Henslin James M. Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

Climate Change, have concluded that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human

activity is its main driver (Rosenthal and Revkin 2007). The Most Industrialized Nations

have agreed to cut in half the emissions that cause the greenhouse effect (Stolberg 2008).

If they don’t, the consequences are likely to be catastrophic.

The Energy Shortage and Multinational Corporations. If you ever read about an energy

shortage, you can be sure that what you read is false. There is no energy shortage, nor can

there ever be. We can produce unlimited low-cost power, which can help to raise the liv-

ing standards of humans across the globe. The sun, for example, produces more energy

than humanity could ever use. Boundless energy is also available from the tides and the

winds. In some cases, we need better technology to harness these sources of energy; in oth-

ers, we need only to apply the technology we already have.

Burning fossil fuels in internal combustion engines is the main source of pollution in

the Most Industrialized Nations. Of the technologies being developed to use alternative

sources of energy in vehicles, the most prominent is the gas-electric hybrid. Some of these

cars are expected to eventually get several hundred miles per gallon of gasoline. The

hybrid, however, is simply a bridge until vehicles powered by fuel cells become practical.

Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity; water, instead of carbon monoxide, will come

out of a car’s exhaust pipe.

Environmental Injustice. Unequal power has led to environmental injustice—mi-

norities and the poor being the ones who suffer the most from the effects of pollution

(Laszewski 2008). Industries locate where land is cheaper, which is not where the

wealthy live. Nor will the rich allow factories to spew pollution near their homes. As

a result, low-income communities, which are often inhabited by minorities, are more

likely to be exposed to pollution. Sociologists have studied, formed, and joined

environmental justice groups that fight to close polluting plants and block construction

of polluting industries.

The Growth Machine Versus the Earth 671

Acidic gases (sulfur

dioxide and

nitrogen oxide)

are released into

the atmosphere

Gases react with

moisture in the air

to form acid rain

(sulfuric and

nitric acids)

Acid rain kills plant

life and pollutes rivers

and streams

FIGURE 22.3 Acid Rain

environmental injustice

refers to how minorities and

the poor are harmed the most

by environmental pollution

Environmental Problems in the Industrializing

and Least Industrialized Nations

The Industrializing Nations are also major polluters. Of the world’s 40 most polluted

cities, 36 are in China (World Bank 2007:Figure 5). The nine thousand chemical plants along

its banks have turned China’s Yangtze River into an industrial sewer (Zakaria 2008). China’s

pollution is so great that it now emits more carbon dioxide than does the United States

(Rosenthal 2008). Like the Russians before them, Chinese who dare to speak out about pol-

lution are arrested and sent to prison (Feshbach 1992; J. Kahn 2007c). As China secures its

place in the industrialized world, its leaders will place more emphasis on controlling pollution.

Some of the Least Industrialized Nations lack environmental protection laws, which has

not gone unnoticed by opportunists in the Most Industrialized Nations. Some companies

produce chemicals in these nations that are outlawed in their own countries (Smith 1995;

Mol 2001). Others dump industrial wastes in these countries (Polgreen and Simons 2006).

Alarmed at the growing environmental destruction, the World Bank, the monetary arm of the

Most Industrialized Nations, has pressured the Least Industrialized Nations to reduce pollu-

tion. When New Delhi officials tried to comply, workers blocked traffic and set fires, closing

down the city for several days (Freund 2001). Understandably, the basic concern of workers

is to provide food for their families first, and to worry about the environment later. With this

in mind, the global financial crisis does not bode well for reducing our planet’s pollution.

A special concern is the rain forests. Although they cover just 6 percent of the earth’s land

area, the rain forests are home to one-half of all the earth’s plant and animal species (From-

mer 2007). Despite our knowledge that the rain forests are essential for humanity’s welfare,

we seem bent on destroying them for the sake of timber and farms. In the process, we ex-

tinguish plant and animal species, perhaps thousands a year. As biologists remind us, once

a species is lost, it is gone forever.

As the rain forests disappear, so do the Indian tribes who live in them. With their ex-

tinction goes their knowledge of the environment, the topic of the Cultural Diversity box

on the next page. Like Esau who traded his birthright for a bowl of porridge, we are ex-

changing our future for some lumber, farms, and pastures.

The Environmental Movement

Concern about environmental problems has produced a worldwide social movement.

