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ISBN-13: 978-0-17-669999-4
ISBN-10: 0-17-669999-6
9 780176 699994
Brief Contents
1 Introducing Sociology 2
2 Culture 26
3 Socialization 48
4 From Social Interaction to
Social Organizations 70
5 Deviance and Crime 90
6 Social Stratification: Canadian
and Global Perspectives 110
7 Race and Ethnicity 134
8 Sexualities and Genders 156
9 Families 182
10 Religion and Education 204
11 Health and Medicine 230
12 The Mass Media 248
13 Technology, the Environment,
and Social Movements 266
References 290
Index 319
wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com
NEL v
Copyright 2018 Nelson Education Ltd. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content
may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Nelson Education reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Contents
1 Introducing Sociology 2
Introduction 3 Conducting Research 17
My Road to Sociology 3
The Research Cycle 17
A Change of Mind 3 Ethics in Sociological Research 18
The Sociological Imagination 4 The Main Sociological Research
Social Structures 4 Methods 19
Origins of the Sociological Imagination 8 Experiments 19
Surveys 21
Founders 9
Field Research 21
Émile Durkheim and Functionalism 9
Analysis of Existing Documents and Official
Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton 10
Statistics 22
Karl Marx and Conflict Theory 11
Max Weber 13 Challenges Facing Us Today 24
The Cultural Turn and Poststructuralism: Gramsci and More Opportunity? 24
Foucault 13 More Freedom? 25
©
ich
M
George Herbert Mead and Symbolic Where Do You Fit In? 25 ae
l Ma
pes
Interactionism 14
Harriet Martineau and Feminist Theory 16
Modern Feminism 16
2
Reb
e
Culture
cca
Sa
pp
/ 26
W
ire
Cultural Diversification 34
Im
Culture as Problem Solving 27

gea
Multiculturalism 35
/Ge
The Origins and Components of

tty
A Conflict Analysis of Culture: The Rights

Ima
Culture 28
g
Revolution 37
es
Abstraction: Creating Symbols 28 From Diversity to Globalization 38

Cooperation: Creating Norms and Values 28 Postmodernism 39
Production: Creating Material Culture 30 Is Canada the First Postmodern Country? 41
Culture and Social Class 30
Language and the Sapir–Whorf Thesis 32 Culture as Constraint 41
Rationalization 42
Culture as Freedom and Constraint 33 Consumerism 43
A Functionalist Analysis of Culture: Culture and From Counterculture to Subculture 45
Ethnocentrism 33
Culture as Freedom 34
Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Production 34
vi NEL
3 Socialization 48
Social Isolation and Socialization 49 Socialization across the Life
The Crystallization of Self-Identity 50 Course 62
The Symbolic-Interactionist Foundations of Childhood Adult Socialization and the Flexible Self 62
Socialization 51 Self-Identity and the Internet 64
Sigmund Freud 51 Dilemmas of Childhood and Adolescent
Charles Horton Cooley 52 Socialization 64
George Herbert Mead 52 The Emergence of Childhood and
Gender Differences 53 Adolescence 64
Civilization Differences 53
Problems of Childhood and
Function, Conflict, Symbolic Interaction, Adolescent Socialization
and Gender: How Agents of Today 66
Socialization Work 55 Declining Adult Supervision and
Ma
Family Functions 55 Guidance 66
rk
Ma
Schools: Functions and Conflicts 56 Increasing Media and Peer Group Influence 67
ke
Co
la/
Symbolic Interactionism and the Self-Fulfilling Declining Extracurricular Activities and Increasing rbi
s /G
e tty
Prophecy 57 Adult Responsibilities 67 Ima
ge
Peer Groups 57 “The Vanishing Adolescent” 68
The Mass Media 59
The Mass Media and the Feminist Approach to
Socialization 59
Resocialization and Total Institutions 61
4
©T
om
as
L oe
wy rom Social Interaction
F
to Social Organizations 70
Feminist Theory and Social Networks, Groups, and Organizations 78
Interaction 71 The Holocaust 78
Social Structure and Emotions 72 How Social Groups Shape Our Actions 79
Emotional Labour 73
Social Networks 81
Conflict Theories of Social The Value of Network Analysis 81
Interaction 74
Competing for Attention 74 Groups 83
Interaction as Competition and Exchange 74 Group Conformity 83
Primary and Secondary Groups 87
Symbolic Interaction Theory and Social
Interaction 75 Bureaucracy 87
Goffman’s Dramaturgical Analysis 75 Organizational Constraints and Freedom 88
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication 76
NEL CONTENTS vii

5 Deviance and Crime 90
The Social Definition of Deviance and Conflict Theories 100
Crime 91 Feminist Contributions 101
The Difference between Deviance and Crime 91 Punishment 102
Sanctions 92 The Medicalization of Deviance 103
Measuring Crime 93 The Prison 105
Criminal Profiles 94 Moral Panic 106
Other Forms of Punishment: Two
Explaining Deviance and Crime 95 Extremes 107
Symbolic Interactionist Approaches to Deviance and
Crime 95 Alternative Strategies 108
Functionalist Explanations 97
Ale
x
Mi
nT
la
rac
y/S
ipa
U SA/
AP
Im ages
6
St e
ve
Ra
ym
er/
C or
b
S ocial Stratification: Canadian
and Global Perspectives 110
is
Do
c
um
ent
a ry
Social Stratification: Shipwrecks Social Mobility 124

/Ge
tty I
and Inequality 111

m
Politics and the Perception of Class

ages
Patterns of Social Inequality 112 Inequality 126

Wealth 112
Global Inequality 126
Income 114
Levels and Trends in Global Inequality 126
Explanations of Income Inequality 115
Modernization Theory: A Functionalist Approach 127
Poverty 117
Dependency Theory: A Conflict Approach 129
Is Stratification Inevitable? Three Core, Periphery, and Semiperiphery 131
Theories 120
Marx’s Conflict Theory 120
The Functionalist Theory of Davis and Moore 122
Weber’s Compromise 123
viii CONTENTS NEL
7 Race and Ethnicity 134
Defining Race and Intelligence 135 Black Canadians 147
What Is Race? 135 Split Labour Markets and Asian
Ethnicity, Culture, and Social Structure 138 Canadians 150
Resources and Opportunities 139 Some Advantages of Ethnicity 151
Symbolic Interactionism, Race, and The Future of Race and Ethnicity
Ethnic Relations 140 in Canada 152
Labels and Identity 140
Choice Versus Imposition 141
Conflict Theories of Race and Ethnic
Relations 142
Colonialism and Internal Colonialism 142
Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples 142
The Québécois 145
Cu
lt u
Cl
re
ub
/H
u lt
on
Arc
h iv e
/Get
t y Ima
ge s
Bru
ce
8 Sexualities and Genders 156
Sex, Intersex, Gender, Transgender 157 Homosexuality 165
Jen
ne
Sex and Intersex 157 Sexual Orientation and Queer Theory 165
ro
nc
Gender and Transgender 158 Homosexuality 167

ere
al b
ox: S
The Social Learning of Gender 158 Gender Inequality 170

untzu
Gender Theories 158 The Earnings Gap 170

lynn fo
Essentialism 158
Male Aggression against Women 172
r LE/Splash News/Newsco
Functionalism and Essentialism 159

Sexual Assault 173
A Critique of Essentialism from the Conflict and
Sexual Harassment 174
Feminist Perspectives 159
Gender Risk across 137 Countries 175
Social Constructionism and Symbolic
Interactionism 160 Toward 2089 175
m
Gender Socialization 161 Child Care 177

