Absolute monarchs → Rulers with complete control over their subjects.
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| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Absolute monarchs → Rulers with complete control over their subjects. | |
| Applied sociology → Using sociology to solve social problems. | |
| Authority → Legitimate power accepted by society. | |
| Beliefs → Ideas people hold to be true. | |
| Biological determinism → Idea that biology determines human behavior. | |
| Bourgeoisie → Capitalist class who own the means of production (Marx). | |
| Capitalism → Economic system based on private ownership and profit. | |
| Capitalist world economy → Global system based on capitalism. | |
| Caste system → System where status is fixed by birth. | |
| Centre/core, semi-periphery, periphery → Categories of world-systems theory (core = wealthy, periphery = poor). | |
| Clan → Extended kin group often based on lineage. | |
| Class in/for itself → Class in itself: similar economic position; Class for itself: aware and organized. | |
| Class, status, party → Weber’s three components of social inequality. | |
| Class conflict → Struggle between social classes over resources (Marx). | |
| Class/false consciousness → False consciousness: beliefs that support the ruling class. | |
| Class structure → How society is divided into classes. | |
| Cliques → Small, close-knit peer groups. | |
| Colonization → One country taking control of another. | |
| Conflict theory → Theory that social life is competition over scarce resources. | |
| Contradictory class location → People who occupy in-between class positions. | |
| Charles Horton Cooley → Sociologist who proposed the looking-glass self. | |
| Counterculture → Group that rejects core societal values and norms. | |
| Cultural capital → Cultural knowledge and skills valued by society. | |
| Cultural diffusion → Spread of cultural traits between societies. | |
| Cultural levelling → Cultures becoming more alike through contact. | |
| Cultural lag → When nonmaterial culture lags behind material change. | |
| Cultural relativism → Evaluating culture by its own standards. | |
| Cultural universal → Trait found in every human culture. | |
| Culture → Shared beliefs, values, norms, and material objects. | |
| Culture of poverty → Idea that poverty creates a distinct culture that perpetuates itself. | |
| Keynesian economics → Theory that government spending can stabilize the economy. | |
| Kingsley Davis & Wilber Moore → Argued inequality has positive social functions. | |
| Degradation ceremony → Ritual that strips someone of their identity (resocialization). | |
| Dependency theory → View that poor countries are shaped by exploitation by rich countries. | |
| Debt crisis → When a country cannot repay its foreign debt. | |
| Divine right of kings → Idea that monarchs rule by God’s will. | |
| Emile Durkheim → Studied social integration and anomie; functionalism founder. | |
| Endogamy → Marrying within one’s social group. | |
| Ethnocentrism → Judging other cultures by one’s own culture. | |
| Export processing zones → Special areas for export-oriented manufacturing. | |
| Feminist theories → Theories focusing on gender inequality and patriarchy. | |
| Folkways → Everyday norms for routine behavior. | |
| Front stage / back stage → Goffman’s idea of public vs. private performance. | |
| Functional analysis/structural functionalism → Examines social parts and their functions. | |
| Game stage → Mead’s stage where children take multiple roles and understand the generalized other. | |
| Gender roles & socialization → Expectations attached to being male or female. | |
| Generalized other → The internalized sense of the total expectations of others. | |
| Globalization → Increasing global integration in economics, politics, culture. | |
| Habitus → Bourdieu’s idea of ingrained dispositions shaped by social background. | |
| Human agency → Ability of individuals to act independently of structure. | |
| Ideology → System of ideas that justify social arrangements. | |
| (Im)migration → Movement of people into (immigration) or out of (emigration) countries. | |
| Imperialism → Extending a nation’s power through direct or indirect control. | |
| In-group/out-group → Groups you identify with vs. those you don’t. | |
| Income/wealth — Income → Money earned; Wealth → Assets minus debts. | |
| Indentured service → Labor system where people work for a set time for passage or debt repayment. | |
| International Monetary Fund → Lends to countries to stabilize the international monetary system (IMF). | |
| Intersectionality → How multiple social identities (race, gender, class) intersect to shape experience. | |
| Language → System of symbols used for communication. | |
| Looking-glass self → Cooley’s concept that self develops through imagining how others see us. | |
| Macro-/micro-sociology → Macro: large-scale social processes; Micro: day-to-day interaction. | |
| Manifest & latent functions & dysfunctions — Manifest → intended; Latent → unintended; Dysfunctions → harmful effects. | |
| Maquiladoras → Foreign-owned factories in Mexico producing goods for export. | |
