1
The social structure of western societies
Seminar 1: The Social Structure of Western Societies
Theoretical framework
• social structure in western societies
• role of institutions, history and cultural traditions
• historical/ overarching trends: modernization and globalization
• micro-macro approach: sociological imagination
The social structure in western societies
What is a ‘social structure’?
Patterned social relationships between (groups of) individuals
Features of social structures
1. Socially embodied (actions and beliefs of individuals)
2. Coercive (normative system)
3. Assignment of statuses and roles (position system)
4. Distributive consequences (social outcomes)
5. Leads both to stability and change
Example 1: family
Example 2: social class
Example 3: ethnicity
Example 4: gender
Intersection of social structures
1. Class, family, ethnicity
2. Identities
3. Privilege and discrimination
Link to social institutions
Organization of patterned social relationships
Examples of institutions:
1. Economic: to produce and distribute goods (markets)
2. Legal: to enforce norms (law)
3. Political: for collective decision making and protection (democracy)
4. Educational: to train children into the way of life of society (schools)
5. Normative: to provide meaning (religion/church)
Nota Bene (NB) History and (cultural) traditions!
Historical/ Overarching trend 1: Modernization
What is modernization?
Transformation process from traditional (agrarian) to modern
(industrial) or post-modern (service) society
1. Technological changes: production process
2. Economic changes: more wealth
3. Political changes: democracy
4. Spatial (social) changes: urbanization
, 2
5. Cultural changes: modern values
Historical/ Overarching trend 2: Globalization
What is globalization?
A set of processes of social change, among which deterritorialization
Human activities and relationships
1. Extension across the world
2. Intensi cation
3. Increasing velocity
4. Interconnectedness
5. Re exivity
Nota bene (NB) Globalization is not a ‘new’ phenomenon’, but its impact has grown
Sociology / this course
Sociological imagination (Mills, 1959)
Seeing the connection between
1. Personal troubles (personal challenges) – biography
2. Social issues (social challenges) - history
3. - structure?
Key Takeaways for Your Exam
1. The sociological imagination connects personal troubles with public issues.
2. Understanding history, social structure, and biography is key to sociological analysis.
3. Mills criticizes narrow, data-driven research (abstracted empiricism) for ignoring larger social
patterns.
4. Sociology should be engaged and help people understand the world around them.
5. The sociological imagination helps individuals see that many "personal" problems are actually
social in nature.
Theoretical framework EXAM QUESTION
Micro-macro perspective (Coleman, 2002)
• Where would you place ‘social structure’? I would
place social structure at the macro level
fl fi
, 3
• Which arrow is problematic according to Coleman? Arrow 3 is problematic according to
Coleman
• Your example (see assignment)
Key Takeaways for Your Exam
1. Micro-macro problem: Sociology must explain how individual actions aggregate into macro-
level social structures.
2. Coleman Boat: A model showing how macro conditions in uence individual behavior, which
then aggregates into new macro structures.
3. Methodological individualism: Macro-phenomena must be explained through individual
choices and interactions.
4. Social capital: Networks, trust, and reciprocity help explain emergent social structures.
5. Collective action problem: Institutions and norms help overcome individual self-interest for
collective cooperation.
6. Critique of macro-sociology: Structural explanations must account for micro-level processes.
Micro-macro in this course Example micro-macro: family
Cross-level
Moderation
fl
, 4
Contributions of Sociology
• Personal Troubles versus Social Issues (what is the problem)
• Causes and consequences (why: mechanisms)
• Context (macro-micro)
• Heterogeneity (moderation and cross-level interactions)
Mills (1959) —> Top-down approach
Coleman (2002) —>Bottom-up approach
The social structure of western societies
Seminar 1: The Social Structure of Western Societies
Theoretical framework
• social structure in western societies
• role of institutions, history and cultural traditions
• historical/ overarching trends: modernization and globalization
• micro-macro approach: sociological imagination
The social structure in western societies
What is a ‘social structure’?
Patterned social relationships between (groups of) individuals
Features of social structures
1. Socially embodied (actions and beliefs of individuals)
2. Coercive (normative system)
3. Assignment of statuses and roles (position system)
4. Distributive consequences (social outcomes)
5. Leads both to stability and change
Example 1: family
Example 2: social class
Example 3: ethnicity
Example 4: gender
Intersection of social structures
1. Class, family, ethnicity
2. Identities
3. Privilege and discrimination
Link to social institutions
Organization of patterned social relationships
Examples of institutions:
1. Economic: to produce and distribute goods (markets)
2. Legal: to enforce norms (law)
3. Political: for collective decision making and protection (democracy)
4. Educational: to train children into the way of life of society (schools)
5. Normative: to provide meaning (religion/church)
Nota Bene (NB) History and (cultural) traditions!
Historical/ Overarching trend 1: Modernization
What is modernization?
Transformation process from traditional (agrarian) to modern
(industrial) or post-modern (service) society
1. Technological changes: production process
2. Economic changes: more wealth
3. Political changes: democracy
4. Spatial (social) changes: urbanization
, 2
5. Cultural changes: modern values
Historical/ Overarching trend 2: Globalization
What is globalization?
A set of processes of social change, among which deterritorialization
Human activities and relationships
1. Extension across the world
2. Intensi cation
3. Increasing velocity
4. Interconnectedness
5. Re exivity
Nota bene (NB) Globalization is not a ‘new’ phenomenon’, but its impact has grown
Sociology / this course
Sociological imagination (Mills, 1959)
Seeing the connection between
1. Personal troubles (personal challenges) – biography
2. Social issues (social challenges) - history
3. - structure?
Key Takeaways for Your Exam
1. The sociological imagination connects personal troubles with public issues.
2. Understanding history, social structure, and biography is key to sociological analysis.
3. Mills criticizes narrow, data-driven research (abstracted empiricism) for ignoring larger social
patterns.
4. Sociology should be engaged and help people understand the world around them.
5. The sociological imagination helps individuals see that many "personal" problems are actually
social in nature.
Theoretical framework EXAM QUESTION
Micro-macro perspective (Coleman, 2002)
• Where would you place ‘social structure’? I would
place social structure at the macro level
fl fi
, 3
• Which arrow is problematic according to Coleman? Arrow 3 is problematic according to
Coleman
• Your example (see assignment)
Key Takeaways for Your Exam
1. Micro-macro problem: Sociology must explain how individual actions aggregate into macro-
level social structures.
2. Coleman Boat: A model showing how macro conditions in uence individual behavior, which
then aggregates into new macro structures.
3. Methodological individualism: Macro-phenomena must be explained through individual
choices and interactions.
4. Social capital: Networks, trust, and reciprocity help explain emergent social structures.
5. Collective action problem: Institutions and norms help overcome individual self-interest for
collective cooperation.
6. Critique of macro-sociology: Structural explanations must account for micro-level processes.
Micro-macro in this course Example micro-macro: family
Cross-level
Moderation
fl
, 4
Contributions of Sociology
• Personal Troubles versus Social Issues (what is the problem)
• Causes and consequences (why: mechanisms)
• Context (macro-micro)
• Heterogeneity (moderation and cross-level interactions)
Mills (1959) —> Top-down approach
Coleman (2002) —>Bottom-up approach
