sociological Perspectives.pptx

This slide is prepared on Sociological Perspectives that is going to be beneficial to the students of sociology in UG and PG and aspirants for competitive exams.

1. Jjjjj EVOLUTIONARY , CONFLICT, FUNCTIONALIST, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM Dr Anil Bhatt, Assistant Professor Dept of Sociology

2. Meaning of sociological perspective Peter Berger (American Sociologist)1929-2017 Books- 1- The Social Construction of Reality (1966) 2-Invitation to Sociology: Humanistic Perspective (1963)  He is known for his  work in the sociology of knowledge “Perspective is an Attitude or Point of View” The sociological perspective is one that observes society through a lens without personal opinions The perspective of sociology involves seeing through the outside appearances of people’s actions and organisations Sociological perspective is the ability to view the world from two distinct perspectives—seeing the general in the particular and seeing the strange in the familiar . There are three major perspectives that have gained popularity .

3. THE FIRST WISDOM OF SOCIOLOGY IS THIS- “ THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.” (Peter Berger) Sociological perspective enables us to see society as a temporary social product, created by human beings and capable of being changed by them as well. The sociological perspective invites us to look at our familiar surroundings in a fresh way. It encourages us to take a new look at the world we have always taken for granted, to examine our social environment with the same curiosity that we might bring to an exotic foreign culture. Without the sociological perspective (which has been called the "sociological imagination"), people see the world through their limited experience of a small orbit of family, friends, co-workers. The sociological imagination allows us to stand apart mentally from our limited experience and see the link between private concerns and social issues. It permits us to trace the connection between the patterns and events of our own and the patterns and events of our society .

4. MAJOR SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

5. Evolutionary Perspective Supported by- August Comte, Herbert Spencer Study of Origin, Gradual Change, Growth and Development. Unilinear ordered and progressive nature of social change. Analogy with the evolution in Plant and Animal Life Sequential Progression of advancement Succeeding stage is an advanced form of its preceding form. Progress for something better.

6. L.H Morgan believed that there were three basic stages in the process: savagery, barbarism and civilization. Auguste Comte's ideas relating to the three stages in the development of human thought and also of society namely-the theological, the metaphysical and the positive in a way represent the three basic stages of social change. He viewed evolution as a growth of functional specialization of structures and better adaptation of parts. Herbert Spencer a British sociologist carried this analogy to its extremity. He argued that society itself is an organism. He even applied Darwin's principle of the survival of the fittest to human societies. He said that society has been gradually progressing towards a better state. He argued that it has evolved from military society to the industrial society . He claimed that western races, classes or societies had survived and evolved because they were better adapted to face the conditions of life. Emile Durkheim’s view on the progressive division of Labour

7. FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE Herbert Spencer- SOCIETY IS LIKE A LIVING ORGANISM-limbs, heart, legs, blood, veins, in which all inter-related parts have interdependent functions which contributes for its survival. Parts of society are family, religion, state, Each component has a specific function contributing to the efficient social system. Parts of society are structured to maintain the stability of society Change in one part will bring change in another part

8. Talcott Parsons Harvard University Sociologist (1907-1979) – “Under the functionalist approach, if an aspect of social life does not serve some identifiable useful function or promote value-consensus among members of society- it won't be passed from one generation to the other.” Society has a tendency to be in equilibrium. It is organized and well-integrated system Change in one part affects the other part. Social Consensus, Integration and order are key elements of functionalism Parsons argued that any social system is based on four functional prerequisites--- Adaptation, Goal Attainment , Integration, Pattern Maintenance

9. ADAPATAION - refers to the relationship between the system and its environment. In order to survive, social systems must have some degree of control over their environment. e.g. Economy is the institution which provides Food and shelter GOAL ATTAINMENT - refers to the need for all societies to set goals towards which social activity is directed. Procedures for establishing goals and deciding on priorities between goals are institutionalized in the form of political systems. Governments not only set goals but also allocate resources to achieve them INTEGRATION - refers primarily to the ‘adjustment of conflict’. It is concerned with the coordination and mutual adjustment of the parts of the social system. Legal norms define and standardize relations between individuals and between institutions, and so reduce the potential for conflict.  PATTERN MAINTENANCE - refers to the ‘maintenance of the basic pattern of values, institutionalized in the society’. Institutions that perform this function include the family, the educational system and religion. In Parsons view ‘the values of society are rooted in religion. TALCOTT PARSONS concludes that any social system can be analyzed in terms of the functional prerequisites he identified. Thus, all parts of society can be understood with reference to the functions they perform .

10. Conflict Perspective Prominent Supporters- Karl Marx (1818-1883), Ralf Dahrendorf (1929-2009) Individuals and society argue not for consensus but on the basis of conflict Class conflict has always existed since time immemorial. There is unequal distribution of resources or competition for scarce resources Marx believes that change and development is the result of Conflict ( Class struggle, Surplus Value, Alienation, Exploitation, Classless Society ) Marx – Society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources Ralf Dahrendorf assumes that society is loyal when it is subject to processes of change and conflict. the order that can be created in society is nothing but coercion on its members, which is carried out by those who have power. This means that power in this social system plays a role in efforts to maintain order in society .

11. KARL MARX’S CONFLICT THEORY

12. Primary Assumptions of Conflict Perspective

13. SYMBOLIC -INTERACTIONISM The first person to write about the principles underlying Symbolic Interactionism was George Herbert Mead (1934). Mead, an American philosopher, argued that people develop their  self-image  through interactions with other people. Blumer invented the term “Symbolic Interactionism” and created a theory and methodology to test Mead's ideas. Blumer emphasizes how the self can emerge from the interactive process of joining action (Denzin, 2008; Carter and Fuller, 2015). Humans constantly engage in “mindful action” that construct and negotiate the meaning of situations. Charles Horton Cooley (1902 ) used the term  looking-glass self  to convey the idea that a person's knowledge of their self-concept is largely determined by the reaction of others around them. Other people thus act as a ' looking-glass ' (mirror) so that we can judge ourselves by looking 'in' it. Focuses on symbols & languages that help us give meaning to the experiences in Life. Reality is socially constructed by ideas, thoughts, perception and conversations Social world is constructed by the meanings that individuals attach to events & social interactions, and these symbols are transmitted across the generations through language

14. Contributors of Symbolic Interactionism G H Mead - (American Sociologist)- 1863-1961 C H Cooley (American Sociologist) -1864-1929 Herbert Blumer (American Sociologist)-1900-1987

15. According to Herbert Blumer (1969), social interaction thus has four main principles: Individuals act in reference to the subjective meaning objects have for them. For example, an individual that sees the “object” of family as being relatively unimportant will make decisions that deemphasize the role of family in their lives; Interactions happen in a social and cultural context where objects, people, and situations must be defined and characterized according to individuals’ subjective meanings; For individuals, meanings originate from interactions with other individuals and with society; These meanings that an individual has are created and recreated through a process of interpretation that happens whenever that individual interacts with others .

16. Thank You Dr. Anil Bhatt Department of Sociology Dept of Higher Education Uttarakhand