The Mass Media and Body Image 162 Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value 177
Male–Female Interaction 164 The Women’s Movement 178
NEL CONTENTS ix
9 Families 182
Introduction 183 Housework and Child Care 196
Spousal Violence 196
Is “The Family” in Decline? 184
Family Diversity 197
Functionalism and the Nuclear Ideal 185
Heterosexual Cohabitation 197
Functional Theory 185
Same-Sex Marriage and Civil Unions 198
Functions of the Nuclear Family 187
Lone-Parent Families 199
The Canadian Middle-Class Family in the 1950s 187
Zero-Child Families 200
Power and Families 190
Family Policy 200
Love and Mate Selection 190
Marital Satisfaction 192
Divorce 193
Reproductive Choice 195
An
net
te
Sh
aff
hu
/S
tte
rs toc
k.c
om
Ser
ge nS
ez
gin
/
10 Religion and Education 204
An
Religion 205 Religiosity 220

ad
o
lu
The Future of Religion 221

Ag
Classical Approaches in the Sociology

en
cy/G
of Religion 206 Education 221

etty
Durkheim’s Functionalist Theory 206

Imag
Macrosociological Processes 222

e
Religion, Feminist Theory, and Conflict Theory 207

s
The Functions of Education 222

Weber and the Problem of Social Change:
The Effect of Economic Inequality from the Conflict
A Symbolic Interactionist Interpretation 212
Perspective 223
The Rise, Decline, and Partial Revival Functionalist versus Conflict Theories of
of Religion 213 the Community College 225
Secularization 213 Gender and Education:
Religious Revival and Religious Fundamentalism 214 The Feminist Contribution 225
The Social and Political Context of Muslim Microsociological Processes 226
Fundamentalism 214
The Stereotype Threat: A Symbolic Interactionist
The Revised Secularization Thesis 217
View 226
The Market Model 217
Canadian Education in an International
Religion in Canada 218
Perspective 227
Church, Sect, and Cult 218
x CONTENTS NEL
11 Health and Medicine 230
The Black Death 231 The Professionalization of
Health and Inequality 233 Medicine 242
Defining and Measuring Health 233 The Social Limits of Modern
The Social Causes of Illness and Death 234 Medicine 243
Challenges to Traditional Medical
Class Inequalities and Health Care 238
Science 245
Racial Inequalities in Health Care 239
Comparative Health Care from a Conflict
Perspective 240
e tr
T
aI
ma
ge
s /G
etty
Ima
ges
©
Kor
en
12 The Mass Media 248
Sh
ad The Significance of the Mass Media 249 Centralized Control and Resistance
m
Illusion Becomes Reality 249 on the Internet 262
i
What Are the Mass Media? 250 Access 262

The Rise of the Mass Media 250 Content 262
Causes of Media Growth 252 Media Convergence 262
The Rise of Social Media 263
Theories of Media Effects 253
Functionalism 253
Conflict Theory 254
Interpretive Approaches 259
Feminist Approaches 260
NEL CONTENTS xi
13 echnology, the Environment,
T
and Social Movements 266
Technology: Saviour or Social Movements 278
Frankenstein? 267 Breakdown Theory: A Functionalist Account 279
Technology and People Make History 270 Solidarity Theory: A Conflict Approach 280
How High Tech Became Big Tech 271 Framing Theory: The Contribution of Symbolic
Global Warming 272 Interactionism 282
New Social Movements 283
The Social Construction of
Environmental Problems 274 Conclusion 287
The Social Distribution of Risk 275
What Is to Be Done? 277
The Market and High-Tech Solutions 277
©M
The Cooperative Alternative 278
att
he
w
Ch
e/A
att
References 290
l
lam
y S to
ck
P ho
Index 319 to
xii CONTENTS NEL
© Michael Mapes
NEL
1 Introduction
Introducing MY ROAD TO SOCIOLOGY
Sociology “W
hen I started college at the age
of 18,” says Robert Brym, “I
was bewildered by the variety
of courses I could choose from.
Having now taught sociology for more than 35 years and
met thousands of undergraduates, I am quite sure most
students today feel as I did then.
“One source of confusion for me was uncertainty about
why I was in university in the first place. Like you, I knew
higher education could improve my chance of finding
good work. But, like most students, I also had a sense
that higher education is supposed to provide something
more than just the training necessary to start a career that
is interesting and pays well. Several high school teachers
and guidance counsellors had told me that university
was also supposed to ‘broaden my horizons’ and teach
me to ‘think critically.’ I wasn’t sure what they meant, but
they made it sound interesting enough to encourage me
LEARNING to know more. In my first year, I decided to take mainly
OBJECTIVES ‘practical’ courses that might prepare me for a law degree

(economics, political science, and psychology). However,
I also enrolled in a couple of other courses to indulge my
In this chapter, you will learn to ‘intellectual’ side (philosophy, drama). One thing I knew
1 Define sociology. for sure: I didn’t want to study sociology.
LO “Sociology, I came to believe, was thin soup with uncer-
2 Identify the social relations that surround you, tain ingredients. When I asked a few second- and third-
LO year students in my dorm what sociology is, I received
permeate you, and influence your behaviour.
different answers. They variously defined sociology as
3 Summarize the four main schools of sociological
LO the science of social inequality, the study of how to create
theory. the ideal society, the analysis of how and why people
4 Describe how sociological research seeks to assume different roles in their lives, and a method for
LO figuring out why people don’t always do what they are
improve people’s lives and test ideas using scientific
methods. supposed to do. I found all this confusing and decided
to forgo sociology for what seemed to be tastier courses.”
5 Distinguish the four main methods of collecting
LO
sociological data.
6 Explain how sociology can help us deal with
LO 1
major challenges that society faces today. LO A Change of Mind
“D
espite the opinion I’d formed, I
found myself taking no fewer than
four sociology courses a year after
starting university. That revolution
in my life was partly due to the influence of an extraor-
dinary professor I happened to meet just before I began
NEL CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology 3