One result is green parties, political parties whose central issue is the environment. In some

European countries, these parties have made a political impact. In Germany, for example,

672 Chapter 22 SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Rising sea levels? No problem for

the Lilypad, floating self-

contained cities of 50,000

inhabitants envisioned for the

future.

the Green Party has won seats in the national legislature. Green parties have had little

success in the United States, but in the 2000 election, a green party headed by Ralph

Nader arguably tipped the balance and gave the presidential election to George W. Bush.

Activists in the environmental movement generally seek solutions in politics, education,

and legislation. Despairing that pollution continues, that the rain forests are still being

cleared, and that species are becoming extinct, some activists are convinced that the planet

is doomed unless urgent steps are taken. Choosing a more radical course, they use extreme

tactics to try to arouse indignation among the public and to force the government to act.

Convinced that they stand for true morality, many are willing to break the law and go to

jail for their actions. Such activists are featured in the following Thinking Critically section.

The Growth Machine Versus the Earth 673

Cultural Diversity around the World

The Rain Forests: Lost Tribes,

Lost Knowledge

n the past 100 years, 90 of Brazil’s 270 Indian tribes

have disappeared. Other tribes have moved to villages

as ranchers and gold miners have taken over their

lands. Tribal knowledge is lost as group members adapt

to village life.

Tribal groups are not ignorant people who barely

survive. On the contrary, these groups have developed

intricate forms of social organiza-

tion and possess knowledge that

has accumulated over thousands of

years. The Kayapo Indians, for ex-

ample, who belong to one of the

Amazon’s endangered tribes, use

250 types of wild fruit and hun-

dreds of nut and tuber species.

They cultivate thirteen types of ba-

nanas, eleven kinds of manioc (cas-

sava), sixteen strains of sweet

potato, and seventeen kinds of

yams. Many of these varieties are

unknown to non-Indians. The

Kayapo also use thousands of me-

dicinal plants, one of which contains a drug that is effec-

tive against intestinal parasites.

Until recently, Western scientists dismissed tribal

knowledge as superstitious and worthless. Now, how-

ever, some have come to realize that to lose tribes is to

lose valuable knowledge. In the Central African Repub-

lic, a man whose chest was being eaten away by an

amoeboid infection lay dying because the microbes did

not respond to drugs. Out of desperation, the Roman

Catholic nuns who were treating him sought the advice

of a native doctor. He applied crushed termites to the

open wounds. To the amazement of the nuns, the man

made a remarkable recovery.

With this example, I don’t mean to

imply that these tribes have medicine superior to ours,

just that we can learn from their experience with na-

ture. The disappearance of the rain forests means the

destruction of plant species that may have healing

properties. Some of the discoveries from the rain

forests have been astounding. The needles from a Hi-

malayan tree in India contain taxol, a drug that is effec-

tive against ovarian and breast cancer. A flower from

Madagascar is used in the treatment of leukemia; a frog

in Peru produces a painkiller that is more powerful,

but less addictive, than morphine

(Wolfensohn and Fuller 1998).

On average, one tribe of

Amazonian Indians has been lost

each year for the past century—

because of violence, greed for their

lands, and exposure to infectious

diseases against which these peo-

ple have little resistance. Ethnocen-

trism underlies much of this

assault. Perhaps the extreme is

represented by the cattle ranchers

in Colombia who killed eighteen

Cueva Indians. The cattle ranchers

were perplexed when they were

put on trial for murder. They asked why they should be

charged with a crime, since everyone knew that the

Cuevas were animals, not people. They pointed out that

there was even a verb in Colombian Spanish, cuevar,

which means “to hunt Cueva Indians.” So what was their

crime, they asked? The jury found them not guilty be-

cause of “cultural ignorance.”

For Your Consideration

What do you think we can do to stop the destruction

of the rain forests?

Sources: Durning 1990; Gorman 1991; Linden 1991; Stipp 1992; Nabhan

1998; Simons 2006.

A Pishta girl of the Yine tribe in the Peruvian

Amazon. The way of life of the world’s few

remaining rain forest tribes is threatened.

674 Chapter 22 SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

ThinkingCRITICALLY

Ecosabotage

haining oneself to a giant Douglas fir that is slated

for cutting, tearing down power lines and ripping up

survey stakes, driving spikes into redwood trees,

sinking whaling vessels, and torching SUVs and Hummers—

are these the acts of dangerous punks who have little un-

derstanding of the needs of modern society? Or are they

the acts of brave men and women who are willing to put

their freedom, and even their lives, on the line on behalf of

the earth itself?

