imascholar

• Wissen(knowledge)soziologie – attempt to under knowledge of ideas, culture
• Humans think both with and against one another by class, religion, tribe, nationality, individually
• We acquire our ideas, we get indoctrinated
• Marx’s statement in the prefix – its social being (existence) that determines social consciousness – he is not happy about that
• Conditions of social existence determine what we think, how we think
• We are divided not only by material interest but also by diverse ideology
• Ideology as false consciousness, misleading, counter-productive
• Position we occupy in soc tends to determine how we view ourselves, others and h world
• We develop Weltanschauung (world/view+outlook)
• In medieval Europe each group had diffn ideology and it was isolated, no mixing of ideologies at that time, little contact bwn them
• In Enlightenment aristocracy engaged in self-criticism under influence of Voltaire
• In middle ages nothing happened that could change a peasant’s view of the world
• Then in transih to ind/cap society new ideas emerged and penetrated consciousness of all strata and classes
• While we gain clarity from epistemological questions (are our ideas valid or not) or even psycho questions, there is another point of view to take in account is sociological view if u r interested in origin of ideas
• Connection bwn social system in which we live and what we think
• In weber’s study of protestant ethic we find real sociology of ideas, how capitalist spirit is rooted in protestant ethic
• “the last shall b h first” in New Testament, biography, soc structure and history to study to understand it
• phenomenon of resentiment (spiritual revenge) appealed to early Christians bcs of their oppressed state, they created utopian ideas (ideology is ideas how powerful legitimize their privileged status), utopian ideas challenge and attempt to repudiate the claims of privileged and powerful
• only by studying social context we can understand why they say the “last shall be the first”
• early xtian thought was utopian as it xpressed resentiment of the oppressed
• their weakness lead them to deprecate power, and glorify pacific outlook “turn the other cheek”
• since they are too weak to have political aspirations “render into Caesar things that are caesar’s”
• roman values were inverted
• two conceptions of ideology: particular and the total
• particular focus on individual more psychological than sociological
• prostitution of the pen – generate deliberate ideology – outright lying all the way to self-deception or honest ignoramus (Gebbels if u lie enough ppl will believe at least part of it)
• Tocqueville – Gobimeau (races of the world)
• Debunking or unmasking of person (you say that bcs u were brought up this way) there is no end to this, no general criteria
• Total conceph – ideology associated with a class, or an epoch – could be a nationalist ideology : example is Conservative or liberal thought
• RCR as an opposition to Enlightenment ideology
• Reaction not only ag events and new developments but also ideas: its ideas vs ideas
• We first discover Situational determination – being tied up with ideas – of our opponent’s ideas, we fail to look critical at our own ideas and recognize that our own ideas are also situationally determined
• Special form of total conception of ideology – we discover self-serving ideological dterminations that our opponents are doing
• When opponents argue against us we find that our ideas are also sit/determined
• Marxists started to uncover liberal/conservative ideas – bourgeoisie ideas were hypocritical, soon they returned the compliment
• Marxism was also sit/determined, then we start to subject all ideas to analysis – general form of total conceph of ideology – if we do in objective attitude – that’s what is called Sociology of ideas
• Not a relativism – bcs some perspectives gives us more valid insights than others
• Discovering the origin of idea does not prove it true or false (British anthropologists in India)
• So sociology of knowledge is no substitute to of the validity of idea
• …
• in middle ages intellectuals were attached to church for instance so it set limits on their outlook and their expressed ideas
• then they became “relatively-unattached” intellectuals
• it happened during the enlightenment and afterwards in 18-19C with growth of universities
• for first time not only aristocrats went to universities but more and more of middle classes and soon there was maybe even an overproduction of intellectuals
• nothing as dangerous and discontented intellectual bcs he can become a prostitute of the pen
• in 18 c u had a salon, coffee shop, small audiences
• intellectuals are not a class, not above class, they can serve any class, they are ideologues, they can serve any master (prostitutes)
• privileging intellectuals epistemologically is maybe too far (for Zeitlin)
• Mannhaim talks to two groups at least: to bourge he says that their laissa faire leads to disaster – we need democratic planning (S-simonian); to working class leaders he says that u wanted crises to improve ur situation, but look where it led to in Germany and Russia
• M tries to mediate bwn capitalist class d working class
• He tries to introduce the third day (Scandinavia), form of social democracy
• John Keynes a genius, many new ideas – make constructive work to occupy ppl, give them purchasing power to buy accumulated goods, make them build schools, bridges
• Mixture of Keynesiam and Social democracy to avoid eco crysises and totalitarism
• Era of masses easily manipulated by dictators bcs masses are atomized
• 397 last paragraph, hierarchic, organic and guided by scientific elites and need for new social philosophy based upon Christian values, altruism/self-sacrifice, a body of priests to maintain this ethics
•

⁃ He opposed socialism, he tried to conceive of a new type of human organization and community which he described as organic solidarity