my second year. He set me When we sat down to plan this book, we figured we stood
sociology The systematic thinking in an altogether the best chance of hooking you if we drew many of our
study of human behaviour in new way about what I could examples from aspects of social life that you enjoy and
social context.
and should do with my life. know well, such as contemporary music, fashion, sports,
social structures Stable He exploded some of my the Web, social networking, and other aspects of popular
patterns of social relations. deepest beliefs. He started culture. Chances are that popular culture envelopes you
me thinking sociologically. and makes you feel as comfortable as a favourite piece of
sociological imagination
“Specifically, he first clothing does. Our aim is to show you that underlying
The quality of mind that
enables one to see the connec-
encouraged me to think the taken-for-granted fabric of your life are patterns of
tion between personal troubles about the dilemma of all social relations that powerfully influence your tastes, your
and social structures. thinking people. Life is hopes, your actions, and your future—even though you
finite. If we want to make may be only dimly aware of them now.
the most of it, we must
figure out how best to live. That is no easy task. It requires
study, reflection, and the selection of values and goals. 2
Ideally, he said, higher education is supposed to supply
students with just that opportunity. Finally, I was begin-
The Sociological
LO
ning to understand what I could expect from university
apart from job training.
Imagination
“The professor also convinced me that sociology in
particular could open up a new and superior way of com- SOCIAL STRUCTURES
Y
prehending my world. Specifically, he said, it could clarify ou have known for a long time that you live
my place in society, how I might best manoeuver through in a society. Until now, you may not have fully
it, and perhaps even how I might contribute to improving appreciated that society also lives in you.
it, however modestly. Before beginning my study of soci- Patterns of social relations affect your inner-
ology, I had always taken for granted that things happen most thoughts and feelings, influence your actions, and
in the world—and to me—because physical and emo- help shape who you are Sociologists call stable patterns of
tional forces cause them. Famine, I thought, is caused social relations social structures.
by drought, war by territorial greed, economic success by Nearly 60 years ago, the great American sociologist
hard work, marriage by love, suicide by bottomless depres- C. Wright Mills (1916–62) wrote that the sociologist’s
sion, rape by depraved lust. But now this professor repeat- main task is to identify and explain the connections
edly threw evidence in my face that contradicted my easy between people’s personal troubles, the changing social
formulas. If drought causes famine, why have so many structures in which they are embedded, and ways they
famines occurred in perfectly normal weather conditions can contribute to improving their lives and the state
or involved some groups hoarding or destroying food so of the world. He called the ability to see these connections
others would starve? If hard work causes prosperity, why the sociological imagination. Mills wrote:
are so many hard workers poor? If love causes marriage,
[People] do not usually define the troubles they
why does violence against women and children occur in
endure in terms of historical change. . . . Seldom
so many families? And so the questions multiplied.
aware of the intricate connection between the
“As if it were not enough that the professor’s sociolog-
patterns of their own lives and the course of
ical evidence upset many of my assumptions about the way
world history, ordinary [people] do not usually
the world worked, he also challenged me to understand
know what this connection means for the kind
sociology’s unique way of explaining social life. He defined
of [people] they are becoming and for the kind of
sociology as the systematic study of human behaviour in
history-making in which they might take
social context. He explained that social causes are distinct
part. . . . What they need . . . is a quality of mind
from physical and emotional causes. Understanding social
that will help them to [see] . . . what is going on in
causes can help clarify otherwise inexplicable features of
the world and . . . what may be happening within
famine, marriage, and so on. In public school, my teachers
themselves. It is this quality . . . that . . . may be
taught me that people are free to do what they want with
called the sociological imagination. —C. Wright
their lives. However, my new professor taught me that the
Mills (1959: 3–4)
organization of the social world opens some opportunities
and closes others, thus limiting our freedom and helping To gain a better sense of what Mills meant by the socio-
to make us what we are. By examining the operation of logical imagination, consider a story that has been repeated,
these powerful social forces, he said, sociology can help us with variations, many times. A 50-year-old woman loses
to know ourselves, our capabilities, and limitations. I was a good job on the assembly line of a southern Ontario car
hooked. And so, of course, I hope you will be, too.” plant when production moves to Mexico. After half a year
4 CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology NEL
of collecting employment insurance, she manages to land a Here is what the sociological imagination could
job at the checkout counter of a local Walmart. She earns teach them: Since the 1970s, many large North
less than half her previous salary. She had hoped to help her American corporations have been moving manufac-
son pay tuition when he started college but can no longer turing industries to low-wage countries like Mexico
afford that because her income is now barely enough to pay and China so they can pay workers less and earn bigger
for food, rent, and utilities. Her son is a good student but he profits. Millions of North Americans have seen their
now has to delay his plan to go to college for at least a couple steady, relatively high-paying jobs vanish. Their quality
years while he earns tuition money. The woman blames of life has gone downhill. Yet some countries have been
herself for not being able to land a better job. She becomes able to withstand the challenge of deindustrialization,
depressed. To cope, she starts smoking and drinking more— which is universal. For instance, in Denmark, the gov-
and taking high-interest payday loans to feed her habits. The ernment gives people who lose jobs relatively generous
son’s resentment and anger toward his mother grow, so they unemployment benefits for a couple of years, organizes
argue a lot. Family life, once happy, becomes miserable. programs that retrain them for skilled jobs that are in
Will the woman develop a chronic illness because of high demand, and requires that they complete such a
the stress, the smoking, and the drinking? Will the son get program. Denmark therefore knows nothing like the
caught stealing clothes he can’t afford? Will he ever make growing unemployment and poverty that grips parts
it to college? Or will they apply the sociological imagina- of southern Ontario, let alone the United States, where
tion to their situation and come to realize that their per- government programs are even less generous and eco-
sonal troubles are the result of powerful social forces that nomic inequality is higher (see the Sociology on the
they can help to control? Tube feature in this chapter).
Sociology sector. A minority supported Bernie Sanders, the

on the
Tube
unsuccessful Democratic hopeful who championed
the Danish model of economic restructuring. However,
a disproportionately large number of white, relatively
uneducated, low-income, and downwardly mobile citi-
zens supported Donald Trump, who turned American
politics into a kind of Jerry Springer Show (Thompson,
2016).
In 2016, Trump was already famous for his big
Donald Trump and real estate deals, his popular reality TV show, The
Apprentice, and his widely publicized but untrue claim
Shock TV five years earlier that Barack Obama was ineligible to
be president of the United States because he was born
The 2016 U.S. presidential race revealed a stark divi- overseas. However, during the 2016 campaign, Trump
sion among American workers who had been directly became the world’s most talked-about person. He
affected by massive job losses in the manufacturing achieved this feat by boasting unashamedly to national
TV audiences about everything from his financial suc-
cesses to his physical endowments, repeatedly using
foul language to demean his opponents, favourably
quoting Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator during World
War II, failing to disavow the support of white suprema-
cist organizations, taking on the Pope, and making
outrageous, racist promises. Among other things, Trump
Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock.com
said that, as president, he would deport 12 million

people of Mexican origin, whom he described as
rapists and drug traffickers; ban Muslim immigration
and carpet bomb the wives and children of Muslim
terrorists; block Chinese and other foreign imports; and
so on. Mainstream Republicans had previously consid-
ered it too politically dangerous to exploit simmering and
usually privately expressed racist sentiment in the United
States. Trump recognized that he could perhaps ride the
Donald Trump wave of intolerance all the way to the presidency.
(Continued )

Trump’s run for the presidency illustrates how Critical Thinking Questions
much television reflects and influences the social world.
Accordingly, in each chapter of this book, we analyze 1. What sociological factors might have been respon-
one or more TV shows to help you realize that even sible for the opposed views of Sanders and Trump
taken-for-granted aspects of your everyday life can be supporters?
full of deeper meaning if you apply the sociological 2. Are there Canadian counterparts to Sanders and
imagination to them. Trump? If not, why not? If so, are they less extreme
in their views? If so, why?
If the woman and her son—and hundreds of thou- seem unstoppable, fixing a harmful aspect of Canada’s
sands of other like them—exercised the sociological social structure and improving their quality of live. That
imagination, they would realize that, collectively, they is what Mills had in mind when he introduced the idea of
could help to elect a government that institutes similar the sociological imagination. The Sociology at the Movies
policies in this country. They would stand a better chance feature in this chapter will help you understand how the
of changing the course of historical forces that at first sociological imagination works in a very different context.
Sociology a madman who rapes, beats, whips, demeans, and psy-

at the
Movies
chologically tortures his slaves with gusto. And of course
he is a racist too, regarding blacks as more animal than
human. When challenged by his Canadian carpenter
to explain, “in the sight of God, what is the difference
between a white man and a black man?” he replies,
“You might as well ask what the difference is between
a white man and a baboon. Now, I’ve seen one of them
critters in Orleans that knowed just as much as any
12 Years a Slave nigger I’ve got” (quoted in Northup, 1855: 266–7).
Notwithstanding the merits of 12 Years a Slave as a
The first slaves in the Americas were Aboriginal people movie, its explanation for slavery and the cruelties that
and white criminals brought over from England. derive from it lacks sociolog-
However, they could not satisfy the demand of sugar, ical imagination. It did not
tobacco, and cotton plantations for cheap labour. That is take sadistic madmen like
why about 24 million West African blacks were rounded Epps to enslave and bru-
up like cattle and shipped across the Atlantic as slaves. In talize other human beings.
addition, free blacks in the northern United States were Enslavement and brutaliza-
sometimes kidnapped and sold as slaves in the South. tion were normal practices
One case involved Solomon Northup, an educated, among perfectly well-adjusted,
Regency Enterprises/The Kobal Collection at Art Resource, NY
economically successful, free black man with a wife and church-going plantation owners
two children. Abducted from Washington, D.C., in 1841, in the southern United States,
he was taken to Louisiana and enslaved there until an the Caribbean, and
itinerant Canadian carpenter helped to free him in 1853. South America in
Northup’s 1855 memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, the mid-nineteenth
became the basis for a movie of the same name. Hailed century. Nor was
as the first realistic cinematic portrayal of slavery in the racism the cause of slavery,
New World, it won the Oscar for best picture in 2013. as is evident from the fact that
The movie is unspeakably upsetting, forcing audi- white English prisoners could
ence members to wonder time and again how normal serve perfectly well as
people could have engaged in such unrelenting cruelty slaves. Rather, as Eric
toward other human beings. To the degree it provides Williams (an historian
an answer, it is this: The remorselessly brutal slave and the first president
masters were anything but normal. Edwin Epps (played of Trinidad and Tobago)
by Michael Fassbender) was the master of Solomon wrote, “Slavery was
Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor). He is portrayed as not born of racism; Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave
racism was the consequence of slavery” (Williams, you and men like you will have to answer for
1944: 8). Said differently, landowners were capitalists. it. —Solomon Northup (1855: 267–68)
They wanted to increase their profits. Yet they were
Intuitively, Bass was employing the sociological
constrained from doing so by a severe labour shortage.
imagination. He identified the harmful social
Slavery was the institutional mechanism that allowed
structure underlying the plight of black slaves and
them to realize their ambition. Thus, racism justified
suggested a program for changing it and thus improving
slavery but was not its cause. Here we have an explana-
their quality of life: End slavery and treat them as equals.
tion for slavery that employs the sociological imagina-
Understanding the social constraints and possibili-
tion. It focuses on the way social relations influenced
ties for freedom that envelop us requires an active soci-
landowners’ thoughts and actions.
ological imagination. The sociological imagination urges
Similarly for Epps’s claim that blacks are no dif-
us to connect biography with history and social struc-
ferent from baboons. Samuel Bass, the Canadian
ture just like Bass did—to make sense of our lives and
carpenter (played by Brad Pitt), had the appropriate
the lives of others against a larger historical and social
sociological response:
background and to act in light of our understanding.
These niggers are human beings. If they don’t Although movies are just entertainment to many
know as much as their masters, whose fault people, they often achieve by different means what the
is it? They are not allowed to know anything. sociological imagination aims to accomplish. Therefore,
You have books and papers, and can go where in each chapter of this book, we review a movie to
you please, and gather intelligence in a thou- shed light on topics of sociological importance.
sand ways. But your slaves have no privileges.
You’d whip one of them if caught reading a Critical Thinking Questions
book. They are held in bondage, generation 1. Have you ever tried to put events in your own life
after generation, deprived of mental improve- into the context of history and social structure?
ment, and who can expect them to possess 2. Did the exercise help you make sense of your life? If
much knowledge! . . . If they are baboons . . . so, how?
An important step in broadening your sociological Personal problems are

