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Summary AQA A-Level Sociology Beliefs in Society (Paper 2)

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These notes explore Beliefs in Society, which is one of the topics that appears in AQA A Level Sociology Paper 2 (worth 40 marks: 50% of Paper 2). They have been structured with the help of the actual exam specification provided by AQA, ensuring that everything has been covered. Other topics are av...

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  • May 15, 2019
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  • 2017/2018
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Beliefs in Society

Ideology, science and religion, including both Christian and non-Christian
religious traditions:

Religion and science as belief systems:

Science - Makes knowledge-claims and has had an impact on society in many ways leading to a 'faith in
science' (e.g. in medicine, transport, communication and economic production). It claims to be (COTE);
 Cumulative (builds on previous knowledge and is ever-growing).
 Objective (rigorous and value-free research).
 Testable (open to challenge).
 Empirical (based on evidence).
Science is different from other belief systems in that it has cognitive power - it can explain, predict and
control the world in a way that other belief systems cannot.
Richard Dawkins - Author of 'The God Delusion' (2006) and believes science has the edge over religion
because it can be proven with evidence and is ultimately the truth.

Robert Merton - Claims that science has grown so rapidly since industrial times:
 It receives support from other social institutions (e.g. education).
 It meets the needs of society.
 It supports economic development.
 Receives backing from the military with inventions surrounding weaponry, mining and
navigation.
Merton claims that science operates within a set of important rules that all scientists should follow
which maintain its respectability (CUDOS norms);
 Communism (scientific knowledge must be communal and shared by the scientific community).
 Universalism (truth must be judged by universal standards and criteria - not determined by the
characteristics of those testing it i.e. gender or age).
 Disinterestedness (being committed to discovering knowledge for its own sake rather than for
interest).
 Organised Scepticism (every idea should be open to criticism and questioning - no knowledge-
claim should be regarded as sacred).

Karl Popper - Claims that science is an open belief system - open to scrutiny, criticism and testing.
 This is good because science should be about the rigorous discovery of facts.
 However, this means that no scientific theory can ever be taken as definitely true - it can always
be questioned and may be falsified in the future.
 To be truly scientific, science must go through the principle of falsification, which aims to prove
that a theory is right by attempting to prove it wrong.
Robin Horton - Sees science and religion as fundamentally different.
 Science - an open belief system, which is open to challenge, potentially disprovable and based
on research evidence.

,  Religion - a closed belief system, which claims absolute truth, refuses to be challenged or
disproved and is fixed.
Criticisms of science as an open belief system:
 Thomas Kuhn - claims that science is a closed belief system and operates within a paradigm - a
model of existing knowledge and evidence, which dominates scientific thinking and influences
the answers that will be found. Any challenges to the existing paradigm are ridiculed and
rejected.
 Science as a social construct - Interpretivists support this idea and argue that all knowledge
(including scientific knowledge) is socially constructed. Therefore, science is simply a product of
researcher's findings and paradigms that influence further research.
Although, some revolutionary scientists can cause a paradigm shift - when there is a dramatic change in
a theory or explanation (e.g. we now know that the world is round, despite previous misconceptions that
it was flat).

Marxist view - Science serves the interests of the bourgeoise (e.g. many scientific developments are
driven by capitalist need for knowledge to make a profit).
Feminist view - Science serves the interests of men (e.g. science is patriarchal and male-dominated).
Postmodernist view (Ulrich Beck) - Claims that there is a growing scepticism of science due to its
'manufactured risks' i.e. nuclear weapon development, climate change and the lack of cures for killer
diseases or infections like MRSA. This alludes to a decline in science as a meta-narrative.

