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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Introduces both classical and contemporary sociological theory in a single comprehensive volume
Introduction to Sociological Theory helps undergraduate and graduate students appreciate the diverse perspectives found in sociological analysis, apply theoretical concepts to contemporary issues, and think analytically about everyday occurrences beyond the classroom. Covering a diverse range of theorists and conceptual frameworks, this easily accessible textbook integrates carefully selected primary quotations, extensive discussion of key topics, and a wealth of illustrative empirical examples from around the world.
The updated fourth edition of Introduction to Sociological Theory provides new contemporary examples, new discussion of current events, and new material demonstrating the relevance and practical application of sociological concepts in daily life. An entirely new section on posthumanism is accompanied by timely coverage of climate change, COVID-19, social media, post-truth society, the gig economy, ChatGPT, intersectionality, economic and racial inequality, and more.
Written in a lively and engaging style, Introduction to Sociological Theory:
- Illustrates the relevance and real-world application of various sociological concepts and analytical ideas
- Offers detailed discussion of concepts and ideas found in excerpts from original theoretical writings
- Helps students apply theoretical concepts to sociological topics such as globalization, inequality, crime, race and gender, political sociology, sexuality, culture, and religion
- Contains timelines of significant events, analytical photos, chapter glossaries, end-of-chapter review questions, full references, and mini-biographies of important figures
- Includes access to a companion website with multiple-choice and essay questions, PowerPoint slides, complementary primary readings, a quotation bank, and other background materials
Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century, Fourth Edition, remains an ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses on contemporary and classical sociological theory, as well as an excellent supplement for related courses across the social sciences.
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Table of Contents
COVER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT PAGE
LIST OF BOXED FEATURES
TIMELINES
CONCEPTUAL BOXES
CONTEMPORARY TOPICAL APPLICATIONS
LIST OF ANALYTICAL PHOTOS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE
INTRODUCTION SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: A VIBRANT, LIVING TRADITION
ANALYZING EVERYDAY SOCIAL LIFE: STARBUCKS
SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE: AUGUSTE COMTE AND HARRIET MARTINEAU
SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND CONTEXTUAL STANDPOINTS: DU BOIS, DE TOCQUEVILLE, AND MARTINEAU
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTE
CHAPTER ONE: KARL MARX (1818–1883)
EXPANSION OF CAPITALISM
CAPITALISM AS STRUCTURED INEQUALITY
MARX'S THEORY OF HISTORY
DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM
COMMUNISM
THE MILLENNIUM'S GREATEST THINKER
HUMAN NATURE
MATERIAL AND SOCIAL EXISTENCE INTERTWINED
CAPITALISM AS A DISTINCTIVE SOCIAL FORM
THE DIVISION OF LABOR AND ALIENATION
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY
IDEOLOGY AND POWER
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTES
CHAPTER TWO: EMILE DURKHEIM (1858–1917)
DURKHEIM'S METHODOLOGICAL RULES
THE NATURE OF SOCIETY
SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIAL COHESION
TRADITIONAL SOCIETY
MODERN SOCIETY
SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF SUICIDE
RELIGION AND THE SACRED
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTES
CHAPTER THREE: MAX WEBER (1864–1920)
SOCIOLOGY: UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL ACTION
CULTURE AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
IDEAL TYPES
SOCIAL ACTION
POWER, AUTHORITY, AND DOMINATION
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
MODERNITY AND COMPETING VALUES
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTES
CHAPTER FOUR: AMERICAN CLASSICS: THE CHICAGO SCHOOL, TALCOTT PARSONS, AND ROBERT MERTON
THE CHICAGO SCHOOL OF SOCIOLOGY
TALCOTT PARSONS
THE SOCIAL SYSTEM
SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIETAL INTEGRATION
SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE SECULARIZATION OF PROTESTANTISM
PATTERN VARIABLES
MODERNIZATION THEORY
STRATIFICATION AND INEQUALITY
ROBERT MERTON
NEOFUNCTIONALISM
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY: CHICAGO SCHOOL
GLOSSARY: PARSONS
GLOSSARY: MERTON
GLOSSARY: LUHMANN
GLOSSARY: ALEXANDER
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTE
CHAPTER FIVE: CRITICAL THEORY: TECHNOLOGY, CULTURE, AND POLITICS
THE SOCIETAL CRITIQUE OF HORKHEIMER, ADORNO, AND MARCUSE
DIALECTIC OF ENLIGHTENMENT
MASS CULTURE AND CONSUMPTION
POLITICS: UNIFORMITY AND CONTROL
JÜRGEN HABERMAS: THE STATE AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
CHAPTER SIX: CONFLICT, POWER, AND DEPENDENCY IN MACRO‐SOCIETAL PROCESSES
RALF DAHRENDORF'S THEORY OF GROUP CONFLICT
C. WRIGHT MILLS: CLASS AND POWER
DEPENDENCY THEORY: GUNDER FRANK'S AND CARDOSO'S NEO‐MARXIST CRITIQUES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
CHAPTER SEVEN: EXCHANGE, EXCHANGE NETWORK, AND RATIONAL CHOICE THEORIES
EXCHANGE THEORY: GEORGE HOMANS AND PETER BLAU
EXCHANGE NETWORK THEORY: RICHARD EMERSON, KAREN COOK, MARK GRANOVETTER
RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY (RCT) AND ITS CRITIQUE: JAMES COLEMAN, GARY BECKER, PAULA ENGLAND
ANALYTICAL MARXISM
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY: EXCHANGE THEORY
GLOSSARY: EXCHANGE NETWORK THEORY
GLOSSARY: RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
GLOSSARY: ANALYTICAL MARXISM
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTE
CHAPTER EIGHT: SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF THROUGH SOCIAL INTERACTION: G. H. MEAD AND C. H. COOLEY
THE PREMISES OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM: HERBERT BLUMER
ERVING GOFFMAN: SOCIETY AS RITUALIZED SOCIAL INTERACTION
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM AND ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTE
CHAPTER NINE: PHENOMENOLOGY AND ETHNOMETHODOLOGY
PHENOMENOLOGY: ALFRED SCHUTZ, PETER BERGER, AND THOMAS LUCKMANN
ETHNOMETHODOLOGY: HAROLD GARFINKEL
GENDER AS AN ACCOMPLISHED REALITY: CANDACE WEST AND DON ZIMMERMAN
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY: PHENOMENOLOGY
GLOSSARY: ETHNOMETHODOLOGY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
CHAPTER TEN: FEMINIST THEORIES
CONSCIOUSNESS OF WOMEN'S INEQUALITY: CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN
STANDPOINT THEORY: DOROTHY SMITH AND THE RELATIONS OF RULING
MASCULINITIES: R. W. CONNELL
PATRICIA HILL COLLINS: BLACK WOMEN'S STANDPOINT
SOCIOLOGY OF EMOTION
ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: EMOTIONAL LABOR
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTES
CHAPTER ELEVEN: SEX, BODIES, TRUTH, POWER:
MICHEL FOUCAULT, STEVEN SEIDMAN, AND QUEER THEORY
DISCIPLINING THE BODY
SEX AND QUEER THEORY
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
CHAPTER TWELVE: POSTCOLONIAL THEORIES AND RACE
THE COLOR LINE
SLAVERY AND RACIAL OTHERNESS: EDWARD SAID, FRANTZ FANON
COLONIALISM: THE CREATION OF OTHERNESS
THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF OTHERNESS
NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF COLONIALISM: R. W. CONNELL
SOUTHERN THEORY
RACE AND RACISM
CULTURAL HISTORIES AND POSTCOLONIAL IDENTITIES: STUART HALL
CONSTRUING WHITENESS
RACE AND CLASS: WILLIAM J. WILSON, CORNELL WEST
SCARRING OF BLACK AMERICA
RACIAL POLITICS AND DEMOCRACY
CULTURE AND THE NEW RACISM: PAUL GILROY
NEW RACISM
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: PIERRE BOURDIEU: CLASS, CULTURE, AND THE SOCIAL REPRODUCTION OF INEQUALITY
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
FAMILY AND SCHOOL IN THE PRODUCTION OF CULTURAL CAPITAL
TASTE AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL GLOBALIZATION: WALLERSTEIN, SKLAIR, GIDDENS, SASSEN, BAUMAN, CASTELLS
WHAT IS GLOBALIZATION?
ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION
IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN: THE MODERN WORLD‐SYSTEM
CONTEMPORARY GLOBALIZING ECONOMIC PROCESSES
GLOBALIZING POLITICAL PROCESSES: THE CHANGING AUTHORITY OF THE NATION‐STATE
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY: WALLERSTEIN
GLOSSARY: OTHER RELEVANT CONCEPTS
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
NOTES
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: MODERNITIES, RISK, COSMOPOLITANISM, AND POSTHUMANISM
JÜRGEN HABERMAS: CONTRITE MODERNITY
S.N. EISENSTADT: MULTIPLE MODERNITIES
ULRICH BECK: GLOBAL RISK SOCIETY
ANTHONY GIDDENS: DILEMMAS OF THE SELF AMIDST UNCERTAINTY
COSMOPOLITAN MODERNITY
THE GLOBAL EXPANSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
POSTHUMANISM
SUMMARY
POINTS TO REMEMBER
GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
REFERENCES
GLOSSARY
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORISTS AND SELECT KEY WRITINGS
INDEX
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Figure I.1 Though a source and advocate of community, Starbucks also exempli...
Figure I.2 With social progress comes a preoccupation with creating and main...
Figure I.3 Sociology is science, and its evidence‐based analysis is critical...
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, is an...
Figure 1.2 Financial crises and evidence of economic inequality motivated th...
Figure 1.3 Love of Taylor Swift and for her Eras Tour in 2023 was a major dr...
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 Small towns and rural communities have different characteristics,...
Figure 2.2 Rules (and rule‐breakers) are created by society. Rules constrain...
Figure 2.3 Hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters create socia...
Figure 2.4 Sports arenas such as Yankee Stadium, home to the New York Yankee...
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II: Traditions and symbols o...
Figure 3.2 In modern society, even those not working in bureaucratic organiz...
Figure 3.3 Success in sports garners social prestige and economic rewards; i...
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 Institutional differentiation and specialization characterize mod...
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Technology companies are among the world's most recognizable and ...
Figure 5.2 Smartphones allow us to keep track of our own and others' movemen...
Figure 5.3 Customers wait patiently in line to buy the latest iPhone, even t...
Figure 5.4 Contemporary commodified culture nurtures a sameness or homogeniz...
Figure 5.5 In Las Vegas, newly built, lavish replicas of unique world‐famous...
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 Conflict and protest are a normal part of democratic society.
Figure 6.2 Although changes have occurred in recent years in the gender comp...
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 In love and other social exchange relationships, when we give we ...
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Prince William and Princess Kate perform ritualized work and fami...
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1 Coming home means negotiating the transition from one here‐and‐no...
Figure 9.2 Doing gender has become more complicated, perhaps, even as its pr...
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1
Barbie
, the movie, offers a gently critical, ironic view of Barb...
Figure 10.2 Despite advances in women's equality with men, women and men are...
Figure 10.3 Theresa May and Nicole Sturgeon: Despite their achievements, wom...
Figure 10.4 Internationally renowned American artist Simone Leigh's monument...
Chapter 11
Figure 11.1 The disciplined body. Church, state, advertisements, social medi...
Figure 11.2 The legalization of same‐sex marriage in many countries reflects...
Figure 11.3 Influential music icon David Bowie's self‐presentation disrupted...
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1 Nadiya Hussein, whose classic British cake bedecked with a Union...
Figure 12.2 Black Lives Matter (BLM) marches and public memorials and sculpt...
Figure 12.3 Drawing on the lived experience of economic and racial inequalit...
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1 What looks good, smells good, and tastes good is conditioned by ...
Chapter 14
Figure 14.1 Coca‐Cola – a quintessentially American brand – is among the wor...
