III Communicative practice

1. There isn’t a single theory about society. There are many different schools and approaches. Do you think it’s a weak point of sociology?

2. Whose vision of society is closer to you? Why?

3. Comment on Comte’s idea that social science shouldn’t study the reasons of social events. Do you agree with him?

4. Nowadays there are 2 contradictive conclusions concerning Marx’s approach:

b) his study is positive, as it is based on the idea of justice;

c) his study is negative, as it led to unhuman totalitarian societies.

What is your opinion?

5. Is Marxism old-fashioned?

IV Topics for reports

Choose the sociologist whose ideas are closer to you and tell us about him

1. Max Weber – one of the most important German social theorists.

2. John Dewey and George Herbert Mead in the development of American sociology.

3. W.I. Thomas (1863-1947) and Florian Zwaniecki

4. Structural Functionalism of Tlacott Parsons (1902-1979)

5. Sir Karl Popper and his “The open society and its enemies”

6. Sociology in Russia

1) M.M. Kovalevsky

2) P.A. Sorokin

7. Any other sociologists.

Unit III

Society and culture

Text 1

Society is a group of people occupying a particular territory where the inhabitants are subject to a common system. Culture is a set of socially learned knowledge and values, including the production of material objects and the creation of new ideas. This means culture exists both as ideas in people’s mind and as material artifacts.

Cultural knowledge includes the rules, ideas, concepts and values that people share. By values we mean preferences and standards of worth that the society considers good or bad, desirable or undesirable. Every culture has experiences and symbols that people try to sustain and keep alive, these are the things people worship. Communal societies place a strong value on responsibility and duty, especially within the family. More independent societies value individuals who “go against the grain”. You cannot live in a society without being aware of these values. You may react against them, rejecting some, but they are still a part of your life space. Values are preserved through patriotic and religious feelings, customs, legends, and even laws. Culture does not exist independently of a society. Every society has a culture. Societies and cultures are continually evolving.

Society and culture are independent concepts used to describe human events usually changing over time. It is not a simple theoretical task in sociology to conceptualize the several possible components of social and cultural change. In our modern era, attention is usually focused on technology in the economic arena of society as the major engine of change. Technology develops in different institutional spheres of a society and always involves relevant social behavior. The technological sphere is neither autonomous nor self-directed. Different institutional spheres may react to technological changes. In sum, humans create technology, work with it and modify it.