social divisions and change lecture 1

7/27/2019 Social Divisions and Change Lecture 1

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This week Introduction to module

Thinking sociologically

Sociological approaches to understanding

how society operates

What are social divisions?

How do things change..or not?

Next week...


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Module aims and learning outcomesModule aims

In this module we will explore what social divisions existin British society and how they intersect. We will begin to

critically evaluate the impact of these divisions on thelives of individuals and groups.

Learning outcomes

describe the main social divisions in modern British

society;- understand the relevance of social divisions forindividual and social groups in British society;- utilise secondary data to support analysis of socialdivisions in modern British society.


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Organisation2hr class every week for Semester

One lecture, break, group work

Attendance

Preparation

BehaviourAssessment


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Attendance Compulsory Register late attendance will be counted as non-

attendance

If you are unable to attend any of your classes lecture,

seminar or tutorial - through good cause, such as illness,

you should email me and Laurinda (administrator)

Absences from any teaching sessions may be reported to

Boards of Examiners meetings so that this can be taken

into account when deciding progression and the award of

degrees. Continued absences, without good cause, can

result in you failing modules.


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Preparation PowerPoint for each class will be available on

Blackboard on Monday mornings. Print off before

class.

Read the literature assigned under essential

reading + some further reading.

Sometimes additional tasks may be set

At the end of each lecture I will go through what youneed to do for next week


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Sociology Studying human society, the structures of social

relations, the relationships between individualsand collectives.

Society = the cluster of institutionalised modes ofconduct. Models of belief or behaviour that occurand reoccur across long spans of time andspace.

The sociological imagination works betweenthe personal troubles of milieu and the publicissues of social structure (C. Wright Mills 1959)


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Thinking sociologicallyReflecting critically on the norms, values and

opinions we hold about the social world

Making a problem out of what we often referto as common sense

Making the familiar unfamiliar

videos Public Sociology
http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/public/category/video/


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Social difference and

divisionsHow does society operate?


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Structural-FunctionalismSociety as essentially

cohesive and

integrated.

People interact and

negotiate with each

other within institutionalframeworks towards the

common good (Braham

& Janes 2002)


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Marxism

Society has been

constructed in away that is

essentially

conflictual because

it is divided by(primarily) social

class


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Post-modernismThe end of certainty

Questioning traditionalmetanarratives

Individualisation

Choice

Risk


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Social DivisionsMiddle range theorySubstantial differences that run

throughout society dividing peopleinto two or more categories.

Includes class but not just about

class as there are multiple kinds ofdivisions.

Power, hierarchy and inequality


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What are social divisions? Society wide distinctions between two or more

groups of people.

One category has advantageous position andmore resources than others as people in thatcategory have greater power over the way oursociety is organised.

unequal opportunities of access to desirableresources leading to different life-chances andlifestyles.


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What are social divisions? Engender shared identities in terms of perceiveddifference from those in an alternative category of thesame social division.

Long-lasting and sustained by dominant culturalbeliefs, the organisation of social institutions and thesituational interaction of individuals.

Socially constructed, not purely biological or natural

Multiple and intersecting divisions

(Payne 2006: 348)


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Other related terms Social difference not necessarily about

different power status and access to

resources. Social inequalities the difference in

peoples share of resources

Stratification structured, systematicsocial inequalities. Subset of socialdivisions usually used to talk about class,status and power.


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Structure and agency Structure Society is the patterns of social

relationships that emerge and develop between its

members. Social structure is the concept used in

sociology to describe the organization of these

patterns and the forms they take.

Agency society is a collection of individuals who

are not passive, but rather actively think and interact

with other individuals to create society.

To what extent do we make structures or do

structures make us?


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Identity Who am I?

How do I see myself? But alsohow do others seeme?

Link between the personal and the social

What makes us the same or different from otherpeople?

Identity is different from personality as there is anactive engagement on our part. We choose toidentifywith a particular identity or group.

(See Woodward, K. (Ed.) (2000) Questioning Identity)


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QUESTIONS


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Falling apart or holding together?

If social divisions act to keep groups

and individuals from one social

category separate from those of other

categories, how does society persist

without high levels of overt conflict?Does it??


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If social divisions are asfirmly entrenched as

suggested, and if individualsare socialised into acceptingthe status quo, how doeschange occur?


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OverviewSustained society wide divisions betweentwo or more categories of people.

Socially constructed

Unequal access to resources

Multiple and intersecting

Payne, G. (Ed.) (2006) Social Divisions,

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan


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Next week Topic: Class and stratification

Read: Payne, G. (Ed.) (2006) Social Divisions,

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (Ch. 2) For intro to social divisions see Ch. 1 of the

same book

Have a look at: The Great British Class Survey

https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/class/

Also, if you like, have a look at:

podcasts/video/READING on Blackboard

social divisions and change lecture 1

Documents