Figure 14.2 The expansion of financial capitalism is reflected in the promin...
Figure 14.3 Despite the success of the European Union in building a more int...
Chapter 15
Figure 15.1 Though it's a good habit, recycling alone won't solve humanity's...
Figure 15.2 Although the manifestations of modernity vary across the world, ...
Figure 15.3 The ideal for many Asian women is a Western/Caucasian face, a st...
Figure 15.4 The cosmopolitan imperative requires us to think of ourselves an...
Figure 15.5 “Does ChatGPT know how to do this?” The accelerating progression...
Guide
COVER PAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT PAGE
LIST OF BOXED FEATURES
LIST OF ANALYTICAL PHOTOS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE
BEGIN READING
GLOSSARY
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORISTS AND SELECT KEY WRITINGS
INDEX
WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
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Introduction to Sociological Theory
Theorists, Concepts, and Their Applicability to the Twenty‐First Century
FOURTH EDITION
Michele Dillon
This fourth edition first published 2024© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Edition HistoryJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd (3e, 2020); John Wiley & Sons Ltd (2e, 2014); Blackwell Publishing Ltd (1e, 2010)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The right of Michele Dillon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with law.
Registered OfficesJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USAJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Dillon, Michele, 1960– author.Title: Introduction to sociological theory : theorists, concepts, and their applicability to the twenty‐first century / Michele Dillon.Description: Fourth edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley‐Blackwell, 2024. | Includes index.Identifiers: LCCN 2024003055 (print) | LCCN 2024003056 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119887416 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119887454 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119887447 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Sociology. | Sociology–History.Classification: LCC HM585 .D55 2024 (print) | LCC HM585 (ebook) | DDC 301–dc23/eng/20240307LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024003055LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024003056
Cover Design: WileyCover Image: © Michele Dillon
LIST OF BOXED FEATURES
TIMELINES
I.1
Major pre‐Enlightenment influences and events from the Enlightenment to the establishment of sociology
1.1
Major events spanning Marx’s lifetime (1818–1883)
2.1
Major events spanning Durkheim’s lifetime (1858–1917)
3.1
Major events spanning Weber’s lifetime (1864–1920)
3.2
The emergence of Protestantism and the expansion of capitalism
5.1
Major events from the end of World War I to the present
10.1
Major events in the achievement of women’s equality (1865–present)
12.1
Major events in the historical evolution of racial equality (1791–present)
14.1
Major globalizing economic and political events (1450–present)
CONCEPTUAL BOXES
1.1
Georg Simmel: The coldness of money
1.2
Alienation inheres in capitalism
2.1
Georg Simmel: Urbanism as a way of acting, thinking, and feeling
2.2
Analytical contrasts between traditional and modern society
3.1
Types of meaningful social action: Meaningful action can be driven by multiple and diverse motivating forces
4.1
The functional requirements (A, G, I, L) of society as an action system composed of four subsystems of action
4.2
Parsons’s five contrasting value orientations (pattern variables)
4.3
Robert Merton: The sociology of science amid social disorder
4.4
Modes of individual adaptation to societal conditions
5.1
Antonio Gramsci and the concept of hegemony
6.1
Donald Black: Conflict in social space
9.1
Pardon the interruption: Conversation differences between women and men
10.1
Woman as the Other
11.1
Keeping a tab on bodies: Census categories
12.1
Critical race theory
12.2
Slavery as social death
12.3
Facts of Blackness
13.1
Erotic capital
13.2
Norbert Elias: The civilizing process
15.1
Venice Biennale, 2022: Capturing posthumanist currents
CONTEMPORARY TOPICAL APPLICATIONS
I.1
“Post‐truth” society
1.1
Contemporary China: Consumer capitalism in a state‐controlled society
1.2
The on‐demand, gig economy
1.3
Occupational injuries in the meatpacking industry
1.4
“If I had a perfect place to die, I would die on the [football] field”
1.5
Laboring in the poultry factory
1.6
The uberization of corporate political influence
2.1
Born on the Bayou and barely feeling any urge to roam
2.2
Opioid addiction and deaths of despair
2.3
Covid’s disruption of social togetherness
2.4
Teams that practice together win together!
2.5
Social media and social isolation
2.6
Disasters, resilience, and change
2.7
The anomie of economic globalization
2.8
When tragedy brings strangers together
2.9
Flags and anthems
3.1
Explaining Brexit with Weber: Rational and nonrational action
3.2
Muslim women and virginity: Two worlds collide
3.3
Egg donors wanted
3.4
“Why is she wearing that?” Ski‐masks as beach fashion in China
3.5
Bureaucratic rationality: Bringing order to chaos at the White House
3.6
Science and politics: Climate change and Covid vaccines
4.1
Contemporary China in systemic action
4.2
Blurring the lines between medical diagnoses and economic profit
4.3
Creating an inclusive workplace: Achievement versus ascription at Google
4.4
Apple orchards and immigration restrictions: A case of anticipated and dysfunctional consequences
5.1
ChatGPT and the mystique of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
5.2
Apps and surveillance in everyday life
5.3
Advertising, advertising everywhere
5.4
Walmart shoppers
5.5
Smart water: Liquid gold
5.6
Dubai: The aesthetic commodification of culture and place
5.7
Social media and democracy
6.1
Ethnic conflict in India … amplified by social media
6.2
Women in the economic power elite
7.1
Depleted trust: Drunken abuse of the police in South Korea
7.2
Steroid report depicts a two‐player domino effect
7.3
Birds of a feather flock together
7.4
Heterosexual romance and the marriage market in China
8.1
Talking mirrors and style assistant robotic cameras
8.2
Directions for performing the role of the considerate airline passenger
8.3
Body appearance and body surgery
8.4
Impression management in the British Royal Family
9.1
Homecoming strangers: “After war, love can be a battlefield”
9.2
“I am Cait”: Naming reality
10.1
Gender gaps
10.2
Intersectionality, activist knowledge, and social justice
11.1
The birth of obesity
11.2
The normalization of sexual equality
11.3
Gay sexual freedom in China
11.4
Beyond the binary
11.5
Transgender rights and gender‐transition medical care
12.1
Muslims as Others
12.2
Affirmative action in Brazil
12.3
The postracial vision and racial awareness of Barack Obama
13.1
College education, economic mobility, and social well‐being
13.2
Celebrating “First‐Gen”
14.1
Global flows
14.2
Global openness
14.3
Class polarization in India
15.1
Is China changing the world?