⁃ He took many ideas from San Simone
⁃ Organic thinking, society sui genesis (reality in itself), social realism in opposition to social nominalism
⁃ Weber was nominalist, society consists of individuals and this idea is central to discussion of society
⁃ • When people form communities they become realities in themselves – soc realism
⁃ • Durkheim had evolutionist view (from mechanic to organic solidarity) and realist, he was positivist (study human beings as u would study physical phenomena), also a functionalist (from S-Simone, it means in any given society there are social structure/institutions that serve definite functions, which are always positive in traditional view)
⁃ • Tautological argument (circular) if structure exist it performs some kind of function otherwise it won’t exist
⁃ • Merton came up with notion of disfunction, some institutions need to be rid of
⁃ • Durkheim had a view that humans are instruments not authors of social systems, we r passive
⁃ • As opposed to George Herbert Mead, we are not only “me” as objects acted upon but also “I’s” we are creative
⁃ • Industry as a unifying force (S-Simone’s idea), prevent conflict, wars;
⁃ • Du gives a lot of expertise to social scientists who should ran a society, positivistic idea
⁃ • Integrative consequences of industrial division of labor
⁃ Problem of Order for Durkheim as it was for Hobbes
⁃ • S-simonians were v influential in france in promoting industrialization as building rail road systems
⁃ • They proposed hobbesian solution to the problem of order, scientists and industrialists should be the ruling elite in society – leviathan, supreme power for Hobbes
⁃ • Utilitarians opposed s-simonians, it began with Adam smith, David Ricardo, Stuart Mill classic economic English tradition
⁃ • Key ideas are: economic system as guided by invisible hand, gov’t shd’t interfere, laissa faire gov’t it will lead to greatest good for greatest number; property classes were only ones taxed so they preferred as little tax as possible, nobody taxed working class
⁃ • 1819, Swiss Economist Sismondi published a book criticizing utilitarians, he demonstrated that in times of eco crises h poor suffer most and its not the case that laissa fair policies lead to greatest good fr h greatest number
⁃ • there were always gov’t subsidies for projects (railroads) and utilitarian theory never worked
⁃ • Durkheim wasn’t satisfied with that too
⁃ • Utilitarians talked of contractual relations, that are always based on self-interest, it follows that contracts can only bind temporarily bcs if it stops to serve ur interest u will not renew the contract or try to get out of it
⁃ • Also if everyone pursues his own interest won’t it lead to the war of each ag all
⁃ • So interest can’t unite, its fickle
⁃ • Nor hobbesian nor utilitarian theory can solve problem of order
⁃ • They overlooked the non-contractual elements in any contract
⁃ • Contract is always made according to law and moral elements which are outside the contract, they impose concrete duties and obligations on the two parties
⁃ • Jaurez, famous socialist and also Durkheim’s students were almost all socialist
⁃ • So He had to deal with socialist arguments, he didn’t like socialist presuppositions such as necessity of class conflict, D tried to get around it
⁃ • Socialists proposed radical revolutionary changes, which D despised
⁃ • Socialists argued that ind division of labor is not a matter of regulation but a system of structural inequality based on classes with conflicting material interests so u need fundamental changes to deal with it
⁃ • D rejects all three schools d tries t offer his own alternative, a convincing rebuttle, a theory that mediates between Comte and Marx by relying on their common ancestor: S-Simone
⁃ • Dispersion or even conflict in complex division of labor between various occupations, lack of common interest between people, division labor will pull people apart
⁃ • “Division of labor in society” later thesis of Durkheim
⁃ • concept of mechanical solidarity, pre-industrial system in primitive village community or medieval feudal village, demographically small (300 ppl)
⁃ • they have common consciousness of kind “conscience collective” to illustrate it one must not say that action shocks the common conscience because its criminal but its criminal because it shocks the common conscience, deviant act its one that violates common fundamental principles of our community
⁃ • crime is a wound, to heal it ppl punish, retaliate the offender
⁃ • D, new industrial division of labor has positive, integrative consequences; objectively speaking division of labor unifies people because of objective interdependence, we need each other bcs of specialization, exchange of services and reciprocal obligations
⁃ • But he admits that newer higher form of solidarity is not emerging in reality, he said if the system was working normally it would have the above proposed positive consequences, its not happening bcs its afflicted with 2 pathological forms of division of labor
⁃ • First one is Anomic (greek nomos, rule law or norm, so a nomos = absence of that)
⁃ • Second is Forced division of labor
⁃ • at first there was absence of legal norms that could regulate labor management relations so to avoid anomie u need to introduce them
⁃ • p341-2, relation of order to justice, higher organic solidarity requires new rules and they have to be just, justice implies basic social equality
⁃ • p342-3-5, contracts need to be not only legal but just
⁃ • some contracts are made bwn unequals when some are compelled to enter into contracts, weber’s whip of hunger, voluntary contract when u have no choice, such a contract can’t be just, even if it is based on mutual consent, on p343 he says, “only when freely given, consent is just and is a binding force in contract”
⁃ • he talks about abolition of private inheritance (!!!)
