INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 3E

Chapter 4 SOCIETY AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

4.1 Types of Societies

4.2 Theoretical Perspectives on Society
4.3 Social Constructions of Reality
4.1 TYPES OF SOCIETIES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe the difference between preindustrial, industrial, and
postindustrial societies
• Explain the role of environment on preindustrial societies
• Interpret the ways that technology impacts societal development
SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY

Sociologist Gerhard Lenski Jr. (1924–2015) defined societies in

terms of their technological sophistication.
As a society advances, so does its use of technology (vice versa/vis-
a-vis).
So important that sociologists generally classify societies along a
spectrum of their level of industrialization—from preindustrial to
industrial and to postindustrial societies.
PREINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES

Hunter-gatherer are societies that depend on hunting wild animals and

gathering uncultivated plants for survival (about 10,000–12,000 years
ago/indigenous Australians/“aborigines,” or the Bambuti, in the
Democratic Republic of Congo)!
Pastoral societies are societies based around the domestication of
animals (7,500 years ago/Maasai villagers in northern and southern
Kenya and northern Tanzania).
Horticultural societies are societies based around the cultivation of
plants (Parallel with pastoral times).
Agricultural societies are societies that rely on farming (systematic
farming) as a way of life (around 3000 B.C.E). Dawn of civilization starts
here, where music, poetry, and philosophy had started.
Feudal societies are societies that operate on a strict hierarchical
system of power based around land ownership and protection (9 th
century).
INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES
Marked by rapid inventions and related methods.
Emerged during and after the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s and
1800s.
Included major changes in areas such as:
• Power of production (where in 1782, James Watt and Matthew
Boulton created the steam engine/12 horses in power)!
• Manufacturing reduced production time and volume
• Rise of urban centers (change in population distribution)
• Change in wealth distribution
• Emergence of sociology/the art of societies and cultures
• Families such as the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts became the
new power players
• Formation of labor unions and laws that set mandatory conditions for
employees took place.
POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES

Information Societies (known as postindustrial or digital societies) are

based on the production of information tech and related services.
Big data becomes the true black gold and neo-oil!
The era of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg, Mask Elon Musk,
Jeffrey Preston Bezos (Americans), Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Adani,
Azim Premji, M.A. Yusuf Ali (Indians), Zhong Shanshan and Jack Ma
(Chinese).
4.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIETY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe Durkheim’s functionalist view of society
• Summarize the conflict theorist view of society
• Explain Marx’s concepts of class and alienation
• Identify how Max Weber and symbolic interactionists understand
society.
 EMILE DURKHEIM AND FUNCTIONALISM

Collective Conscience are the common beliefs, morals, and attitudes of a

society
Social Integration is the strength of ties that people have to their social
groups (a key factor in social life)
Social facts and social forces are to be considered as real and existed
powers outside the individual
Mechanical Solidarity is a type of social order maintained by the collective
conscience of a culture
Organic Solidarity is a type of social order based around an acceptance of
economic and social differences
Anomie is a situation in which society no longer has the support of a firm
collective consciousness (a societal lawless state of being)!
 KARL MARX AND CONFLICT THEORY

The idea of base and superstructure society’s constructions are economy

and all that is based on economy
Bourgeoisie vs. proletariat the owners of the means of production in
society vs. the laborers in a society
Capitalism a way of organizing an economy that all things that are used to
make and transport products are owned by individual people and their
companies not governments
Alienation refers to the condition in which the individuals are isolated and
divorced from their society, work and the sense of the self (alienation from
the product of one’s labor; alienation from the process of one’s labor;
alienation from others; and alienation from one’s self)
False consciousness is a condition in which the beliefs, ideals, or ideology
of a person are not in the person’s own best interest or convenience!
Class consciousness is the awareness of one’s rank in social class or
society
 MAX WEBER AND SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