15.2
Risk and uncertainty in the digital economy
15.3
Empathy walls in Europe
15.4
One Love: Bob Marley, a cosmopolitan figure
15.5
Are Western values universal values?
LIST OF ANALYTICAL PHOTOS
I.1
Though a source and advocate of community, Starbucks also exemplifies the economic inequality characteristic of contemporary society.
I.2
With social progress comes a preoccupation with creating and maintaining social order.
I.3
Sociology is science, and its evidence‐based analysis is critical to making sense of everyday life as well as informing policymaking.
1.1
Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, is an ever‐growing global retail corporation with over 10,000 stores in 27 countries (with ASDA its store name in the United Kingdom). Its employee policies epitomize the low‐wage, cost‐reduction strategies required by contemporary capitalism.
1.2
Financial crises and evidence of economic inequality motivated the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy protests occurred in over 200 cities across the world.
1.3
Love of Taylor Swift and for her Eras Tour in 2023 was a major driver of consumption. Ticket sales; song and album downloads; an array of fan fashion and merchandise including beads for friendship bracelets; and high‐priced travel, accommodation, and food purchases, all contributed an inflationary boost to the economy. In North America alone, Swift’s concerts generated over $4.5 billion in economic activity.
2.1
Small towns and rural communities have different characteristics, different constraints, and different types of social relations than those found in urban or metropolitan areas.
2.2
Rules (and rule‐breakers) are created by society. Rules constrain our individualistic impulses and remind us that the smooth functioning of society rests on individuals’ dependence on one another, whether at work or at play.
2.3
Hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters create social anomie; they unexpectedly rupture the normalcy of everyday routines for individuals, families, and whole communities.
2.4
Sports arenas such as Yankee Stadium, home to the New York Yankees baseball team, function as sacred spaces.
3.1
King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II: Traditions and symbols of tradition endure and exert authority in modern society.
3.2
In modern society, even those not working in bureaucratic organizations are subject to rational‐legal authority; mobile food vendors must be licensed to sell food.
3.3
Success in sports garners social prestige and economic rewards; internationally renowned soccer celebrity, Lionel Messi is a charismatic figure on and off the field.
4.1
Institutional differentiation and specialization characterize modern society. The tasks of economic productivity (e.g., corporate offices) and values transmission (e.g., church) have their own particular spaces, amicably coexisting side by side.
5.1
Technology companies are among the world’s most recognizable and successful brands today.
5.2
Smartphones allow us to keep track of our own and others’ movements.
5.3
Customers wait patiently in line to buy the latest iPhone, even though the differences between it and earlier iPhone models and other smartphone brands are relatively small.
5.4
Contemporary commodified culture nurtures a sameness or homogenization in individual appearance and personality.
5.5
In Las Vegas, newly built, lavish replicas of unique world‐famous sites dazzle us. They prompt us to wonder which one is true, more real, more impressive – the original or its recreated spectacle?
6.1
Conflict and protest are a normal part of democratic society.
6.2
Although changes have occurred in recent years in the gender composition of the power elite, only men can become ordained priests and bishops in the Catholic Church.
7.1
In love and other social exchange relationships, when we give we expect to receive … something in return … sometime in the future.
8.1
Prince William and Princess Kate perform ritualized work and family roles and socialize their children into meeting the performance expectations of their inherited, ascribed roles.
9.1
Coming home means negotiating the transition from one here‐and‐now reality to a different here‐and‐now reality, realities that are made different both by our presence and our absence.
9.2
Doing gender has become more complicated, perhaps, even as its practical realization has more possibilities.
10.1
Barbie
, the movie, offers a gently critical, ironic view of Barbie and her adventures dealing with patriarchy while simultaneously promoting the worldwide commercial and cultural success of the multigenerational Barbie phenomenon. Directed by Greta Gerwig who cowrote the script with her husband Noah Baumbach,
Barbie
earned over one billion dollars within a few weeks of its release in the summer of 2023.
10.2
Despite advances in women’s equality with men, women and men are reminded to see women as objects for men. On institutional initiatives to redress gender stereotyping, see
Topics 4.3
and
6.2
.
10.3
Theresa May and Nicole Sturgeon: Despite their achievements, women leaders still must contend with sexist expectations.
10.4
Internationally renowned American artist Simone Leigh’s monumental sculptures convey Black women’s formidable strength and independence. Her 16‐foot bronze sculpture “Brick House” (above) “is figurative and abstract, a mysterious and majestic goddess of Black womanhood”.
11.1
The disciplined body. Church, state, advertisements, social media, and everyday conversation regulate bodies, body talk, and body desire.
11.2
The legalization of same‐sex marriage in many countries reflects a transformation in the understanding of sexual orientation and in society’s acceptance of the normalcy of gay and lesbian relationships.
11.3
Influential music icon David Bowie’s self‐presentation disrupted gender and sexual binaries, instead conveying their fluidity.
12.1
Nadiya Hussein, whose classic British cake bedecked with a Union Jack ribbon was the winner of the Great British Baking Contest in 2015 – featured here with her new cookbook – exemplifies the symbolic power and the normality of being Black and British.
12.2
Black Lives Matter (BLM) marches and public memorials and sculptures, such as these representations of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in New York’s Union Square, serve to highlight the persistence of racial injustice.
12.3
Drawing on the lived experience of economic and racial inequality, many popular rappers with cross‐racial appeal like Fabolous celebrate their rise “From Nothin’ to Somethin’.”
13.1
What looks good, smells good, and tastes good is conditioned by our everyday social class and family habits and practices.
14.1
Coca‐Cola – a quintessentially American brand – is among the world’s largest and most recognizable transnational corporations, with business operations, staff, and sales in more than 200 countries.
