George Ritzer: Introduction. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007)

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology

by George Ritzer

George Ritzer: Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007)

Introduction

The origins of sociology are usually traced back to 1839 and the coining of the term by Auguste Comte, one of the important thinkers in the history of the discipline. However, others trace intellectual concern for sociological issues much further back, and it could be argued that schol ars (and non scholars) have been thinking sociologically since the early history of human kind. However, it was not until about a half century after Comte’s creation of the concept that sociology began to develop as a formal and clearly distinct discipline, primarily, at least at first, in Europe and the United States. It was another French thinker, E´mile Durkheim, who in the late 1800s was responsible for distinguish ing clearly the subject matter of sociology from neighboring fields. Sociology became institu tionalized in France (thanks, importantly, to Durkheim’s efforts), as well as in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. While sociology in the United States did not take the early lead in the development of key ideas and theories, it did move strongly in the direc tion of institutionalization (as did sociology in other nations, especially Great Britain). Sociol ogy has grown enormously in the one hundred plus years since the work of Durkheim and the early institutionalization of the field and is today a truly globe straddling discipline. The sociological literature is now huge and highly diverse, and is growing exponentially. Journals, and therefore journal articles, devoted to sociol ogy and its many subfields have proliferated rapidly, as has the number of books devoted to sociological topics. This is part of a broader issue identified by another early leader in sociology, Georg Simmel, who was concerned with the increasing gap between our cultural products and our ability to comprehend them.

Sociology is one of those cultural products and this encyclopedia is devoted to the goal of allowing interested readers to gain a better understanding of it.

FRAMING THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOCIOLOGY

The magnitude and the diversity of the sociol ogical literature represent a challenge to a wide range of people scholars and students in sociol ogy and closely related disciplines (some of which were at one time part of sociology) such as criminology, social work, and urban studies; in all of the other social sciences; and in many other disciplines. More generally, many others, including secondary school students and inter ested laypeople, often need to gain a sense not only of the discipline in general, but also of a wide range of specific topics and issues in the domain of sociology. Journalists and documen tary filmmakers are others who frequently seek out ideas and insights from sociology. This encyclopedia gathers together in one place state of the art information on, and analyses of, much of what constitutes contemporary sociology.

While plans are already in place to revise this project in various ways, we have sought to make it as complete as possible at this point. Several approaches have been used to ensure that it is as inclusive as possible in terms of coverage.

First, there is the sheer number of essays – 1,786 in all. We began with the intention of having approximately 1,200 entries, but it quickly became clear that that was a gross underestimate. Rather than artificially set a limit, the number was allowed to grow to its current level. Often the submission of one entry led to the realization of the need to add others that had been omitted initially. Often, advisory editors, staff members, and authors came forth with suggestions, many of which were readily accepted. There were certainly suggestions and topics that we chose not to include for one reason or another, but in the main we usually erred on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion.

Second, an effort was made to cast a very wide net in terms of areas to be included. In the end, we came up with 35 such areas. It turned out that a majority of the entries that were recruited for a given area also fit into one or more – in some cases four or five – other areas.

In order to clarify and simplify matters for readers, the original list of 35 areas was reduced to the 22 general categories that now form the organizational base of the Lexicon to be found soon after this introduction. The Lexicon represents the best way to get a quick overview of both sociology today and the contents of the encyclopedia (more on the Lexicon below).

Third, a wide and global search was con ducted to find advisory editors to be placed in charge of each of the predefined areas. These are all luminaries in their respective areas and well known scholars. An effort was also made to make this a truly international board of advi sory editors. As a result, there is a strong representation of editors from ten countries – Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This, in turn, helped to ensure that the authors of the entries would be from many different parts of the world. The following are among the many countries from which authors have been drawn: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Swit zerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Zambia.

Fourth, as a result of the international diver sity of editors and authors, the entries them selves are extraordinarily diverse. All, or virtually all, of the expected topics and people are included in these pages, especially given the transcontinental collaboration of an American editor (and editorial team) and a British based publisher. But the entries go far beyond that to include topics and people that are not typically included in a work like this emanating from the West and the North. This is truly a work that represents global sociology. While a major effort was made to be sure that there was representa tion from all parts of the world, there are cer tain to be omissions and oversights. One of the goals of both the online version and the next edition will be to do an even better job of in clusion of authors and topics from throughout the world.

