Jay Gabler

Article / Updated 09-01-2022

If you don’t understand your society, you can’t truly understand yourself. That's one reason it's worthwhile to study sociology. You are part of your society, and your actions and beliefs are part of what defines that society. Your actions, in a thousand small ways, help shape your society, and your beliefs both influence and are influenced by your society’s norms and values. Aggregate facts When they talk about societies, sociologists like to talk about “aggregate facts.” In sociology, an aggregate fact is an overall description of what a large number of people are doing. An aggregate trend describes how an aggregate fact is changing over time. The following aggregate facts are true of many societies in the world today. And they may be true of yours: Marriages: About half of all marriages end in divorce. Jobs: People typically hold several different jobs over the course of their working lives. Musical Tastes: Most people don’t listen to classical music. Knowing these facts about your society, however, tells me nothing about you as an individual. It doesn’t tell me about your personal history or the choices you personally will make in life. Those social facts don’t describe your life — but they do affect it! For better and for worse, those aggregate facts about your society heavily influence your own life, and make it different from what it would be if you lived in a different society. How society shapes your views To understand how facts about society in general can affect your own personal life, think about these points: Marriage: When you decide to marry someone, you do that with the understanding that, in your society, marriage is very often impermanent. That doesn’t mean you, as an individual, take marriage lightly. But it does mean that if the going gets rough and you or your partner decide to bail, you will be in the company of many friends and colleagues who have also experienced divorce. Consciously or unconsciously, that fact will affect the decisions you and your spouse make as your relationship progresses. Job: Similarly, when you take a job, you can’t — and shouldn’t — expect that it will be permanent. It may be, but that would not be the norm. You can expect to have other job opportunities in the future, which would be very unusual for you to never take. This means that you probably won’t look for a job that will last a lifetime — you’ll look for a job that will serve you well over the next few years. Music: You can listen to whatever music you want, but if you choose to listen to Beethoven or Mozart, you won’t be able to chat about it with most of the people around you — unless you happen to be a member of an orchestra. Everywhere from TV shows to dentists’ offices to nightclubs, you’re much more likely to hear pop, rock, or R&B than classical music. If you often listen to classical music, you are unusual, and that fact may cause people to make certain assumptions about your background and personality. For this reason, you may choose not to listen to classical music or to listen to it only in private. On the other hand, you may very deliberately and openly listen to classical music. Whether you’re blasting Beethoven or bumping trap music, you probably have a good understanding of how that will be perceived by people around you. Structural norms, cultural norms Some of the societal pressures we all face are clear and rigid; these fall under the heading of what sociologists call “structure." Other pressures are looser and murkier; these fall into the category of "culture." All along that continuum from structure to culture, there are norms and values that shape your life—the rules that people in your society play by. At the structure end of the continuum, the rules are hard and fast, relating to your economic system and the laws of the land. Laws are social norms that are seen as being so important that they’re written down and made formal; if you break the law, you can be punished—with punishments ranging from a small fine to a death sentence. For example, you can’t just: Make up your own currency and expect it to buy you anything at the store. Give yourself a job or expect anyone else to give you one if they don’t have one to give. Break an enforceable law without risk of punishment. At the culture end of the continuum are norms and values that are probably not written into law, but that are nonetheless real. For example: Current fashions and styles, such as whether it’s acceptable to wear socks with sandals Religious principles and rituals, such as bat mitzvahs and baptisms Social traditions, such as freely giving candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween in the United States You don’t have to follow any of these social norms. But if you don’t, people around you may find your behavior confusing or even rude. You won't go to jail, but there may be other consequences. No one person makes or breaks a norm Whether they are structural or cultural, these limits may seem unfair — you didn’t make any of these rules. In fact, no single person did. Economic realities are beyond the control of even the largest companies; laws may be proposed by specific legislators but normally must meet with broad approval to be passed; and fashion trends may be started by popular people, but even celebrities with millions of Instagram followers can’t easily change the styles of clothes people buy. No individual person makes social norms, but every single person helps perpetuate and enforce them. How? Simply by following them and by noticing when other people don’t. You can try to buck the trend, but you’ll almost certainly face resistance. Who you are, in part, is determined by the norms of the society you live in.

