past-social media?-more Americans live in cities-organizations have gotten bigger-government larger and more complex-people travel further and more often

•increasing concentration in the power to make important decisions in fewer people

•occupations are more specialized•roles are more specialized•example: evening news used to be uniform to all-now tons of different sources

•networks•ability to make point to point immediate contact that makes bureaucratic structure less so

•enable us to do the previous•things like refrigerators, AC, etc.•efficiency-costs and rewards

•demographic change from innovation from new regions•states that are majority non-white•consequences in ways people think about diversity

•notable increase

•7/10 Americans spend a great deal of time thinking about themselves and their own inner lives•people increasingly able to pursue own agendas

•less about traditional wisdom

•proliferation of news-we know more about these leaders-political scandals-skepticism about authority of institutions

•people are more mobile•greater opportunity but people are also more prone to move away from intimate relationships

•sometimes even people who are married

•social media, etc.

•social consequences-AC: more people want to stay inside during the summer rather than outside in the shade-refrigerator: had to go to store and interact with others more often-working from home possible

•class segregation, etc.•gated communities•enables by freedom of movement as well as lack of common meeting places

•busy parents-less time to spend with their families•children more programmed into external activities

•bigger houses lead to less interaction•TV's etc.

•larger chain stores rather than smaller shops-don't know other customers or employees (employees cycle through)

•Globalists vs. skeptics-do people think that globalization is going on and that it's new and affecting everything?•advocates vs. opponents-is it good or is it bad?•disembedding•acceleration•standardization•interconnectedness•movement•mixing•vulnerability-risks become global•re-embedding

•Economic-free-market capitalism is the global norm-multinational corporations-global finance-increased trade-global trade organizations•Political-nation-states weakening-international organizations strengthening (EU, UN)-human rights standards-transnational social movements (NGOs)•cultural-awareness of other people and places-> global consciousness-cultural homogenization-leads to empathy

•Economic-went "global" long ago-uneven: more regional than global (NAFTA, EU)-unstable (Euro crisis)•Political-Nation states still the preeminent political unit-international political pressure still filtered through local contexts•Cultural-glocalization-persistence of local cultures-hybridity, not homogeneity-valuing local traditions while also having global influences

•economic-the recipe for economic growth worldwide: a rising tide lifts all boats•political-global cooperation-international human rights standards-international ability to respond to global problems•cultural-engine of cultural innovation-mutual understanding and sympathy across cultures

•economic-encourages outsourcing from US-reinforces global inequalities-crass standardization of goods & services "McDonaldization"-degrades labor conditions internationally-outsources environmental costs•political-diminishes national sovereignty (US not signing many international treaties)•cultural-erodes local cultures-threat of others leads to entrenchment of local identities, fundamentalism, "clash of civilizations"

•she is drawing an analogy to current globalization with colonization-rather than through brute force, it is through broader chains of globalization-violence vs.

a set of normative pressures that make women make their own decisions•analogy with the brain drain-when people from less developed countries travel to more developed countries-the smart stay with more developed countries

•a grassroots (bottom-up) movement that is organized around specific social, economic, political, or cultural issues and that bring sustained challenges against powerful opponents (often the state)•not seeking to overthrow the system or the whole government-out to affect some kind of change within the system-not focused on presidential elections, but issues•often the outcomes don't seem significant until much later

•need to have some kind of organizational structure•need resources•some kind of critical mass•some kind of attempt to get their message out there

"The perennial contests over the allocations of material and cultural benefits that result directly or indirectly from the actions of governments"

"the ability of an actor to sway the actions of another actor or actors, even against resistance"

•"the bases on which one actor is able to bend the will of others"•power is stratified-unequally distributed about society

"Why are people without what we usually call power able to win anything, ever?"•independent power: power that derives not from resources, but from "the social and cooperative relations in which people are embedded by virtue of group life... (by the fact that people) do things on which others depend"-like strikes: workers have power because the corporation depends on them (same with boycotts)

•the capacity of a social actor to recognize the social forces and structures shaping her/his social environment; and thus to act upon these, to play a role in reshaping them, and to change the conditions of the social world

•acknowledge that the trouble exists•pay attention•little risks: do something

•two paths into sociology-awakening of the sociological eye: you can turn it on no matter where you are or what you're doing-from activism to sociology

common sense•the economy is a natural product of the economic activities, initiative, and hard work of individuals acting in a free market (unencumbered by social structures and institutions)•one social function is to be the great equalizer and facilitate social mobility

