Chapter 1: introduction: Committing Sociology
Sociology: An “Uncomfortable Trade”
● Sociology: the study of social life and social relationships, social change, and social
conflict
● It’s interest lies in actions and thoughts oriented towards others
○ Sociology focuses on society, psychology focuses on the individual,
anthropology focuses on culture
○ Both sociology and anthropology take an interest in culture and in
meaning-making
● Theories: explanations for observed realities
● Methods: techniques for collecting and making sense of information
● Critical Thinking: an approach that involved not taking things for granted or jumping
to conclusions hastily but investigating available information to form opinions based
on evidence
● A critical approach to sociology includes effecting social change to encourage greater
social equality
● “Committing” sociology is based on the idea that sociology demands our active and
deliberate action, it is something we do with careful intent
○ “Committing” a crime
● Committing also suggests that our actions might not be neutral but grounded in
particular values
● Committing sociology is about combining intellectual endeavours with love for people
and a belief that change is possible and necessary (Jasmine Hartov)
● Sociology is an “uncomfortable” trade because it is disruptive
○ Threatens existing power relations
○ its interest in promoting social equality and change shows more concern for
the wellbeing of whole societies than of a powerful few
● Reflective Knowledge: stepping back from settings or groups that we are
embedded in to think critically about what we are seeing and the implications thereof
● Sociology is about studying social life AND pushing changes to it
Committing Sociology: Responsibilities and Opportunities
● What responsibilities and opportunities are associated with doing sociology?
● Responsibility to share its knowledge gained through research across sectors,
regions, and cultures
● Knowledge shared must be systematically gathered evidence, and collected in a way
that adheres to rigorous methods
● Knowledge should be made accessible and understandable to the general public
○ Makes it useful and potentially empowering to a wider range of people
● Responsibility to courageously notice and say what needs to be noticed and said
● Responsibility to people who have participated in research
○ What do participants get out of the research and broader research process
● Responsibility to connect sociological work across disciplines in the academic world
○ Sociology intersects with other fields in the social sciences and humanities
, ○ Collaborating with other disciplines to create and use knowledge for the
betterment of society
● Sociology must bring ignored and silenced voices to the table if it is to truly inform
and empower society
● There are many ways of looking at and gathering information about the social world
From Positivism and Consensus Sociology to Critical
Discipline: The Emergence and Transformation of
Sociology
● August Comte, French philosopher and founder of positivism
○ Positivism: a philosophical theory and approach to social science that sees
social reality as comprising objective facts and views and the research
process as value-free
● Herbert Spencer, contributed theories of society’s development as a “social
organism”
● Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Webber also contributed to the emergence of
sociology
● The sociology that first took root in Canada and the US was deeply influenced by
Comte and Spencer’s positivism
● Key figures of early-mid-twentieth-century sociology were consensus focused, such
as Talbott Parsons
● Consensus-focused: sociology in the structural functionalist vein that sees society
as a system of interrelated parts that promote stability
● Structural Functionalists: a theoretical framework in sociology that sees a society
as a complex system, or organism, whose parts are interrelated and work together to
promote stability and interdependence
● Parsons and other structural functionalists saw all the elements of society as
important contributors to the stability of society
○ Poverty and crime are not problems to be solved
The Sociological Imagination and Public Sociology
● C Wright Mills, American sociologist, challenges the discipline with a call to cultivate
a sociological imagination
● Sociological imagination: way of thinking and seeing the social world by noticing
connection between individual experiences on the micro level and broader societal
relationships on the macro level
● This approach invites us to look critically at challenges or injustices we experience in
our everyday lives and how they are linked to broader public issues
● Public Issues: macro level forces shaping society and individual lives
● Michael Burawoy: American sociologist, champion of public sociology
○ Argued the discipline would grow sttronger if we could make sociology more
central to public discussion and debate
○ Work to back-translate
● Back-Translate: bring knowledge back to empower individuals and communities
● There is increasing acknowledgement of different worldview and sources of