Article / Updated 09-01-2022

The acronym BIPOC has come into common use recently; it stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The term became widely adopted amid the discussions sparked by the death of George Floyd in 2020, as people confronted the reality that different groups have different experiences. It’s an evolving effort. “The whole point is that we want to take up space,” writer Sylvia Obell, who doesn’t care for the acronym, told the New York Times (Sandra E. Garcia, “Where Did BIPOC Come From?”, 2020). “Take the time to say black, Latinx and Asian. Say our names. Take the time to learn. Show me that you know the difference.” This is a rich and important vein of sociological research; here are just two ways in which people’s lived realities involve variables that go well beyond anything you could check on a census form. Intersectionality Have you sent a mouth swab in for genetic testing, or do you know someone who has? People are often surprised by just how varied their genetic makeup is, testament to how the human family tree has always crossed branches. In a world that sorts people into racial and ethnic boxes, though, people at the intersections of different groups are forced to navigate challenging landscapes. Many multiracial people have stories of being baldly asked, “What are you?” Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman and Edlin Veras (Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 2019) point out that nearly a quarter of Hispanics in America identify as Afro-Latinx, tracing heritage to both Africa and to Latin America. Talking to people in this group, the sociologists found widespread reports of what they called ethnoracial dissonance. In other words, many Afro-Latinx Americans simply don’t feel like they fit into the racial and ethnic groups recognized by the people around them. In some cases, that even included their own families; one woman said that her relatives coached her to downplay her Black features by straightening her hair. “To be Afro-Latine in America,” said one research subject, “is to feel like you don’t fit in anywhere. You’re not Black enough, you’re not Puerto Rican enough. To be Afro-Latine is to be salsa and hip-hop, bachata and reggae, rice and beans and collard greens, papito and homeboy. Afro-Latine is important because we exist.” The term intersectionality, in reference to overlapping aspects of social identity that can lead to distinct experiences of oppression (such as African, Latinx, and female), was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, a Black feminist scholar. Colorism Discrimination based on skin color, referred to as colorism, is experienced by people around the world. Angela R. Dixon and Edward E. Telles (writing in the Annual Review of Sociology, 2017) identify colorism as “a globalized preference for whiteness and/or lightness.” That can lead to discrimination against darker-skinned individuals by people both outside and within what any given society defines as a “race.” That there’s even a distinction between colorism and racism is another example of the degree to which race is a social construct. In the United States, a biased preference for lighter-skinned individuals within, say, the Black community is called “colorism.” Meanwhile, “racism” means discrimination against the entire Black community. In Latin America, on the other hand, concepts of “race” are less prevalent, and what someone from the United States might call colorism is experienced as racism. Sociologists and historians have extensively studied colorism in the United States, which in Black American communities stretches back to the time of slavery, when lighter-skinned slaves (their fathers often being slave owners who committed rape) were given preferential treatment. Civil rights activists have fought colorism, concerned for its potential to divide communities that need to unite against white supremacy. A persistent disadvantage Despite some progress, colorism remains widespread; across races, researchers have found that lighter-skinned individuals fare better in areas including income, education, and occupational status. Irene V. Blair, Charles M. Judd, and Kristine M. Chapleau (Psychological Science, 2004) found that for crimes committed in Florida between 1998 and 2002, both Black and white convicts received harsher sentences when their facial features were more Afrocentric. The sale of products designed to lighten the skin, and cosmetic surgery to change racial features, is a multi-billion-dollar industry that spans continents from Asia to Africa to America. As the world becomes increasingly multi-racial, sociologists expect that intersectionality and colorism will become increasingly important as lenses through which to understand discrimination, inequality, and identity.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 12-13-2021

Sociology is the study of society — of people interacting in groups, from small social circles to global society. Sociologists gather information about the social world and systematically analyze that information to understand social phenomena including class, race, gender, culture, social networks, and historical change. Many sociologists are academics — trying to understand society simply for the sake of understanding — but many work in corporations, government departments, and nonprofit organizations trying to understand (and help to solve) specific social problems.

