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SOC 273 midterm
SOC 273 midterm
44
Sociology
Undergraduate 4
02/29/2012

Additional Sociology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
14th amendment
Definition

1868

-established in constitution equal rights for all and equality before the law, and established birth right citizenship and you have all the rights that a citizen has

-allowed africian americans more rights in the us and by law they had to be treated as citizens

-amendments proved that the american system is malleable

-growing power of fed. gov. as arbiter (referee) of disputes among groups

-recognition that expanding freedom can require strong gov. action, espicially for agrieved groups

Term
abolition
Definition

-the legal prohibition and ending of slavery, especially of slavery of blacks in the U.S.

-considered the 1st major SM

-american anti-slavery society (AAS) formed in 1833 and 100,000 members by 1830s

-established a vibrant movement culture -> public speaking, music,literature, lifestyle (inter-racial)

 

-reshaped the meaning of american freedom

-free speech/press more central to definition of fredom

-equality before the law -> now included w/i american freedom concept

Term
adherents vs. constituents
Definition

adherents - those who support the cause, everyone says they support good causes

 

constituents - those who actually do something: donate, protest, write letters, devote time/skills

 

-way more adherents than contituents, so theres all these people who say they support, but they arent actually doing anything

Term
american exceptionalism
Definition

-the idea that america is/has been exempt from the social factors at work in other countries, especially europe

-americans have developed a uniquely American ideology, based on liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire

-exempt from historical forces that have effected other countries

 

-"why no socialism" has dogged sociologists asking why socialism hasnt taken place in american, and the answer is mostly to do with exceptionalism... we're diff from europe

-we believe in individualism and the american dream

-reasons why socialism didnt take hold: unique succes of american capitalism, american belief in upward mobility, individualism, universal (white male suffrage

Term
biographical availability
Definition

-factor that separates those who joined and those who didnt

-are they able to join? what part of their life are they in? is their schedule flexible? family obligations?

-this is why they target college campuses - fewer responsibilities, free summers, probably aren't caring for anyone else

Term
classical model
Definition

-earliest explanation of SM emergence (participants dont think for themselves, it is group think, easily swayed, very neg. view)

-SM depicted as dangerous, irrational and/or comtempitble

-dominated scholarly paradigm until the 1960s

-looks at SM as type of cult w/ ppl who have psychological needs and b/c of isolation

 

-critique: it is WRONG -> participants are connected not isolated, intermediary institutions facilitate movements, movements are political not psychological

Term
collective behavior theory
Definition

-oldest theory explaining why ppl join SM

-people assume that it is "easier for them to strike than  to actually get a job and work for a living"

-earliest theories of participation and recruitment

-emphasis on irrationality, maarginality, insecurity of participants

-linked to classical model of SM

Term
cognitive liberation
Definition

-3rd part of the political process theory

 

mentally - increased sense of political efficacy among aggrieved population, have to be convinced that there is a chance for success

 

 

Term
congress of industrial organizations (CIO)
Definition

-adds new tactic to repertoire of action: sit down strike

 

-The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not Communists. Many CIO leaders refused to obey that requirement, later found unconstitutional. The CIO merged with the American Federation of Labor to form the AFL-CIO in 1955.

 

-supported new deal coalition and was open to AA

 

Term
DELTETE THIS CARD LATER
Definition
Term
craft unionism
Definition

-refers to organizing a union in a manner that seeks to unify workers in a particular industry along the lines of the particular craft or trade that they work in by class or skill level

-american federation of labor (AFL)

-AFL reinforces ethnic divisions and skill divisions among workers

 

Term
economic freedom
Definition

-emphasis on free trade and private property

-freedom to engage in collective bargaining

-freedom from want

 

Term
enduring american dilemmas
Definition

CLASS:

-the "labor question" dominates american politics and society

-but ethnic divisions among workers make organizing lavor movements difficult

-70% of immigrants to argentina came from spain and italy

-we have immigrants from EVERYWHERE, which makes it hard to organize

 

RACE:
-AA and the Jim Crow South

-retreat from post-civil war definition of freedom by 1890s

-how much could have changed from 1890s to 1950s if AA could have voted?