awareness involves recognizing that four levels of social connected to social struc- mesostructures Patterns of
structure surround and permeate us. Think of these tures at the micro, meso, social relations in organiza-
tions that involve people
structures as concentric circles radiating out from you macro, and global levels.
who are often not intimately
(Figure 1.1): Whether the personal prob
acquainted and who often do
lem involves finding a job,
●● Microstructures are patterns of intimate social not interact face to face.
keeping a marriage intact,
relations formed during face-to-face interaction. macrostructures
or acting justly to end
Families and friendship cliques are examples of Overarching patterns of social
world poverty, considering
microstructures. relations that lie outside and
the influence of social
●● Mesostructures are patterns of social relations in above one’s circle of intimates
structures on us broadens
organizations that involve people who are often not and acquaintances.
our understanding of the
intimately acquainted and who often do not interact patriarchy A system of
problems we face and sug-
face to face. Social organizations such as colleges power relations and cus-
gests appropriate courses of
and government bureaucracies are examples of tomary practices that help to
action.
mesostructures. ensure male dominance in
The sociological imagi-
●● Macrostructures are overarching patterns of social economic, political, and other
nation is only a couple
relations that lie above and beyond mesostructures. spheres of life.
of hundred years old.
One such macrostructure is patriarchy, a system of
Although in ancient and microstructures Patterns of
power relations and customary practices that help to
medieval times some philos- social relations formed during
ensure male dominance in economic, political, and
ophers wrote about society, face-to-face interaction.
other spheres of life.
their thinking was not soci- global structures Patterns
●● Global structures are the fourth level of society that
ological. They believed that of social relations that lie out-
surrounds and permeates us. Economic relations
God and nature controlled side and above the national
among countries and patterns of worldwide travel and
society. These philosophers level.
communication are examples of global structures.
spent much of their time

(A theory is a conjecture about the way observed facts
FIGURE 1.1 The Four Levels of Social Structure are related.) However, science is less a collection of ideas
than a method of inquiry. For instance, in 1609, Galileo
pointed his newly invented telescope at the heavens,
made some careful observations, and showed that his
observations fit Copernicus’s theory. This is the core
Global structures of the scientific method: using evidence to make a case
Macrostructures for a particular point of view. By the mid-1600s, some
philosophers were calling for a science of society. When
Mesostructures sociology emerged as a distinct discipline in the nine-
teenth century, commitment to the scientific method was
Microstructures one firm pillar of the sociological imagination.
The Democratic Revolution

The Democratic Revolution began about 1750. It sug-
Reeed/Shutterstock.com
gested that people are responsible for organizing society
and that human intervention can therefore solve social
problems. Before the Democratic Revolution, most people
thought that God ordained the social order. The American
Revolution (1775–83) and the French Revolution (1789–
99) helped to undermine that idea. These democratic
Source: Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci. upheavals showed that society could experience massive
change quickly. They proved that people could replace
unsatisfactory rulers. They suggested that people control
society. The implications for social thought were pro-
sketching blueprints for
Scientific Revolution found, for if it was possible to change society through
the ideal society and urging
Beginning in Europe about human intervention, a science of society could play a
people to follow those
1550, a movement to promote big role. The new science could help people find ways
blueprints. They relied on
the view that sound conclu- of overcoming social problems and improving the welfare
speculation rather than evi-
sions about the workings
dence to reach conclusions
of the world must be based
about how society worked.
on solid evidence, not just
speculation.
theory A conjecture about
the way observed facts are
ORIGINS OF THE
related. SOCIOLOGICAL
Democratic Revolution
The process, beginning about
IMAGINATION
1750, in which the citizens of The sociological imagina-
the United States, France, and tion was born when three
other countries broadened revolutions pushed people
their participation in govern- to think about society in an
© Peter Willi/Superstock
ment, thereby suggesting entirely new way.

that people can organize
society and solve social
problems.
The Scientific
Revolution
The Scientific Revolution Liberty Leading the People. Eugene Delacroix, 1830. The
began about 1550. It en-couraged the view that sound democratic forces unleashed by the French Revolution
suggested that people are responsible for organizing
conclusions about the workings of the world must be
society and that human intervention can therefore solve
based on evidence, not speculation. People often link
social problems. As such, democracy was a foundation
the Scientific Revolution to specific ideas, such as stone of sociology.
Copernicus’s theory that Earth revolves around the Sun.
of citizens. Much of the justification for sociology as a sci-
ence arose out of the democratic revolutions that shook
Europe and North America.
The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began about 1780. It created a
host of new and serious social problems that attracted the
attention of social thinkers. As a result of the growth of
industry, masses of people moved from countryside to city,
worked agonizingly long hours in crowded and dangerous
mines and factories, lost faith in their religions, con-
fronted faceless bureaucracies, and reacted to the filth and
poverty of their existence by means of strikes, crime, revo-
lutions, and wars. Scholars had never seen a sociological
Bettmann/Getty Images
laboratory like this. The Scientific Revolution suggested
that a science of society was possible. The Democratic
Revolution suggested that people could intervene to
improve society. The Industrial Revolution now presented
social thinkers with a host of pressing social problems
crying out for solution. They responded by giving birth to
the sociological imagination. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) was the first professor
of sociology in France and is considered to be the first
modern sociologist. In The Rules of Sociological Method
(1938 [1895]) and Suicide (1951 [1897]), he argued that
3
LO Founders human behaviour is shaped by “social facts,” or the social
context in which people are embedded. In Durkheim’s
view, social facts define the constraints and opportunities
ÉMILE DURKHEIM AND within which people must act. Durkheim was also keenly
interested in the conditions that promote social order in
FUNCTIONALISM “primitive” and modern societies, and he explored this
problem in depth in such works as The Division of Labor
É
in Society (1997 [1893]) and The Elementary Forms of the
mile Durkheim (1858–1917) is generally Religious Life (1976 [1915/1912]).
considered to be the first modern sociologist.
Durkheim argued that human behaviour is
influenced by “social facts” or the social rela-
tions in which people are embedded. He illustrated his with a low degree of soli-
argument in a famous study of suicide (Durkheim, 1951 darity—at least to a point Industrial Revolution
[1897]). Many scholars of the day believed that psycho- (see Figure 1.2 and Figure Beginning in Britain in the
1780s, a process of rapid
logical disorders cause suicide, but Durkheim’s analysis 1.3). For instance, mar-
economic transformation that
of European government statistics and hospital records ried people were half as
involved the large-scale applica-
demonstrated no correlation between rates of psycholog- likely as unmarried people
tion of science and technology to
ical disorder and suicide rates in different categories of were to commit suicide
industrial processes, the creation
the population. Instead, he found that suicide rates varied because marriage typically of factories, and the formation of
with different degrees of social solidarity in different pop- created social ties and a a working class.
ulation categories. (A rate is the number of times an event kind of moral cement that
happens in a given period per 100 000 members of the bound the individuals to social solidarity A property of
population.) society. Women were less social groups that increases with
According to Durkheim, the greater the degree to likely to commit suicide the degree to which a group’s
which a group’s members share beliefs and values, and than men were because members share beliefs and
the more frequently and intensely they interact, the more women were generally values, and the frequency and
intensity with which they interact.
social solidarity exists in the group. In turn, the higher more involved in the
the level of social solidarity, the more firmly anchored intimate social relations rate The number of times
individuals are to the social world and the less likely of family life. Jews were an event happens in a given
they are to commit suicide if adversity strikes. In other less likely to commit period per 100 000 members
words, Durkheim found that groups with a high degree suicide than Christians of the population.
of social solidarity had lower suicide rates than groups were because centuries of