The industrialization trend and its negative effects on individuals

Class, status, and power are the base of societies (main structures)
Rationalization is the belief that modern society should be built around
logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition
Capitalism is absolute rational (if well maintained)!
Iron cage is a situation in which an individual is trapped by social
institutions and sick bureaucracies (and all are the results of culmination of
industrialization, rationalization).
4.3 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF REALITY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Interpret the sociological concept of reality as a social construct
• Define roles and describe their places in people’s daily interactions
• Explain how individuals present themselves and perceive
themselves in a social context
 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF REALITY

Habitualization is the idea that society is constructed by us

and those before us, and it is followed like a habit (Berger and
Luckmann 1966)
Institutionalization is the act of implanting a convention or
norm into society (Berger and Luckmann 1966)
Thomas theorem is how a subjective reality can drive events
to develop in accordance with that reality, despite being
originally unsupported by objective reality (“If men define
situations as real, they are real in their consequences”/Thomas
and Thomas, 1928)
Self-fulfilling prophecy is an idea that becomes true when
acted upon (Robert K. Merton, 1996).
 ROLES AND STATUS (ROBERT MERTON 1957)

Roles are patterns of behavior that we recognize in each other that are
representative of a person’s social status
Status describes the responsibilities and benefits that a person
experiences according to their rank and role in society
Ascribed status is the status outside of an individual’s control, such as sex
or race
Achieved status is the status a person chooses (within an individual’s
control), such as a level of education or income
Role-set is an array of roles attached to a particular status/person
Role strain is stress that occurs when too much is required of a single role
Role conflict is a situation in which one or more of an individual’s roles
clash
PRESENTATION OF SELF

Role Performance is how a person expresses his/her role in a social

group/social life/and society. Also called “impression management”
(Erving and Goffman, 1959).
Looking-glass self: According to Cooley, we base our image on what
we think other people see in us (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we
must appear to others, then react to this speculation.
KEY TERMS

achieved status: the status a person chooses, such as a level of

education or income
agricultural societies: societies that rely on farming as a way of life
alienation: an individual’s isolation from his society, his work, and his
sense of self
anomie: a situation in which society no longer has the support of a
firm collective consciousness
ascribed status: the status outside of an individual’s control, such as
sex or race
bourgeoisie: the owners of the means of production in a society
capitalism: a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are
used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories,
ships, etc.) are owned by individual people and companies rather
than by the government
CONTINUED…

class consciousness: the awareness of one’s rank in society

collective conscience: the communal beliefs, morals, and attitudes of
a society
false consciousness: a person’s beliefs and ideology that are in
conflict with his/her best interests
feudal societies: societies that operate on a strict hierarchical system
of power based around land ownership and protection
habitualization: the idea that society is constructed by us and those
before us, and it is followed like a habit
horticultural societies: societies based around the cultivation of plants
hunter-gatherer societies: societies that depend on hunting wild
animals and gathering uncultivated plants for survival
industrial societies: societies characterized by a reliance on
mechanized labor to create material goods
CONTINUED…

information societies: societies based on the production of

nonmaterial goods and services
institutionalization: the act of implanting a convention or norm into
society
iron cage: a situation in which an individual is trapped by social
institutions
looking-glass self: our reflection of how we think we appear to others
mechanical solidarity: a type of social order maintained by the
collective consciousness of a culture
organic solidarity: a type of social order based around an acceptance
of economic and social differences
pastoral societies: societies based around the domestication of
animals
CONTINUED…

proletariat: the laborers in a society

rationalization: a belief that modern society should be built around
logic and efficiency rather than morality or tradition
role conflict: a situation when one or more of an individual’s roles
clash
role performance: the expression of a role
role strain: a stress that occurs when too much is required of a single
role
role-set: an array of roles attached to a particular status
roles: patterns of behavior that are representative of a person’s social
status
self-fulfilling prophecy: an idea that becomes true when acted upon
CONTINUED…

social integration: how strongly a person is connected to his or her

social group
society: a group of people who live in a definable community and
share the same culture
status: the responsibilities and benefits that a person experiences
according to his or her rank and role in society
Thomas theorem: how a subjective reality can drive events to develop
in accordance with that reality, despite being originally unsupported
by objective reality!