Another useful reference source found in this encyclopedia is the timeline of sociology. While this cannot cover everything that every one would consider of particular significance, it is a listing of over 700 of the most influential events, figures, and publications to have made an impact on the field. As with the entries themselves, the timeline covers a lot of ground both temporally (stretching back over 2,500 years) and geographically (ranging from the Philippines to Argentina to Poland and many places in between).

Another kind of diversity is reflected in the fact that legendary figures in the field of sociol ogy (S. N. Eisenstadt, Thomas J. Scheff), con temporary leaders (Karin Knorr Cetina, Saskia Sassen, Linda D. Molm, Karen S. Cook, Roland Robertson, Chandra Mukerji, Gary Alan Fine), young scholars (Karen Bettez Halnon, Wendy A. Wiedenhoft, Lloyd Cox), and even some graduate students (Elena Fazio, Kevin D. Vryan) are represented as authors in these pages. This diversity of authorship helped guarantee that the entries in this volume would range all the way from the expected ‘‘old chestnuts’’ to those on hot, new, cutting edge topics.

I should point out that I personally read, and in many cases re read (sometimes several times), all of the entries in this volume. Many went through two, three, or more rewrites and I read them all (as, in many cases, did the relevant advisory editors). I say that not because I am by any means an expert in all of the areas and topics covered here, but to make the point that all of the contributions were seriously reviewed, and from a uniform per spective. I tried my best to be sure that all of these entries were accurate, up to date, and of high quality.

As pointed out above, the overall design of this ambitious project can be gleaned from the Lexicon. First, a glance at the 22 broad head ings gives the reader a sense of the great sweep of sociology that includes such diverse subfields as crime and deviance, demography/ population, education, family, gender, health and medicine, media, politics, popular culture, race/ethnicity, religion, science, sexuality, lxiv Introduction social psychology, social stratification, sport, and urbanization. Second, a more detailed examination of the topics listed under each of the broad headings in the Lexicon yields a further sense not only of that sweep, but also of the enormous depth of work in sociology.

Thus, the coverage of the field in these volumes is both wide and deep. To take just one example, the crime and deviance category includes not only a general entry on crime, but also entries on such specific topics as capital punishment, child abuse, cybercrime, gangs, hate crimes, homicide, police, prisons, rape, victimization, and many more. To take another example, entries on the economy range all the way from major events (Industrial Revolution and the rise of post industrial society), theories (rational choice), and people (Karl Marx) to a wide array of other topics including money, occupations, poverty, wealth, shopping, super markets, and credit cards. Similar and often even greater depth is reflected in the lists of terms under most of the other headings in the Lexicon.

Sociology is a highly dynamic discipline that is constantly undergoing changes of various types and magnitudes. This greatly complicates getting a sense of the expanse of sociology. This is traceable to changes both within the field and in the larger social world that it studies.

In terms of changes in sociology, the ency clopedia includes many traditional concepts, such as primary groups, dyad and triad, norms, values, culture, and so on, but supplements these with a broad assortment of more recently coined and/or popularized concepts, such as distanciation and disembedding, glocalization, simulation, implosion, postsocial, actants, and imagined communities. Similarly, some key figures in the history of the discipline (e.g., Herbert Spencer) have receded in importance, while others have taken on new or renewed significance. For example, feminist theory has led to a rise in interest in the work of Marianne Weber, postmodernism and poststructuralism have led to a revival in interest in Friedrich Nietzsche, and growing interest in spatial issues has led to more attention to the ideas of Henri Lefebvre.

More generally, changes in the relative importance of various subareas in the discipline lead to increases (and decreases) in attention to them. Among the areas that seem to be attract ing greater interest are globalization (see below) as well as the sociology of consumption and sport. A significant number of entries in the encyclopedia can be included under one (or more) of these headings.