Social structure. Functionalist theories
●
FIGURE 1.2 Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide stress that human behaviour is gov
erned by stable patterns of social
High relations, or social structures. The
Anomic and
egoistic suicide Altruistic suicide social relations that Durkheim
emphasized were patterns of social
solidarity. Functionalists are chiefly
Suicide rate
interested in macrostructures.
Social stability. Functionalist theo-
●
ries show how social structures

maintain or fail to maintain social
stability. For example, Durkheim
Low argued that high social solidarity
Low High
Social solidarity contributes to the maintenance
of social order. He also noted that
the growth of industries and cities
Durkheim’s theory of suicide states that the suicide rate declines and then rises during the Industrial Revolution
as social solidarity increases. Suicide in low-solidarity settings may be egoistic caused population movements, the
or anomic. Egoistic suicide results from the poor integration of people into erosion of religious beliefs, and
society because of weak social ties to others. Someone who is unemployed other rapid changes that lowered
and unmarried is thus more likely to commit suicide than is someone who is the level of social solidarity. For
employed and married. Anomic suicide occurs when vague norms govern Durkheim, rising suicide rates were
behaviour. The rate of anomic suicide is likely to be high among people living symptoms of these larger social ills.
in a society that lacks a widely shared code of morality. Durkheim called
Shared values. Functionalist theo-
●
suicides that occur in high-solidarity settings altruistic. Altruistic suicide
occurs when norms tightly govern behaviour. Soldiers who knowingly give up
ries emphasize that social structures
their lives to protect comrades commit altruistic suicide out of a deep sense of are based mainly on shared values.
patriotism and comradeship. For example, when Durkheim wrote
about social solidarity, he sometimes
Source: From BRYM/LIE. Sociology, 1E. © 2009 Nelson Education Ltd. Reproduced by permission. meant the frequency and intensity of
www.cengage.com/permissions.
social interaction, but more often he
thought of social solidarity as a kind
persecution had turned of moral cement that binds people
egoistic suicide The type of them into a group that was
suicide that results from a lack together.
more defensive and tightly Equilibrium. Functionalism suggests that re-estab-
of integration of the individual ●
knit. Elderly people were lishing equilibrium can best solve most social prob-
into society because of weak
more prone than young lems. For instance, Durkheim held that social
social ties to others.
and middle-aged people solidarity could be increased by creating new asso-
anomic suicide The type were to take their own ciations of employers and workers that would lower
of suicide that occurs when lives when faced with mis- workers’ expectations about what they should hope
norms governing behaviour fortune because they were for in life. If more people could agree on wanting
are vaguely defined. most likely to live alone, less, Durkheim wrote, social solidarity would rise and
altruistic suicide The type to have lost a spouse, and there would be lower suicide rates.
of suicide that occurs when to lack a job and a wide
norms govern behaviour so network of friends.
tightly that individual actions Durkheim’s argument TALCOTT PARSONS
is an early example of func
are often in the group interest.
functionalist theory
tionalist theory. Functionalist AND ROBERT MERTON
theory focuses on how By the 1930s, functionalism was popular in North
Focuses on how human behav-
human behaviour is gov- America and it remained so until the 1960s. Talcott
iour is governed by social struc-
erned by social structures Parsons (1902–79) was a leading proponent of func-
tures that are based mainly
on shared values and that
that are based mainly on tionalism. He argued that society is well integrated and
contribute to social stability. shared values and that con- in equilibrium when the family successfully raises new
tribute to social stability. generations, the military successfully defends society
In general, functionalism against external threats, schools are able to teach students
incorporates the following features: the skills and values they need to function as productive
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and they are here arranged in general conformity with the procedure
in succession.
I. Causation. The initial cause of a succession is the formation

or appearance of a new habitat, or the efficient change of an
existing one.
II. Reaction. Each stage reacts upon the habitat in such a way
as to produce physical conditions more or less unfavorable
to its permanence, but advantageous to the invaders of the
next stage.
III. Proximity and mobility.
(1) The pioneers of a succession are those species

nearest at hand that are the most mobile.
(2) The number of migrants from any formation
into a habitat varies inversely as the square of the
distance.
(3) The pioneer species are regularly derived from
different formations, as the latter nearly always
contain permobile species capable of effective
ecesis.
(4) The plants of the initial stages are normally
algae and fungi, with minute spores, composites,
and grasses, which possess permobile fruits, or
ruderal plants, on account of their great seed
production.
IV. Ecesis.
(1) All the migrants into a new, denuded, or greatly

modified habitat are sorted by ecesis into three
groups: (1) those that are unable to germinate or
grow, and soon die; (2) those that grow normally
under the conditions present; (3) those that pass
through one or more of the earlier stages in a
dormant state to appear at a later stage of the
succession.
(2) Wherever ruderal vegetation is present, it
contributes a large number of the pioneer species
of each succession, on account of the thorough
ecesis. In other regions this part is played by
subruderal native species.
(3) Annuals and biennials are characteristic of the
early stages of secondary successions, on account
of their great seed production and ready ecesis.
(4) In layered formations, heliophytes appear before
sciophytes; they ultimately yield to the latter,
except where they are able to maintain a position
in the primary layer.
(5) Excessive seed production and slight mobility
lead to the imperfect ecesis of individuals in dense
stands, and in consequence usually produce great
instability.
(6) Each pioneer produces about itself a tiny area of
ecesis and stabilization for its own offspring, for
the disseminules of its fellows, or of invaders.
(7) Species propagating by offshoots, or producing
relatively immobile disseminules in small
number, usually show effective ecesis, as the
offspring appear within the area of the reaction of
the parent forms.
V. Stabilization.
(1) Stabilization is the universal tendency of

vegetation.
(2) The ultimate stage of a succession is determined
by the dominant vegetation of the region. Lichen
formations are often ultimate in polar and niveal
zones; grassland is the final vegetation for plains
and alpine stretches, and for much prairie, while
forest is the last stage for mesophytic midlands
and lowlands, as well as for subalpine regions.
(3) Grassland or forest is the usual terminus of a
succession; they predominate in lands
physiographically mature.
(4) The limit of a succession is determined in large
part by the progressive increase in occupation,
which makes the entrance of invaders more and
more difficult.
(5) Stabilization proceeds radiately from the pioneer
plants or masses. The movement of offshoots is
away from the parent mass, and the chances of
ecesis are greatest near its edges, in a narrow area
in which the reaction is still felt, and the
occupation is not exclusive.
VI. General laws.
(1) The stages, or formations, of a succession are