| Means of production → Resources (land, factories, tools) used to produce goods. | |
| Meritocracy → System where status is earned by ability and effort. | |
| Robert Merton → Sociologist who developed manifest and latent function ideas. | |
| Middle range theories → Theories between micro and macro levels. | |
| C. Wright Mills → Coined the sociological imagination; wrote about the power elite. | |
| Modernization theory → Theory that societies develop by adopting Western-style institutions. | |
| Mores → Norms with strong moral significance. | |
| Trans- or multinational corporations → Companies that operate in more than one country. | |
| Neocolonialism → Indirect economic control of poor countries by rich countries. | |
| Neoliberalism → Policy model favoring free markets and reduced government intervention. | |
| Non-material culture/symbolic culture → Ideas, values, norms, and symbols of a culture. | |
| Norms → Rules and expectations for behavior. | |
| Origins of sociology → Emerged during industrial revolution to study rapid social change. | |
| Peer group → Group of similar-aged people who influence socialization. | |
| Play stage → Mead’s stage where children imitate others and take single roles. | |
| Power → The ability to achieve goals despite resistance. | |
| Power elite → Small group of people who dominate politics, economy, and military. | |
| Prestige → Social honor or respect attached to a status. | |
| Primary/secondary groups — Primary → close, intimate groups; Secondary → larger, goal-focused groups. | |
| Proletarian → Working class who sell their labor (Marx). | |
| Protestant ethic → Weber’s idea linking Protestant values to capitalism. | |
| Pure or basic sociology → Research aimed at understanding, not changing, society. | |
| Reference group → Group used as a standard for self-evaluation. | |
| Resocialization → Learning new rules and roles within a total institution. | |
| Sanctions → Rewards or punishments used to enforce norms. | |
| Sapir-Whorf hypothesis → Language influences how we perceive reality. | |
| Scientific method → Systematic method for studying social phenomena. | |
| Significant other → Person who significantly influences someone’s self. | |
| Self / I / Me — Self → identity; I → spontaneous part; Me → socialized part. | |
| Slavery → System where people are owned as property. | |
| Social class → Grouping based on wealth, power, and prestige. | |
| Social integration → Degree to which people feel connected to society. | |
| Social location → Socially defined place in society (class, race, gender). | |
| Social mobility – exchange, structural, intergenerational — Exchange → swapping places; Structural → shifts from social changes; Intergenerational → compared across generations. | |
| Social stratification → Structured ranking of groups in society. | |
| Socialization → Process of learning culture and social roles. | |
| Society → People who share a territory and culture. | |
| Sociological imagination → Ability to see personal troubles as public issues. | |
| Sociological perspective → Viewing behavior in context of social forces. | |
| Sociology → Systematic study of society. | |
| Spirit of capitalism → Attitude toward profit and investment tied to modern capitalism (Weber). | |
| Status (in)consistency → When a person’s statuses bring conflicting levels of prestige or resources. | |
| Structural adjustment → Economic policy changes required by lenders like IMF. | |
| Subculture → Group with distinct values within a larger culture. | |
| Subjective meanings → Meanings individuals attach to their actions. | |
| Symbolic interaction → Theory focusing on everyday interaction and meanings. | |
| Symbols → Objects or gestures that carry shared meanings. | |
| Taboo → A strong norm whose violation is severely sanctioned. | |
| Taking the role of the other → Imagining how someone else sees a situation (Mead). | |
| Theory → An explanation of relationships among phenomena. | |
| Total institution → Institution that controls all aspects of life for its members. | |
| Melvin Tumin → Sociologist who critiqued Davis & Moore on stratification. | |
| United Nations/Security Council → UN is an international organization; Security Council handles peace and security. | |
| Values → Shared ideas about what is desirable. | |
| Value free → Research without the researcher’s personal values influencing results. | |
| Verstehen → Weber’s idea of empathetic understanding of social actors. | |
| Immanuel Wallerstein → Developer of world-system theory. | |
| Max Weber → Sociologist who focused on bureaucracy, authority, and interpretive understanding. | |
| World Bank/IBRD → Provides loans to nations for development projects. | |
| World System Theory → Wallerstein’s theory of core, semi-periphery, and periphery nations. | |
| World Trade Organization (WTO)/GATT → Institution that regulates international trade (GATT was earlier agreement). | |
| Bretton Woods → 1944 meeting that founded IMF and World Bank. | |
| Keynesian economics → Theory that government spending can smooth the economy. | |
| Debt crisis → When a country cannot repay its debts. |