- Title
- The sociological gaze: linking private lives to public issues
- Creator
- Germov, John; Poole, Marilyn
- Relation
- Public Sociology: An Introduction to Australian Society p. 2-20
- Relation
- https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/other-books/Public-Sociology-Edited-by-John-Germov-and-Marilyn-Poole-9781743315873
- Publisher
- Allen & Unwin
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- If you are new to sociology, and trying to get your head around exactly what it entails, you probably do not realise that you have encountered it many times already. Sociological analyses feature regularly in media commentary and public debate, and concepts such as globalisation, economic rationalism, socialisation, class, social status, deviance, alienation, and lifestyle all have sociological origins. As US sociologist Robert Merton noted some time ago, ‘ours has become an age pervaded by sociology’, and sociological concepts have ‘drifted into our everyday language’ (1981, p. 42). This familiarity with the subject-matter of sociology’we are all members of society, and thus by definition should be automatic experts on the topic’can too often lead to the dismissal of the sociological enterprise as mere common sense. As you will soon find out, it is not that simple. Sociology involves a methodical study of human behaviours and societies (Macionis & Plummer 2008). It is the study of the relationship between the individual and society, investigating how human thought, action, and interaction shape and are shaped by society’or how ‘we create society at the same time as we are created by it’ (Giddens 1986, p. 11). The ‘sociological gaze’ exposes the link between individual experience and the social context in which we live, work, and play. Many authors have offered definitions that attempt to capture the essence of the sociological enterprise. Some of the main definitions of sociology can be found in Sociology Spotlight 1.1.
- Description
- 3rd
- Subject
- agency; social structure; sociological imagination; neo-liberalism; globalisation; biological determinism; sociological determinism
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1301781
- Identifier
- uon:20349
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781743315873
- Language
- eng
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