Sociological concepts and theories

Sociology Concepts

Two Sociological Concepts -- Anomie and Ethnocentrism

Anomie: Anomie is "a kind of existential dread," which in Emile Durkheim's view was the major pathology of societies characterized by organic solidarity, and therefore the most pressing underlying social problem with which modern societies must cope. (Durkheim, 1964) Anomie was characterized by a lack of knowing what to do, given the plurality of values that characterized societies organized by organic solidarity. Unlike primitive societies of mechanical solidarity, modern industrialized societies offered a plethora of modes of conduct and a variety of exposures to differing social norms, without reinforcing mechanical structures of collective conduct and obligation. This characterization was true of industrialized society, but seems even truer of the diverse fabric of society, particularly in arenas such as the college campus, which have few 'needful' connections between equals, based upon modes of kinship and barter and exchange of goods, and where connections are vaguely based on emotional connections, or on pure choice. Thus, anomie could be defined as kind of an overwhelming sense of freedom and choice in moral behaviors.

Ethnocentrism: Ethnocentrism may be defined as the favoring of one's own group or schema of beliefs over those of another, and might be seen as a kind of negative antidote to anomie's overwhelming sense of moral and personal choice. Ethnocentrism can be the resort of the powerless, such as with impoverished Whites in the Southern United States, whom vented their collectives sense of frustration upon the faces and backs of even more marginalized African-Americans. It can likewise be an ideology of the powerful, where the affluence of U.S. society in relation to the rest of the world allows the United States to flourish, sociologists might say, in a collective willed ignorance, on an emotional if not an intellectual level, of the conditions in many parts of the world that enable American prosperity, such as the sweatshops that manufacture Nike sneakers, keeping the prices of these commodities down. Thus, ethnocentrism may be defined as a single-minded belief in the superiority of one's own culture, structure, and values, in relation to another, or a denial of other and equally valid modes of life. (Curry, et. Al, 2002)