distinguished as initial (prodophytia),
intermediate (ptenophytia), and ultimate
(aiphytia).
(2) Initial formations are open, ultimate formations
are closed.
(3) The number of species is small in the initial
stages; it attains a maximum in intermediate
stages; and again decreases in the ultimate
formation, on account of the dominance of a few
species.
(4) The normal sequence of vegetation forms in
succession is: (1) algae, fungi, mosses; (2) annuals
and biennials; (3) perennial herbs; (4) bushes and
shrubs; (5) trees.
(5) The number of species and of individuals in each
stage increases constantly up to a maximum, after
which it gradually decreases before the forms of
the next stage. The interval between two maxima
is occupied by a mixed formation.
(6) A secondary succession does not begin with the
initial stage of the primary one which it replaces,
but usually at a much later stage.
(7) At present, successions are generally mesotropic,
grassland and forest being the ultimate stages,
though many are xerostatic or hydrostatic. If
erosion continue until the sea level is reached, the
ultimate vegetation of the globe will be
hydrophytic. Should the heat of the sun decrease
greatly before this time, the last vegetation will be
xerophytic, i. e., crymophytic.
(8) The operation of succession was essentially the
same during the geological past as it is to-day.
From the nature of their vegetation forms, the
record deals largely with the ultimate stages of
such successions.
CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE
325. Basis. New or denuded habitats arise the world over by the
operation of the same or similar causes, and they are revegetated in
consequence of the same reactions. Similar habitats produce similar
successions. The vegetation forms and their sequence are usually
identical, and the genera are frequently the same, or corresponding
in regions not entirely unrelated. The species are derived from the
adjacent vegetation, and, except in alpine and coast regions, are
normally different. The primary groups of successions are
determined by essential identity of habitat or cause, e. g., aeolian
successions, erosion successions, burn successions, etc. When they
have been more generally investigated, it will be possible to
distinguish subordinate groups of successions, in which the degree of
relationship is indicated by the similarity of vegetation forms, the
number of common genera, etc. For example, burn successions in
the Ural and in the Rocky mountains show almost complete
similarity in the matter of vegetation forms and their sequence, and
have the majority of their genera in common. A natural classification
of successions will divide them first of all into normal and
anomalous. The former fall into two classes, primary and secondary,
and these are subdivided into a number of groups, based upon the
cause which initiates the succession.
Fig. 69. Aspen forest formation (Populus-hylium), the typical stage of burn
successions in the Rocky mountains; it is sometimes an anomalous stage in
primary successions, interpolated in place of the thicket formation.
326. Nomenclature. The need of short distinctive names of

international value for plant formations is obvious; it has become
imperative that successions also should be distinguished critically
and designated clearly. From the very nature of the case, it is
impossible to designate each formation or succession by a single
Greek or Latin term, as habitats of the same character will show in
different parts of the world a vegetation taxonomically very different.
It may some day be possible to use a binomial or trinomial for this
purpose, somewhat after the fashion of taxonomy, in which the
habitat name will represent the generic idea as applied to
formations, and a term drawn from the floristic impress the specific
idea. Such an attempt would be futile or valueless at the present
time; it could not possibly meet with success until there is more
uniformity in the concept of the formation, and until there has been
much accurate and thorough investigation of actual formations, a
task as yet barely begun. At present, it seems most feasible as well as
scientific to designate all formations occupying similar habitats by a
name drawn from the character of the latter, such as a meadow
formation, poium, a forest formation, hylium, a desert formation,
eremium, etc. A particular formation is best designated by using the
generic name of one or two of its most important species in
conjunction with its habitat term, as Spartina-Elymus-poium, Picea-
Pinus-hylium, Cereus-Yucca-eremium, etc. Apparently a somewhat
similar nomenclature is adapted to successions. The cause which
produces a new habitat may well furnish the basis for the name of
the general groups of successions, as pyrium (literally, a place or a
habitat burned over), a burn succession, tribium, an erosion
succession, etc. A burn succession consists of a sequence of certain
formations in one part of the world, and of a series of quite different
ones, floristically, in another. A particular burn succession should be
designated by using the names of a characteristic facies of the initial
and ultimate stages in connection with the general term, e. g.,
Bryum-Picea-pyrium, etc. A trinomial constructed in this way
represents the desirable mean between definition and brevity.
Greater definiteness is possible only at the expense of brevity, while
to shorten the name would entirely destroy its precision. The
following classification of successions is proposed, based upon the
plan outlined above. The termination -ium (εῖον) has been used
throughout in the construction of names for successions, largely for
reasons of euphony. If it should become desirable to distinguish the
names of formations and successions by the termination, the locative
suffix -on (-ών) should be used for the latter. The terms given below
would then be hypson, rhyson, hedon, sphyron, prochoson, pnoon,
pagon, tribon, clyson, repon, olisthon, xerasion, theron, broton,
pyron, ecballon, camnon, ocheton, ardon.
I. Normal successions: cyriodochae (κύριος, regular, δοχή, ἡ,
succession)
a. Primary successions: protodochae (πρῶτος, first,

primary)
1. By elevation: hypsium (ὔψος, το, height, elevation,
-εῖον, place)
2. By volcanic action: rhysium (ῥυσίς ἡ, flowing,
especially of fire)
3. In residuary soils: hedium (ἔδος, τό, a sitting base)
4. In colluvial soils: sphyrium (σφύρον, τό, ankle,
talus)
5. In alluvial soils: prochosium (πρόχωσις, ἡ, a
deposition of mud)
6. In aeolian soils: pnoium (πνοή, ἡ, blowing, blast)
7. In glacial soils: pagium (πάγος, ὁ, that which
becomes solid, i. e., a glacier)
b. Secondary successions: hepodochae (ἕπω, to
follow)
8. In eroded soils: tribium (τρίβω, wear or rub away)
9. In flooded soils: clysium (κλύσις, ὁ, a drenching,
flooding)
10. By subsidence: repium (ῥέπω, incline downwards,
sink)
11. In landslips: olisthium (ὄλισθος, ὁ, slip)
12. In drained and dried out soils: xerasium (ξηρασία,
ἡ, drought)
13. By animal agencies: therium (θήρ, ὁ, wild animal)
14. By human agency: brotium (βροτός, ὁ, a mortal)
a. Burns: pyrium (πῦρ, τό, fire)
b. Lumbering: ecballium (ἐκβάλλω, cut down
forests)
c. Cultivation: camnium (κάμνω, cultivate)
d. Drainage: ochetium (ὀχετός, ὁ, drain)
e. Irrigation: ardium (ἄρδω, irrigate)
II. Anomalous successions: xenodochae (ξένος, strange,

unusual)
327. Illustrations. The following series will illustrate the
application of this system of nomenclature to particular successions,
and their stages, or formations.
Thlaspi-Picea-sphyrium: pennycress-spruce talus succession