Ideological influences:

Ideology - A collection of beliefs held by an individual, group or society. It is a 'worldview', which affects
expectations and behaviours.
Neo-Marxist view -:
Karl Marx - Describes 'the dominant ideology' as ideas of the dominant class imposed on all members of
society to produce a 'false consciousness'.
Louis Althusser - Argues that this happens through:
 Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) - the social institutions (e.g. the family, education, religion etc.)
that spread the dominant ideology by controlling people's minds.
 Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) - the 'armed bodies of men' (e.g. the army, police, prisons etc.)
that force the working class into complying with the state.
Antonio Gramsci - Discusses hegemony - when the dominant ideology is imposed and accepted by the
majority as the cultural norm i.e. ruling by consent. Also believes that members of a society possess a
'dual consciousness':
1. They are influenced by ruling class ideology and accept their exploitation.
2. They are aware of their class struggle and ruling class power.
Therefore, they see through the capitalist ideology but consent to it.

Feminist view - Critical of politics, religion and science in particular, as these institutional ideologies are
patriarchal (e.g. in the UK, there is a gender pay gap of around 18.1%).

The ideology of nationalism - Based on the principals that every nation should be self-governing and
national identity should become before everything else (e.g. groups such as National Action and
National Front in the UK).

,Grace Davie (2013) - Identifies nationalism as a form of secular fundamentalism - when nationalist views
incite violent and aggressive action.
Functionalist view of nationalism - See it as a form of secular civil religion.
 Like religion, it integrates individuals into larger social and political units by making them feel
part of something greater than themselves.
 Nationalism functions as a civil religion that unites everyone into a single national community
rather than acting as a source of division like religion often can (e.g. with its many different
faiths that can cause disagreement).
Marxist view of nationalism - See it as a form of false class consciousness that helps to prevent the
overthrow of capitalism by dividing the international working class.
 This is because nationalism encourages workers to believe that they have more in common with
the capitalists of their own country than with the working class of other countries.
 This has enabled the ruling class of each capitalist country to persuade the working class to fight
wars on their behalf.

Karl Mannheim - Looks at how ideologies cause conflict and should be united as one.
 Ideologies are a one-sided worldview, which comes from their viewpoint as one group with their
own interests.
 There are two types of worldviews:
1. Ideological thought - justifies keeping society the same, preventing change and protecting the
dominant interests.
2. Utopian thought - justifies social change, rejecting the views of the less privileged.
 Certain intellectuals represent the interests of particular groups and not society as a whole.
 Mannheim said that this is a source of conflict in society as they oppose and antagonise one
another's views.
 The solution is a free-floating intelligentsia - intellectuals who are 'detached' from the social
groups they represent and rise above the conflict.
 They would be able to synthesise elements of each worldview to arrive at a total worldview,
representing the interests of society as a whole.

Issues in defining religion:

Substantive definition - An exclusive definition, which offers a clear-cut view; religion is the belief in God
or some kind of super-natural power and the subsequent worship of it. It focuses on what religion is i.e.
its substance.
Max Weber - Defines religion as belief in a superior power that is above nature and cannot be explained
scientifically.
Positives of the substantive definition of religion:
 Conforms to widespread view about religion as a belief in God or the supernatural.
 Clear view, which makes it easy to generalise about the nature of religion.
Criticisms of the substantive definition of religion:
 Accused of Western bias (e.g. excludes Buddhism) - too exclusive and ethnocentric.
 Out of date.

Functional definition - An inclusive definition, which is easy to qualify for: religion is anything that is
sacred (an inspirational/special quality) and is worshipped by a group of people, uniting them in fervour
(an intense and passionate feeling). It focuses on what religion does for its followers.

,Emile Durkheim - Defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration (rather than
any specific supernatural belief).
Positives of the functional definition of religion:
 No bias against non-Western religion - more inclusive.
 Focuses on what the function of religion is i.e. to integrate individuals.
Criticisms of the functional definition of religion:
 Just because an institution helps integrate groups does not mean that it is a religion (e.g.
collective football chants).
 The term 'religion' can become blurred as the definition is too inclusive.

Social constructionist view - It is not possible to produce a single, universal definition of religion; the
meaning depends on the person/group. Therefore, we should not generalise about religion.
Alan Aldridge - Shows that Scientology is a religion for its followers, despite several governments having
denied it legal status as a religion; definitions can be contested by those with power.
Positives of the social constructionist view of religion:
 Can get close to meanings people give themselves to religion.
Criticisms of the social constructionist view of religion:
 Impossible to generalise about the nature of religion - people may have highly contrasting views
about what passes as a religion.

