Introductory Sociology

Introductory Sociology Third Edition

Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth and Andrew Webster

~ MACMILLAN

© Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, Ken Sheard, Michelle Stanworth, Andrew Webster 1981, 1987

© Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, Andrew Webster 1996

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

First edition 1981 Reprinted 1982 (twice, with corrections), 1983 (twice), 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 Second edition 1987 Reprinted 1988 (twice), 1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995 Third Edition 1996

Published by MACMllLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

ISBN 978-0-333-66511-4 ISBN 978-1-349-24712-7 (eBook) DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-24712-7

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10987654321 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96

Typeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wilts

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PART1

Contents Preface to the Third Edition Acknowledgements

Introduction: Studying Modern Society 1 Introduction

Introduction Human History, Human Societies and Human Beings Society and the Subject: The Biographical Constitution

of Identity Non-social influences on human life Social influences on human life Gender roles and ethnic group membership Normative sources of constraint Habituation, pragmatic acceptance and practical constraints

The Subject and Society: The Autobiographical Construction of Identity

Conscious actors, creativity and agency Identity, the self and interaction

Marrying Constraint and Creativity: The Duality of Structure and Agency Social life as enabling and constraining

The Challenge for Sociology: Modernity and Globalisation, Postmodernity and Identity

Summary of the Chapter References

2 Living in Modernity Introduction Becoming Modern: Transformations of Time and Space

Living as a slave Living by the clock Living in the city

Global Processes, Local Experiences Living with Industrial Capitalism

Living as a worker

Living as a consumer Living with Rationality

A new faith? Living with science and technology Living and Dying with the State Living in Public and Private

Living in public

Being private

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xviii

3 4 5

7 7 8 9

10 11

13 13 14

15 17

18 23 23

25 26 26 27 28 28 29 33 33 35 37 39 41 44 44 46 v

1

ICONTENTS

Living in Postmodernity? 48 Summary of the Chapter 49 References 49

3 Globalisation and Modernity 52

Introduction 53 Modernity and Globalisation 56

The separation of time and space 56 The disembedding of social systems 57 The reflexive ordering of social relations 58

Modernisation Theory and the Misreading of Global Modernity 60

The Globalisation of Production: Transnational Corporations 62 Implications 64

The Globalisation of Culture 65 Cultural imperialism 65

Globalisation and Political Change 70

A new world order? 72 Possible Futures 75 Summary of the Chapter 76 References 76

4 Varieties of Social Theories: A Brief Introduction 78 Introduction 79 Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Sociological

Theorising 80 Emile Durkheim 80

Durkheim and functionalism 82

Durkheim and positivism 83 Karl Marx 84

Contradictions within capitalism 86

Max Weber 88 Twentieth-Century Sociological Thinking 90

Talcott Parsons and American Functionalism 90 Symbolic Interaction ism 92 Ethnomethodology 93 Language and social life: post-structuralism 95

Summary of the Chapter 97 References 98

vi

CONTENTSI

5 Principles of Sociological Research 99 Introduction 100 Sociological Questions 100 Theoretical Approaches and Research Methodologies 107

The survey 111 Observation 119 Observation and reliability 122 The case study 125

Feminist Methodology and the Critique of 'Malestream' Research 126

Postmodernity and Research Methodology 129 Summary of the Chapter 131 References 131

Social Division and Power 6 Understanding Social Stratification: Social Class

135

137 Introduction 138 Social Class 140 Traditional Theories of Class: Marxist and Weberian Approaches 142

Marx's theory of property relations 142 Weber's theory of market relations 144

Contemporary Neo-Marxian/Neo-Weberian Debate 146 How to Understand Class Stratification 150 Wealth 152 The Distribution of Life Chances via Occupation 155 The Poor and the 'Underclass' 159 Challenging the Significance of Social Class 161 Conclusion· 166 Summary of the Chapter 167 References 167

7 The New Dynamics of Class 169 Introduction 170 Social Closure and Social Reproduction 171 The Middle Class 173

Reproduction of the middle class 174 The Working Class 177

Reproduction of the working class 179 Changes in the Labour Market 179

The restructuring of the economy 182 The polarisation of the labour market 184 vii