14.2
The expansion of financial capitalism is reflected in the prominent visibility of new financial offices in global cities.
14.3
Despite the success of the European Union in building a more integrated political, economic, and cultural community of nations, it is frayed, as conveyed by the Brexit vote, by tensions between national and transnational interests.
15.1
Though it’s a good habit, recycling alone won’t solve humanity’s climate crisis.
15.2
Although the manifestations of modernity vary across the world, the sites and symbols of consumer choice are increasingly universal.
15.3
The ideal for many Asian women is a Western/Caucasian face, a standard of beauty promoted by the cosmetics industry globally, as advertised by Chanel in Seoul, South Korea.
15.4
The cosmopolitan imperative requires us to think of ourselves and of local and distant Others as part of the one shared humanity.
15.5
“Does ChatGPT know how to do this?” The accelerating progression of AI applications in daily life prompts us to question the superiority of human capacities and to rethink the boundaries of what is natural, whether to humans, poultry, animals, or plants.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am very grateful to Justin Vaughan at Wiley‐Blackwell for persuading me to write this book and to embark on subsequent revised editions. I appreciate his support throughout the process. I also appreciate the editorial production and marketing assistance of the Wiley team, including Madhurima Thapa, Avinash Makarla, and Ed Thompson. I am grateful to Jordan Burke, James Tucker, Jennifer Esala, Jared del Rosso, Erin Anderson, Inger Furseth, Erin Steuter, Daniel Harrison, John Bartkowski, Paul Wink, and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
The information in the timelines is derived from various sources including Colin McEvedy (1985), The Macmillan World History Factfinder, New York: Macmillan; H. E. L. Mellersh (1999), Chronology of World History, volumes 1–4, Santa Barbara, CA: BC‐CLIO; Derrick Mercer, ed. (1996), Chronicle of the World, London: Dorling Kindersley; Hans‐Albrecht Schraepler (1997), Directory of International Economic Organizations, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press; and Caroline Zilborg and Susan Gall, eds. (1997), Women’s Firsts, Detroit, MI: Gale.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
As you read through the individual chapters in this book, you will find the following features designed to help you to develop a clear understanding of sociological theory and to apply it to everyday life.
Key Concepts Each chapter opens with a list of its key concepts, presented in the order in which they appear in the chapter. They are printed in blue when they first appear in the text and are defined in the glossaries at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book.
Chapter Menu A menu gives you the main headings of the chapter that follows.
Biographical Note These provide background information on the main theorists discussed in the chapter. Their names are given in bold when they first appear in the chapter.
Theorists’ Writings Each of the first three chapters has a chronological list of the major writings of the theorists discussed: Marx, Durkheim, and Weber.
Timelines Where a historical framework will aid your understanding of the chapter, timelines list major events with their dates.
Conceptual Boxes These introduce additional theoretical ideas or summarize points relevant to the chapter.
Contemporary Topical Applications These features draw on information reported in the news about an event or issue that has particular salience for the concepts being discussed in the chapter. The content highlights how everyday events can be used to illustrate or probe larger social processes.
Summary The text of the chapter is summarized in a final paragraph or two.
Points to Remember These list in bullet note form the main learning points of the chapter.
Glossary At the end of each chapter, its key concepts are listed again, this time in alphabetical order, and defined. The glossary at the end of the book combines the end‐of‐chapter glossaries to define all the key concepts covered in the book.
Questions for Review At the end of each chapter, questions are listed that prompt you to discuss some of the overarching points of the chapter.
ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE
The Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and Their Applicability to the Twenty‐First Century companion website contains a range of resources created by the author for instructors teaching this book in university courses. Features include:
Instructor’s manual for each chapter, including
Note to the Instructor
News Resources that can be used to stimulate classroom discussion
Essay Assignment Questions
Exam Short Answer Questions
Multiple‐Choice Questions (and answers)
PowerPoint teaching slides with contemporary analytical photographs and video links
List of complementary primary readings
Quote Bank
Instructors can access these resources at www.wiley.com/go/dillon‐fourthedition
INTRODUCTIONSOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: A VIBRANT, LIVING TRADITION
KEY CONCEPTS
sociological theory
concepts
conceptual frameworks
pluralistic
macro
social structures
micro
culture
agency
classical theory
canon
contemporary theory
Enlightenment
democracy
reason
rationality
inalienable rights
utilitarianism
scientific reasoning
empiricism
positivist
objectivity
interpretive understanding
emancipatory knowledge
double‐consciousness
CHAPTER MENU
Analyzing Everyday Social Life: Starbucks
Immersion in Theory
Classical and Contemporary Theory
Societal Transformation and the Origins of Sociology
The Enlightenment: The Elevation of Reason, Democracy, and Science
The Individual and Society
Scientific Reasoning
The Establishment of Sociology as Science: Auguste Comte and Harriet Martineau
Evolutionary Progress and Auguste Comte’s Vision of Sociology
Harriet Martineau: Sociology as the Science of Morals and Manners
Interpretive Understanding
Social Inequality and Contextual Standpoints: Du Bois, De Tocqueville, and Martineau
William E. B. Du Bois: Slavery and Racial Inequality
Racial and Gender Equality
Alexis de Tocqueville: Culture and Social Institutions
Harriet Martineau: Cultural Values and Social Contradictions
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Note
References
Timeline I.1 Major pre‐Enlightenment influences and events from the Enlightenment to the establishment of sociology
500 BC–AD 999 The Classical World 1000–1490 The Feudal Age 1490–1664 The Age of Discovery
1599
Francis Bacon,
Essays
1620
English Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
1633
Galileo summoned by the Inquisition to defend his theory that the earth moves around the sun
1636
Harvard College founded
1637
René Descartes, “I think, therefore, I am”
1665–1774 The Enlightenment
1670
Blaise Pascal, “Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed”
1687
Isaac Newton explains laws of motion and theories of gravitation
1689
John Locke,
On Civil Government
1702
Cambridge University establishes faculty chairs in the sciences
1733
