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"What is a Social Fact" by Tuner and Beeghley (1981)
Definition of sociology, the sociological perspective, social facts, social theory, social structure, social cohesion, and social context.
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"Getting In," Gladwell (2005)
- - Does social theorizing to explain social puzzles like why people care about which school they go to
- - talks about social logic of admissions
- - Treatment vs selection effect institutions
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Selection from Suicide: A Study in Sociology, Durkheim (1951)
- brought a scientific basis to sociology
- good example of ideal research method
- one of first statistical group study
- argumentation by elimination
- group-level explanation for an individual action
- generalized theory to other institutions
- developed idea of excessive individualism, or egoism
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Klinenberg, Chapter 2 Heat Wave
- Does a lot of creative things, focused on a specific event
- "Social autopsy" of the 1995 Chicago heat wave that killed 739 people
- Sought explanations beyond weather, and beyond the individual
- "Biological reflections of social fault lines" (Farmer quoted in Klinenberg, p. 11)
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Lareau, Methodology Appendix, Unequal Childhoods
- Focuses on a very general topic
- family life and childrearing practices across social strata
- Consequences of these differences
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"Some Principles of Stratification," Davis and Moore (1945)
- Considered functionalist - searching for a function of inequality
- doesn't make an argument of whether it is something we want
- Want to find out why we have it and assume that b/c we've always had it, it does something for society
- Summary: Scarcity of desirable jobs leads to trimming so talented people get those jobs. Some jobs are more important so competition necessary for best people with most training
- Conclusion: inequality is based on ability, it's an unconscious but necessary process
- Doesn't take into account non-monetary rewards
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"Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis," Tumin (1953)
- Inequality is not necessary and not inevitable
- impossible to figure out who's the most talented and skilled b/c we live in an unequal society
- Some people have advantages so some people don't get discovered
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"Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black and White Families," Lareau (2002)
- Concerted Cultivation (middle class) vs Accomplishment of Natural Growth (working class)
- CC - parents develop child's skills through organized activities. Parents use reasoning for punishment, everything is a negotiation. Downside: creates hectic environemtn
- ANG - more indepent children, parents role = keep kids safe and give food, clothing, shelter. Children taught to listen to adults and not challenge authority. Hang w/ kids of different ages more b/c hang w/ family/cousins
- Found no social mobility b/c working class kids didn't go to college, most middle class kids did
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Lemert edited (2013), “The Manifesto of Class Struggle” by Karl Marx
- Origins of sociological study of stratification
- Conflict between social classes propels social change throughout history
- communism as alternative to capitalism
- every mode of production is grounded in a social relationship characterized by opposing interests, the proletariat (workers) vs. bourgeoisie (capitalists)
- workers sell labor, a commodity, and employers exploit the workers by extracting surplus value
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"How Class
Works: Objective and Subjective Aspects of Class Since the 1970s,” Hout
- class: "how people earn their money, how much money they have, and what they do with their money" (Hout, p. 26)
- where people fit in American society, most think they're working or middle class
- class not always clear, borders vague, status inconsistencies
- large class differences in attitudes and behaviors like health, happiness, trust, leisure activities, political participation
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“Class Divisions Grow Worse, from Cradle On,” New York Times by Claire Cain Miller
more on class divisions of middle class and working class
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Class Matters, (2005)— “Up from the Holler: Living in Two Worlds, at Home in Neither”(Lewin) and “From the Bronx to Cornell” (Price)
READ THIS SHIT
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“Racial Fluidity and Inequality in the United States,” Saperstein and Penner (2012)
- Won award for best article in best journal b/c rigorous, using nationally representative survey data, tracing people over time
- Race can be fluid depending on events in people's lives
- about 20% of all respondents changed race at some point during study
- drops in social status lead to greater likelihood of identifying as black, boost in social status identifies more frequently as white
- Racial classification can be fluid across time, place, and political systems (US census) as well as individuals
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“Black or White,” Trillin (1986)
- not by sociologist
- woman in Louisiana goes to get passport and is told she's black, even though she's never self-identified as black
- we learn rules and regulations as she goes through this process
- genes randomly assigned so can't be biological, court agrees and upholds social construct
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“The Mark of a Criminal Record,” Pager (2004)
- Created fictitious resumes of two equally qualified people and design isolated effect of a criminal record, neutralizes social selection b/c we worry that going to prison is not entirely random
- Black men got called back about half the time white men did, black men w/ a criminal got called back a third of the time white men w/ a criminal record
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“Thin Ice: ‘Stereotype Threat’ and Black College Students,” Steele (1999)
- stereotype threat - fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype, a social fact b/c it's based on external factors not individuals
- Black people took longer to answer test questions and changed answers more b/c they were trying to avoid proving negative stereotypes
- Applies for gender too
- Deactivated stereotype and gap was erased in Michigan college dorm, way to control to some degree
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“Doing Gender,” West and Zimmerman (1987)
- gender is a social construct vs. sex which is anatomically determined
- both men and women do gender, uphold and maintain this performance
- embedded in everyday interactions, subconscious level many times in which we aren't aware
- socially guided interactions that are cast as natural
- a performance carried out in presence of others presumed to understand the cues
- gender not a role b/c it doesn't change based on situations
- institutional frameworks through which "our natural, normal sexedness" can be enacted (Goffman in W&Z, p. 137) like bathrooms, clothing stores, baby products, etc.
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Gender Play, Thorne (1993)—“Boys and Girls Together, but Mostly Apart”
- Schools as primary point of socialization
- Ethnography (scientific description of customs of individual people and cultures) of school children
- Gender separation: self segregation, authorities segregate, why is it ok to segregate by gender but not other things?
- Boys and girls are "familiar strangers"
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“The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled,” England (2010)
- meta-analysis pulling together a bunch of research to make a hypothesis, it was a lecture turned into article
- women have moved into higher paying and higher status jobs but female-type jobs are devalued and low paying, asymmetric incentive to cross gender gap
- prove gender gap by talking about feminized jobs and male-dominant degrees
- "opportunity cost effect" prevails over the "need for income effect"
- "opportunity cost effect" - educated women have a greater opportunity cost of staying at home
- "need for income effect" - uneducated women need income so they get a job
- Personal realm: girls and women more likely to partake in "male" activities than other way around. Things defined as "feminine" haven't changed. Double standards like in dating.
- Professional vs. blue-collar gender integration not equal
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