Sociology

Society is a complex system whose parts (institutions) work together to promote stability and solidarity; each part serves a function that contributes to the survival of the whole. Associated with Émile Durkheim.

A manifest function is an intended, recognized consequence of a social structure; a latent function is an unintended, often unrecognized consequence. (Robert Merton's distinction.) A latent dysfunction is an unintended harmful consequence.

Society is characterized by inequality and competition over scarce resources; social order is maintained by the dominance of powerful groups over subordinate ones, and change arises from this conflict. Rooted in the work of Karl Marx.

The bourgeoisie are the owners of the means of production (capitalists); the proletariat are the workers who sell their labor. Class conflict between them drives social change.

A microsociological perspective focusing on how individuals create and interpret meaning through everyday social interaction and shared symbols (especially language). Associated with George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer.

Many phenomena we treat as natural or objective (e.g., race, gender, money, deviance) are actually created and maintained through social agreement and interaction — they are 'socially constructed' rather than inherent.