Thlaspi-Eriogonum-chalicium: pennycress-eriogonum gravel slide
formation
Elymus-Gilia-chalicium: wildrye-gilia half gravel slide formation
Quercus-Holodiscus-driodium: oak-fringewood dry thicket
formation
Pinus-xerohylium: pine dry forest formation
Picea-Pseudotsuga-hylium: spruce-balsam forest formation
Bryum-Picea-pyrium: moss-spruce burn succession
Bryum-telmatium: moss meadow formation
Aster-Chamaenerium-poium: aster-fireweed meadow formation
Deschampsia-Carex-poium: hairgrass-sedge meadow formation
Salix-Betula-helodrium: willow-birch meadow thicket formation
Populus-hylium: aspen forest formation
Picea-hylium: spruce forest formation
Lecanora-Carex-hedium: lichen-carex residuary succession
Lecanora-Gyrophora-petrium: crustose lichen rock formation
Parmelia-Cetraria-chalicium: foliose lichen gravel slide formation
Paronychia-Silene-chalicium: nailwort-campion gravel slide
formation
Carex-Campanula-coryphium: sedge-bluebell alpine meadow
formation
Eragrostis-Helianthus-xerasium: eragrostis-sunflower drainage
succession
Eragrostis-Polygonum-telmatium: eragrostis-heartsease wet
meadow formation
Helianthus-Ambrosia-chledium: sunflower-ragweed waste
formation
INVESTIGATION OF SUCCESSION
328. General rules. The study of succession must proceed along

two fundamental lines of inquiry: it is necessary to investigate
quantitatively the physical factors of the initial stages and the
reactions produced by the subsequent stages. This should be done by
automatic instruments for humidity, light, temperature, and wind, in
order that a continuous record may be obtained. Water-content is
taken daily or even less frequently, while soil properties, and
physiographic factors, altitude, slope, surface, and exposure are
determined once for all. It is equally needful to determine the
development and structure of each stage with particular reference to
the adjacent formations, to the stage that has just preceded, and the
one that is to follow. For this, the use of the permanent quadrat is
imperative, as the sequence and structure of the stages can be
understood only by a minute study of the shifting and rearrangement
of the individuals. Permanent migration circles are indispensable for
tracing movement away from the pioneer areas by which each stage
reaches its maximum. Denuded quadrats are a material aid in that
they furnish important evidence with respect to migration and ecesis,
By means of them, it is possible to determine the probable
development of stages which reach back a decade or more into the
past. In the examination of successions, since cause and effect are so
intimately connected in each reaction, it is especially important that
general and superficial observations upon structure and sequence be
replaced by precise records, and that vague conjectures as to causes
and reactions be supplanted by the accurate determination of the
physical factors which underlie them.
Fig. 70. Alternating gravel slides on Mounts Cameron and Palsgrove, from the
comparison of which the initial development of the talus succession has been
reconstructed.
329. Method of alternating stages. The period of time

through which a primary succession operates is usually too great to
make a complete study possible within a single lifetime. Secondary
successions run their course much more quickly, and a decade will
sometimes suffice for stabilization, though even here the period is
normally longer. The longest and most complex succession, however,
may be accurately studied in a region, where several examples of the
same succession occur in different stages of development. In the
same region, the physical factors of one example of a particular
succession are essentially identical with those of another example in
the same stage. If one is in an initial stage, and the other in an
intermediate condition, the development of the former makes it
possible to reestablish more or less completely the life history of the
latter. The same connection may be made between intermediate and
ultimate stages, and it is thus possible to determine with
considerable accuracy and within a few years the sequence of stages
in a succession that requires a century or more for its complete
development. In the Rocky mountains, gravel slides (talus slopes) are
remarkably frequent. They occur in all stages of development, and
the alternating slides of different ages furnish an almost perfect
record of this succession. This method lacks the absolute finality
which can be obtained by following a succession in one spot from its
inception to final stabilization, but it is alone feasible for long
successions, i. e., those extending over a score or more of years.
When it comes to be universally recognized as a plain duty for each
investigator to leave an exact and complete record in quadrat maps
and quadrat photographs of the stages studied by him, it will be a
simple task for the botanists of one generation to finish the
investigations of succession begun by their predecessors.
330. The relict method of studying succession is next in
importance to the method of alternating areas. The two in fact are
supplementary, and should be used together whenever relicts are
present. This method is based upon the law of successive maxima,
viz., the number of species and of individuals in each stage
constantly increases up to a certain maximum, after which it
gradually decreases before the forms of the next stage. In accordance
with this, secondary species usually disappear first, principal species
next, and facies last of all. There are notable exceptions to this,
however, and the safest plan is to use the relict method only when
principal species or facies are left as evidence. An additional reason
for this is that secondary species are more likely to be common to
two or more formations. In the majority of cases, the relict is not
modified, and is readily recognized as belonging properly to a
previous stage. This is true of herbs in all the stages of grassland, and
in the initial ones of forest succession. The herbs and shrubs of
earlier stages, which persist in the final forest stages, are necessarily
modified, often in such a degree as to become distinct ecads, or
species. The facies of the stages which precede the ultimate forest are
rarely modified. The application of the relict method, together with
the modification just described, is nicely illustrated by the balsam-
spruce formation at Minnehaha. Of the initial gravel slide stage, the
relicts are Vagnera stellata and Galium boreale, the one modified
into Vagnera leptopetala, and the other into G. boreale hylocolum.
The thicket stage is represented by Holodiscus dumosa, greatly
changed in form and branching, and in the shape and structure of
the leaf. The most striking relict of the aspen formation is the facies
itself, Populus tremuloides. The tall slender trunks of dead aspens
are found in practically every balsam-spruce forest. In many places,
living trees are still found, with small, straggling crowns, which are
vainly trying to outgrow the surrounding conifers. Of the aspen
undergrowth, Rosa sayii, Helianthella parryi, Frasera speciosa,
Zygadenus elegans, Castilleia confusa, Gentiana acuta, and
Solidago orophila remain more or less modified by the diffuse light.
It is still a question whether the aspen stage passes directly into the
balsam-spruce forest, or whether a pine forest intervenes. The
presence of both Pinus ponderosa and P. flexilis, which are scattered
more or less uniformly through the formation, furnishes strong
evidence for the latter view.
Fig. 71. Relict spruces and aspens, showing the character of the succession
immediately preceding the burn succession now developing.
The lifetime of forest and thicket stages of successions is