PART2

ICONTENTS

The globalisation of production 186 Class reproduction7 187

Implications for Social Mobility 188 Changes in mobility patterns 190 Youth entry to the labour market 192

The New Dynamics of Class and Class Identity 194 Summary of the Chapter 195 References 196

8 Gender Relations 198 Introduction 199 Men, Women and Gender Difference 200

Gender and the body 202 Gender identity 205 Limitations of theories of gender identity 209

Divisions of Labour 210 Feminisation of the labour force 212 Consequences of gender segregated employment 216

Childbirth and Childcare 218 Popular Culture and the Mass Media 220 Sexuality 223 Summary of the Chapter 229 References 230

9 Race and Ethnicity: Inequalities and Identities 234 Introduction 235 Inequalities of Race: The British Example 239

Post-war migration: global and local contexts 239 Patterns of inequality 241 Signs of change 243

Explaining Inequalities: Practices and Structures of Exclusion 246 The impact of racism 247

'Race', Culture and Identity 250 The changing character of racialised discourse 251 'Race' and national identity 254 Cultural change and ethnic absolutism 255

Postscript: Dynamics of Inequality and Identity: Race, Class and Gender 259

Theorising inequalities of race and class 260 Race and gender divisions 262 Complex identities: racism, gender and sexuality 264

viii Rethinking race, class and gender 266

CONTENTSI

Summary of the Chapter References

10 Power, Politics and the State Introduction

Rethinking the relationship between state and society The Modern State

The making of the modern state Democracy and the representation of interests

Power in Society: Society-Centred Approaches Pluralist accounts of the distribution of power Neo-pluralism: criticisms and the pluralist response Marxist models of the distribution of power Instrumentalist Marxist models Structuralist Marxist approaches Gramscian Marxist approaches

State and Society: Analysing Political Change Possibilities for radicalism Dimensions of political change (i): interests and policy Dimensions of political change (ii): social and political

effects of policy Dimensions of political change (iii): implementing policy

Analysing Political Change: Thatcherism in Britain Thatcherism in Britain (i): interests and policy Thatcherism in Britain (ii): social and political effects of

policy Thatcherism in Britain (iii): implementing policy

Beyond Class Politics Class identity and political action Class divisions, social divisions and political identity and

interests Electoral politics: beyond class alignment? Sectoral cleavages: from class politics to consumption

politics? New social cleavages, new social movements

Globalisation, Power and Democracy Simultaneous integration and fragmentation Towards a new cosmopolitan democracy?

Conclusion: New Directions in Political Sociology From power structures to power/knowledge? Understanding a changing political world

Summary of the Chapter References

266 267

271 273 274 275 277 279 282 283 285 287 287 290 291 294 294 295

296 297 298 299

300 302 303 303

305 306

310 312 317 318 320 321 321 322 324 325 -

ICONTENTS

PART3 Dimensions of Contemporary Social Life 327

11 Education 329 Introduction 330 Educational Policy and Educational Reform 331 The Social Context of Education 334

A structural-functionalist account 334 A conflict account: correspondence theory 336 A brief comparison of functionalist and correspondence

theory 339 Education, work and the labour market 339 Education and social inequality 343 The social nature of the curriculum 347

Social Difference and Educational Attainment: Extra-School Explanations 349

Naturalistic explanations: who's a clever boy, then? 350 Cultural deprivation: that's the way they like it, uh huh? 352

Social Difference and Educational Attaining: Intra-School Explanations 356

The impact of the curriculum 356 The impact of school organisation 358 Labelling theory and classroom processes 360

Active and Passive Pupils: Pupil Identity and the Curriculum 365 Conclusion 368 Summary of the Chapter 369 References 370

12 Work and Non-Work 374 Introduction 375 The Place of 'Work' in Contemporary Society 376 The Emergence of the Modern Concept of Work 377