To understand why ecosabotage—actions taken to

sabotage the efforts of people who are thought to be

legally harming the environment—is taking place, consider

the Medicine Tree, a 3,000-year-old redwood in the Sally

Bell Grove near the northern California coast. Georgia Pa-

cific, a lumber company, was determined to cut down the

Medicine Tree, the oldest and largest of the region’s red-

woods, which rests on a sacred site of the Sinkyone Indi-

ans. Members of Earth First! chained themselves to the

tree. After they were arrested, the sawing began. Other

protesters jumped over the police-lined barricade and

stood defiantly in the path of men wielding axes and chain

saws. A logger swung an axe and barely missed a demon-

strator. At that moment, the sheriff radioed a restraining

order, and the cutting stopped.

How many 3,000-year-old trees remain on our planet? Does our desire for fences and

picnic tables for backyard barbecues justify cutting them down? Issues like these—as well

as the slaughter of seals and whales, the destruction of the rain forests, and the drowning of

dolphins in mile-long drift nets—spawned Earth First! and other organizations devoted to

preserving the environment, such as Greenpeace, Rain Forest Action Network, the Ruckus

Society, and the Sea Shepherds.

“We feel like there are insane people who are consciously destroying our environment,

and we are compelled to fight back,” explains a member of one of the militant groups.“No

compromise in defense of Mother Earth!” says another.“With famine and death approaching,

we’re in the early stages of World War III,” adds another.

Radical environmentalists represent a broad range of activities and purposes. They are

united neither on tactics nor on goals. Most envision a simpler lifestyle that will consume

less energy and reduce pressure on the earth’s resources. Some want to stop a specific ac-

tion, such as the killing of whales. Others want to destroy all nuclear weapons and disman-

tle nuclear power plants. Some want everyone to become a vegetarian. Still others want the

earth’s population to drop to one billion, roughly what it was in 1800. Some even want hu-

mans to return to hunting and gathering societies. These groups are so splintered that Dave

Foreman—the founder of Earth First!—quit his own organization when it became too con-

frontational for his taste.

Radical groups have had some successes.They have brought a halt to the killing of dol-

phins off Japan’s Iki Island, achieved a ban on whaling, established trash recycling programs,

and saved hundreds of thousands of acres of trees, including, of course, the Medicine Tree.

For Your Consideration

Should we applaud ecosaboteurs or jail them? As symbolic interactionists stress, it all depends

on how you view their actions. And as conflict theorists emphasize, your view likely depends

on your social location. That is, if you own a lumber company, you will see ecosaboteurs

Julia “Butterfly” Hill lived for two

years in this 1,000-year-old

redwood tree, which she named

Luna. The Pacific Lumber

Company finally agreed to save the

tree and a 200-foot buffer zone.

ecosabotage actions taken to

sabotage the efforts of people

who are thought to be legally

harming the environment

The Growth Machine Versus the Earth 675

Environmental Sociology

A specialization within sociology is environmental sociology, whose focus is the relation-

ship between human societies and the environment (Dunlap and Catton 1979, 1983;

Bell 2009). Environmental sociology is built around these key ideas:

1. The physical environment should be a significant variable in sociological investigation.

2. Human beings are but one species among many that depend on the natural

environment.

3. Because of feedback to nature, human actions have many unintended consequences.

4. The world is finite, so there are physical limits to economic growth.

5. Economic expansion requires increased extraction of resources from the environment.

6. Increased extraction of resources leads to ecological problems.

7. These ecological problems place limits on economic expansion.

8. Governments create environmental problems by encouraging the accumulation

of capital.

9. For the welfare of humanity, environmental problems must be solved.

The goal of environmental sociology is not to stop pollution or nuclear power but, rather,

to study how humans (their cultures, values, and behavior) affect the physical environment

and how the physical environment affects human activities. Not surprisingly, environmen-

tal sociology attracts environmental activists, and the Section on Environment and Technol-

ogy of the American Sociological Association tries to influence governmental policies

(American Sociological Association n.d.).