Voltaire praises British liberalism
1752
Benjamin Franklin invents a lightning conductor; demonstrates the identity of lightning and electricity
1762
Jean‐Jacques Rousseau,
The Social Contract
1771
The right to report parliamentary debates established in Britain
1775–1814 The Age of Revolution
1775
American War of Independence; battles of Lexington and Concord (Massachusetts)
1776
British troops evacuate Boston; Declaration of Independence
1776
Adam Smith,
The Wealth of Nations
1788
Bread riots in France
1789
Fall of the Bastille; beginning of the French Revolution; new French Constituent Assembly abolishes feudal rights and privileges
1791
Bill of Rights in America; first 10 amendments to the US Constitution
1792
Mary Wollstonecraft,
Vindication of the Rights of Woman
1796
Freedom of the press established in France
1805
First factory to be lit by gaslight (in Manchester, England)
1807
Air pump developed for use in mines
1813
Jane Austen,
Pride and Prejudice
1823
Jeremy Bentham, utilitarianism
1831
John Stuart Mill,
The Spirit of the Age
1835–1840
Alexis de Tocqueville,
Democracy in America
1837
Harriet Martineau,
Society in America
1839
Comte gives sociology its name
1855
Harriet Martineau translates Comte's
Positive Philosophy
1859
Charles Darwin,
The Origin of Species
(modern evolutionary theory)
1861–1865
American Civil War, the South (Confederates) versus the North (Union)
1865
US president Abraham Lincoln assassinated
1865
Thirteenth amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery
Welcome to sociological theory. Theory, by definition, is abstract. This book illustrates the richness of sociological theory by emphasizing how its breadth of concepts or analytical ideas have practical application and explanatory relevance to daily life. It will introduce you to the major theorists whose writings and conceptual frameworks inform sociological thinking. It will equip you with the theoretical vocabulary necessary to appreciate the range of perspectives found in sociological analysis. It will give you the confidence to apply these ideas to the many sociological topics you study (e.g., inequality, crime, medical sociology, race, political sociology, family, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, community, globalization, etc.) and help you to think analytically – with a certain critical distance – about the many occurrences in daily life far beyond the classroom.
ANALYZING EVERYDAY SOCIAL LIFE: STARBUCKS
Among many recurring news stories, the unionization of workers at Starbucks receives a lot of local and national media attention (e.g., Forbes 2022; Stack 2023). This topic, like any other that might engage you on a given day, provides a single snapshot of contemporary society, yet its various dimensions can be used to highlight the different ways that sociological theorists approach the study of society. Karl Marx (1818–1883), a towering figure in the analysis of modern capitalism (see chapter 1), would focus on the forces of economic inequality and exploitation that underlie baristas' (and other food workers') drive toward unionization. Marx's theory would highlight the extent to which within capitalism, the pursuit of profit permeates the service production process: Business owners and corporate executives, adhering to the economic logic of capitalism, develop efficient work practices that dictate how employees work, and they also determine the low wage paid for such work. Marx emphasizes that the pursuit of profit underlies and consolidates the economic or class inequality that is part and parcel of capitalism (see also Parrenas 2021; Romero 1992/2002; Sherman 2007). You might suggest that if baristas are unhappy, they should leave Starbucks. But if they leave, what are their options? Very limited, Marx would respond. Because baristas (and other workers) have to live, they need money in order to survive (especially in a society in which there is very little government economic support available to those who are on low‐wages or unemployed long term). Therefore, although baristas and other restaurant servers are free to leave a particular employer, they are not free to withhold labor from every coffee shop or restaurant – they must work someplace. Hence wage‐workers must sell their labor on the job market, even if what they receive in exchange for their labor will always be significantly less than the profit that Starbucks or some other employer will make from their work. Although Starbucks must pay the many costs associated with the coffee retail business and the upkeep and running of its more than 9,000 company‐owned stores in the United States, a large gap will also remain between the baristas' minimum wage (a high of $15 an hour in New York City) and the accumulated money paid by Starbucks' customers for lattes across a single hour of service.
Further, the competitive nature of capitalism and the economic competition among coffee shops and restaurants means that the profit‐driven working conditions in one specific workplace will not vary much from those in another. Low wages and irregular work schedules, therefore, are what baristas and servers can expect, regardless of the specific employer (whether Starbucks, Caffe Nero, or a locally owned coffee shop). Moreover, if baristas fail to show up for work or are slow in doing their tasks, they can be fired and there will always be others waiting to take their place; one of the effects of globalization (discussed in chapter 14) is to increase the competition between low‐wage workers whose pool is expanded by the increasing numbers of immigrant and migrant workers available to the low‐paying service industries (e.g., Chen 2015; Ehrenreich and Hochschild 2002; Sassen 2007).
In focusing on the profit logic and unequal economic relations within capitalist society – basically the world at large – Marx also alerts us to how ideology, that is, our taken‐for‐granted ideas about work, achievement, freedom, consumption, luxury, etc., determines how we explain and justify all sorts of social phenomena, whether social inequality, the Olympic Games, or the latest consumer fad. Marx – and subsequent theorists influenced partly by Marx, such as Critical Theorists (see chapter 5) – would argue that the ideology of freedom – typically used to denote political freedom and democracy – has in today's world become the freedom to shop. We all (more or less) want the consumer lifestyle and the freedom of choice embodied by the array of regular and specialty coffees available at Starbucks, a pursuit promoted by the (globalizing) capitalist class, and especially by advertising, social media (our and our friends' Instagram‐able experiences), and the fashion and pop culture industries. We are continuously exposed to messages celebrating consumption and the good life. Indeed, Marx would argue that it is largely because baristas and servers (and not just affluent customers) buy into the allure of consumption that they consent to work as hard as they do, despite dissatisfaction with their working conditions, and without fully realizing or acknowledging the wholesale inequality of the capitalist system with its ever‐growing gap between the rich and the poor.
