Bifurcated Consciousness

Seeing over reading.

Borrowing from Dorthy Smith, Jane Addams' body of work is influenced through this believe of a division between formal books and one's own experiences. She favored one's own experiences over book. In this picture future CSUN students rather than just read from the internet or booklets. Take campus tours to experience the life of the campus first hand.

Fashion

Conforming its a group thing

For Simmel, fashion is a social relationship that makes members conform to the demands and norms of a given group. In this picture, if you want to fit with the "1%". You start to conform to their way of lifestyle like wearing a suit, and walking like you demand respect. So no matter what you conform to the norm of the group.

Conspicuous consumption

You are as high in the social ladder, as long as you can waste that high.

For Veblen this is that the leisure class holds a high social status based on the ability to waste heavy amount of money. Like in the picture in modern day society, this could be having an HDTV, a laptop, a video game counsel, and so on. The more you spend, the more esteem you get from society.

Labor

Creating the future through labor 

According to Karl Marx, our species being is manifested through labor. Through labor we can create things that previously only existed in our minds. In the late 1700's, when the first washing machine was built. From his labor he found a way to create this new machinery that would help people wash their clothes faster.

Dyad and Triad

The strength in numbers

When speaking of social geometry, Simmel talks about Dyad and Triad. Here in this picture explains what Simmel said that Triad is more stable because of the addition of the third member. In Dyad, there are more problems between communication, whereas in Triads the third person is the mediator when problems arises. In Dyads, problems harder to solve between the two people.

Social Ethics

For the concern of the community

For Jane Addams, people like professors practice the right rules and relationships that produces orientation for the individual to action based on the welfare for the community. Professors do this by educating and more important make sure they teach the best way they can. To help their students have a better future, as well as the community as a whole.  

Significant Symbols

Thinking about it I know what this means.

For Mead, in this picture a stop sign is a significant symbol because the message that the sign message gives the same response to the driver. Which is to stop, once you read and think about the message in this stop sign. Which interaction through these symbols he calls uniquely human.

Positivism

Searching for laws of nature and social world

For Comte, Positivism like in the picture is a science that seeks to search for the invariant laws of the natural and social world. One has to look at both natural and social world to find the answers of those laws.

The Law of Three Stages

Our thirst for knowledge 

For Auguste Comte, there a 3 basic stages that all human beings, as well as their minds go through in the maturation process. These three stages come together because all human beings are trying to search for the knowledge of life. Those 3 stages are Theological Stage where we conclude supernatural forces like god is at work. The Metaphysical Stage, where we look at nature to explain the way the world works. Last the Positivistic Stage, where we look for invariant laws that rule everything around us. At the Oviatt Library, students read material, to understand certain concepts from various subjects they might be interested in. In the process get closer to the ultimate stage according to Comte the Positivistic stage.  

Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

One day the revolution will come.

For Karl Marx there are two types of individuals in the capitalistic society, one of those two individuals are the proletariat. These people are the workers in the capitalistic society who sell their labor time because they do not own the means of production. The other people are the bourgeoisie who are the capitalist and own both the means of production and wages of the workers. In this picture I show my three cockatoos. The yellows are the workers who do their jobs in the factories, while the gray is the capitalist who watches every move the workers do. This can be see as a hierarchy of sorts, at the bottom of this cage are the yellow workers, and top the lonely gray bourgeoisie/capitalist.

"Value-Free" Sociology

Facts overs Values

For Herbert Spencer one of the problems he encountered with Sociology was legitimizing the study. A sociologist research findings can be effected by the emotions/values towards a study they are doing. To avoid biases Spencer was the first to bring into the study a "value-free" postion, which meant the sociologist had to study subjects without taking into account one's own judgement into the study. Like in this picture, sociologist only use facts from books or observations to solve sociological problems.

Fetishism of Commodities

I need it, I need it now!!

According to Karl Marx, the fetishism of commodities is the tendency of humans to treat certain objects into magical properties that give these objects of their own. The perfect example of modern day fetishism of commodities has to do with the Iphone or Ipad people have to have the newest one. People have turned this man made product and gave it a worship like status.

Sacred and Profane

What is holy and unholy?

One of the interesting concepts talked about Emilie Durkheim is the concept of what is sacred and what is profane in a society? The way that Durkheim differentiated these two ideas was by defining them based by religion. Things that are considered sacred when created through rituals that transform moral power of society and bind the individuals together. While the profane is considered the everyday commonplace. In this picture the Catholic church is considered the sacred by Catholics, and profane can be the sidewalk.

Types of Authority

The many faces of a leader.

For Max Weber there were 3 types of authority that he identifies in his body of work. The first traditional like monarchies, their leadership is passed on through traditions of a ruling family. Then rational-legal people like U.S. presidents obtain leadership based on enacted rules of law. The last is charismatic people like Cesar Chavez obtain power by the devotion of their followers. 

Bureaucracy

Welcome to your Ideal-Bureaucracy Mr. Weber.

For Max Weber Bureaucracy was not only the purest and rational way to enforce any type of legal authority. Although it was efficient, Weber feared that the rationalization that dominates this type of life would eventually be a threat to individual freedom. Like in this picture at Bayramian hall, individuals spend minutes to sometimes hours in line, and signing paper work by going yet to another line.This is what Weber feared about Bureaucracy.