The labour process 381 The meaning of work and work satisfaction 384

Workers' Orientations to Work 387 Gender, Ethnicity, Age and Work 389

Gender 389 Ethnicity 391 Age 392

Industrial Conflict 394 The Future of Work? 395

Leisure 396 Popular Culture, TV and Leisure 401

x Conclusion 405

CONTENTSI

Summary of the Chapter References

13 Health, Illness and Medicine Introduction: The Social Basis of Health, Illness and Medicine Theoretical Approaches

Parsonsian functionalism and the 'sick role' Symbolic interactionism and the social construction of illness Marxist theory Feminist accounts Foucauldian analysis Combining perspectives? Turner's contribution

The Medical Profession and the Power of Orthodox Medicine Health Inequalities The NHS in the Health Care System Today Globalisation of Health, Illness and Medicine Conclusion Summary of the Chapter References

14 Understanding Crime Introduction Modernist Criminology Delinquent Subculture Theories Labelling Theory Marxist Criminology Left Realism Right Realism Feminist Criminology Modernist Criminology and the Postmodernist Critique Conclusion Summary of the Chapter References

15 Theorising Modern Family Life Introduction Talcott Parsons Michel Foucault: Discourses and Social Life Pre-Modern Family Life and Religious Discourses Modern Family Life and Medical Discourses

Reproductive technologies and the medicalisation of motherhood

Family therapy and the medicalisation of marriage

405 406

409 410 413 414 416 418 421 423 425 426 435 438 442 443 444 444

447 448 450 451 455 460 463 467 470 474 476 477 478

479 481 486 488 490 492

493 495 -

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I CONTENTS

The State and Family Life: The Politics of Family Policy 496 1945-1979 welfarism 497 1979-1990 anti-welfarism: the New Right 497 Pro-natalism 499 Care in the community 500

Problematising the Nuclear Family: Sociological Responses to Welfarism 501

Social Conservatism: Pro-Welfarism in Sociology 502 The domestic division of labour 504 Mothering 505 Marriage and divorce 506 Working mothers 507 Care in the community 507

The Individual Liberationist Critique of Social Conservatism 508 Individualliberationist anti-welfarism (1): Marxism and

the nuclear family 510 Individual liberationist anti-welfarism (2): radical

feminism and the nuclear family 512 Individual liberationist anti-welfarism (3): sexual

liberation ism 513 The New Right Critique of Individual Liberationism 515 Difference and Diversity in Modern Family Life 517

Life-cycle or life-course? 518 Theorising difference in family life 519 Human agency and the family 520 Postmodern theorising and the family 522

Summary of the Chapter 524 References 524

16 Knowledge, Belief and Religion 527 Introduction 529 Great Divide Thinking 530 What is Science? 532 Weber and the Rise of Nationalism 535 Science, Rationalism and Disenchantment 537 Perspectives on Scientific and Non-Scientific Knowledge 539

Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology 539 Functionalism 539 Rationalism 540 Relativism

The Consequences of Modernity: Rationalist Perspectives on Knowledge and Belief

Nineteenth-Century Evolutionist Anthropology

541

542 543

CONTENTSI

Theories of Secularisation in Modern Societies 546 Ernest Gellner 546 Bryan Wilson 549 Michel Foucault 550 Bryan Turner 552

Anti-Secularisation Perspectives 554 The co-existence of science and non-science in

pre-modernity 554 Religion Is What Religion Does: (1) Knowledge and the

Search for Meaning 556 Symbolic anthropology 557 Phenomenology 558

Religion Is What Religion Does: (2) Religion. Integration and Solidarity - the Functionalist Perspective 559

Scientists Are Human Too: Demystifying Scientific Rationality and Objectivity 562

Wishful Thinking: Non-Rational Thinking in Science and Magic 563 Science as a Social Product 565 Relativism 568 Responses to Relativism 570

Objections to cognitive relativism 570 Objections to moral relativism 571

Summary of the Chapter 572 References 573

Theorising Contemporary Society 17 Sociologists, Modernity and Progress

Introduction The Promise of Modernity

The promise of modernity: knowledge and belief The promise of modernity: social institutions The promise of modernity: self and identity

