Soc 43 Study Guide for Midterm

Soc 43 Study Guide for Midterm (30%)

33 Multiple Choice

6 Free Response

1 Bonus Question

Review of Main Topics covered in Lecture

The Reasons to Study the City

 We should study the city because to study the city is to study ourselves.

Across North America, more than 4 out of 5 people live in urban places and build their lives around the city.

Lives intertwined with the city: work, entertainment, stages of life--- core to our being

All-encompassing experience → why not study the city?

The Rise of Sociology: the reasons why

early sociologists in the late nineteenth century lived during a period of dramatic urban upheaval and they turned their attention to cities. Sociology was born in Europe  and was a product of the Industrial Revolution which transformed Europe economically, politically, and socially. Sociologists tried to understand how the Industrial Revolution transformed small villages of Europe and North America into huge, seemingly chaotic metropolises.

Karl Marx:

Social Inequality: social inequality tends to be used to refer to inequalities that stem from race, gender, religious identity, sexual orientation, or any other status that could be used to divide people up into groups; different opportunities/rewards for different social classes

class conflict: class conflict are different classes competing with one another. It is more often the collective interest of managers e.g. than it is in individuals being in conflict with one another; people compete with each other to get to the top and they only care about their own interests and needs;the inevitable conflict between these classes that arises as a result of these inequalities

exploitation:exploiting those who do not have power; the Proletariat (working class)

Tonnies:

Gemeinschaft: social life is characterized as intimate, private, and exclusive living together; sharing a common language and/or tradition

Gesellschaft:  focus is shifted from group to individual; people tend to be more concerned with their own self-interest; social institutions of kinship, neighborhood, and friendship begin to decline

Durkheim:

Mechanical Solidarity: refers to social bonds based on likeliness, on common belief, and custom, common ritual and symbol.

Organic Solidarity:describes social order based on individual differences (based not on sameness but interdependencies, specialized tasks/labor)

Anomie: when social norms in society are weak, disconnected, which leads to a lack of “belongingness”

Social Integration: the degree to which people are tied to social groups

Weber:

Tradition & Modernity: In pre-Industrial societies, there was an emphasis on tradition. Tradition was passed down, not questioned, and was the main focus of everyday life. This tradition included the importance of family, religion, social relationships, etc. In the Industrial society, there was a proliferation of more specialized institutions. People began to focus on rationality and how to get things done quickly and efficiently. Specialized institutions are those such as nursing homes for the elderly where family drop the elderly off and leave them in their death bed. There has been a decline in “tradition” and values that people had in the pre-industrial society.

Rational Social Organization: many characteristics:

Large Social institutions

Bureaucracy → Large organizations

Specialization → efficiency/profit important

Personal Discipline

Impersonal → connections with people limited

Technical Competence → skills/accomplishments

Hunting and Gathering Societies:They survived by gathering what was available: fruits, nuts, they didn’t plant them or grow them. Didn’t accumulate wealth had to move from one place to another in search of fresh food supply. Everybody had the same possessions; few differences in wealth, social inequality was not pronounced as they shared what they had. Reciprocity. No distinctive social organizations or religion, no clear distinctions or differences (gemeinschaft).While in permanent settlements, they grew crops to sustain their needs.

Rise of Permanent Settlements: As time passed, the number of hunter-gatherer tribes grew. Soon, they began to deplete the natural resources that had formed the mainstay of their existence for millennia. A possibility was to settle in the most fertile areas and raise their own food. For the first time, people could stay in one place and  could allow members of the group to pursue interests other than growing food. Over time, villages began to multiply and humans created settlements where they raised crops and learned to domesticate animals for use in the fields or as food supply. This led to three divisions of labor: (1)people specializing in other tasks (2)hierarchical power structure (3)development of a productive surplus

Surplus and Consequences: Increase of surplus leads to (1) having more than you can consume (2)occupation specialization: increased specialization of tasks; people don’t have to focus on agriculture bc there is already surplus, this leads to an increase of specialization of occupation- merchants, traders, etc (3) an increase in population which leads to social inequality- unequal opportunities for different social positions/statuses, and social stratification- some will have a greater status, power, and wealth than others. (4)larger/increased populations of people (5) building monumental architecture (6)system of taxation (7)system of recording (8) conquer territory; slavery of people (for architecture)

Childe’s Analysis→ 8 major analysis

        1) Larger/permanent settlements = denser populations

        2) Distinctive social classes of non-agricultural labor (merchants, craftsmen, builders, administrative officials

        3)Monumental Public Architecture

        4) A system of Taxation

        5) A ruling class

        6) System of long distance trade

        7) System of writing

        8) System of recording

Mesopotamia:was organized according to city states; city states are cities that control the surrounding regions, including a number of other towns, villages, and rural lands.

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