⁃ • contract is just only if its not the means of exploiting one of the sides
⁃ • inequality at birth prevents just society, private inheritance is an obstacle
⁃ • he wants inheritance to pass onto to occupational guilds
⁃ • voluntary associations that would mediate bwn individual and the state, only if organized people can argue with the state
⁃ • problem is that some guilds can impose their will on the state (like Lawyer association or medical)
⁃ • p345, equity, D addresses cultural capital, man shouldn’t be better treated if he has more talent
⁃ Sociology of Deviant Behavior
⁃ • he tried to counter act Cesare Lambrosa’s theory of deviance as psychological/physiological traits
⁃ • D suggested that crime/deviance is a normal phenomena
⁃ • But u need to study biography of people who are sociopaths and psychopaths, they exist
⁃ • Suite crime
⁃ • P346, even in society of saints u will have deviant behavior
⁃ • Generally normal human beings engage in crime and there is no society without crime or deviance
⁃ • There is normal deviance and extraordinary deviance as Socrates
⁃ • P345, Normal is what is statistically prevalent, most widespread behavior
⁃ • Punishment as reaffirmation of societies values
⁃ Sociology of Religion
⁃ • “elementary forms of religious life” D’s book
⁃ • Australian aboriginals as most primitive
⁃ • What is religion, E.B. Tylor “religion as belief in spiritual being” D rejects it
⁃ • Buddhism has no such beliefs and all societies distinguish bwn sacred and profane
⁃ • Animism – Tylor, idea of soul originates in dreams and visions
⁃ • How did people become Sacred after death? Like in ancestor cult veneration
⁃ • Other school – naturism, they argued that divine/sacred idea emerged from awesome natural spectacle’s (volcano, hurricanes)
⁃ • Totemism most primitive elementary form of religion
⁃ • Totem is an emblematic symbolic representation of animal species or vegetable
⁃ • Aboriginal exogamous clan units each under an emblem
⁃ • Totem was perceived as a father often
⁃ • And its v Sacred
⁃ • Churinga – sacred instrument, bull roarer, only special people could touch it
⁃ • Even though females and children could not touch it but they could contact with a totemic animal, but not totemic emblem
⁃ • Its sacredness did not come from the animal, but it means that it represents something else – the divine, supra divine impersonal force “moira” fate
⁃ • Where does idea of divine comes from? It comes from society, divine is collective representations of social experience, society is powerful, it existed before and will exist after us
⁃ • Effervescent occasion – excitement feeling, sense of bliss

⁃ pareto reacts ag premises of libera demo and marxian socialism
⁃ irrational man is his image that he tries to assert
⁃ they are engaged in debate with marxist ghost
⁃ marx chapter on historical sociology for next test
⁃ neo-machiavellian or elite theorists
⁃ humans r self-interested, its constant and immutable, will never change to altruistic
⁃ it led to good possibilities if we study history, where we find recurrent patterns
⁃ hindsight provides a servicable degree of foresight, we can't predict the future but we can get a sense of range of possibilities
⁃ pareto participates in revolt ag enlightenment in 19, 20 c
⁃ he argues that humans aren't rational wherein marx was heir of enlightenement and saw humans as perfectible, class conflict encreased human potential of freedom but pareto talked about circulation of elites instead of class struggle, he said that this circulation had no positive consequences for the people
⁃ he said humans are impelled to act by non-rational forces: sentiment=instinct (cultural factor or value) and Ideology moves us: religion as product of sentiments and human needs, its constant and fundamental regardless of forms it assumes
⁃ religions of socialism and humanitarianism is growing while personal god religion is in decline (pro-Nietzschean)
⁃ "treatise on sociology" of 4 volumes, first deals with logico-experimental thinking and non-logical-exp thinking and action
⁃ logico-experimental means that there are few areas in human conduct that confirms to it, scientist in laboratory is guided by strict rules in laboratory to achieve a goal; economic man, homo economic, capitalist entrepreneur is at least logico-experimental in self-interested way and is guided by certain rational rules
⁃ his aim is to propose that sentiment is determining factor in human conduct
⁃ his key concepts are: sentiment, residue, derivation
⁃ sentiment has causal priority for most part but not always
⁃ creates a pater of action, verbal or non-verbal
⁃ derivation is ideology (roughly) "ideology is like breath ..." it blinds us to certain truths, equivalent to ruling ideology in Marx which leads to false consciousness