Technology and the Environment: The Goal of Harmony. It is inevitable that humans

will continue to develop new technologies. But the abuse of our environment by those

Pollution in the Industrializing Nations has

become a major problem. Shown here is

a child swimming in the waters of

Cilincing Beach in Jakarta, Indonesia.

environmental sociology

a specialty within sociology

whose focus is how humans af-

fect the environment and how

the environment affects humans

differently than a camping enthusiast will. How does your own view of ecosaboteurs depend

on your life situation? What effective alternatives to ecosabotage are there for people who

are convinced that we are destroying the very life support system of our planet?

Sources: Carpenter 1990; Eder 1990; Foote 1990; Parfit 1990; Reed and Benet 1990; Knickerbocker

2003; Gunther 2004; Fattig 2007.

technologies is not inevitable. To understate

the matter, the destruction of our planet is

an unwise choice.

If we are to live in a world that is worth

passing on to coming generations, we

must seek harmony between technology

and the natural environment. This will

not be easy. At one extreme are people

who claim that to protect the environment

we must eliminate industrialization and

go back to a tribal way of life. At the other

extreme are people who are blind to the

harm being done to the natural environ-

ment, who want the entire world to indus-

trialize at full speed. Somewhere, there

must be a middle ground, one that recog-

nizes not only that industrialization is here

to stay but also that we can control it, for

it is our creation. Controlled, industrial-

ization can enhance our quality of life; un-

controlled, it will destroy us.

It is essential, then, that we develop

ways to reduce or eliminate the harm that

technology does to the environment. This

includes mechanisms to monitor the pro-

duction and use of technology and the disposal of its wastes. The question, of course,

is whether we have the resolve to take the steps necessary to preserve the environment

for future generations. What is at stake is nothing less than the welfare of planet Earth.

Surely that is enough to motivate us to make wise choices.

676 Chapter 22 SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

SUMMARY and REVIEW

How Social Change Transforms Social Life

What major trends have transformed the course

of human history?

The primary changes in human history are the four social

revolutions (domestication, agriculture, industrialization,

and information); the change from Gemeinschaft to

Gesellschaft societies; capitalism and industrialization; and

global stratification. Social movements indicate cutting

edges of social change. Ethnic conflicts and power rivalries

threaten the global divisions that the Most Industrialized

Nations have worked out. We may also be on the cutting

edge of a new biotech society. Pp. 652–656.

Theories and Processes of Social Change

What are the main theories of social change?

Evolutionary theories assume that societies move from the

same starting point to some similar ending point. Unilinear

theories assume the same evolutionary path for every society,

while multilinear theories assume that different paths lead

to the same stage of development. Cyclical theories view civ-

ilizations as going through a process of birth, youth, matu-

rity, decline, and death. Conflict theorists view social change

as inevitable, for each thesis (basically an arrangement of

power) contains antitheses (contradictions). A new synthesis

develops to resolve these contradictions, but it, too, contains

contradictions that must be resolved, and so on. This is

called a dialectical process. Pp. 656–658.

What is Ogburn’s theory of social change?

William Ogburn identified technology as the basic cause

of social change, which comes through three processes:

invention, discovery, and diffusion. The term cultural

lag refers to symbolic culture lagging behind changes in

technology. Pp. 658–660.

How Technology Changes Society

How does new technology affect society?

Because technology is an organizing force of social life,

changes in technology can have profound effects. The

automobile and the computer were used as extended ex-

amples. The computer is changing the way we learn,

The social movement that centers on the environment has become global. In all

nations, people are concerned about the destruction of the earth’s resources. This

photo is a sign of changing times. Instead of jumping on this beached whale and

carving it into pieces, these Brazilians are doing their best to save its life.

Summary and Review 677

THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Chapter 22

1. How has social change affected your life? Be specific—what

changes, how? Does Ogburn’s theory help to explain your

experiences? Why or why not?

2. In what ways does technology change society?

3. Do you think that a sustainable environment should be a

goal of the world’s societies? Why or why not? If so, what

practical steps do you think we can take to produce a sus-

tainable environment?

work, do business, and fight wars. We don’t yet know

whether information technologies will help to perpetuate

or to reduce social inequalities on both a national and a

global level. Pp. 660–668.

The Growth Machine Versus the Earth

What are the environmental problems of the Most

Industrialized Nations?

The environmental problems of the Most Industrialized

Nations range from smog and acid rain to the greenhouse

effect. Global warming is likely to have severe conse-

quences for the world. Burning fossil fuels in internal

combustion engines lies at the root of many environmen-

tal problems. The location of factories and hazardous

waste sites creates environmental injustice, environ-

mental problems having a greater impact on minorities

and the poor. Pp. 668–672.