The entries included in the encyclopedia also reflect recent changes in the larger social world.

For example, the study of cybercrime above is a relatively recent addition to the area of crime because the cyberspace in which it occurs is itself relatively new. Furthermore, new ways of engaging in criminal behavior on the Inter net are constantly being invented. For example, a new crime has emerged that involves the sending of emails to large numbers of people around the world claiming that help is needed in transferring money from one country to another. In return, the email recipient is offered a significant share of the money. Those who respond with a willingness to help are eventually lured into transferring considerable sums to the sender of the emails in order, they are told, to help with the transfer by, for exam ple, bribing officials. People have lost tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in such scams. While the perpetrators are hard to find, victims (especially in the US) are not and are subject to prosecution for illegal activities on their part (e.g., deceiving others in order to get needed funds).

A more general recent social change that is profoundly affecting sociology is globalization. This is clearly an emerging and multifaceted process that is dramatically altering the land scape of the world. Sociology (and many other disciplines including political science, interna tional relations, and economics) has been com pelled to deal with the process and its various aspects in many different ways. Thus, we have seen the emergence of various theories and methods devoted to dealing with this topic.

Furthermore, the many different aspects and dimensions of the process of globalization have attracted the notice of sociologists (and other scholars). Much consideration has been paid to the economic dimensions of globalization, but there are myriad other aspects – social, cultural, political, and the like – that are also drawing increasing attention from sociologists. Thus, in addition to a general entry on globalization, this encyclopedia includes a number of more Introduction lxv specific entries on such issues as world cities, the global justice movement, and the globaliza tion of sport, sexuality, and so on. Further such topics and issues will emerge as globalization as a process continues to evolve and develop. Sociology will respond by devoting attention to them.

By its very nature, sociology is also highly topical and its focus is often drawn to the most recent and publicly visible developments, events, and people. There are, of course, far too many of these to cover completely in these volumes, and in any case the topics covered are constantly changing with current events. How ever, in order to give a sense of this topicality, some of the most important such issues are cov ered here. For example, changes in science are dealt with under entries on cloning, genetic engineering, the measurement of risk, and tech nological innovation. Topical issues in health and medicine include AIDS, aging and health policy, stress and health, and exercise and fit ness. A flavor of the many new topics in culture of interest to sociologists is offered here in entries on popular culture icons and forms, post modern culture, surveillance, and xenophobia.

The dynamic character of sociology makes it extremely interesting, but also very difficult to grasp in some general sense. Thus, it is useful to offer a definition of sociology, although the fact is that the complexity and diversity of the discipline have led to many different definitions and wide disagreement over precisely how to define it. While I recognize that it is one among many definitions, the following is a variant on one that I have employed previously in various contexts and is consistent with the thrust of most definitions in the discipline: Sociology is the study of individuals, groups, organizations, cultures, societies, and transnational relationships and of the various interrelationships among and between them.

Unpacking this definition gives us yet another way of gaining an impression of the field of sociology. On the one hand, it is clear that sociology spans the workings of a number of levels of analysis all the way from individuals to groups, organizations, cultures, societies, and transnational processes. On the other, sociology is deeply concerned with the interrelationship among and between all of those levels of analysis. Thus, at the extremes, one might be concerned with the relationship between indi viduals and the transnational relationships involved in globalization. While globalization is certainly affecting individuals (for example, outsourcing is leading to the loss of jobs in some areas of the world and to the creation of others elsewhere around the globe), it is also the case that globalization is the outcome of the actions of various people (business leaders, politicians, workers). Sociology is attuned to such extreme micro (individual) and macro (global) relationships as well as everything in between. A slightly different way of saying this is that sociology is concerned, at its extremes, with the relationship between individual agents and the structures (e.g., of global transnational relationships) within which they exist and which they construct and are constantly recon structing.

USING THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOCIOLOGY

One way of gaining an impression of the ex panse of sociology is, of course, to read every entry in this encyclopedia. Since few (save the editor) are likely to undertake such an enor mous task, a first approach would be to scan the entire Lexicon and then select headings and terms of special interest. The reader could then begin building from there to encompass areas and topics of less direct and immediate interest.