•the economy is a complex social domain made up of multiple institutions that overlap, in which there is a back-and-forth between structural constraints and individual agency•the purpose of capitalist economies is first and foremost the accumulation of capital. Not only is the welfare of ordinary people not a priority; but the system actually benefits from the perpetuation of social inequalities

•stock market•industry•banking/finance•retail business•agriculture•the government

•unemployment percentage: people actively looking for a job•during recession, there were 6 people who wanted a job per job opening•not all jobs are equal-upper wage positions tended to have more replacement-middle wage positions were replaced with people of lower positions and they were just paid less

•after the recession, students have more of a need to rely on parental support

•The recession and America's youth (part I)-looking at how youth was affected•men and family in a jobless age (part II)-consequences for the family•the social fabric-consequences for broader social structure•seeing intersections with other institutions•this economic domain is comprised of institutions and a change in this domain affects other institutions and domains

•paradox: these reforms are actually in place, but many people just don't take advantage of them•"why do people not resist the speedup more than they do? When offered these reforms, why don't they take more advantage of them?"

•people can't afford the pay cut that comes with taking time off•afraid of being marked for layoffs-don't want to seem weak or disloyal•they might not know about the policies•maybe managers are hiding these policies or making them unattainable•workplace expectations make it difficult to take time off

•speedup at work means that there needs to be an equal speedup at home-more of a rationalization of our time use at home

•this is only a problem because you have couples where both parents work, so moms should go home

•how do you make the workplace more accommodating to respond to the new change in work environment but allowing home life to continue normally

•study conducted on a Fortune 500 company•doing observations and interviews with faculty•when you ask people about family life, work life, etc.

-people state that most important thing to them is family•in the economic domain there are increased expectations for getting more done. Being more available, more commitment, etc.-a speedup in many workplaces is placing more demand on workers and specifically women

•work is more like family, family more like work•there has been a shift in the emotional culture of work and social life•women are expected to keep working at home

•families are more precarious•workplace provide positive reinforcement•consumerism reinforces both

•formed when social structures became complex enough that some people in that community no longer had direct access to that land-division in labor between those who are working the land and those who aren't-who needs to live near who, where do they need to be•density of people leads to density of activities, leads to a rich institutional environment•spatial and geographical differences in cities•create public spaces. there is a spatial element and a public character

•the people in cities play many roles in multiple institutions•economic institutions•religion•cultural institutions•civil society institutions•government

•of urban sociology•first urban school of thinking in the US•the reason for the early focus on Chicago was because UChicago was one of the first sociology programs in the country•Chicago was also expanding tremendously at the time•until the mid 19th century, Chicago was a small town-by 1910 the population had grown to 2 million

•known for being an ecological approach to cities-thinking of an ecological system as the metaphor-treating the city as a natural ecology where various social groups live closely and how they relate together•chicago school display-identifying zones in the city and where people live based on their identity-mapping the ecology of the city•created the idea that cities start at a core and then expand out to the periphery (shapes ecology of the city)•mapping the ecological terrain of the cities

Edge cities•new urban centers in the periphery of cities•don't just have residential, also have office space, commercial space, retail, etc.Suburb•an area that is largely residential from which people commute to jobs in the city

•has represented new interest in the central city•emphasizes the central core•dominated by a dense, walkable urban core•the urban core is by far the densest of all the areas•encouraging the core to be for all social classes•concern for urban renewal programs•disdain for the periphery

•when a neighborhood goes from being poorer to when richer people move in and eventually push the poor out because of raise in property values

•there are multiple centers of economic activity dispersed around the center. there are multiple centers•hyper spread out•fastest growth is in periphery•periphery is more dense•see this as the model for where cities are going

•potential essay question?•how parks and plazas are used•how to draw people to them•White found that the main culprit was the actions taken to keep away the undesirables-wall off the area to make it uninviting•people like/need places to sit•the streets are the river of life

•start from the street level•contrast of thinking about city blocks vs. the street-block thinking vs.

street thinking•says city planners often fixate on the block as the primary unit of urban planning-collecting data on the block and is collected to characterize the block•streets are dividers•every day people experience the street as the primary unit•the streets are where the coherence of the city is•thinking about the level of how cities are experienced on the ground