Wednesday, January 20th, 1999
Announcements:

• TA Brandon’s office hours are Friday for 1 hour directly following class at 214 Oswald Towers
• Do not send the Professor an email. Talk to her before or after class or stop by during her office hours if you have any questions. You may email the TA’s.

1. Herbert Spencer: 19^th century British sociologist.

1. Studied Social Statics (forces which hold society together) and Social Dynamics (forces which changed society).
2. Was a functionalist – looks at society as a human body; all parts are inter-related.
3. Social Darwinism – borrowed from Darwin’s theory of evolution. The human psyche goes through natural changes. Involved two key ideas for the progress of society.

1. Natural Selection (competition)
2. Survival of the Fittest – example: in American society the affluent, politicians, and people who invented all the new technology are led by the strongest minds.

1. Against government intervention into natural selection of people – he says it will disturb the natural process. The government is likely to favor misfits. People who are fit survive the capitalist system.

1. Karl Marx (1818-1883

1. Every society has a class conflict between the Bourgeoisie (people who own the means of production) and the Proletariats (the workers). Example: In the U.S., the bourgeoisie would be the capitalists, the proletariats would be the common workers.

1. Unequal distribution of resources and rewards leads to tension, conflict, and competition
2. Social changes result in fights between those that "have" and those that "have-not". The "have-nots" demand the same access to the societal resources that those who "have" receive.
3. Example: The U.S. in the 1960’s. The Civil Rights movement and the Women’s movement.

1. Marx was against anyone owning private property. He claims people get enormously wealthy and it is the basis for inequality and poverty. It is a great social evil.
2. Economic Determinism – all societal arrangements determined by economic class.

1. The economy is the foundation of all ideas and values and social institutions.
2. Examples of institutions: Penn State University wants to give a good education so they can make a huge profit. Tele-evangelists preach a sermon so people will donate large amounts of cash.
3. Examples of ideas and values: The economic ideology of capitalism is built around making large sums of money. Values are determined by capitalist thinking as well. The Clinton Sex Scandal – nobody cares about it because the economy is booming.
4. Political Cartoon of Bill Clinton showing a chart of the booming economy and a man asleep with the impeachment trial on TV. The economy determines everything – how institutions run, what ideas people have, and what values they possess.
5. People who own the means of production have all the power in society.

1. Dialectic Materialism – All societal changes have three stages.

1. Thesis – the status quo
2. Antithesis – the challenge to the status quo
3. Synthesis – the product of negotiation between thesis and antithesis.
4. Example: Civil Rights Movement. Thesis: Blacks are inferior human beings and deserve to be treated that way in America. Antithesis: Power Black leaders like Martin Luther King challenge the thesis and demand the same rights as everyone else. Synthesis: the Civil Rights Movement takes place and new laws are passed.
5. Example: Thesis: University tuition is too high. Antithesis: Students start a demonstration. Synthesis: The University and students make a compromise.
6. The synthesis then becomes the thesis.

1. Ruling Ideas – carried about by the ruling class (people in power). Example – University – Trustees are the ruling class.

1. Emile Durkheim: (1858-1917)

1. Suicide and Social integration: he analyzed suicide rates and found that social integration, bonding with other people leads to happiness and well-being and a low suicide rate
2. Social Facts: legal and moral rules of society including religious beliefs, pattern behavior, etc.

1. Material – major institutions – family, religion, something tangible.
2. Non-material – morals, values, ideas
3. Example: Crime is a social fact and it is connected with poverty. Alcohol abuse at Penn State is a social fact related to peer pressure (which is a regular pattern of behavior.

1. Mechanical and Organic Solidarity – Societies change from mechanical to organic.

1. Mechanical – life in small villages, small communities where people are closely knit together and care about one another.
2. Changes to Organic – Life in urban areas. Social bonds are based on specialization. Example: Penn State University – students bond based on different specialization’s in study.