Positivism and Progress Emile Durkheim

Durkheim's project: social progress through sociological

575

577 578 580 580 582 584 585 586

reason 587 Modernity as a more sophisticated social order 587 Scientific remedies for social problems 589

~rl~~ m Roots of Marx's ideas 593 Modernity as the emancipation of human potential 593

PART4

xiii

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ICONTENTS

Alienation: the denial of human creative potential 594 Economic exploitation and class conflict 596

Max Weber 600 Rationalisation and modernity 601

From Modernity to a New Era of Postmodernity? 607 Towards a postmodern society? 607 Postmodernism and contemporary culture 608 Postmodernity: a new phase of capitalism? 611

Conclusion: Sociologists and Progress 614 Summary of the Chapter 616 References 617

18 Making Social Life: Theories of Action and Meaning 618 Introduction 619 Actors and Their Meanings: Varieties of Action Theory 620

Action and meaning as a social product 621 Symbolic interactionism 623 Weber's theory of social action 627 Phenomenological sociology 628 Ethnomethodology 629 Summary: creative social action 631

Language, Discourse and Social Life 632 Language and social life: structuralism and

post-structuralism 632 Language and social life: ordinary language, rules and

discourse 634 Rediscovering the self 638

Summary of the Chapter 640 References 641

19 Making Our Futures: Sociological Knowledge and Social Change 642 Introduction 643 Is Sociology Any Use? A Practical Example 645 Against Postmodernist Doubts 648 Reflexive Sociology: Renewing the Sociological Project 649 Limits and Possibilities 650 Summary of the Chapter 652 References 652

Glossary

Index

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-, '.:-...... ' _. _ _~:::'.a.. Preface to the Third Edition

Many authors describe new editions of their books as 'revised and updated'. Though sometimes such revisions are quite substantial

and the book is relatively new, equally often they represent only small improvements. This third edition of Introductory Sociology, however, is not just revised. While a few echoes of our past attempts remain, it is for the most part, entirely new. Sociology has changed a great deal over the past decade or so, and in our professional lives as lecturers and researchers we have tried to keep up to date. Because of our knowledge of the extent of these changes we felt that tinkering, however substan­tially, with the existing edition of the book would be more difficult than starting again. So we have revised our focus, in order to concen­trate on the debates which, over recent years, have redefined the disci­pline. This has required not only starting the book afresh but also restructuring the way we introduce the reader to the principal areas of inquiry.

Three elements of contemporary sociology, in our view, should under­pin an up-to-date introduction to the subject. These are:

• debates about the nature of modernity and its future; • debates about the impact of the globalisation of social relations and

institutions on modern human lives: • debates about the relationship between these features and personal

identity.

Indeed, these issues preoccupy not only sociologists: they are concerns common to a number of other academic disciplines, such as philosophy, history and politics, as the twenty-first century approaches.

Because the outcomes of such debates are by their very nature uncer­tain, we know we have set ourselves a daunting task. Some of what we have to say is both difficult to express and, inevitably, to understand, but we believe it is a project worth undertaking. These sorts of issues consume the efforts of most of the leading figures in contemporary sociology, yet because they tend to write principally for those also at the cutting edge of the discipline much of what they have to say is diffi­cult for the uninitiated to engage with. Quite understandably, this has resulted in many introductory texts shying away from confronting such problematic areas. Nevertheless, we think it is time to address these issues in a readable and accessible way, and this is what we have tried to achieve. In short, we think this book is about sociology today, and we hope it is a book you will find both understandable and stimulating xv

xvi

I PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Structure of the Text The book consists of four separate sections. Part 1 introduces the I reader to the essential principles of the sociological approach. From

everyday experience to wider social structures and processes, sociology provides new insights into the dynamics of social life. These dynamics are today shaped by modernity and globalisation, both of which influ­ence our lives and sense of personal identity. Chapters on each of these establish them as key issues in contemporary society which we return to throughout the text in the more substantive chapters of Parts 2 and 3. The remaining chapters in this section introduce the concepts, theories and methods used in sociology, thus providing the reader with a vocab­ulary with which to use the rest of the book.