Max Weber (1864–1920) (his last name is pronounced vayber), also offers an analysis of modern capitalism. But unlike Marx, he orients us to the broad range of forces driving social behavior and the various subjective motivations and meanings that lead social actors – either individually, or collectively as workers, corporations, trade unions, universities, religious organizations, nation states, or transnational alliances (e.g., the European Union [EU]) – to behave as they do (see chapter 3). Like Marx, he highlights the centrality of strategic cost–benefit or instrumental interests. Thus baristas, unions, and Starbucks' and other corporate executives pursue their own economic and political interests by making rational, cost–benefit assessments of which courses of action are the most expedient given their respective goals. Starbucks executives are suspicious of the union's goals beyond the specific issues of wages and benefits: They are concerned that Starbucks' strategic interests (in making money, hiring workers, and competing with other coffee businesses) will be undermined if their work force is unionized. And union leaders are concerned about the relevance of unions if nonunionized workers can garner a good wage deal without the union's intervention. Not surprisingly, as some contemporary theorists highlight (e.g., Ralph Dahrendorf; see chapter 6), intergroup conflict is common in democratic societies as various economic and other interest groups compete for greater recognition of their respective agendas.
Life, however, is not all about economic and strategic interests. One of Weber's theoretical achievements was to demonstrate that values and beliefs also matter. Values guide social action, a point subsequently emphasized by Talcott Parsons, an American theorist who was highly influential from the 1940s to the 1980s in shaping sociological thinking and research (see chapter 4). Individuals, groups, organizations, and whole countries are motivated by values – by commitments to particular understandings of friendship, family, patriotism, environmental sustainability, education, religion, etc. Subjective values, such as commitment to securing a college education for themselves with their earned wages (and support from the college‐education benefit Starbucks provides to some employees), may explain why baristas work as hard as they do. Commitment to family and to providing for one's children is also a significant motivator; indeed, many immigrant women leave their children and families in their home country while they work abroad, earning money to send home so their children can have a more economically secure life (e.g., England 2005; Sassen 2007). The strong cultural value of individualism in the United States, for example, also helps to explain why labor unions have a much harder time gaining members and wielding influence in the United States than in Western European countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. The historical–cultural influence of Protestantism in the United States and its emphasis on self‐reliance and individual responsibility (also studied by Weber) means that many Americans believe that being poor is largely an individual's own responsibility (and a sign of moral weakness), a belief that impedes the expansion of state‐subsidized housing, employment, and social welfare programs. (On the underlying institutional and cultural factors driving poverty in the United States, see Desmond [2023]).
As recognized by both Marx and Weber, differences in economic resources are a major source of inequality (or stratification), determining individuals' and groups' rankings relative to one another (e.g., upper‐class, middle‐class, and lower‐class strata). Additionally, Weber, unlike Marx, argues that social inequality is not only based on differences in income but also associated with differences in lifestyle or social status. Weber and contemporary theorists influenced by his conceptualization of the multiple sources of inequality – such as Pierre Bourdieu (see chapter 13) – argue that individuals and groups acquire habits that demonstrate and solidify social class differences. Such differences are evident not only between the upper and lower classes but also between those who are economically adjacent. This helps to explain why some people prefer Starbucks over Dunkin Donuts and why some will only buy coffee from a local café promoting fair trade certification. For similar status reasons, some women will spend hundreds of dollars on a Louis Vuitton handbag rather than buy a cheaper, though equally functional one by Coach.
The cultural goals (e.g., consumption, economic success, and upward mobility) affirmed in society, however, are not always readily attainable. Children who grow up in poor neighborhoods with underfunded schools are disadvantaged by their limited access to the social institutions (e.g., school) that provide the culturally approved means or pathways to academic, occupational, and economic success (e.g., MacLeod 2008). As the American sociologist Robert Merton (see chapter 4) shows, society creates deviance (e.g., stealing) as a result of the mismatch between cultural goals (e.g., consumer lifestyle) and blocked access to the acceptable institutional means to attain those goals.
Deviance is a social fact and is “normal” – as classical theorist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) emphasizes. It is normal because it comes from society and exists in all societies as indicated by crime rates. Yet “too much” deviance (or crime) may threaten the social order. Social order and cohesion are Durkheim's overarching focus (see chapter 2). He is basically interested in what knits society together – what binds individuals into society. Rather than focusing on what Marx, for example, would see as employers' exploitation of employees, Durkheim highlights the social interdependence produced. For Durkheim, cafe owners, workers, customers, and unions are all interdependent elements of the social collectivity, a collectivity whose effective functioning is dependent on each doing their part in the social order. Indeed, the baristas advocating for unionization convey a core Durkheimian point: the Starbucks Workers United website (sbworkersunited.org) states that they see themselves as “partners” with Starbucks' executives, and that each group is committed to the success of the company (even as they also convey the Marxist point that the executives prioritize shareholders' rather than employees' interests).
Durkheim is not interested in analyzing (unequal) economic relations in the service industry or the historical and cultural origins of café life. Rather, what is relevant to Durkheim is how collective social forces (e.g., occupations, cafes, consumption patterns, and all other social things) shape, constrain, and regulate individual, group, and institutional behavior. In the process, these social forces tie individuals, groups, and institutions into interdependent social relationships, creating a solidarity that functions, in effect, to maintain society/social order. Indeed, in many neighborhoods, Starbucks is a sign of community vitality, a place where acquaintances briefly interact as they grab a coffee on their way to work and where friends gather to catch‐up. Notably, too, Starbucks promotes the values of inclusion and community betterment and the importance of individuals banding together on community projects. In a similar Durkheimian frame, Talcott Parsons sees social institutions such as the economy, the family, and the political and legal systems as each working separately but also interdependently to produce an effectively functioning society (see chapter 4).
Figure I.1 Though a source and advocate of community, Starbucks also exemplifies the economic inequality characteristic of contemporary society.
Tipping baristas and restaurant workers is not required by law. But we are nudged into doing so – even though it's a relatively private act – by the collective force of social custom. As Durkheim would stress, all social customs (and laws) come from society, and function to affirm and bolster the interdependence of social relations. Moreover, as contemporary network theorists demonstrate, even weak ties among individuals, among acquaintances who occasionally share information either on social media or when they run into each other on the street, are socially beneficial to individuals (in finding a job, etc.) and to enhancing community well‐being (e.g., in mobilizing people to participate in neighborhood projects; see chapter 7).