knowledge within the discipline
Sociology: An “Uncomfortable Trade”
● Sociology: the study of social life and social relationships, social change, and social
conflict
● It’s interest lies in actions and thoughts oriented towards others
○ Sociology focuses on society, psychology focuses on the individual,
anthropology focuses on culture
○ Both sociology and anthropology take an interest in culture and in
meaning-making
● Theories: explanations for observed realities
● Methods: techniques for collecting and making sense of information
● Critical Thinking: an approach that involved not taking things for granted or jumping
to conclusions hastily but investigating available information to form opinions based
on evidence
● A critical approach to sociology includes effecting social change to encourage greater
social equality
● “Committing” sociology is based on the idea that sociology demands our active and
deliberate action, it is something we do with careful intent
○ “Committing” a crime
● Committing also suggests that our actions might not be neutral but grounded in
particular values
● Committing sociology is about combining intellectual endeavours with love for people
and a belief that change is possible and necessary (Jasmine Hartov)
● Sociology is an “uncomfortable” trade because it is disruptive
○ Threatens existing power relations
○ its interest in promoting social equality and change shows more concern for
the wellbeing of whole societies than of a powerful few
● Reflective Knowledge: stepping back from settings or groups that we are
embedded in to think critically about what we are seeing and the implications thereof
● Sociology is about studying social life AND pushing changes to it
Committing Sociology: Responsibilities and Opportunities
● What responsibilities and opportunities are associated with doing sociology?
● Responsibility to share its knowledge gained through research across sectors,
regions, and cultures
● Knowledge shared must be systematically gathered evidence, and collected in a way
that adheres to rigorous methods
● Knowledge should be made accessible and understandable to the general public
○ Makes it useful and potentially empowering to a wider range of people
● Responsibility to courageously notice and say what needs to be noticed and said
● Responsibility to people who have participated in research
○ What do participants get out of the research and broader research process
● Responsibility to connect sociological work across disciplines in the academic world
○ Sociology intersects with other fields in the social sciences and humanities
, ○ Collaborating with other disciplines to create and use knowledge for the
betterment of society
● Sociology must bring ignored and silenced voices to the table if it is to truly inform
and empower society
● There are many ways of looking at and gathering information about the social world
From Positivism and Consensus Sociology to Critical
Discipline: The Emergence and Transformation of
Sociology
● August Comte, French philosopher and founder of positivism
○ Positivism: a philosophical theory and approach to social science that sees
social reality as comprising objective facts and views and the research
process as value-free
● Herbert Spencer, contributed theories of society’s development as a “social
organism”
● Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Webber also contributed to the emergence of
sociology
● The sociology that first took root in Canada and the US was deeply influenced by
Comte and Spencer’s positivism
● Key figures of early-mid-twentieth-century sociology were consensus focused, such
as Talbott Parsons
● Consensus-focused: sociology in the structural functionalist vein that sees society
as a system of interrelated parts that promote stability
● Structural Functionalists: a theoretical framework in sociology that sees a society
as a complex system, or organism, whose parts are interrelated and work together to
promote stability and interdependence
● Parsons and other structural functionalists saw all the elements of society as
important contributors to the stability of society
○ Poverty and crime are not problems to be solved
The Sociological Imagination and Public Sociology
● C Wright Mills, American sociologist, challenges the discipline with a call to cultivate
a sociological imagination
● Sociological imagination: way of thinking and seeing the social world by noticing
connection between individual experiences on the micro level and broader societal
relationships on the macro level
● This approach invites us to look critically at challenges or injustices we experience in
our everyday lives and how they are linked to broader public issues
● Public Issues: macro level forces shaping society and individual lives
● Michael Burawoy: American sociologist, champion of public sociology
○ Argued the discipline would grow sttronger if we could make sociology more
central to public discussion and debate
○ Work to back-translate
● Back-Translate: bring knowledge back to empower individuals and communities
● There is increasing acknowledgement of different worldview and sources of
knowledge within the discipline