However, readers without time to work their way through the entire encyclopedia would be well advised to focus on several rather general Lexicon entries: Key Concepts, Key Figures, Theory, and Methods. Let us look at each of these in a bit more detail.

In a sense the vast majority of entries in this encyclopedia are key concepts in sociology, but a large number of the most important and widely used concepts in the discipline have been singled out for inclusion under the head ing of Key Concepts. An understanding of this range of ideas, as well as of the content of each, will go a long way toward giving the reader an appreciation of the field. For example, one can begin at the level of the individual with the ideas of mind and self, and then move through such concepts as agency, interaction, everyday life, groups (primary and secondary), organizations, institutions, society, and globaliza tion. This would give the reader a sound grasp of the scope of sociology, at least in terms of the extent of its concerns, all the way from individ uals and their thoughts and actions to global relationships and processes. Readers could then work their way through the key concepts in a wide range of other ways and directions, but in the end they would emerge with a pretty good conception of the discipline.

A second way to proceed is through the topics under the heading of Key Figures. This is, in some ways, a more accessible way of gaining a broad understanding of the discipline because it ties key ideas to specific people and their biographical and social contexts. One could begin with Auguste Comte and the invention of the concept of sociology. One could then move forward to the development of sociology in France (especially the work of E´ mile Durkheim and his key role in the insti tutionalization of sociology in that country).

One could then shift to the development of the field in other parts of the world, including Germany (Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel; Weber and Simmel were central to the institutionalization of sociology in Germany), Great Britain (Herbert Spencer), Italy (Vilfredo Pareto), the United States (Thorstein Veblen, George Herbert Mead), and similar develop ments could be traced in East Asia, Latin America, the Muslim world, as well as other parts of the globe. Another way to go is to move back in time from Comte to even earlier figures such as Ibn Khaldun and then push forward to later key figures such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton (US), Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu (France), Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Marianne Weber (Germany), Karl Mann heim and Norbert Elias (Great Britain, although both were born in Germany), and so on. While we have restricted coverage in this encyclopedia to deceased key figures, it is also possible to gain a sense of the contributions of living key sociologists, either through entries written by them for these volumes (e.g., Imman uel Wallerstein, Thomas Scheff) or through innumerable topical entries that inevitably deal with their ideas. For example, the entry on structuration theory deals with one of the major contributions of Anthony Giddens (Great Britain), simulacra and simulation is at the heart of Jean Baudrillard’s work (France), glo calization is closely associated with the work of Roland Robertson (also Great Britain), while ethnomethodology was ‘‘invented’’ by Harold Garfinkel (US).

All of those mentioned in the previous para graph are theorists, but there are many other key figures in or associated with the discipline as well. One can read entries on these people and gain an understanding of specific areas in sociology, including demography (Kingsley Davis), race relations (E. Franklin Frazier), feminism (Charlotte Perkins Gilman), sexuality (Magnus Hirschfeld, Alfred Kinsey),gender (Mirra Komarovsky),media (Marshall McLu han), urbanization (Lewis Mumford), crime (Edwin H. Sutherland), and many more. A distinctive quality of sociology is that it has sets of elaborated theories and methods.

Even though there is no overall agreement on which theory or method to use, they provide the keys to understanding the discipline as a whole. We have already encountered a number of theorists, but the encyclopedia is also loaded with broad discussions of both general theories and specific theoretical ideas. Among the more classical theories that are covered are structural functionalism, system theory, structuralism, Marxism and neo Marxism, critical theory, conflict theory, feminism, phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, labeling theory, role theory, dramaturgy, ethnomethodology, exis tential sociology, semiotics, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, social exchange theory, and rational choice theories. In addition, much attention is given to newer theories such as recent feminist theories, actor network theory, chaos theory, queer theory, expectation states theory, as well as a variety of the ‘‘posts’’ – postpositivism, poststructuralism, postsocial, and a range of postmodern perspectives.

