sociology
Sociology
The history of action and interaction of everyone
Talks about its ubiquity - everywhereness of influence
Sex, gender, religion, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation and the like
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Pioneers of Sociology
Isidore Auguste Marie Francois Xavier Comte (1798-1857)
“Father of Sociology”
Originally used “social physics” for sociology
3 Stages of Societal Development
Theological - people viewed the world and the events in the world as a direct expression of the will of various gods
Metaphysical - people believed that there are both religious and scientific reasons for all things
Positive - society develops and try to explain it through science
Positivism
Science and its method is the only valid way of knowing things
Observation - watch people in social situations and record what is said and done
Experimentation - measures the effect of independent variable on dependent variable
Comparison - process between things
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
“Mother” of sociology
focus on how the different people in society live and coexist
Unique because it focuses on the overall progress of society.
Standard of living of people determines the overall progress of society
Ethnographic narratives - deep sociological insights; systematic study of people and cultures from the perspective of the subject
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
“Father of Scientific Socialism”
Marx:
Society and economy - people, economy, and the people within the economy
Class struggle - struggle between workers and capitalists
Conflict theory - inequality between bourgeoisie and and proletariat (exploitation of laborers/working class(proletariat) by capitalists(bourgeoisie))
Perspective formed from industrial revolution where rapid industrialization led to radical social changes
Proletariat - individual who performs labor; Bourgeoisie - obtains profit from the said labor
Workers are exploited while those in power get more powerful and wealthier
Emile Durkheim (1858-1977)
Responsible for defending sociology as in independent discipline
His theories were founded on the concept: Social facts, Norms, Values, and Structure of Society
Proponent of the ideals of functionalism that emphasizes the importance of cooperation for societal equilibrium
Structural-functional theory
Sees society as a structure with interrelated status
Designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society
Importance of division of labor - focused on the shift in societies from a single society to one that is more complex
Max Weber (1864-1920)
‘Verstehen’ meaning empathetic understanding (understanding your fellow by knowing how they feel)
One of the most important theorists on the development of modern Western society
Stressed the role of rationalization
Explain or justify behavior or an attitude with logical response
Modern individuals became dependent on science to order lives
3 Extensive contribution to Sociology:
he argued that ‘Verstehen’ or empathetic understanding is crucial to understanding human action and social change
He believed we could make generalizations about the basic types of motivation for human action
Customs
Custom and habits
Affective Social Action
Emotion driven actions
Impulsively done
Rational Social Action
characterized by moral or ethical principles that are implemented collectively for the good of society. Therefore, rational action is guided by ideology or collective ethics.
Rational-instrumental Action
you do work because you want to achieve something
He argued that structure shaped human actions
Origin of Sociology
Europe, industrial revolution
Analyzing the change brought about industrialism (rapid development and rapid social change)
Study of people with different backgrounds, ethnicity, culture all within a society
Marx - grew up poor, his perspective is how humans continuously struggle (Conflict Theory)
Durkheim and Weber - grew up in a rich and influential family, perspective: do your role in the society to achieve balance in the society