Do the Industrializing and Least Industrialized Nations

have environmental problems?

The rush of the Least Industrialized Nations to industri-

alize is adding to the planet’s environmental decay. The

pollution in China is so severe that China now emits

more carbon dioxide than the United States does. Envi-

ronmental activists in China are arrested and impris-

oned. The world is facing a basic conflict between the

lust for profits through the exploitation of the earth’s re-

sources and the need to establish a sustainable

environment. P. 672.

What is the environmental movement?

The environmental movement is an attempt to restore a

healthy environment for the world’s people. This global

social movement takes many forms, from peaceful at-

tempts to influence the political process to ecosabotage.

Pp. 673–674.

What is environmental sociology?

Environmental sociology is not an attempt to change

the environment, but, rather, is a study of the relation-

ship between humans and the environment. Environ-

mental sociologists are generally also environmental

activists. Pp. 674–676.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Where Can I Read More on This Topic?

Suggested readings for this chapter are listed at the back of this book.

What can you find in MySocLab? www.mysoclab.com

• Complete Ebook

• Practice Tests and Video and Audio activities

• Mapping and Data Analysis exercises

• Sociology in the News

• Classic Readings in Sociology

• Research and Writing advice

As you explored social life in this textbook, I hope that you

found yourself thinking along with me. If so, you should

have gained a greater understanding of why people think,

feel, and act as they do—as well as insights into why you

view life the way you do. Developing your sociological

imagination was my intention in writing this book. I have

sincerely wanted to make sociology come alive for you.

Majoring in Sociology

If you feel a passion for peering beneath the surface—for

seeking out the social influences in people’s lives, and for

seeing these influences in your own life—this is the best

reason to major in sociology. As you take more courses in

sociology, you will continue this enlightening process of

social discovery. Your sociological perspective will grow,

and you will become increasingly aware of how social fac-

tors underlie human behavior.

In addition to people who have a strong desire to con-

tinue this fascinating process of social discovery, there is a

second type of person whom I also urge to major in soci-

ology. Let’s suppose that you have a strong, almost unbri-

dled sense of wanting to explore many aspects of life. Let’s

also assume that because you have so many interests, you

can’t make up your mind about what you want to do with

your life. You can think of so many things you’d like to try,

but for each one there are other possibilities that you find

equally as compelling. Let me share what one student who

read this text wrote me:

I’d love to say what my current major is—if only I truly knew.

I know that the major you choose to study in college isn’t nec-

essarily the field of work you’ll be going into. I’ve heard

enough stories of grads who get jobs in fields that are not even

related to their majors to believe it to a certain extent. My only

problem is that I’m not even sure what it is I want to study, or

what I truly want to be in the future for that matter.

The variety of choices I have left open for myself are

very wide, which creates a big problem, because I know I

have to narrow it down to just one, which isn’t something

easy at all for me. It’s like I want to be the best and do the

best (medical doctor), yet I also wanna do other things

(such as being a paramedic, or a cop, or firefighter, or a

pilot), but I also realize I’ve only got one life to live. So the

big question is: What’s it gonna be?

This note reminded me of myself. In my reply, I said:

You sound so much like myself when I was in college. In

my senior year, I was plagued with uncertainty about what

would be the right course for my life. I went to a counselor

and took a vocational aptitude test. I still remember the

day when I went in for the test results. I expected my fu-

ture to be laid out for me, and I hung on every word. But

then I heard the counselor say, “Your tests show that mor-

tician should be one of your vocational choices.”

Mortician! I almost fell off my chair. That choice was so

far removed from anything that I wanted that I immedi-

ately gave up on such tests.

I like your list of possibilities: physician, cop, firefighter,

and paramedic. In addition to these, mine included cow-

boy, hobo, and beach bum. One day, I was at the dry clean-

ers (end of my sophomore year in college), and the guy

standing next to me was a cop. We talked about his job,

and when I left the dry cleaners, I immediately went to the

police station to get an application. I found out that I had

to be 21, and I was just 20. I went back to college.

I’m very happy with my choice. As a sociologist, I am

able to follow my interests. I was able to become a hobo (or

at least a traveler and able to experience different cultural

settings). As far as being a cop, I developed and taught a

course in the sociology of law.