The methods entries have similarly diverse coverage, which can be divided roughly into qualitative and quantitative methods. All are of varying degrees of utility in studying virtually any topic of concern in sociology. Among the notable qualitative methods covered are ethno graphy, autoethnography, performance ethno graphy, feminist methodology, visual methods, Introduction lxvii verstehen, and participant and non participant observation. More quantitative methods covered include a variety of demographic techniques, experiments, social network analysis, and sur vey research. Also covered under the heading of methods is a wide range of statistical tech niques. Finally, a series of broad methodolog ical issues is dealt with, such as validity, reliability, objectivity, rapport, triangulation, and many others.

All of the above can be brought to bear on the 22 categories in the Lexicon. Thus, for example, another area covered here is the econ omy, especially consumption, and of relevance to a study of the latter might be the classical work of the theorist Thorstein Veblen, the con cept of simulation, postmodern theory, and the use of ethnographic techniques.

Of course, since sociology is constantly expanding, so too are its key concepts, figures, theories, and methods. For example, globaliza tion is, as we have seen, a relatively new issue and sociological concept. It is leading to a reconceptualization of the work of classical the orists (such as Marx and Weber) and of the relevance of their ideas (imperialism, rationali zation) to globalization, the generation of a wide range of new concepts (e.g., glocalization, empire, McDonaldization, time space distan ciation) needed to get a handle on it, and the ories (transnationalism, network society) and methods (quantitative cross national studies as well as methods that rely on data not derived from the nation state) appropriate to the study of global issues and processes. We can expect that in the coming years other new topics will come to the fore, with corresponding impli cations for how we think about the work of classical theorists as well as leading to the gen eration of new or revised concepts, theories, and methods.

STATE OF THE ART

It is safe to say that the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology represents the largest and most complete, diverse, global, and up to date repos itory of sociological knowledge in the history of the discipline. It stands as a resource for professional sociologists, scholars in other fields, students, and interested laypeople.

Given the point made above about the continu ing growth and expansion of the field, the bound, 11 volume version in which this intro duction appears is just the beginning.

Thus, there will be an online version (www.sociologyencyclopedia.com) of the material represented here. Not only will this constitute another way of accessing the text, it will also make it clear that this encyclopedia is not a sociological ‘‘museum’’ but a living and lively work that will grow and change in the ensuing years. Bound volumes, especially encyclope dias, are not easy to update, but online versions lend themselves readily to change. New sub stantive topics can be added, as can new bio graphical sketches. Furthermore, extant entries can be updated and errors, should they have occurred, can be corrected. Thus, the online version of this encyclopedia will begin to grow and change almost as soon as it comes into existence.

In fact, although we were extremely success ful in getting virtually all of the entries we recruited into the bound volumes before the publication deadline, there is a handful that, for one reason or another, did not arrive in time. Work continues on them and they will be among the first to be included among the additional entries in the online version.

Another obvious and early set of additions will flow from the decision to include only deceased sociologists (as well as scholars in many cognate fields whose work is closely related to sociology) in the encyclopedia. (This decision was made on the basis of the editor’s past experience with his Encyclopedia of Social Theory [Sage, 2005], in which the decision to include living theorists created great difficulties since, without the benefit of some history and hindsight, it was sometimes problematic to draw the line between those to be included and excluded.) In the few weeks since the dead line for the bound volumes of this encyclopedia has passed, several notable figures have died (Betty Friedan, John Kenneth Galbraith, Jane Jacobs). Their biographies will appear in the online version, which will be updated in this way regularly since, life being as it is, we can expect other luminaries to pass.

However, the intention of the editor and the publisher is that this hardback version will also be a living document in that it, too, will be revised. That revision will encompass any new additions made to the online version in the interim, but it will also involve other additions based on a full scale review of the volumes and reactions, solicited and unsolicited, from experts and readers.

Thus this encyclopedia can be seen as both an effort to define the field of sociology as it stands on the cusp of 2007 and a platform for continually refining and expanding that definition as we go forward. Sociology is a living discipline and it requires a living encyclopedia to do it justice.

George Ritzer

Editor, Encyclopedia of Sociology

Distinguished University Professor,

University of Maryland.

June 2006.