 

INDIVIDUALISM VS COMMUNITARIAN IMPULSE:

-an ongoing debate, tension between these two concepts in america

Term
flint sit-down strike
Definition

-GM forced to recognize United Auto Workers (UAW) Feb 11, 1937 it ended

-locked themselves in the plant for about a month, ppl brought them food and water, GM finally recognized them

Term
freedom summer
Definition

June-August 1964, part of civil rights movement

-1000 student activists travel to Mississippi to register AA voters and run "freedom schools"

-extrememly dangerous to do, mostly white students from elite colleges

-very planned and organized

-mississippi was very "backwards" even by southern standards, AA were highly rural, extremely poor, 86% or AA were below poverty line, on 7% of AA had completed school, extremem infant mortality rates, lowest voter registration, "terrorism" against AA and those working for them

 

-17,000 blacks attempted to register but only 16,000 did, lead to federal voting acts right one year later

-thousands attended freedom schools designed to teach leadership, philosophy, AA history, speaking/reading skills

-4 participants killed, 4 seriously wounded, 80 beatings, 1000 arrests, 37 bombed churches, 30 black-owned homes/businesses bombed, some brutally murdered

 

Term
freedom/contested concept
Definition

-freedom means different things at different time periods

-it is not a timeless or static idea

-it is the product of debate, struggle, and change over time

-the specific meaning of "freedom" is redefined over time

-the boundaries - who enjoys benefits/who doesnt -> if you're included it is very valuable

 

-'types' of freedom in american history: political (polities right to self-determination), christian, personal (right to do what you want), civil liberties, economic

 

-when people talk about freedom many of these ideas are in conflict

 

-SM have redefined the very meaning of freedom in american history as they have struggled for change and inclusion

Term
great post-war compression
Definition
Term
great upheaval
Definition
when all of the blacks moved to the north, had to change politics, and campainging strategies
Term
homestead
Definition
The Homestead Strike was an industrial lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, culminating in a battle between strikers and private security agents on July 6, 1892. The battle was the second largest and one of the most serious disputes in U.S. labor history second only to the Battle of Blair Mountain. The dispute occurred at the Homestead Steel Works in the town of Homestead, Pennsylvania, between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers (the AA) and the Carnegie Steel Company. The final result was a major defeat for the union and a setback for efforts to unionize steelworkers.
Term
industrial domocracy
Definition

-language of americanism -> emerged in vernacular 1910s-20s

-demand for "american" right to extend into the workplace: speech, petition, assembly, due process, organize, free will (why do all of these rights stop at the factory gates?)

 

-labor movement seeks to define the "american standard of living" - which has changed over the years

-living wage/decent income

-but also a "social wage" there was more than paychecks: pensions, social insurance (unemployment, workers' comp), safe working conditions, healthy env, public amenities (schools, parks, transit, etc)

Term
industrial unionism
Definition

-or mass unionism

-organization must transcend race and ethnicity

 

-all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of differences in skill

Term
knights of labor
Definition
Term
labor-management accord
Definition

-fruits of industrial unionism = the postwar era

-union peaks in 1950s at more than 1/3 of the non-farm workforce

-real wages for all americans doubled by 1940-1967 helped all by putting a "hardwood" floor under them

 

-postwar labor: movement or inistitution?

 

movement: politicized bargaining (bargain with employeers that was designed to not only help its own workers but all workers), operation dixie

 

institution: "treaty of detroit" gave autoworkers benefits

-pensions, health insurance, cost of living adjustments (COLAs), private welfare state (ended up getting really good jobs for themselves, but this ended up turning to institutionalized, movement became defensive trying to preserve the rights they gained in their own companies

 

-his opinion: there was no "accord", 19502-1970s was the "unquiet decades"

-management/industry hostility to labor never subsided, never really stopped fighting the movement

-when explaining decline of the SM of course there were mistakes, but the real cause is that b/c management always remained hostil and fed. gov. has been less friendly to labor and more friendly to institutions, US cannot fight coorperations AND fed. gov.

Term
labor question
Definition

-dominates american politics and society

 

?

Term
mass society theory
Definition

1950s variation of classical model

-located roots of SM as extreme reaction to mass society

-mass society = lack of "intermediaty (churches) institutions"

-the uproote, alienated, isolated, and anxious join SMs for sense of identity

 

social isolation -> some experience alienation, anxiety, isolation -> SM emerges

 

Term
new deal coalition
Definition

-red and blue movements

-organized labor votes for FDR and democrats (became party for: urban voters, ethnic voters, black voters)

Term
operation dixie
Definition

-organizers realized that all gains were confined to northern parts and avoiding south and southwest

CIO realizedif they didnt organize south then companies would pick up and move down there

-why buffalo is the way it is

-tried to organize the blacks - they did not succeed

they tried but operation dixie failed

Term
politiacal opportunity
Definition

-shifts in politics

-organized labor wins union recognition in exchange for wartime efforts -> unions became legit

-negotiated agreements with employeers with fed. gov. looking over shoulder, so they were forced because they couldnt afford strikes/good shortages