One of the many things I always wanted to be was an

author. I almost skipped graduate school to move to Green-

wich Village and become a novelist. The problem was that

I was too timid, too scared of the unknown—and I had no

support at all—to give it a try. My ultimate choice of soci-

ologist has allowed me to fulfill this early dream.

It is sociology’s breadth that is so satisfying to those of us

who can’t seem to find the limit to our interests, who can’t

pin ourselves down to just one thing in life. Sociology cov-

ers all of social life. Anything and everything that people

do is part of sociology. For those of us who feel such broad,

and perhaps changing interests, sociology is a perfect major.

But what if you already have a major picked out, yet

you really like thinking sociologically? You can minor in

sociology. Take sociology courses that continue to pique

your sociological imagination. Then after college, con-

tinue to stimulate your sociological interests through your

reading, including novels. This ongoing development of

your sociological imagination will serve you well as you

go through life.

EPILOGUE: WHY MAJOR IN SOCIOLOGY?

678

But What Can You Do

With a Sociology Major?

I can just hear someone say: “That’s fine for you, since

you became a sociologist. I don’t want to go to graduate

school, though. I just want to get my bachelor’s degree

and get out of college and get on with life. So, how can a

bachelor’s in sociology help me?”

This is a fair question. Just what can you do with a

bachelor’s degree in sociology?

A few years ago, in my sociology department we began to

develop a concentration in applied sociology. At that time,

since this would be a bachelor’s degree, I explored this very

question. I was surprised at the answer: Almost anything!

It turns out that most employers don’t care what you

major in. (Exceptions are some highly specialized fields

such as nursing, computers, and engineering.) Most em-

ployers just want to make certain that you have completed

college, and for most of them one degree is the same as an-

other. College provides the base on which the employer builds.

Because you have your bachelor’s degree—no matter

what it is in—employers assume that you are a responsi-

ble person. This credential implies that you have proven

yourself: You were able to stick with a four-year course,

you showed up for classes, listened to lectures, took notes,

passed tests, and carried out whatever assignments you

were given. On top of this base of presumed responsibil-

ity, employers add the specifics necessary for you to per-

form their particular work, whether that be in sales or

service, in insurance, banking, retailing, marketing, prod-

uct development, or whatever.

If you major in sociology, you don’t have to look for a

job as a sociologist. If you ever decide to go on for an ad-

vanced degree, that’s fine. But such plans are not necessary.

The bachelor’s in sociology can be your passport to most

types of work in society.

Final Note

I want to conclude by stressing the reason to major in so-

ciology that goes far beyond how you are going to make

a living. It is the sociological perspective itself, the way of

thinking and understanding that sociology provides.

Wherever your path in life may lead, the sociological per-

spective will accompany you.

You are going to live in a fast-paced, rapidly changing

society that, with all its conflicting crosscurrents, is going

to be in turmoil. The sociological perspective will cast a

different light on life’s events, allowing you to perceive

them in more insightful ways. As you watch television,

attend a concert, converse with a friend, listen to a boss

or co-worker—you will be more aware of the social con-

texts that underlie such behavior. The sociological per-

spective that you develop as you major in sociology will

equip you to view what happens in life differently from

someone who does not have your sociological back-

ground. Even events in the news will look different to

you.

The final question that I want to leave you with, then,

is, “If you enjoy sociology, why not major in it?”

