SOCIOLOGY 114

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?
 The term ‘sociology’ refers to the science of companions.
 Sociologists study the wide variety of social actions of people and the social patterns,
organisations, and institutions arising from our collective social action.
o Macro – large systems (nations, global, economic)
o Meso – medium systems (organisations, groups, communities)
o Micro - small systems (families, relationships, individuals)

Development of sociology alongside changes in society

 The Enlightenment
o A body of thought (or a movement) based on rational, secular, and scientific
explanations developed in the eighteenth century, which challenged
explanations of the world based on religion or superstition.
 French Revolution
o Unequal society: monarch, taxing peasants, exploiting workers.
o Overthrowing existing structures of France
o Guiding principles: liberty, equality, and fraternity
 Industrial Revolution
o Change mode of production: from agricultural to industrial
o Employment opportunities, urbanization, overpopulation, poverty, dire
housing conditions (sanitation)
o New class structure (owners of production and workers)
 Social Stratification
o The hierarchy of different layers of unequal social classes in society; levels of
social distinction or social difference.
 The Need for Sociology
o Empowering: provides a deeper understanding of society.
o Study human relations in all its complexities (individual – society)
o Being an informed and engaged member of the society.
o Transformative: questioning the taken for granted.
o Makes you think more empathetically.

The Scientific Study

 Sociology as social science

o Different from the natural science (physics, chemistry, biology and zoology),
formal science (philosophy and mathematics) and the humanities (languages,
music and art).
o The social sciences – anthropology, communication studies, economics,
education, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, psychology,
and sociology (society becomes a field of study)
 Sociology uses objective, systematic observations to test or develop theories.
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o Quantitative methods – surveys, questionnaires.

o Qualitative methods – structured and semi -structed interviews, focus groups.
 Scientific method…
o Knowledge is obtained by specific methodologies or ways and rules of social
investigation.
o Sociological arguments and conclusions must be logical.
o Knowledge must provide explanations of social reality.
o Sociology must strive against making moral judgements.
o Knowledge is not final.
o Scientific knowledge is based on and produces theory.

Sociological Perspectives (Traditions vs Science)

 Auguste Comte
o Suggested scientific method to uncover the laws that underline society.
o Purpose of sociology is not only to discover social principles and apply them
to social reform.
 Herbert Spencer
o Societies are evolving – the most capable and intelligent adapt and survive.
o These ‘fittest’ members produce a more advanced society.
o Aka ‘Social Darwinism’
 Karl Marx
o Proposed radical change – revolution.
o Society is made up of two opposing classes: bourgeoise and proletariats.
o The nature of society is class struggle.
 Emile Durkheim
o His seminal text ‘social facts’ shows people how social forces affect people’s
behaviour.
o Identified social integration – people with weaker ties are more likely to
commit suicide.
 Max Weber
o Religious ideas brough about capitalism.
o Protestants unlike the Catholics believed in predestination, searched for signs
of the effect.
o Applied frugality ascetism – Protestant ethic – to make more money (spirit of
capitalism).

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
 “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.” It
is the ability to see things socially and how they interact and influence each other.
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 “The first fruit of this imagination is the idea that the individual can understand her
own experience and gauge her own fate only by locating herself within her period,
that she can know her own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all
individuals in her circumstances.”
 “That is why it is by means of the SI that men and women now hope to grasp what is
going on in the world, and to understand what is happening in themselves as minute
points of the intersections of biography and history within society.”
 What about geography…

Social Facts

 Ideas, feelings, and ways of behaving ‘that possess the remarkable property of
existing outside the consciousness of the individual’ (Durkheim, 1982:51)
 They also have a strong power even when undetected and exert a social force.
 Anything humans create that influence or pressure people to interact, behave, respond,
or think in certain ways.
 Shape and change any human activity, including the ways in which people think about
themselves and others, and the things they do to and with one another.
 According to Mills (1959:5) people need “a quality of mind that will help them use
information” to think about ‘what is going on in the world and what may be
happening within themselves’.
 Those who possess a sociological imagination:
o Can better understand their own experiences and fate by locating them in a
larger historical, social, and cultural context.
o They can recognise the responses available to them by becoming aware of the
many individuals who share their situations.
 Troubles:
o Personal needs, problems or difficulties that can be explained as individual
shortcomings related to motivation, attitude, ability, character, or judgement.
o Resolved by changing the individual in some way.
 Issues:
o Matters that can be explained only by factors outside an individual’s control
and immediate environment.
o Resolved by changing social forces which created them.
 Imposes a logic on the discipline that:
o Presuppose a ‘measure of suspicion about the way in which human events are
officially interpreted by the authorities, be they political, judicial or religious
in character’.
o Is driven to expose the social systems we study.
o Dig below the surface.
 Sociologists also make distinctions between troubles and issues.
o A (critical) quality of mind.
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o Allows people to see how remote and impersonal social forces shape their
biography.
o A biography consists of all day-to-day activities from birth that make up a
person’s life.
o Equated with curiosity and observation skills. E.g. walking the neighbourhood
streets of a large city, fascinated with what they cannot see taking place behind
the building walls.
Social Stratification

 The hierarchy of different layers of unequal social classes in society.