⁃ also equivalent to Max Webbers "legitimation" formula for authority and power, how do rulers seem to deserve to rule and claim legitimacy for themselves, they do it with formula ie divine right of kings, or will of the people under constitution (president)
⁃ Mosca's political formule to claim legitimacy to ur position
⁃ sentiment is fundamentally ambiguous
⁃ Pragmatists rebunked concept of instict (?): instintualists vs behaviorists
⁃ instict is mechanism that tells organism how to behave in specific circumstances, so humans don't have it and certain animals like bears and tigers don't have it too
⁃ impulse and capacity, animals come into the world without knowledge of behavior how to hunt, but they come into the world with potential to become, if they are raised in captivity they won't know how to hunt
⁃ what about sexual instinct, not instinct but impulse, humans are perennially sexual, not time limits governing behavior, but for some animals its estro(us)cycle
⁃ is there such thing as maternal instict (?) not really, not everybody has it and to different degrees
⁃ only 7.000 yrs bcs when people began to practice agriculture in neolithinc revolution and they settled down and attached to territory
⁃ attachment to territory is not bio but due to economic, cultural
⁃ instict is waste-basket term, it doesn't explain anything
⁃ pareto does something misleading when he uses sentiment as instinct
⁃ two forms of residue
⁃ one is instinct for combination 31, qualities such as inventiveness originality
⁃ second is instinct is for persistence of agrigates, repeating patterns of behavior (unoriginal behavior)
⁃ most people show little talent and originality - instinct for combination - Elite - superiority of 2 out of 20, while other 18 persist in certain patters over and over again
⁃ elite, grade people on score of 0-10 :D
⁃ 6 classes or types of residue, 6th one is sex residue on page 279 ff;
⁃ 281, sentiment in thinking and theory of derivations
⁃ Pareto is positivist, materialist and functionalist, every institution performs a function and hence it exists
⁃ Malinovski's "magic, science and religion" even thought natives Trobrianders practice magic, they are scientific in their behavior (agriculture or deep sea fishing) they won't go out in a cloudy day to fish and they know how to build boats, but they realize that unexpected things happen and people die, so they carry a canoe magician, it fulfills the function of lowering their anxiety
⁃ they also do lagoon fishing, very safe and boring, and in that case they used no magicians
⁃ Pareto with his blanket generalization is not adressing sociological questions
⁃ section Society, Elites, and Force
⁃ elite is not a sociological concept
⁃ some pikpockets are elite even (they can score 9 our 10), if they always succeed in picking pockets, eliteness is superiority in any area, its not yet governing elite, not yet in sociological realsm
⁃ all those who are elite are not necessarily in government (doctors can't be politians at the same time)
⁃ governing elite consists of very small minority of total population and among those there is preponderance of class one residues (instinct for combination) and preponderance of class 2 residues (persistence of aggregates) in masses
⁃ its not classes, where there is class consciousness and defence of their own itnerests
⁃ class implise recognition of collective interest, solidarity and consciousness where as elite theory implies mass, masses are atomized, they are torn from class context and they are vulnerable to demagogue and tyrant as there is a way of appealing to those people, u can control the masses with certain kinds of derivations by appealing to certain kinds of sentiments
⁃ revolutions are great religious tides, upward thrusts of lower classes strong in class 2 residues
⁃ to gain power u need to rely on power, force - lion tactic, but once u establish urself u become more like a fox, u become vulnerable to new lions, u need to allow for circulation of elites, lower classes are more physical eager to use force, so clever governing elite with even invite cooptation, if u use force against new emerging leaders, others may be offended and revolt, so its smart to invite the new elites, it beheads the masses, it renders them incompetent, as they now lack leaders (!) the mass can't do anything worthwhile without leadership
⁃ if circulation ceases, the elite collapses sweeping off the whole country
⁃ humanitariasnims is a desease, if elites don't use force it degrades and deserves to be overthrown
⁃ since governing elite is small, it is strenghtened by influx of class one residues and mass is weakened by loss of it, even thought masses have many class one in proportion to the whole number its small, so masses remain leaderless