With my best wishes for your success in life,

Epilogue 679

GLOSSARY

bourgeoisie Marx’s term for capitalists, those

who own the means of production

bureaucracy a formal organization with a hi-

erarchy of authority and a clear division of

labor; emphasis on impersonality of positions

and written rules, communications, and

records

capital punishment the death penalty

capitalism an economic system characterized by

the private ownership of the means of production,

the pursuit of profit, and market competition

cargo cult a social movement in which South

Pacific islanders destroyed their possessions in

the anticipation that their ancestors would ship

them new goods

case study an intensive analysis of a single event,

situation, or individual

caste system a form of social stratification in

which people’s statuses are determined by birth

and are lifelong

category people, objects, and events that have

similar characteristics and are classified together

centrist party a political party that represents

the center of political opinion

charisma literally, an extraordinary gift from

God; more commonly, an outstanding, “mag-

netic” personality

charismatic authority authority based on an

individual’s outstanding traits, which attract fol-

lowers

charismatic leader literally, someone to whom

God has given a gift; in its extended sense, some-

one who exerts extraordinary appeal to a group

of followers

checks and balances the separation of powers

among the three branches of U.S. government—

legislative, executive, and judicial—so that each

is able to nullify the actions of the other two,

thus preventing any single branch from domi-

nating the government

church according to Durkheim, one of the

three essential elements of religion—a moral

community of believers; also refers to a large,

highly organized religious group that has formal,

sedate worship services with little emphasis on

evangelism, intense religious experience, or per-

sonal conversion

circular reaction Robert Park’s term for a back-

and-forth communication among the members

of a crowd whereby a “collective impulse” is

transmitted

citizenship the concept that birth (and resi-

dence or naturalization) in a country imparts

basic rights

city a place in which a large number of people

are permanently based and do not produce their

own food

anti-Semitism prejudice, discrimination, and

persecution directed against Jews

apartheid the separation of racial–ethnic

groups as was practiced in South Africa

applied sociology the use of sociology to solve

problems—from the micro level of classroom in-

teraction and family relationships to the macro

level of crime and pollution

ascribed status a position an individual either

inherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in

life

assimilation the process of being absorbed into

the mainstream culture

authoritarian leader an individual who leads

by giving orders

authoritarian personality Theodor Adorno’s

term for people who are prejudiced and rank

high on scales of conformity, intolerance, inse-

curity, respect for authority, and submissiveness

to superiors

authority power that people consider legiti-

mate, as rightly exercised over them; also called

legitimate power

back stage places where people rest from their

performances, discuss their presentations, and

plan future performances

background assumption a deeply embedded,

common understanding of how the world oper-

ates and of how people ought to act

barter the direct exchange of one item for another

basic demographic equation the growth rate

equals births minus deaths plus net migration

basic

or pure sociology sociological research

for the purpose of making discoveries about life

in human groups, not for making changes in

those groups

bilineal (system of descent) a system of reckon-

ing descent that counts both the mother’s and

the father’s side

biotech society a society whose economy in-

creasingly centers on the application of genet-

ics—human genetics for medicine, and plant

and animal genetics for the production of food

and materials

blended family a family whose members were

once part of other families

body language the ways in which people use

their bodies to give messages to others

bonded labor (indentured service) a contrac-

tual system in which someone sells his or her

body (services) for a specified period of time in

an arrangement very close to slavery, except that

it is entered into voluntarily

born again a term describing Christians who

have undergone a religious experience so life-

transforming that they feel they have become new

persons

achieved statuses positions that are earned, ac-

complished, or involve at least some effort or ac-

tivity on the individual’s part

acid rain rain containing sulfuric and nitric

acids (burning fossil fuels release sulfur dioxide

and nitrogen oxide that become sulfuric and ni-

tric acids when they react with moisture in the

air)

acting crowd an excited group of people who

move toward a goal

activity theory the view that satisfaction dur-

ing old age is related to a person’s amount and

quality of activity

age cohort people born at roughly the same

time who pass through the life course together

ageism prejudice, discrimination, and hostility

directed against people because of their age; can

be directed against any age group, including youth

agent provocateur someone who joins a group

in order to spy on it and to sabotage it by pro-

voking its members to commit extreme acts

agents of socialization people or groups that

affect our self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or

other orientations toward life

aggregate individuals who temporarily share

the same physical space but who do not see

themselves as belonging together

agricultural revolution the second social rev-

olution, based on the invention of the plow,

which led to agricultural societies

agricultural society a society based on large-

scale agriculture

alienation Marx’s term for workers’ lack of con-

nection to the product of their labor; caused by

workers being assigned repetitive tasks on a small

part of a product—this leads to a sense of power-

lessness and normlessness; others use the term in

the general sense of not feeling a part of something

alterative social movement a social movement

that seeks to alter only some specific aspects of

people and institutions

alternative medicine medical treatment other

than that of standard Western medicine; often

refers to practices that originate in Asia, but may

also refer to taking vitamins not prescribed by a

doctor

anarchy a condition of lawlessness or political

disorder caused by the absence or collapse of gov-

ernmental authority

animism the belief that all objects in the world

have spirits, some of which are dangerous and

must be outwitted

anomie Durkheim’s term for a condition of so-

ciety in which people become detached from the

usual norms that guide their behavior

anticipatory socialization the process of learn-

ing in advance an anticipated future role or status