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Final Lecture

Final Lecture. Theories of Postmodern Society: Sociobiology Structuralism and Poststructuralism Structuration Theory The McDonaldization of Society The Postmodern Condition. A Few Words About Sociobiology.

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Final Lecture

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  1. Final Lecture Theories of Postmodern Society: Sociobiology Structuralism and Poststructuralism Structuration Theory The McDonaldization of Society The Postmodern Condition

  2. A Few Words About Sociobiology • Definition: the study of the biological bases of human behaviour, by virtue of our biological nature and our evolutionary history, is common to all societies • A “grand theory” of human society as being based on universal biological and evolutionary tendencies • Sociobiologists explain social organization in terms of biology rather than culture • Like functionalism, may promote inequality and maintenance of status quo

  3. Intellectual Roots of Sociobiology • Biological and zoological sciences • Darwinian principles of natural selection and “survival of the fittest” • Very popular theory in 1970’s-1990’s • Has evolved into current evolutionary psychology (i.e. P. Rushton, D. Kimura) • Even Talcott Parsons’ later work was moving into this area.

  4. E.O. Wilson • a zoologist who applied findings from insect and animal studies to humans • “Sociobiology: the New Synthesis” (1975) • Human race a product of evolution • Information passed on genetically • Our genes interact with our environment and this forms the basis for social behaviour, social structure, and society • Natural selection and evolution – the most adaptive genes are passed on

  5. Robin Fox and Philippe Rushton • Ronin Fox says cultural differences across societies are “symbolic disguises” • Underneath, all human cultures basically the same (i.e. social status, incest taboos) • Difference between human and animal is that we have a “gene” for culture • Culture adaptive for humans • “selfish gene” - to compete for resources, to reproduce – is passed on • But altruism? – Rushton says develops out of “group need for mutual defense”

  6. Postmodernism • Postmodern theorizing has tendency toward relativism and anti-rationalism • Some postmodern thought anti-sociological (originated with Neitzsche’s ideas) • postmodernism rejects idea of scientific explanation of society and idea of using common principles to describe societies • We have left the modern (capitalist) era and have shifted to “post-capitalist” era

  7. Postmodern Influence on Sociology • Postmodernism great impact on sociology • Renewed effort to show there are general trends in human action/behaviour that exist across both individual and collective levels • Some sociological theories attempt to incorporate the new ideas: • Causality of language and discourse on action • Emphasis on role of power • Less emphasis on traditional scientific method

  8. Structuralism and Poststructuralism • Structuralism: to discover underlying (universal?) structures exist in language that guide thought and action • “all about words” • developed out of anthropology and sociology • Also incorporates psychological principles of Jean Piaget • Foucault modified structuralism to develop a more limited “poststructuralism”

  9. Claude Levi-Strauss (1908- ) • French sociologist, philosopher and anthropologist • First academic position was as professor of sociology in Sao Paolo Brazil • Led anthropological expedition into remote area of Brazil • Then, New School for Social Research, New York (where Alfred Schutz was) • 1949, returned to France and published “Elementary Structures of Kinship” – very influential work

  10. Elementary Structures of Kinship • Uses analysis of myth to identify underlying common themes (or structures) of myth passed on from one generation to next • Levi-Strauss thought there are constant patterns in the organization of human thought revealed through myths • Myth, as language, consists of both "langue" (timeless or ahistorical) and "parole“ (time-specific) elements. • Third characteristic is structural - “mythemes” (single events) • Mythemes describe events in terms of binary opposites • Black/white, nature/nurture, etc. • Binary opposites common to all cultural myths • Levi-Strauss asks why do we do this, and why are the categories we create the same across cultures? • They are universal, according to Levi-Strauss… • Criticisms: this idea denies possibility of change • Also, is everything seen that way?

  11. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and Poststructuralism • French psychologist and philosopher • Degrees in philosophy, psychology, pyschopathology • Brilliant intellectual but somewhat unstable • In his personal life, became obsessed with sex and sado-masochism • Wanted to live life to the fullest – “limit experiences” • Spent the final years of his life in U.S. at Berkeley and as part of San Francisco gay community – died of AIDS at 57.

