Modern theoretical Perspective in Sociology

Modern theoretical Perspective in Sociology

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  MODERN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVESIN SOCIOLOGY:RATIONALE FOR CLASSIFICATION
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  “The eyes seesonly what the mind is prepared to comprehend” — Henry Bergson
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  ▸ Theories?? Whatare they? ▸ A spectacles through which you understand phenomena ▸ Provides framework for analysis ▸ Critically analyse Segregation of different social groups-how you make friends- when you eat lunch, certain types of students sit together and share lunch; why is that so? ▸ Why do you think that people tend to sort themselves into groups and stay with people they see as similar to themselves?
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  ▸ Sociology VsCommon sense! ▸ Theoretical analysis vs common sense statements ▸ Theories attempt to explain why groups of people choose to perform certain actions and how societies function or change in a certain way ▸ Too many theories in sociology ▸ Can we classify these theories into different paradigms?? ▸ Different levels of analysis- for integrating and coordinating existing sociological knowledge
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  ▸ Theories providebroad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life ▸ Paradigms- philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalisations and experiments performed in support of them ▸ “The emergence of social theory coincides with the emergence of modernity” (Turner, 2009) ▸ How about classical theories? (to understand the totality of forces at work in the making of modern society; it was a both a product of modernity and at the same time an attempt to reflect critically to its problems)
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  ▸ Early socialtheory was a response to the rise of civil society and the recognition that society was an artefact produced by human action as opposed to being part of the preordained nature of the world ▸ According to Talcott Parsons, (The Structure of Social Action, 1937), modern sociology is essentially an attempt to find an answer to the problem posed by political theories, namely how social order is possible (Hobbes’ and Locke’s political theories) ▸ Sociology was concerned with - society in a reality itself ▸ Secure and consensual foundations for sociology established, distinguishing scientific from ideological or normative expressions
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  TEXT ▸ Classical theories-centred on the theme of crisp and a certain cultural pessimism ▸ This criticism was take on an enhanced momentum after the end of World War I ▸ Durkheim died in 1917; Simmel- 1918; and Weber in 1920 ▸ Early 20th century European social theory influenced by the theories of Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and Martin Heidegger ▸ Disenchantment with modernity led to a redirection of social theory away from the classical tradition as represented Classical theorists
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  TEXT ▸ American socialtheory- pragmatism- had a huge influence on sociology- link ideas to action ▸ Clear cut demarcation from social theory to sociological theory ▸ As part of modernisation, increasing disciplining of the subject ▸ compartmentalisation
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  ▸ Modernisation- tendencyto classify everything ▸ Criticised for being reductionist, arbitrary- limiting the scope ▸ Especially American Sociology ▸ Can we classify a theorist? Or the theory? ▸ How can we address the problem of transformations or changing perspectives of a theorists? ▸ Epistemological breaks!!!! For instance, Karl Marx was a humanist in his early works but after the publication of Das Capital he turned out to be a structuralist ▸ therefore, the rationale for classification must be reconsidered
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  ▸ Derek RLayder - Understanding Social Theory, 2nd edition (2005) ▸ Bryan S. Turner - The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory, Wiley-Blackwell (2008) ▸ Wagner, H. R. (1963). Types of Sociological Theory: Toward a System of Classification. American Sociological Review, 28(5), 735. doi:10.2307/2089911 REFERENCES