Sociology

These are all the theories that I learned about in term 1!

Sociological Imagination

Definition: awareness of sociological live/human relations; understanding bigger picture; helps to understand personal and social problems from several perspectives.

Concepts of Sociological Imagination

Social Construction

Objects that are characterized with similar ideas. This idea is maintained over time by people assumption for granted.

Social Order

People follow existed norms and rules. These norms are influenced by the process of socialisation.

Agency and Structure

The lives of individuals are not just determined by their roles or backgrounds but also their "personal" determination.

Social Change

The history of society are not preordained by a divine power, but rather are constructed and influenced by individuals.

Important question: Do animal societies exhibit social order in a way that is comparable to human societies?

Symbolic Interactionism

Definition: symbol - something stands for something else. This theory emphasises the role of symbols and language as core elements of human interaction

Functionalism

Definition: to study function of a social activity is to analyse the contribution to the continuation of the society as a whole.

Manifest function: social activities that are known for and intended to

Latent fucntion: activities that are not intended or regconised.

Marxism

Definition: the acknowledgement of class division in the society. Marxism leans toward equality and tries to annihilate power division.

Feminist and Feminism

Definition: work to ovecome gender inequalities and advocacy of the rights of women to be equal with men.

Postmodernism

Definition: focuses on individual experiences and rejects the idea of universal truth or rules. Moreover, electronic media play a major role in constructing social reality (Preda, 2001).

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