⁃ soc296 social change seminar course
⁃ after the brake
⁃ Mosca is political liberal, he tries to debunk the rousseunian marxian fantasy, he saw some aspect of marxian outlook which are utopian, such as that there will be society without class and without ruling class
⁃ he is more sociological and more liberal politically
⁃ he rejects social darwinism and racial theories
⁃ social darwinism is survival of the fittest, he is there because he deserves to be there, it justifies the position of successful people, others are losers
⁃ social darwinism ingonres social/cultural conditions that allow people to achieve success "positions deja prises" = positions are already occupied, u have poor parents with no network for instance
⁃ social hierarchy is justified in darwining terms, but it simply does not apply
⁃ Morsca recognized that
⁃ he uses social structure, social types and social forces terms
⁃ its not struggle for survival but preeminence, struggle for wealth, powe and prestige and control over means of controlling others (means of production and control of the means of violence, administration) Trotsky - state is those who successfully claim religimate use of most effective form coercive force and have monopoly over it
⁃ Mosca cites Saint Simone who had influence over him
⁃ we need proper ruling elite possessing proper qualities at a particular for good leadership, need for new elites and new hierarchy
⁃ marx said that all history was history of class struggle, Mosca agrees with it but he rejects the vision of future state of classless society, marx was a little bit of evolutionist
⁃ Marx believed that class society rests on certain conditions, Mosca and Pareto saw this vision as utopian
⁃ Mosca's theory rests on the fact that ruling group in any society is organized minority d urles over unorganized majority, atomized masses
⁃ Mosca allows that pressure of discontent masses influence the ruling class
⁃ translating private troubles into public issues
⁃ organized minority is also strong by controlling strategic resources in society
⁃ there is no way to eliminate positions deja prises, some people will always have cultural, family, networks advantages
⁃ although organized minority has superior might and can repel any offence, they use it as last resort, his point is similar to marx and webber, generally ruling group stabilizes its rule by making it acceptable to masses by means of political formula (ideology), its not a trick and not something superficial, it has to resonate with fundamental values and sentiments of people thats why nationalism succeeds often
⁃ Fussel historian,
⁃ concentrate on Aristotle and MOntesque
⁃ Aristotle - decent society has to prevent polarization
⁃ class conflict had positve results in widening freedoms of lower classes (marx believed it too as did MOntesque)
⁃ mixed gov't , check's and balances and large middle class
⁃ and "balance of social forces", corporate interests, ethnic/cultural itnerests
⁃ in sociol-economic sphereu need dynamic equilibrium of social forces of approx same size (concern with Huge corporations)
⁃ juridical defence concept - civil rights and freedoms of press, assembly and right to trial by jury
⁃ he believed in unviersal sufferage but it wil never eliminate well organized ruling minorities
⁃ parlamentarism has defects but they can't be abolished bcs of BAD consequences
⁃ no autonomous social forces in USSR as in NAzi germany, no autonomous organizations to check the pwoer of the state
⁃ withotu all that tyranny and totalitarianism will result genocidally
⁃ Michel's classic work (student of max webber) "political parties" (!), he wants to demonstrate the iron law of olygarchy (its a metaphor, not a real law, but just a powerful tendency)
⁃ even in the most democratic party (as in germany "social-demo party") olygarchical tendency
⁃ August Bebbel leader of soc-demo party said "the party is me" he didn't like criticism
⁃ Rousseau recognized that price of liberty is eternal vigilance (keep an eye on ur elected leaders)
⁃ Michels said that demo requires organization of some kind of organizatio d leadership and organization almost inevitable leads to oligarchy
⁃ growth of complexity and demographical size requires some kind of functional coordinator, organizator such as when u play alone or two violisits, and with an orchestra u definitely need a leader, the structure of organization and growth of number of participants imposed structural needs for organization
⁃ symphany orchestra requires a CONDUCTOR, it doesn't work without it
⁃ Rousevelt was reelected 4 times and died in office, was he an olygarch bcs he got reelected?
⁃ the very people whom we choose to be our servants tend to transform ouselves into our masters