Article / Updated 12-13-2021

Many people are absolutely convinced of the truth of some things about society that are not entirely true. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions about society, proven false by sociology. Social inequality is deserved. Although it’s true that people with many resources in society (saved wealth, good jobs, happy families) have worked hard to earn those resources, it’s not necessarily true that people who lack such resources are lacking them because it’s somehow their fault. Social disadvantages generally compound one another, meaning that when you’re in a disadvantaged position in society — for whatever reason — it’s much more difficult to climb out of that position than people in advantaged positions may realize. Race and gender don’t matter anymore. Physical characteristics have always affected the way people regard one another in society, and they always will. Although many societies have seen a welcome decline in the most destructive forms of racism and sexism, it’s flatly false to say that physical characteristics — skin color, sex, height, weight, you name it — no longer matter. Society prevents us from being our “true selves.” From a sociological perspective, humans are fundamentally social beings. From the moment you were born, the people around you have been at the heart of your life and your idea of who you are. This is one of the most important reasons to study sociology: If you don’t understand your society, you can’t truly understand yourself.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber are the three most important figures in sociology. Their ideas about society are still discussed today, and you’re apt to hear their names in all branches of sociology. It’s important to know what they thought and said. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher who believed that material goods are at the root of the social world. According to Marx, social life is fundamentally about conflict over food, land, money, and other material goods. Marx believed that the ideal government would be a communist state where resources are equally shared. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) was a French sociologist who helped establish sociology by arguing that society had to be studied on its own terms — that understanding individual psychology was insufficient. Durkheim believed that societies are held together by shared values, which change over time as societies become bigger and more complex. Max Weber (1864-1920) was a German sociologist who agreed with Marx that people often fight to protect their own interests, but he agreed with Durkheim that what people consider their interests often are determined by socialization and shared values. He believed society is becoming more rationalized and bureaucratic over time.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

There is no one correct way to look at society; to understand how society works, sociologists use a range of different approaches and techniques. These are five common approaches, and they are often used in combination with one another. Quantitative analysis is the study of society using numbers and statistics: for example, considering people’s income (a number of dollars, say) in light of their education (a grade level, or a number of years). Qualitative analysis is to study society by getting to know people and situations in detail, then describing them using words: for example, interviewing people about their experiences in the workplace and the labor market. Macrosociological analysis is looking at the “big picture” that includes historical change over dozens or hundreds of years, the rise and fall of political systems or class hierarchies. Microsociological analysis involves looking at the one-to-one interactions between individuals: for example, how people negotiate social situations like job interviews or personal confrontations. Network analysis means examining the patterns of social ties among people in a group, and what those patterns mean for the group as a whole.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Sociologist Richard B. Scott, an expert in the study of social organization, has described a useful way of understanding how social organizations work. Every social organization behaves, to some extent, in each of these three ways. As a rational system: as a machine designed to accomplish a specific task. As a natural system: as a group made up of real human beings who relate to one another in complicated ways. As an open system: interacting with its environment, from which it takes both resources and social norms.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others,” say the pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. One of the central topics studied by sociologists is social inequality, and they think very carefully about the many ways that people in societies are divided. These are the most important means of social inequality, and they all interact with each other to determine each individual’s place in society. Income and wealth: Some people have more money than others. Occupation: People work at different kinds of jobs. Innate ability: People are born with innate differences, from appearance to brainpower. Motivation: For various reasons, some people try harder at certain tasks than others do. Connections: People have different — and differently sized — social circles. Credentials: Official credentials like academic degrees and professional certifications are possessed by some people and not others. Specialized knowledge: Each individual has a particular set of skills and experiences, which differ from others. Race/sex/caste discrimination: In all societies, there is widespread discrimination against certain groups of people based on their physical characteristics or the families they were born into. Age discrimination: In all societies, people are, to some extent, treated differently based on how old they are.