  12. Main Ideas • Influenced by work of existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre • Rejects idea of universal thought structures • But retains focus on importance of language to structure our thinking • Also, processes other than language • Power a central theme of his theories • In a sense, is Neitzsche’s intellectual heir

  13. Foucault’s Archeology and Genealogy • His method was a type of historiography that he called archeology and genealogy: • Archaeology shows that “systems of thought and knowledge (epistemes or discursive formations, in Foucault's terminology) are governed by rules, beyond those of grammar and logic, that operate beneath the consciousness of individual subjects and define a system of conceptual possibilities that determines the boundaries of thought in a given domain and period…” • Genealogy (like Neitzsche’s “Genealogy of Morals”) looks at the origins of systems of social thought to show that any system is “the result of contingent turns of history, not the outcome of rationally inevitable trends” • From http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/foucault/retrieved Apr. 2, 2006

  14. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason (1965) • A form of “discourse analysis” • Links knowledge and power • Knowledge used to generate power which is then used for control • Scientific knowledge generates more power and control than other knowledge • Medical knowledge gives power and is used as moral control of the insane • Mental hospitals become institutions for control and surveillance – deprive the insane of their freedom, and send a warning to the rest of society

  15. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1977) • Theme: again, knowledge = power • Technology is generated by knowledge to further power • Birth of the prison (the “Carceral”) in modern society represents a shift in how power used • In past, power used to control “the body”, now used to control the “mind and soul” • Modern “disciplinary power” involves hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and the examination • Bentham’s Panopticon represents total surveillance – now extends to all aspects of society

  16. History of Sexuality (1976 -1984) • 3 volume work linking power and control of sexuality – The Will to Knowledge, The use of Pleasure, The Care of the Self • Had planned at least five volumes • Sex has been shifted from public to private realm and subject of specialized discourse • Specialized “scientific” knowledge about it is used as power to control sexuality (thereby enables control over the body, reproduction, etc.)

  17. Summary of Foucault’s Ideas • In past, use of power much more obvious • With the creation of specialized knowledges, technologies, and discourses, the power used to control much less obvious • We are now controlled not just in body, but in mind and will also

  18. Anthony Giddens and Structuration Theory • British theorist, sociology professor at Cambridge • Focus of early work was reinterpretation of Marx, Durkheim, and Weber • “Capitalism and Modern Social Theory” (1971) • Now focus on identifying generalized social and cultural explanations • “The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration” (1984) • Main intellectual influences: Karl Marx, Alfred Schutz, Erving Goffman

  19. Structuration Theory • links micro and macro levels through the concepts of “structure” and “agency” • Giddens says: “The basic domain of the social sciences, according to the theory of structuration, is neither the experience of the individual actor, not the existence of any form of societal totality, but social practices ordered across time and space” (1984)

  20. Structure and Agency as Duality • Says makes no sense to look at individual actors or at social structures • Need to see structure and agency as a duality • Individuals re-create, through their social actions, the norms and institutions which in turn, constrain their action • Can modify and change actions and structure • Social life is formed and reformed through everyday activity and social structures exist only as long as actions are reproduced across time and space

  21. Social Reproduction • Social system = reproduced social practices • Key factors in social reproduction: • Mutual knowledge • Autonomy • Routinization • “Continuity of social reproduction involves the continual ‘regrooving’ of established attitudes and cognitive outlooks” (Giddens, 1984)

  22. George Ritzer and the McDonaldization of Society • From The McDonaldization of Society (1996) • Increasing bureaucratization and rationalization of the workplace • Based on Max Weber’s “formal rationality” • McDonald’s is an “irresistible” model • Four dimensions of model: • 1. efficiency (through training, rules, regulations) • 2. quantification or calculability (substitute quantity for quality) • 3. predictability (everything standardized) • 4. control through substitution of technology for people) • Postmodern: the McDonaldization of human experience?

  23. Jean-Francois Lyotard: The Postmodern Condition • Jean-François Lyotard(1925-1998) was a French philosopher and intellectual • The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1979) commisioned by Quebec gov’t. • His thesis: "that the status of knowledge is altered as societies enter what is known as the postindustrial age and cultures enter what is known as the postmodern age" (1984:3) • was the first to identify and describe a shift in knowledge and its underpinnings (metanarratives) and the effects it has on postmodern science and education

  24. What is the Postmodern Condition? • concern with how knowledge (esp. in science) is legitimated • In past, legitimation through “grand narratives” • 1. a sociopolitical (knowledge as freedom) narrative • 2. a philosophical narrative (academic search for truth) • Was legitimated through consensus • Now, with new technology, esp. computerization, legitimation occurs through “perfomativity” (the value of the knowledge itself in enhancing efficiency or productivity) • In modern society knowledge has become not an end-in-itself but a means to gain power and control • Postmodern knowledge will be based on mini narratives • The aim of knowledge will be to generate new ideas

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