Introduction to Sociology Seagull Eleventh Edition

Book Preface

We wrote this book with the belief that sociology plays a key role in modern intellectual culture and occupies a central place within the social  sciences. We have aimed to write a book that combines classic theories of sociology with empirically grounded studies and examples from real life that  reveal the basic issues of interest to sociologists today. The book does not bring in  overly sophisticated notions; nevertheless, ideas and findings drawn from the cutting edge of the discipline are incorporated throughout. We hope it is a fair and  nonpartisan treatment; we endeavored to cover the major perspectives in sociology and the major findings of contemporary American research in an evenhanded,  although not indiscriminate, way.

The book is constructed around eight basic themes, each of which helps give the  work a distinctive character. One of the central themes is the micro and macro link. At many points in the book, we show that interaction in micro-level contexts
affects larger, or macro-level, social processes, and that these macro-level processes influence our day-to-day lives. We emphasize that one can better understand a social situation by analyzing it at both the micro and macro levels.

A second theme is that of the world in change. Sociology was born out of  the transformations that wrenched the industrializing social order of the West  away from the ways of life that characterized earlier societies. The world created  by these changes is the primary object of sociological analysis. The pace of social  change has continued to accelerate, and it is possible that we stand on the threshold  of transitions as significant as those that occurred in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Sociology has prime responsibility for charting the transformations of the past and grasping the major lines of development taking place today.

Another fundamental theme is the globalization of social life. For far too  long, sociology has been dominated by the view that societies can be studied as  independent and distinctive entities. But even in the past, societies never really  existed in isolation. In current times, we can see a clear acceleration in processes  of global integration. This is obvious, for example, in the expansion of international  trade across the world, or the use of social media, which played a key role in recent  popular uprisings against repressive governments throughout the Middle East.
The emphasis on globalization also connects closely with the weight given to the  interdependence of the industrialized and developing worlds today.

The book also focuses on the importance of comparative study. Sociology  cannot be taught solely by understanding the institutions of any one particular society. Although we have focused our discussion primarily on the United States,  we have balanced it with a rich variety of materials drawn from other cultures.

These include research carried out in other Western countries and in Russia and  eastern European societies, which are currently undergoing substantial changes.
The book also includes much more material on developing countries than has been  usual in introductory texts. In addition, we strongly emphasize the relationship  between sociology and anthropology, whose concerns often overlap. Given the close  connections that now mesh societies across the world and the virtual disappearance of traditional social systems, sociology and anthropology have increasingly become indistinguishable.

A fifth theme is the necessity of taking a historical approach to sociology.  This involves more than just filling in the historical context within which events  occur. One of the most important developments in sociology over the past few years  has been an increasing emphasis on historical analysis. This should be understood  not solely as applying a sociological outlook to the past but as a way of contributing  to our understanding of institutions in the present. Recent work in historical sociology is discussed throughout the text and provides a framework for the interpretations offered in the chapters.
Throughout the text, particular attention is given to a sixth theme—issues of  social class, gender, and race. The study of social differentiation is ordinarily  regarded as a series of specific fields within sociology as a whole—and this volume  contains chapters that specifically explore thinking and research on each subject (Chapters 8, 10, and 11, respectively). However, questions about gender, race,  and class relations are so fundamental to sociological analysis that they cannot  simply be considered a subdivision. Thus many chapters contain sections concerned with the ways that multiple sources of social stratification shape the human  experience.

A seventh theme is that a strong grasp of sociological research methods is crucial for understanding the world around us. A strong understanding of how  social science research is conducted is crucial for interpreting and making sense  of the many social “facts” that the media trumpet.
The final major theme is the relation between the social and the personal.  Sociological thinking is a vital help to self-understanding, which in turn can be  focused back on an improved understanding of the social world. Studying sociology  should be a liberating experience: The field enlarges our sympathies and imagination, opens up new perspectives on the sources of our own behavior, and creates an  awareness of cultural settings different from our own. Insofar as sociological ideas challenge dogma, teach appreciation of cultural variety, and allow us insight into  the working of social institutions, the practice of sociology enhances the possibilities of human freedom.