Post on 14-Dec-2015
transcript
Pre-Modernity, Modernity and Post-Modernity
Sociology 110A
Human Societies
Professor Dalton Conley
Yale University
What Does it Mean to Be Premodern versus Modern?
The views of two classic social thinkers. . .
(we’ll save Marx and Durkheim for another day)
ala Simmel:
• Very embedded social ties – everyone knows everyone
in my tribe
• Affiliations are concentric:– Everyone in my family
lives in the same village
– Everyone in my region has the same religion
• Less embedded social ties– Anonymity is possible in
the city
• Affiliations are overlapping– I am the unique
intersection of my family, religion, nationality, etc.
– The birth of the individual
Me, Myself and I
Family of 4
Hungarian
Ethnicity
U.S.... Citizen
Yale Student
Muslim
AMA
Modern Society: Overlapping, Voluntary Affiliations
ala Weber
• Premodern Societies:– The basis of legitimacy
is charismatic or traditional authority
• Modern Societies:– The basis of legitimacy
is legal-rational authority
The Coming of Modernity:Protestant Reformation
Before: Church’s Prohibition of Uneven Exchange -- Making Money from Money No uneven exchange; No usury (interest)
M1 I M2Ix Iy Ix M Iy
Morally Acceptable Morally Unacceptable
After: Calvinism, predestination; insecurity regarding not being one of the chosen; proving it to oneself through wealth accumulation, a sign from God.
ala White
• Premodern Literature– Endings are fixed
• one story line
– Means are flexible:• magic
• miracle
• Modern Narrative– Means are fixed
• logic
• scientific rules
• cause - effect
– Ends are flexible• uncertainty re: future
• rise of statistics
• stochastic world view– probabilistic thinking
Ala Lash and Urry:
• Narrative of Progress Breaks Down• Green Movement
• Multiculturalism (Canon is seen as only one view)
• Ideological Battles are finished (i.e. Cold War)
• History is over
• Pastiche Replaces Narrative• Rap / Sampling
• Retro Fashion
• California Cuisine
Postmodernity (Cont’d)
• Narrative of Progress Breaks Down• Green Movement• Multiculturalism (Canon is seen as only one view)• Grand Ideological Battles are finished (i.e. Cold War)• History is Over
• Pastiche Replaces Narrative• Rap / Sampling• Retro Fashion • California Cuisine
Hungarian
Ethnicity
U.S.... Citizen
Yale Student
AMA
Postmodern Society: Paradoxical, De-centered Affiliations; No Self Step Family
French Citizen
Muslim
Jewish
Biological Family
Collective Behavior and Social Movements
Human Societies
Sociology 110A
Yale University
Dalton Conley, Instructor
What is collective action?• Takes place in a group
– crowd or mass
• Is unusual -- differs from social norms of the situation – self-flagellation would qualify here, but not in Iran– Speaking in tongues would qualify in a Lutheran church, but
not in a Pentecostal one
• Is not institutionalized – Cult does not qualify
Crowd versus Mass
• Crowd– Physical Proximity
– Face-to-Face Interaction
– Soc 110a Crowd?• Non-ritualized behavior
• Scream “fire”
• Riot
• Mass– Collective Identity
– Spread Out
– Attend to a shared symbol / object
– Soc 110a Mass?• Letter writing campaign
• Email gossip network
Source: Lofland (1981)
Mood:Setting:
Positive Negative
Crowd
Charging the Field
Stampede for Dollars
Mass Exodus (Fire!)
Race Riot
Mass
Bell Bottoms Fad
Stock Market Bull Run
Red M & M s Scare
Cross Burnings
Collective Action Theory I: Convergence
• When does group behavior precipitate?– Certain crowd contexts attract certain types of people
• Political Rally Against Vietnam
• Crowd that greets Michael Jackon
• Critique:– Group reduces to the sum of its parts
• If only rioters went to English soccer games, why is there not always a melee?
• Mood changes?
Collective Action Theory II: Contagion
•Collective behavior like viral epidemic–Each person imitates the behavior of the person next to them (crowd) or in their reference group (mass)
•Sense of anonymity–Feeling of power otherwise absent
–Rushing a Police Barricade
•Groups become suggestible–Prone to “hypnotic” states induced by charismatic leaders
Contagion Theory: Critique
• Analogy to biology– (~1900, Gustave Le Bon)
• Treats individuals as mindless, choiceless
• Diffusion of responsibility (Modern Alternative ala Simmel)– Can justify our actions with reference to others– Can blame group force over us– Can interpret events in own favor (only helped)
Collective Action Theory III: Emergent-Norms
• The effect of “leaders”– The norms of a few become the norms of the
many• Gossip
• Panic
– Situationally dependent (Cue sensitive)• One or two soldiers running backwards
– Situation gets defined as slaughter, defeat, panic
What is a Social Movement?
• Organized collective behavior
• Purposeful collective behavior
• May originate as collective behavior that become institutionalized
• Is not ritualized
Extent:Target:
Limited Change Radical Rebirth
Specific Groups
Alternative
(MADD)
Redemptive
(Betty Ford Clinic)
Society
Reformative
(Hippies)
Revolutionary
(Kmer Rouge)
Social Movement Typology
Social Movement Life Stages• Emergence (consciousness about a problem)
– Discontent • New “Cancer” among Gay Men
• Coalescence (social action and resource mobilization)– Rallying behind charismatic leaders
• March on Washington
• Bureaucratization (routinization)– Becomes established political force
• GMHC
• Hippies? Hell’s Angels?
Social Movement Decline
• Exhaustion of resources– Money, energy, enthusiasm
– United Way
– Coalition for the homeless
• Internal Conflict– Different goals
– Italian Communist party
– Different personalities– Nation of Islam