Soc. 101 rw ch. 2

Sociology’s Family Tree
THEORIES & THEORISTS
CHAPTER 2

Outline
 What is a theory?
 Sociology’s Roots
 Classical Soc. Theory (Marx, Weber, Durkheim,
Freud)
 Modern Schools of Thought
 New Theoretical Approaches

Sociological Theories
 Sociological Theories– abstract propositions that both
explain the social world and make predictions about
future events
 Ex. Mental illness-diff. theory means diff. treatment
 14 century London-Caused by moral failing/demon
possession or individual weakness---Taken to Bethlem
 Colonial U.S.-Caused by astrological position of moon at time
of birth (lunatic)---bleeding or long-term vomiting
 1930s U.S.-Located in a particular portion of brain---could be
cured by lobotomy (removal of part of the brain)
 Present day U.S.-caused by problems of brain chemistry
 *Theories change over time because society itself
changes, and theories try to explain society

Eurocentrism & Sociology
 Eurocentric-tendency to favor
European or Western history, culture,
and values over other cultures
 Both the social world and social theory are
eurocentric (privilege West)
 Ibn Khaldun-14th century- came up with concept
of assabiyah (social cohesion) before Durkheim
by 500 years

Sociology’s Roots
 Auguste Comte (1798-1857) – French scientist
 Father of Sociology; coined “sociology”
 Grew up in aftermath of French Revolution/political instability
 Believed science could be used to run society efficiently
 Positivism – argues sense perceptions are the only
valid source of knowledge
 Seeks to ID laws that describe the behavior of a particular reality
 Aligned “positive” knowledge with scientific factual knowledge
 Scientific method-emphasizes collecting concrete data
through observation and experiment
 Comte imagined applying scientific method to social affairs

Sociology’s Roots
 “Mrs.” Harriet Martineau (1802-76)– Support
of unions, women’s rights, abolitionist
 Traveled to the U.S.-judge democracy
 Translated Comte’s Introduction to Positive Philosophy
into English
 Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) – First great
English-speaking sociologist
 *Societies, like biological organisms, evolve through
time by adapting to changing conditions – Social
Darwinism
 Coined phrase, “survival of the fittest”

Classical Sociological Theory
 Classical period began in 1800s
 Beginning as substantive discipline
 Theoretical foundations for all work that followed
 Industrial Revolution influenced development
 Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) – French –
established sociology as important science –
used scientific method in Suicide
 Hoped science could stabilize France in
aftermath of defeat in Franco-Prussian War

 Suicide-theorized was caused by anomie-
sense of disconnection brought about by
changing conditions of modern life
 Solidarity-unity within a particular society
 Mechanical solidarity – describes types of
social bonds of agrarian society – shared
traditions & beliefs lead to social cohesion
 Organic solidarity – describes social bonds
modern industrialized society-interdependence,
tasks performed and individual rights

 Karl Marx- (1818-1883) German social philosopher,
economist and political activist
 Collaborated with Friedrich Engels
 *Believed that conflict between social groups is
central to the workings of society and the engine of
social change
 Social Inequality – uneven & unfair distribution of
resources. Result of capitalism –class struggle b/w
“haves” and “have-nots”
 Means of Production-anything that can create
wealth: money, property, factories, etc…

 Proletariat – workers, no means of production
 Tended to be compliant with existing social order
 Bourgeoisie-owners of “means of production”
 Alienation –sense of dissatisfaction the modern
worker feels as a result of producing goods that
are owned and controlled by someone else
 Proletariat suffered b/c they were unable to directly
benefit from the fruits of their own labor
 Socialism-political system based on state
control of economy to reduce social inequality

 Max Weber – German sociologist
 Protestant ethic
 Rationalization-application of economic logic to
all spheres of human activity in order to
increase efficiency-
 Studied Bureaucracies-institutions
characterized by hierarchal authority and fixed
procedures. Investigated how economics were
related to all human activity (education).

 Weber postulated that people were trapped in:
 Iron cage-technical conditions of machine
production control our lives through rigid rules
and rationalization/bureaucratic rules
 Modern life characterized by disenchantment and
dehumanization
 Verstehen – empathetic understanding
 Describes how soc. scientist should approach
study of human action
 Researchers should avoid bias/opinions in work

 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian psychiatrist
 Psychoanalysis-The subconscious and
unconscious responsible for most of our drives
and impulses-learned thru dream interpretation
 *Concerned with the large-scale social changes of
the Industrial Revolution & effect on individual
 Repression-taboo desires return via dreams, slips of the
tongue, neuroses, etc…
 Sublimation-desires channeled into healthy and
acceptable expressions/hobbies

Modern Schools of Thought
 Structural Functionalism – society is unified
whole that functions because of the
contributions of its separate structures
 Comte, Spencer, Durkheim wanted to study
order because social change had previously
happened much more slowly
 Society as sui generis
 Structures – social institutions relatively stable
over time, meets needs of society (family, etc.)

 Dysfunction – disturbance to some aspect of
social system-must lead to institutional change
 Families not disciplining kids?-falls on schools, courts…
 Structural Functionalism Tenets
 1. Society is stable system of interrelated parts
 2. Each structure has a function that contributes
to the continued stability of the whole
 Critiques-static model of society/no interest in
individual, social inequality functional?

 Conflict Theory – Marx – struggle over
resources & power dominates society. Ideology
of society is influenced by wealthy & powerful
 Increasing economic power of industrial capitalism
primary tool for oppression of the poor
 “From each according to his ability, to each according to
his need”-Karl Marx
 False consciousness-denial of truth by the
oppressed-fail to recognize interests of ruling
class in their ideology-allowed inequalities in
class structure to continue

 To change: we need Class Consciousness or
Revolutionary Consciousness – challenge those in
power and inequality in society
 Dialectical Model – Marx’s model of historical change
 Thesis (belief) – Antithesis (opposite belief) and
Synthesis (compromise of both)
 Praxis – practical action – act on what you believe
 Critical Theory – media or mass communications and
popular culture important part of capitalism
 Critique-can ignore stable parts of society

 Symbolic Interactionism - interaction and
meaning central to society –meanings in life are
created through interaction in society- not inherent
 1. We act towards things on basis of their
meanings
 2. Meanings are not inherent/created through
interaction
 3. Meanings can change or be modified through
interaction

 George Herbert Mead & the Chicago School
 Did actual field research about social interaction
 Related to pragmatism-organisms make
practical adaptations to their environments
 Believed language (verbal & non-verbal) is
crucial to the development of self and society
 Erving Goffman – Dramaturgy – uses idea of
theatre to explain how we present ourselves
 Frontstage and Backstage

New Theoretical Approaches
 Feminist Theory – looks at how gender &
power are linked in our society – patriarchal
 Queer Theory – 80’s & 90’s – sexual
orientation categories are just social constructs-
none deviant or normal
 Postmodernism – no constants in society – all
areas in flux, diverse – Hip Hop-old with the new
 Wal-Mart Assignment – page 54 & 55

Soc. 101 rw ch. 2

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Soc. 101 rw ch. 2