In contrast to Durkheim, exchange theorists such as George Homans and Peter Blau (see chapter 7) emphasize the utilitarian value of social exchange. We tip and give gifts and invite friends to dinner with the expectation that this will yield some specific return to us. Therefore, when I tip at Starbucks even when I don't expect to return to that specific location (with the instrumental tip‐related expectation of better service), I must be getting something in return, such as validation of my own higher status relative to the barista. For exchange theorists, exchange relationships are not solely those based on money (as for Marx). They are also based on the exchange of social capital or connections (see also Bourdieu, chapter 13), information, emotional support, advice, housework, political influence, etc. Further, they reflect the power imbalances in relationships, whether between friends, spouses, organizations, or governments, imbalances that, in turn, are perpetuated by the exchange; such imbalances also characterize macro‐economic and geo‐political relations of dependence such as those between the United States and Latin American countries; see chapter 6. In all relationships, rational choice theorists contend, we assess what we get and what to give on the basis of its probable use value to us as individuals (i.e., resource maximization; see chapter 7).
Notwithstanding advances in women's equality (e.g., England et al. 2020), women comprise a disproportionate share of restaurant and other low‐wage service workers. Feminist standpoint theorists such as Dorothy Smith and Patricia Hill Collins draw attention to women's inequality (see chapter 10). They highlight the day‐in/day‐out experiences of women who at work are on their feet all day doing demanding chores, whether making coffee or making beds, and who, after the paid workday ends, make the beds and cook dinner, and do many other chores for their families. Feminist theorists also underscore that women's chores, experiences, and opportunities are typically different from men's. Moreover, even when similar, women's work is rewarded very differently than men's work (at work and at home); women continue to be under‐represented, for example, in the decision‐making power elites in society (see C. Wright Mills; see chapter 6).
The phenomenological tradition (see chapter 9) emphasizes the significance of ordinary everyday knowledge in defining individuals' concrete “here‐and‐now” social realities. Partly influenced by phenomenology, feminist standpoint theorists (e.g., Smith) outline how the knowledge deriving from women's everyday experiences is very different from the knowledge that is recognized as legitimate, objective knowledge in society. Whether in customer service work, politics, corporate offices, law courts, and even among sociologists, the knowledge that comes from women's experiences – as mothers, homemakers, and in the “man‐made” world of work and public life – tends to be demeaned. It does not fit well with the male‐centered (see chapter 10) and indeed heterosexist bias (see chapter 11) that characterizes sociology and other established sources of knowledge.
Feminist theorists (e.g., Collins), along with race theorists (see chapter 12) and globalization scholars (see chapter 14), would also highlight that it is not just women but specific categories of women who tend to be employed in the low‐wage service sector, namely, women of minority racial and ethnic background, many of whom are also immigrants. Many feminist scholars, therefore (e.g., Collins), focus on exploring how the multiple intersecting experiences of inequality – of gender, race, class, immigration, sexuality, etc. – shape the life chances and everyday realities of women. Feminist and postcolonial theorists (e.g., Paul Gilroy; see chapter 12) further attend to how advertising and mass media promote particular cultures of femininity and masculinity, conveying gender‐ and race‐based messages that perpetuate social inequality.
Feminist scholars also draw attention to the fact that a lot of women's work is not just physical body work (e.g., cleaning tables and lifting heavy mattresses) but emotion work, whether in mothering (e.g., Chodorow 1978), or as work for pay (e.g., Arlie Hochschild; see chapter 10). While hotel housekeepers do mostly “backstage” work (as elaborated by Erving Goffman; see chapter 8) – that is, cleaning toilets, making beds, etc. – preparing bedrooms whose “front‐stage” presentation will impress hotel guests and supervisors, baristas and servers do a significant amount of both front‐stage and emotion work: not only do they have to be visibly efficient in making a latte, they also need to maintain a friendly, smiling demeanor toward every customer as they do so. It is women far more than men who are expected to smile – at home, at work, and as work – irrespective of body pain or of how they are actually feeling (e.g., Hochschild; see chapter 10). This is what is entailed in “doing gender,” as ethnomethodologists would argue (see chapter 9) – the everyday procedures or methods that women use on an ongoing basis to establish their credibility as women (as mothers, wives, teachers, colleagues, friends, etc.) in a society where women are still unequal relative to men. Women in Western society have achieved great advances in equality. Yet gender‐specific roles and role expectations (see Parsons; chapter 4), are still persistently powerful forces, a point underscored by controversies over gender inequities and stereotyping at Google and other high‐tech companies (see chapter 4, Topic 4.3) and more generally by the fact that significant gender economic and political gaps persist in highly developed societies (see chapter 6, Topic 6.2, and chapter 10, Topic 10.2). Moreover, as Paula England's research shows (see chapter 7) women predominate in caregiving occupations (England 2005), working wives do more housework than their husbands (Bittman et al. 2003), and reflecting interacting work and family inequalities, mothers' wages are penalized more than fathers' (e.g., Glauber 2019). Further, there are gender‐subordinated ways of self‐presentation; in advertisements, for example, women still smile up at men, and men smile down at women, thus reaffirming the gender‐role hierarchy (see Goffman; chapter 8). This is a social order that, when disrupted by a successful woman business executive or politician, for example, may provoke negative comments that seek to put them in their (gendered) place, a response that helps illustrate the relative fragility of the collectively produced order that underlies all social life (see Harold Garfinkel; chapter 9).
Although the self‐presentation of bodies is central to everyday social behavior (underscored by the rising prevalence of cosmetic surgery and dermatology; see chapter 8), Michel Foucault sees the body more generally as a targeted object of discipline and social control. For Foucault, all social institutions – the church, the prison, the school, the clinic, the government – have made control of the body, what bodies do, and what bodies are allowed to do with other bodies (e.g., sexual practices) a primary objective, the results of which inform what we regard as “normal” sexuality (see chapter 11).