-union membership increased from 2.6 M to 5.2 M during war

-state cooperation is crucial

-wagner act

-political realignment: new deal coalition

 

Term
political process theory
Definition

-arguably the most comprehensive approach, assumes the political system is not open to all, discontented individuals need to mobalize

1. changing structure of external political opportunities

-civils rights case study (demographic upheaval and great migration, elctoral shift, international climate like wars make it hard for officials to justify segregation, divided elites)

2. indigenous organizing strength

-networks: black institutions grow in strenght from 1930-60, more black churches, more black colleges/universities, NAACP

3. cognitive liberation - already defined

 

theroy says that all three factors are important

Term
rational choice theory
Definition

-what is Olson's argument about who joins and why? (cost benefit analysis)

-contrast video clip with Mancu Olson's selection from the Reader about free riders

-participants are not irrational, in fact they are so rational that SM must provide incentives to get ppl to join

-participation is governed by cost benefit analysis

-"free-rider" problem ex: env. SM, they know they will also enjoy clean air if they are successful, but their efforts won't make a difference

-selective incentives and non-collective benefits: both are necessary to get ppl to join

Term
repertoire of action
Definition
Term
resource mobilization theory
Definition

-resources are most important factor in SM emergence

-emphasis on "conscience consituents" -> ppl who become part of the SM who aren't directly effected by grievances and motivated by conscience

Term
"the river"
Definition

-bruce springsteen 1979 known as working class song

-more depressing compared to the other 2 songs

-the Golden Years of Union are over, thinking about the good days is a past  memory

-no optimism that things will get better, no sense that although things are bad right now, they will get better

-he didnt really have a choice but to join the union, had to do what he had to do to provide for his family and follow his father

-talks about union card like it is a "shakle" not a way out like it used to be

-puts union in a neg. light

-gives the impression that he had bigger dreams but had to push them away and forget about them

-he had a dream: the american dream - but last line "is a dream a lie if it don't come true or is it something worse?"

Term
social movement (definition)
Definition
-a collective, organized, sustained, and noninstitutional challenge to authorities, poweholders, or cultural beliefs and practices
Term
social network theory
Definition

-most connected (not most isolated) who join SMs

-discontent/catalyst events don't matter w/out a strong social network in place

Term
"social wage"
Definition

-more than paychecks

-wanted better social things

-pensions, social insurance, safe working conditions, healthy env., even at home, public amenities: schools, parks, transit, health related

Term
"solidarity forever"
Definition

-written in 1915, but has become the unofficial song of the labor movement

-idea that alone you have no power but the union together has more power than the employeers

-a very us vs. them/they who have power, but dont add much

-together we stand, divided we fall -> the only way to get anything done is to unionize and come together

-gies the idea that they have power in organizing is strenght

-the song was familiar -> designed to be sung together in a group, more of a fight song

 

Term
strain and breakdown theory
Definition

-variation of classical model

-located roots of SMs in unusual periods of social "strain"

-normal values and rules "break down"

social strain -> some individuals in society experience disruptive psychological state -> SM emerges

Term
treaty of detroit
Definition

-gave autoworkers benefits

-pensions, health insurance, cost of living adjustments (COLAs)

Term
united steelworkers of america (USWA)
Definition

-on april 2nd, 1937, US Steel formally recognizes the SWOC, became United Steel Workers w/o even a fight b/c they didnt want one

-1933-1937 5M new workers in union

 

-

The USW was established May 22, 1942, by a convention of representatives from the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, after almost six years of divisive struggles to create a new union of steelworkers. The drive to create this union included such violent incidents as the infamous Memorial Day, 1937, when Chicago policemen supporting the rival American Federation of Labor (AFL) fired on workers outside a Republic Steel mill and killed 10 men.

The founder and first president of the USW, Philip Murray, led the union through its first organizing drives and dangerous first decade, when the workers of USW went on strike several times to win concessions such as the right to bargain collectively with steel companies, higher wages, and paid vacations.

Term
wagner act (national labor relations act)
Definition

-1935 passed by democrats

-crucial turning pt. in american labor and social history

-required management to recognize unions and to collectively bargain with union reps

-guaranteed workers right to strike, boycott, and picket

-outlawed specific unfair labor practices -> based on ethnicity, cant threaten for joining union

-sought to end arbitrary rule in the workplace

-created national labor relations board (NLRB) to oversee enforcement

Term
"which side are you on"
Definition

-J.H. Clair

-cop riaded house

-Pede Seeger, very famous organizer, he made song famous

-depicts classes in society, and wants to introduce the concept of class in america

-makes you really think about what side you're on and why do you believe in what you do

-have a choice of union man or thug for J.H. Clair

-scab or union man

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