 Levels of social distinction or social difference.
o Class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, culture, sexual orientation

Race As a Social Construct

 Physical features associated with race (such as skin colour and hair) have been used in
various historical circumstances to classify people, separate them into groups, judge
their ability to perform various tasks, and provide them with differential access to
social and political resources and economic resources.
 Is it still important?
o It is important as it had an impact in how people were/are treated, what they
have been. In that way it has become meaningful.
o It is precisely the use of socially meaningless features of the body, in order to
make meaningful social distinctions that give race its unique status as a
theoretical concept and as an important historical force.
 These historical events such as colonialism explains what is meant that race is socially
constructed.
 “The sociology of race is largely concerned with examining the causes and
consequences of the socially constructed division of social groups according to their
so-called race”. (Oxford Dictionary of Scholars: 624)
 A sociological question: “What were the consequences when theories about race and
racial differences became integral to government policies and legislation?”
 The theories were supposedly bases on scientific research (cause)
 Thus, the government made laws that discriminated unfairly between their citizens
(consequences)
When The White Man Arrived…

 Dutch settlers arrived in 1652 with the British taking over in 1795.
 Structure of society was determined by the government’s distinction between different
groups: company officials, citizens, and saves, each with its own legal status.
 Strong correlation between legal status, colour, and religious identity – being superior
by being white, free, and Christian.
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 Each status group correlated with culture and appearance – with Europeans in leading
positions.
Colonialism and Racial Stratification

 Colonial forces used violence and ideology to legitimate the idea that White people
were superior to other groups.
 Racial domination and slavery were instrumental to the global spread of capitalism.
 In Souls of the Black Folk, W.E.B du Bois writes that Black people have navigated a
double consciousness because of colonial subjugation. This term describes how Black
people carry dual notions of how they see themselves, while at the same time
negotiating how they are seen through the lens of racial oppression.
Apartheid

 The apartheid system, implemented by the National Party government in 1948,

institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination on a grand scale.
 Apartheid laws classified South Africans into racial categories of “white”, “black”,
“coloured”, and “Indian” with each group subjected to different rights, privileges, and
restrictions.
 The apartheid regime enforced strict laws that enforced racial segregation in all
aspects of life, including housing, education, healthcare, and employment.
 These laws were designed to maintain white minority rule and preserve the economic
and political power of the white population.
 Apartheid – both petty and grand – and is obviously evil. Nothing can justify the
arrogant assumption that a clique of foreigners has the right to decide on the lives of
a majority. (Biko, 1978:27)

How Does Race Link to Social Stratification

 Social status and prestige

o Apartheid laws enforced social segregation and discrimination, systematically
privileging whites while marginalizing black, coloured and Indian
communities.
o Social status and prestige were determined by racial classification, with whites
enjoying greater access to prestigious institutions, social networks, and
opportunities for advancement.
 Power and political participation
o European settlers wielded political power and authority over indigenous
populations, establishing colonial governments that prioritized white interest
and suppressed dissent among non-white communities. Indigenous people
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were disenfranchised and excluded from political decision-making processes,

further entrenching racial hierarchies.
o Apartheid laws disenfranchised non-white communities, denying them
political representation and participation in the democratic process. The
apartheid regime maintained control through repressive measures, including
state violence and censorship, to supress dissent and maintain white minority
rule.
 Access to resources and opportunities (such as education, employment, housing, and
healthcare)
o European settlers in South Africa established a racial hierarchy that privileged
whites while marginalizing Africans and mixed-race population. Whites
monopolized access to land, resources, and economic opportunities, exploiting
indigenous labour for their own benefit.
o Apartheid laws systematically denied Black South Africans access to
resources and opportunities based on their racial classification. For example,
the Group Areas Act enforced residential segregation, confining Black and
Coloured populations to designated areas with limited access to services and
amenities. Economic opportunities were similarly restricted through
discriminatory employment practices and wage differentials based on race.
 Wealth and economic inequality
o The colonial economy in South Africa was built on the exploitation of cheap
indigenous labour. Black labourers were subjected to low wages, poor working
conditions, and limited opportunities for advancement, contributing to the
accumulation of wealth among white settlers and exacerbating economic
inequality among racial lines.
o Apartheid policies reinforced economic disparities by restricting Black access
to skilled employment, education, and land ownership. The apartheid regime
systematically marginalized non-white communities economically,
perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality that continued to impact South
Africa today.

Racial Inequality and Stratification

Race and Ethnicity

 Ethnicity describes cultural groups whose bond is forces through social interactions
and shared ideas of culture, including language, customs, and institutions. (Zevallos,
n.d)
 Ethnic examples in South Africa are Zulus, Xhosas, Vendas, etc.

Critical Concepts

 Prejudice: Individual attitudes, based on irrational generalization about a group of

people. Racial prejudices include expressions of hostility towards particular racial
groups.
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 Discrimination: Acting on one’s prejudices, leading to inequitable treatment of

marginalised groups, fortified by social processes that already disadvantage
marginalised groups.
o Example: refusing to consider a job application of a person of colour (an
act of discrimination) based on racial markers, like their name (prejudice),
replicating the excessive rejection these candidates already experience
because of racism.
 Racism: an act of aggression, however subtle, that is carried by an individual, a
group and/or person or body representing an institution who considers
themselves/itself superior. Being part of the group holding power carrying out a
justifiable act against someone with little or no power, with the intent to humiliate,
debase or belittle the person/s based on the concept of race and centred on a
system of beliefs with a particular ideology – that of supremacy. Racism is based
on prejudice (attitudes), symbols (including language), actions and policies
(discrimination) that reproduces the false ideology that other groups inferior to
white people.
 White supremacy: Apartheid was based on the notion of white supremacy. White
supremacy refers to an ideology that is a system of beliefs, thoughts, and ideas
that form the foundation of a theory. White supremacy as an ideology is based on
the belief that White people are superior to any other racialised or ethnic group
and should dominate socially, culturally, politically, and economically.
 White privilege: white privilege is the sum total of various invisible forms of
power that White people have, regardless of their social standing.

SEX ROLES
Gendering What Is Expected of Us

 Describes the tasks and functions perceived to be ideally suited to masculinity versus
femininity.
 Sex roles have converged across many (though not all) cultures due to colonial
practices, industrialisation, and cultures.
o E.g., the third gender was recognised in India before the region was colonised
by the British. Legally recognised only in 2014.
o Gendering through work allocation.
o Gendering through the identification of biological differences.
 Essentialisation (Biological) vs Social
 BUT: What is gender?

Raymen Connell: What is gender?

 Gender is the structure of social relations that centres on the reproductive arena, and
the set of practices (governed by this structure) that bring reproductive distinctions
between bodies into social processes.
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 Informally, gender concerns the way human society deals with human bodies, and the
many consequences of that “deal” in our personal lives and collective fate. (Zevallos,
2014)
 Gender identities are dialectical/relational.
 “us” versus “them” or “masculine” versus “feminine”.

Gender As a Social Construct and A Verb: Gender Performativity

 Gender norms involve “everything to do with how and in what way we can appear in
public space: how and in what way the public and private are distinguished…on the
street, on the job, or in the home” (Butler, 2000:1)
 “Gender Performativity”
 Gender is not “something one is, it is something one does, an act, or more precisely, a
sequence of acts” (Salih, 2007:55)
 “Walk Like a Man, Talk Like a Woman”
 Gender as a VERB: a doing, rather than a being
 Gender, as a social construct, can be explained by norms which influence
performativity, associated with masculinity and femininity.
 What is “expected of us”

“Masculinity”

 “What does it mean being a man?”

 Masculinities are constructed in relation to social hierarchies relating to class, race,
and age. Hegemonic masculinity rests upon social context, and so they reflect the
social inequalities of the culture they embody.
 Patriarchy: an important social hierarchy operating on the rule of men.
o Describes a system of social organisation in which the most influential societal
roles are reserved for men, whilst women are excluded.
o Achieved by restricting women’s social, educational, medical or any other
rights and imposing restrictive social or moral norms.
o Examples: Careers, Opportunities, Sports.
 Several masculinities operate within any one cultural context, and some of these:
o Hegemonic
 Hegemonic masculinity is a term that describes a dominant model of
masculinity. It represents domination over other people, especially
through physical displays. (example: groups that receive special
cultural power such as in sport)
 Why?
 Movements
 Privileges of being a man – male privilege
 Identification of Gender Inequalities.
o Subordinate
o Compliant
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o Marginalized
 South Africa?

“Femininity”

 “What does it mean being a woman?”

 Femininity is influenced by social and cultural ideologies, social “norms” and what is
expected of women and girls.
 Feminism:
o Different streams of feminism explore various challenges concerning social
stratification.
o Gender, class, race, poverty, inequality

Three Ways to Study Gender

1. Individual
a. Socialisation
i. Two-sided process.
ii. On one side is the target of socialisation, such as a newborn, who
encounters the social world through interactions with parents and
caretakers.
iii. On the other side of the socialisation processes are the agents of
socialisation – the individuals, groups, and organisations who pass on
cultural information.
b. “One inadvertent consequence of an individual view of gender is that women
and men are often portrayed as either villains or victims – oppressing,
exploiting, or defending against each other”
2. Interaction
a. Gender matters in the ways that it shapes social interaction.
b. Identities, of course, are products of and sustain social interactions.
c. Social interaction thus is an important setting in which gender emerges and is
enacted.
d. Social interaction requires sex categorization.
e. Ridgeway (1997:219) observes: “It is striking that people are nearly incapable
of interacting with one another when they cannot guess the other’s sex.”
3. Thirdly, gender also organises social institutions.
a. “social institution”, means the “rules” that constitute some area of social life
(Jepperson, 1991)
b. Include large, formally organized, public sectors of society, such as education,
religion, sports, the legal system, and work, and the more personal, less
formally organized areas of life such as marriages, parenthood, and family.
c. Social institutions vary in the degree to which they are “gendered”, BUT many
institutions cannot be understood without attention to the ways they embody
and hence gender meanings.

GENDER DISTINCTIONS AND GENDER INEQUALITY

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 Following Ridgeway and Smith-Lovin (1999:192), view gender as:

o A “system of social practices”
 This system creates and maintains gender distinctions and
o Which “organizes relations of inequality based on (those distinctions).
 Gender involves the creation of both differences and inequalities.
 Occupy and worthy discussion in relation to social stratification.
 To understand gender, is to see gender inequality.
o Occur in various facets of life and institutions – examples?
 The gender system involves two processes:
o The creation of distinctions, and
o Inequalities based on these distinctions.
 Gender distinctions are linked to gender inequality.
 Gender inequality is illustrated by the greater societal value and worth attached to
maleness and all things masculine, reactive to femaleness and all things related to
feminine.
 At the individual level, traits and characteristics associated with men and masculinity
are accorded more social value than those associated with women and femininity.
 From an interactionist view, the production of difference simultaneously involves the
creation of gender hierarchies.
 At the level of organisations and institutions, worth, status, and resources are
differentially assigned based on gender.
o Example: sport
o Role Assignment, opportunities, etc.

Legitimation of Gender Inequality

 How gender inequality is legitimated varies:

o Institutionalized
 Long-term relations of inequality, such as those based on gender, give
dominant groups a strong, vested interest in maintaining these
arrangements.
o Requires constructing ideologies that are benign and flattering towards the
subordinate group, rather than hostile and antagonistic.
o The dominant group must offer the subordinate group an interpretation of their
relationship that obscures unequal arrangements.
o The subordinate group must find this ideology persuasive if the dominant
group is to protect its interests.
What Strategies of Persuasion Work Best to Legitimate Gender Inequality

 Twin ideologies of…

o Paternalism and Defence
o Paternalism is a powerful ideology because it combines positive feelings for
the subordinate with the exercise of social control.
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o Defence implies that these positive feelings are reciprocated by the

subordinate group, who see no reason to challenge the dominant group's
control over them.
 Defence = to submit with respect.
Challenging Gender Inequality

 Social change = the modification of social institutions and processes which influence
culture, norms, and values.
o Inevitable and consistent
o Could also shift towards greater inequality.
o Could be spontaneous, reactive, and small.
o Uneven, and at different times in history.
o Generates tension, conflict, and disruptions.
o Could also be seen as inspirational.
 Smaller scale, but still significant, challenges to the gender order are more possible.
o Likely to happen at the interpersonal, and family level.
o Eventual institutionalisation.

Degendered World

 Would personalities and identities form differently if gender played a lesser role in
shaping what people could become and how they thought of themselves?
o If we were not held accountable to gender expectations?
o If in our families and workplaces the tasks people performed were not
structured by these expectations and differential worth?
 “Gender distinctions are the raw material of gender inequality”:
o Eroding these distinctions thus is a necessary part of reducing inequality.
o And, in turn, contribute to a lessening of gender distinctions.
 LOOK AT THE EXAMPLE OF THE GENDERBREAD PERSON