ascertained by counting the annual rings of the stumps of facies. This
is a perfectly feasible method for many woodland formations where
stumps already abound or where a fire has occurred, and it is but
rarely necessary to cut down trees for this purpose. When trees or
shrubs are present as relicts, the same method is used to determine
the length of time taken by the development of the corresponding
stages.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE FORMATION
331. Since all the structures exhibited by formations, such as
zones, layers, consocies, etc., are to be referred to zonation or
alternation, these principles are first considered in detail. This, then,
constitutes the basis for a consideration of the structure of a normal
formation, with special reference to the different parts that compose
it. The investigation of formational structure, since the latter is the
result of aggregation, invasion, and succession, is accomplished by
instruments, quadrats, etc., in the manner already indicated under
development, and no further discussion of it is necessary here.
ZONATION
332. Concept. The recognition of vegetation zones dates from
Tournefort[40], who found that, while the plants of Armenia occupied
the foot of Mount Ararat, the vegetation of the slopes above
contained many species of southern Europe. Still higher appeared a
flora similar to that of Sweden, and on the summit grew arctic plants,
such as those of Lapland.
As the historical summary shows, the concept of zonation is the
oldest in phytogeography. Notwithstanding this, it has never been
clearly defined, nor has there been any detailed investigation of the
phenomenon itself, or of the causes which produce it. Zones are so
common, and often so clearly marked, that they invite study, but no
serious attempt has heretofore been made to analyze zonation, or to
formulate a definite method of investigating it. Zonation is the
practically universal response of plants to the quantitative
distribution of physical factors in nature. In almost all habitats, one
or more of the physical factors present decreases gradually in passing
away from the point of greatest intensity. The result is that the plants
of the habitat arrange themselves in belts about this point, their
position being determined by their relation to the factor concerned.
Close investigation will show that there is hardly a formation that is
entirely without zonation, though in many cases the zones are
incomplete or obscure for various reasons. Zonation is as
characteristic of vegetation as a whole as it is of its unit, the
formation, a fact long ago recognized in temperature zones. A
continental climate, however, often results in the interruption of
these, with the consequence that these belts of vegetation are not
always continuous.
CAUSES OF ZONATION
333. Growth. The causes that produce zones are either biological
or physical: the first have to do with some characteristic of the plant,
the second with the physical features of the habitat. Biological causes
arise from the method of growth, from the manner of dissemination,
or from the reaction of the species upon the habitat. The formation of
circles as a result of radial growth is a well-known occurrence with
certain plants, but it is much more common than is supposed. In the
case of agarics, this phenomenon has long been known under the
name of “fairy-rings.” It is found in a large number of moulds, and is
characteristic of early stages of the mycelium of the powdery
mildews. It occurs in nearly all maculicole fungi, and is exhibited by
certain xylogenous fungi, such as Hysterographium. Among the
foliose lichens, it is a common occurrence with the rock forms of
Parmelia, Placodium, Physcia, and Lecanora, and with the earth
forms of Parmelia and Peltigera. The thalloid liverworts show a
similar radial growth. The flowering plants, and many mosses also,
furnish good examples of this sort of growth in those species which
simulate the form of the mycelium or thallus. These are the species
that form mats, turfs, or carpets. Alpine mat formers, such as Silene
acaulis, Paronychia pulvinata, Arenaria sajanesis, etc., are typical
examples. Xerophytic, turf-forming species of Muhlenbergia,
Sporobolus, Bouteloua, Festuca, Poa, and other grasses form
striking ring-like mats, while creeping species of Euphorbia,
Portulaca, Amarantus, etc., produce circular areas. Rosettes, bunch-
grasses, and many ordinary rootstalk plants spread rapidly by
runners and rhizomes. The direction of growth is often
indeterminate in these also, and is in consequence more or less
bilateral or unilateral. Growth results in zonation only when the
older central portions of the individual or mass die away, leaving an
ever-widening belt of younger plants or parts. This phenomenon is
doubtless due in part to the greater age of the central portion, but
seems to arise chiefly from the demands made by the young and
actively growing parts upon the water of the soil. There may possibly
be an exhaustion of nutritive content, as in the case of the fungi, but
this seems improbable for the reason that young plants of the same
and other species thrive in these areas. It must not be inferred that
these miniature growth zones increase in size until they pass into
zones of formations. Growth contributes its share to the production
of these, but there is no genetic connection between a tiny plant zone
and a zone of vegetation.
Radial and bilateral growth play an important part in formational
zones in so far as they are related to migration. The growth of the
runner or rhizome itself is a very effective means of dissemination,
while the seeding of the plants thus carried away from the central
mass is most effective at the edge of the newly occupied area. This
holds with equal force for plants with a mycelium or a thallus. The
circular area becomes larger year by year. Sooner or later, the
younger, more vigorous, and more completely occupied
circumference passes into a more or less complete zone. This will
result from the reaction of the central individuals upon the habitat,
so that they are readily displaced by invaders, or from their
increasing senility and dying out, or from the invasion of forms
which seed more abundantly and successfully. This result will only
be the more marked if the radiating migrants reach a belt of ground
especially favorable to their ecesis. In this connection it must be
carefully noted that vegetation pressure, before which weaker plants
are generally supposed to flee, or by which they are thought to be
forced out into less desirable situations, is little more than a fanciful
term for radial growth and migration. It has been shown under
invasion that disseminules move into vegetation masses, as well as
away from them, the outward movement alone being conspicuous,
because it is only at the margin and beyond that they find the
necessary water and light for growth.
334. Reactions. Certain reactions of plants upon habitats
produce zonation. The zones of fungi are doubtless caused by the
exhaustion of the organic matter present, while in lichens and
mosses the decrease in nutritive content has something to do with
the disappearance of the central mass. In the mats of flowering
plants, the connection is much less certain. The reaction of a forest
or thicket, or even of a tall herbaceous layer, is an extremely
important factor in the production of zonation. The factor chiefly
concerned here is light. Its intensity is greatest at the edge of the
formation and just below the primary layer; the light becomes
increasingly diffuse toward the center of the forest, and toward the
ground. In response to this, both lateral and vertical zones appear.
The former are more or less incomplete, and are only in part due to
differences in illumination. The vertical zones or layers are
characteristic of forest and thickets, and are caused directly by
differences in light intensity.
Fig. 72. Zones of Cyperus erythrorrhizus produced by the recession of the shore-
line.
335. Physical factors. The physical causes of zonation are by far

the most important. They arise from differences in temperature,
water, and light. In the large, temperature differences are the most
important, producing the great zones of vegetation. In a particular
region or habitat, variations of water-content and humidity are
controlling, while light, as shown above, is important in the reactions
of forest and thicket. Physical factors produce zonation in a habitat
or a series of habitats, when there is either a gradual and cumulative,
or an abrupt change in their intensity. Gradual, slight changes are
typical of single habitats; abrupt, marked changes of a series of
habitats. This modification of a decisive factor tends to operate in all
directions from the place of greatest intensity, producing a
characteristic symmetry of the habitat with reference to the factor
concerned. If the area of greatest amount is linear, the shading-out
will take place in two directions, and the symmetry will be bilateral, a
condition well illustrated by rivers. On the other hand, a central
intense area will shade out in all directions, giving rise to radial
symmetry, as in ponds, lakes, etc. The essential connection between
these is evident where a stream broadens into a lake, or the latter is
the source of a stream, where a mountain ridge breaks up into
isolated peaks, or where a peninsula or landspit is cut into islands.
The line that connects the points of accumulated or abrupt change in
the symmetry is a stress line or ecotone. Ecotones are well-marked
between formations, particularly where the medium changes; they
are less distinct within formations. It is obvious that an ecotone
separates two different series of zones in the one case, and merely
two distinct zones in the other.
Fig. 73. Regional zones on a spur of Pike’s Peak (3,800 m.); the forest consists of
Picea engelmannii and Pinus aristata, the forewold is Salix pseudolapponum, and
the grassland, alpine meadow (Carex-Campanula-coryphium).
336. Physiographic symmetry. The physical symmetry of a

habitat depends upon the distribution of water in it, and this is
profoundly affected by the soil and the physiography. The influence
of precipitation is slight or lacking, as it is nearly uniform throughout
the habitat; the effects of wind and humidity are more localized.
Differences of soil rarely obtain within a single habitat, though often
occurring in a zoned series. The strikingly zonal structure or
arrangement of habitats is nearly always due to differences in water-
content produced by physiographic factors, slope, exposure, surface,
and altitude. The effect of these upon water-content and humidity is
obvious. Wherever appreciable physiographic differences occur,
there will be central areas of excess and deficiency in water-content,
between which there is a symmetrical modification of this factor.
Peaks are typical examples of areas of deficiency, lakes and oceans of

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Culture as Problem Solving 27

The Origins and Components of

A Conflict Analysis of Culture: The Rights

Abstraction: Creating Symbols 28 From Diversity to Globalization 38

NEL CONTENTS vii

Social Stratification: Shipwrecks Social Mobility 124

and Inequality 111

Politics and the Perception of Class

Patterns of Social Inequality 112 Inequality 126

viii CONTENTS NEL

Gender and Transgender 158 Homosexuality 167

The Social Learning of Gender 158 Gender Inequality 170

Gender Theories 158 The Earnings Gap 170

Functionalism and Essentialism 159

Gender Socialization 161 Child Care 177

Religion 205 Religiosity 220

The Future of Religion 221

Classical Approaches in the Sociology

of Religion 206 Education 221

Durkheim’s Functionalist Theory 206

Macrosociological Processes 222

Religion, Feminist Theory, and Conflict Theory 207

The Functions of Education 222

What Are the Mass Media? 250 Access 262

xii CONTENTS NEL

OBJECTIVES ‘practical’ courses that might prepare me for a law degree

NEL CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology 3

4 CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology NEL

Sociology sector. A minority supported Bernie Sanders, the

said that, as president, he would deport 12 million

NEL CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology 5

Sociology a madman who rapes, beats, whips, demeans, and psy-

6 CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology NEL

An important step in broadening your sociological Personal problems are

NEL CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology 7

The Democratic Revolution

ment, thereby suggesting entirely new way.

8 CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology NEL

The Industrial Revolution

NEL CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology 9

ries show how social structures

10 CHAPTER 1 Introducing Sociology NEL

I. Causation. The initial cause of a succession is the formation

(1) The pioneers of a succession are those species

(1) All the migrants into a new, denuded, or greatly

(1) Stabilization is the universal tendency of

VI. General laws.

(1) The stages, or formations, of a succession are

CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE

326. Nomenclature. The need of short distinctive names of

a. Primary successions: protodochae (πρῶτος, first,

II. Anomalous successions: xenodochae (ξένος, strange,