Different sociological views:

Functionalist view - Have a positive outlook on the purpose of all institutions, including religion, in
society, which functionalists view as indispensable.
 Study groups as individuals come and go, but societies continue, often with the same beliefs and
practices.
1) Durkheim (Totemism) - Studied various groups of Aborigine tribes in Australia, namely the Arunta
people.
 Totemism is the most basic form of religion, perfectly representing its functions.
 Clans (like large extended family whose members perform certain functions) treat the totem
with reverence.
 Totem was believed by Durkheim to be a symbolic representation of the group.
 It has 2 positive effects: reminding them of their dependence on society and of their
duties/obligations to that society.
 Therefore, religion has 3 main functions according to Durkheim:
1. Intergration - sense of identity and belonging to a group.
2. Dependence - reminds people of their duties/obligations and their utter reliance on it.; without
it they cannot thrive.
3. Strengthens collective conscience - the moral ties/the social glue that binds people together,
sharing a similar way of thinking and ensures a value consensus.
Totem - A natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance
and is adopted by them as an emblem.

2) Malinowski (1926) - Anthropologist who travelled to the Trobriand islands to conduct qualitative
research with indigenous people.
 Observed and analysed the religious and superstitious rituals amongst the group.

,  Found that religion offers psychological comfort when: (1) the outcome is important to the
group but is uncertain/dangerous (sense of control and group solidarity needed) and (2) during
times of life crises (sense of emotional comfort and explanation/meaning for their experience
needed).
 Lagoon fishing was safe and predictable - no rituals were performed.
 Ocean fishing was dangerous and uncertain - rituals were performed.
 Therefore, religion has 2 main functions (for the individual and society respectively) according to
Malinowski:
1. Psychological comfort - through rituals, which eases tension.
2. Re-establish social solidarity - unites the group in consensus and strengthens their commitment
to one another.
3) Parsons (1949) - Emphasises the role of religion in maintaining social order and as a 'mechanism of
social control'.
 Religion gives meaning to life crises when: (1) individuals are hit with events they cannot foresee
(e.g. death, illness etc.) and (2) individuals are faced with uncertainty (e.g. weather, war etc.).
 Such uncontrollable events can threaten the stability of society as they defy our sense of justice
and make life appear meaningless.
 Therefore, religion has 2 main functions (for the individual and society respectively) according to
Parsons:
1. Mechanism of adjustment - provides meaning which allows people to adjust and return to
normality.
2. Agent of social control - people can adjust back to normality and social order is ensured.

4) Robert Bellah (Civil Religion) - The problem with the functionalist view is that societies that are
secular and multi-faith must have a way to fulfil functions and unify people. Bellah explains this:
 Civil religion - a functional alternative to traditional religion as its beliefs and practices perform
similar functions. It involves having a strong sense of civic pride and treating national symbols,
heroes and ceremonies as sacred.
 People worship it in society without really knowing.
There are belief systems that;
 Don't necessarily believe in a God.
 Worship a way of life.
 Do the same job as traditional religion.
 Provide shared norms and values.
 Integrates/unites its people.
Civil religion in the USA - Taken very seriously:
 Pledging allegiance - hand is placed on heart and a chant is performed. This happens daily in
schools and represents the 50 states and origins of the country. Its function is to integrate,
create a strong sense of identity and unite people in social solidarity.
 Super bowl - American football final, with a half time event. This happens in the
January/February months. Its function is to integrate and create a strong sense of civic pride.
 Thanksgiving - a family day of feasts and parades. This happens in the third week of November
and represents the founding of America and harvest time. Its function is to create unity and
solidarity.
 Independence Day - family day of celebration/activities and a federal holiday. This happens on
the 4th July and represents congress' secret vote of independence from Great Britain. Its
function is to integrate, create a strong sense of civic pride and unite people in social solidarity.

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