Part 2 examines the structures of inequality associated with class, race, gender and politics, and while each of these is dealt with as a discrete topic in a separate chapter links between them are made throughout this section of the book.

Part 3 explores other dimensions of social existence - such as educa­tion, work, crime, knowledge and belief, family and health, illness and medicine - that are of central importance in contemporary society.

Part 4 provides a full explanation and discussion of sociological theory and attempts to show the direction it is taking today.

Glossary

For the first time we have included a glossary of terms and concepts. The glossed items are highlighted in bold type in the text and

defined, where space allows, in the margin; the complete list of defini­tions can be found at the end of the book.

Acknowledgements

W e would like to thank a number of people who have helped us during the writing of this book. Our long-suffering publisher at

Macmillan, Frances Arnold, has been supportive and encouraging throughout, deftly employing both stick and carrot to ensure that noses and grindstones were kept in reasonable proximity. Others whose efforts were indispensable in enabling the book to be produced on the right

I PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

side of the millennium were Oonagh Jones, who dealt with the daunt­ing task of compiling the glossary with exceptional diligence, ability and good humour; Susan Clarke, who was exemplary in producing a large part of the typescript more quickly than we had any right to expect; and Keith Povey, whose calm professionalism meant that the post­writing production process was managed with the minimum of fuss. The help of a number of fellow sociologists in reading early drafts of the manuscript was also much appreciated, and the comments of Bob Burgess, Steve Fenton, Tony Giddens, Peter Langley, Tony Lawson, Chris Middleton, Rob Moore, John Scott, Frank Vanday and Alan Warde were particularly helpful. Our thanks, too, must go to our colleagues in the Division of Sociology and Politics at Anglia for their forbearance in coping with the moods and vicissitudes associated with protracted authorship: Sally Bienias and Gina Marshall suffered the brunt of these, with Tom Ling, Janet McKenzie and Jennifer Rubin not far behind. Finally, to our students, who put up with our ideas being tried out on them (usually without complaint), our gratitude.

Anglia Polytechnic University Cambridge

Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett Pip Jones, David Skinner

Michelle Stanworth, Andrew Webster

Further Information

The publisher, Macmillan, offers readers support services for queries, reviews, inspection copies and information requests via the Internet at the World Wide Web Site: http://www.macmillan-press.co.uk. Further details about the text and the authors can be obtained via the authors' home page on the Internet at http://www.anglia.ac.uk/hae/soc-pol/.

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xviii

Acknowledgements

The authors and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to use copyright material:

BSA Publications Ltd, for extracts from J. Finch and 1. Hayes, 'Inheri­tance, Death and the Concept of Home', Sociology, 28, 2, (1994); and D. Layder et al., 'The Empirical Correlates of Action and Structure: The Transition from School to Work', Sociology, 25,3 (1991).

Cambridge University Press, for an extract from Ernest Gellner, Legiti­mation of Belief (1974) pp. 191-207.

The Guardian, for extracts from 'Rats of the Rubbish Society Fight Back', The Guardian (9 September 1995); Will Hutton, 'The Polarisation of Work', The Guardian (28 October 1994); Amitai Etzioni, 'The Parental Deficit', The Guardian. Copyright © The Guardian.

HarperCollins Publishers, for extracts from Pip Jones, Studying Society: Sociological Theories and Research Practices (1993).

The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, for Crown Copyright material.

Newspaper Publishing PLC, for extracts from Polly Toynbee, 'Happy Families: a game of charades?', The Independent (22 February 1995); and 'Hard times in Moscow', Independent on Sunday (29 November 1993).

The Observer, for an extract from Melanie Phillips, 'The Social Conserva­tive Critique of Individual Liberationism', The Observer (26 February 1995) Copyright © The Observer.

Routledge for extracts from M. Hamilton, The Sociology of Religion: Theor­etical and Comparative Perspectives (1995), pp. 24-6; A. D. King, Global Cities (1991), pp. 142-5; and T. A. Dijk, Racism and the Press (1993), p.54.

Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity.