Introduction to Sociological Theory & Classical Theory

basic characteristics of a sociological theory

1. abstract (applicable to many situations)

2. testable (relationship between variables can be examined)

3. explains, describes, explores, or predicts some aspect of social life

ideology

what world is/should be/ought to be

scientific/empirical observation

concrete, sense-based observations

religion

based in belief

philosophy

speculation about the world without scientific method

proposition

statement of relationship between two abstract concepts

operationalization

translation of theoretical ideas into methodological approaches; move from abstraction to concreteness

positivism

understanding world through science

sociological theory

oriented towards science and scientific testing. theories are developed and their validity is tested through scientific methods. often expressed in propositions.

social theory

oriented toward ideology, making statements about how the world could be or should be. politically motivated theory focusing upon consciousness raising and social change.

micro-level theory

describes:

• social interaction

• social exchanges

• small group behavior

• the self and personal identity

• emotions

macro-level theory

describes:

• organizations

• social institutions

• social structures

• nation-states

• social stratification and inequality

• large scale social change

meso-level theory

describes the middle range between macro- and micro-level theory.

emergent properties

social behavior not tied to what individuals do but is a product of what they do

• whole is greater than the sum of the parts

• where micro & macro come together

philosophical principles of the enlightenment

1. scientific understanding

2. freedom

3. progress

4. social development

5. individual potential

6. reason

transformations in the 17th and 18th centuries that led to the development of sociological theory

• scientific revolution

• religious revolution

• educational revolution

• political revolution

• industrial/technological revolution

• economic revolution

• urban revolution

• revolution in social organization

• feminist revolution

• imperialism and colonialism

sources of early development of sociological theory

1. conservative (preserve existing order) reaction to the Enlightenment tradition (which unsettled society)

2. serious attempt to understand changing nature of society during 18th and 19th centuries

August Comte

• functionalism

• coined term “sociology”

• established sociology as an intellectual tradition in France

• law of three stages: theological (religion), metaphysical (philosophy), positivistic (science)

• sociology as “social physics”

Emile Durkheim

• functionalism

• developed first course in sociology

• conducted first empirical study in sociology: Suicide

• interested in conditions that produce “social solidarity”

  • what unites people

• studied religion, the division of labor, education, myths

• developed the idea of “emergent properties” (“social facts”)

• studied forms of solidarity

  • mechanical (emotionally, culturally connected) and organic (functionally connected)

• explored social dysfunctions

  • anomie

• repressive law (extreme punishment/consequence designed for horrific spectacle; small groups are vulnerable because may fall apart) vs. restitutive law (reforming people so they can continue to participate in society)

mechanical solidarity

characteristic of small societies where people are connected emotionally and culturally

all perform same tasks; little division of labor

(Durkheim)

organic solidarity

characteristic of large societies where people are functionally connected through the division of labor

(Durkheim)

anomie

a sense, associated with organic solidarity, of not knowing what one is expected to do, of being adrift in society without any clear and secure moorings (Durkheim).

repressive law

characteristic of mechanical solidarity and strong collective conscience

extreme punishment/consequence

• horrific spectacle as ritual

• done as deterrent because small groups are more vulnerable to falling apart

(Durkheim)

restitutive law

characteristic of organic solidarity and its weakened collective conscience

form of law in which people are reformed or pay restitution so they can continue to participate in society (Durkheim)

functionalism

macro-level theory

each part of society is its own organ the makes the entire society function.

studies how society:

• comes together

• protects from deviance and crime

associated classical theorists:

• Comte, Durkheim

Karl Marx

• conflict theory & critical theory

• all societies have internal tensions

  • dominant vs the oppressed

• conflict is the basis of society

  • primarily between bourgeoisie (owners) and the proletariat (workers)

• economic class is the most important factor in understanding society

  • who controls the means of production?

• “those who control the means of production control the means of mental production”

• capitalism produces a specific form of alienation and exploitation

class conflict

under capitalism, economic class and the means of production are the source of conflict in society

the bourgeoisie (owners) own the means of production and have control of the profits

the proletariat (workers) work for a wage but do not benefit from the value their labor creates

alienation

the breakdown of and separation from the natural interconnection between

• people and their productive activities

• the products they produce

• the fellow workers with whom they produce those things

• what they are potentially capable of becoming

(Marx).

false consciousness

inaccurate sense of themselves that both the proletariat and bourgeoisie have under capitalism

“those who control the means of production control the means of mental production”

• how and what we (proletariat) think is controlled by the bourgeoisie to distort the true nature of class relations

class consciousness

the ability of a class, particularly the proletariat, to overcome false consciousness and attain an accurate understanding of the capitalist system (Marx).

Max Weber

• conflict theory (and functionalism)

• argued that societies are filled with solidarity and conflict

• had a “silent debate with Marx”

• class is not necessarily the most important aspect of conflict: class, status, and power

• developed current model of bureaucracy (first theory of social structure)

• modern societies marked by increasing rationality

• the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism

sources of conflict in society (Weber)

class (economic standing)

status (prestige of occupation)

power (influence/authority in society)

rationality and modern society

bureaucracy: a type of organization marked by rationality

• does not increase human potential, dehumanizing system

designed for efficiency

• constrains freedom

• maximize gains, minimize losses

(Weber)

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Calvinism emphasized hard work and asceticism; believed salvation in the afterlife would manifest itself in signs of economic success in real world.

people motivated by ethical system that emphasized ceaseless pursuit of economic success.

• rational and systematic seeking of profits

• frugality

• punctuality

• fairness

• earning money as a legitimate end in itself

(Weber)

Thorstein Veblen

• conflict between business and industry

  • business increasingly controls industry

• conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure

business

a pecuniary approach to monetary processes in which the dominant interests are acquisition, money, and profitability rather than production and the interests of the larger community (Veblen).

industry

the understanding and productive use, primarily by the working classes, of a variety of mechanized processes on a large scale (Veblen).

conspicuous consumption

the consumption of a variety of goods not for subsistence but for the higher status particular goods confer on those who consume them; such consumption creates the basis for invidious distinctions among people (Veblen).

conspicuous leisure

the consumption of leisure, or the nonproductive use of time, in such a way as to create invidious distinctions between people and elevate the social status of those able to waste their time in this way (Veblen).

Georg Simmel

• exchange theory (& conflict theory)

• society is composed of exchange relationships

  • money, conversation, symbols, friendship, love, conflict

• conflict can be functional

• developed an interest in urban environments and the social alienation they produce

• the modern world creates a blase attitude

• “the stranger”

form (of interaction)

patterns imposed on the bewildering array of events, actions, and interactions in the social world (Simmel).

type (of interactant)

patterns imposed on a wide range of actors to combine them into categories (Simmel).

• ex) the stranger

George Herbert Mead

• society is a “symbolic interaction”

• language is the most significant human invention

• language helps to create the “self,” the “mind,” and “meaning”

• the social self

• I, me, the generalized other

• the most effective means of social control is “self-control”

• taking the role of the other

mind

the conversations that people have with themselves using language; thinking is internalized symbolic interaction

inextricable from the self (Mead).

self

the ability to take oneself as an object; inextricable from the mind (Mead).

based on how other people/groups view us

“the most effective means of social control is self-control”

• control own behavior based on imagined social reaction

W.E.B DuBois

• multi-cultural theory & conflict theory

• the problem of the 20th century is the problem of race

• color line, a “veil” that separates the “white” world from the “black” world

• “double consciousness”

• the “Talented Tenth”

  • a leadership class of educated and influential African Americans who would uplift the race through education, activism, and social leadership.

• intersection between race and class, arguing that racial discrimination was intertwined with economic and social class structures

• use of personal narrative to explicate theoretical ideas

color line

the division of Black society and white society into two different and unequal worlds (DuBois).

the veil

a metaphor for the separation between Blacks and whites.

thin, porous material through which each race can see the other, yet still separates the races. sometimes opaque and impossible to lift.

description:

• shuts Black people out from the rest of the world and within which they live

• Black people are born with

• falls between Blacks and whites

• affects the way Black and white people see each other

• hangs between Blacks and opportunity

• negatively affects both Blacks and whites

• might someday be lifted

(DuBois)

double consciousness

the feeling that a Black person has of being split in two, of having two forms of self-consciousness (DuBois).

position gives insight into society but produces confusion and tension.

Talented Tenth

a leadership class of educated and influential African Americans who would uplift the race through education, activism, and social leadership (DuBois).

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

• feminist theory

• patriarchal structures perpetuate women’s subordination and restrict their opportunities for economic and intellectual advancement

• economic independence is crucial for women’s empowerment

• critiqued the oppressive medical treatments imposed on women (“rest cure”)

• value in both parents child-rearing

• women’s unpaid domestic labor should be valued within economic systems

• critiqued Social Darwinism for its justification of inequality and exploitation