Notes

Sociology--> Chapter Four
Society was a vague idea that could be used as a way of making excuses for disappointing outcomes
George Simmel (1858-1918), founding figures in sociology, --> "Society is merely the name for a number of individuals connected by interaction"

A. What is Social Structure?
a. Social Structure is fundamental to the entire way sociologists understand the human world.
1. The social hierarchies that can be found in any society, in which some groups or individuals are elevated above others.
2. The institutional environments made up of laws, rules, organizations, and the government in which individuals navigate.
b. Social Hierarchy--> provides individuals and groups with different kind of statuses
E.g.: Class, race, ethnicity, religion, education, region and gender
1. Where we stand in key social hierarchies will have a huge bearing on our lives and life chances
2. Hierarchies shape our social lives and relationships in different ways
c. Central tasks of sociology is the study of inequality
1. Inequality is the differences in endowments and valued goods held by individuals or families, such as income, wealth, status, or well-being.
d. Inter-generational Social Mobility is the movement of individuals from the social positions of their parents into their own social positions as adults.
e. Social Hierarchy involves power and demography
1. Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others
2. Privilege is the ability or right to have special access to opportunities or claims on rewards
i. Common mechanism through which privilege is maintained is discrimination--> where a dominant group uses either legal or informal means to control opportunities and reduce or eliminate challenges from subordinate groups.
3. Discrimination has led to social movement protests
i. Social Movement is the collective action aimed at bringing about some kind of change
ii. Stereotypes is faulty generalizations about a subordinate group applied to all members of the group.
4. Demography became important for examining the ways in which the groups within a social hierarchy relate to one another.
5. Critical Mass is a point where everyone becomes aware of them and they are large enough to sustain some kind of important activity.
f. Socialization is the process through which we are taught and trained to behave in society or in particular social settings.