Chapter 1.3: The Early Years — Comprehensive Notes
Marx and Sociology
Marx was not a sociologist and did not consider himself one. His work is broad and not fully capturable by sociology, but a sociological theory appears within it.
There was a continuous strand of Marxian sociology, primarily in Europe, influenced by Marx; in the United States, early sociologists largely treated Marx as a negative force to be resisted or ignored. This negative reaction significantly shaped early sociological theory (Gurney, 1981).
Reasons for rejection of Marx were largely ideological:
Marx’s radical ideas and the radical social changes he anticipated provoked fear and hostility among conservative thinkers.
Marx was dismissed as an ideologist and not a serious sociological theorist.
However, ideology alone cannot explain the rejection, because thinkers like Comte, Durkheim, and others were also ideologically driven; the issue was the nature of the ideology rather than the existence of ideology itself.
Many early theorists were willing to accept conservative ideology when labeled as sociology, but rejected radical ideology like Marx’s.
Other reasons for rejection:
Marx appeared more like an economist than a sociologist; early sociologists acknowledged the economy’s importance but treated it as one component among others of social life.
Marx’s primary interest was the oppressiveness of capitalism emerging from the Industrial Revolution, and his aim was revolutionary change rather than reform.
Differences in philosophical roots:
Conservative theorists were heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant and tended to think in linear, cause-and-effect terms.
Marx was heavily influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who emphasized dialectical thinking and ongoing reciprocal effects of social forces.
Marxs Theory
A simplified view of Marx’s theory of capitalist society: humans are fundamentally productive; to survive, people work with nature and produce the goods needed for life (food, clothing, tools, shelter).
Productivity is a natural expression of basic creative impulses, and this productivity is inherently social because people must cooperate to produce.
Throughout history, this natural productive process has been subverted by primitive conditions and later by structural arrangements within societies.
In capitalist society, this breakdown of natural production is most acute:
Capitalism erects barriers between individuals and the production process, the products, and other people; ultimately, it even divides the individual from themselves (alienation).
Alienation arises because capitalism evolves into a two-class system: a few capitalists own the production process, the products, and the labor time of workers.
People in capitalist society produce unnaturally for a small capitalist class rather than for themselves.
Marx’s focus: structures of capitalism and their oppressive impact on actors; politically, a drive to emancipate people from those oppressive structures.
Marx spent little time speculating about utopian socialism; he sought to explain capitalism4s contradictions and believed dialectical processes would lead to capitalism4s collapse, but this was not deemed inevitable. Action by a class-conscious proletariat was necessary to overcome capitalist resistance.
What would socialism do in practice? A society where, with modern technology, people could interact harmoniously with nature and with others to produce what they need, leading to the end of alienation.
Core questions: What would the proletariat create in the process? What is socialism? The basic answer: a society where productivity aligns with human needs and where alienation is overcome.
The Roots and Nature of the Theories of Max Weber (1864-1920) and Georg Simmel (1858-1918)
Although Marx and his followers remained outside mainstream German sociology, early German sociology developed largely in opposition to Marxian theory.
Weber and Marx: some scholars argued that much of early German sociology4s theory developed in a debate with the ghost of Marx (though this is exaggerated). In many ways, Marxian theory negatively influenced Weberian theory, while Weber also tried to round out Marxian theory.
Weber tended to view Marx and the Marxists of his era as economic determinists who offered single-cause theories of social life anchored in the economic base.
The notion that ideas are mere reflections of material interests (economics) was a key point of contention for Weber.
Weber argued that ideas could have autonomous effects on the economy and society, not just reflector causes.
He studied the impact of religious ideas on the economy, most notably in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-1905/1958).
Weber also saw religion in other contexts as potentially shaping economic life.
A second view: Weber did not oppose Marx but sought to round out Marx24s theory by expanding its scope and incorporating additional factors. In this view, Weber4s work on religion, for instance, showed that ideas can shape material realities as well as respond to them.
A notable area where Weber extended Marx:
Stratification theory: Marx focused on class and economic dimensions; Weber argued for additional dimensions, including prestige (status) and political power; this is an extension rather than a refutation of Marx.
Other influences on Weber include:
German historians, philosophers, economists, and political theorists.
Immanuel Kant is a standout influence, but also Friedrich Nietzsche (inspiring the idea of the individual standing up to bureaucratic structures).
Kantian influence contributed to a more static, think-in-terms-of-forms worldview, contrasting with Marx4s dialectical approach.
Philosophical roots: Weber4s thought was shaped by Kant (static forms of knowledge) rather than Hegel (dialectics), which influenced the reception of Weber in American sociology.
Webers Theory
Weber4s central project: a theory of rationalization, focusing on why institutions in the Western world became progressively more rational while the rest of the world lagged.
Formal rationality (as a key concept):
Involves decisions about means and ends made in reference to universally applied rules, regulations, and laws.
These rules derive from large-scale structures, especially bureaucracies and the economy.
Weber conducted comparative historical studies across the West, China, India, and other regions to identify factors promoting or impeding rationalization.
Bureaucracy as the classic example of rationalization; rationalization is illustrated today by the fast-food restaurant as a formally rational system designed for efficiency and standardized processes (Ritzer, 2015b).
Example: drive-through window as a rational means to achieve rapid service.
Three types of authority systems:
Traditional authority: based on long-standing beliefs and customs.
Charismatic authority: derived from extraordinary abilities or traits of a leader.
Rational-legal authority: derived from laws and rules; modern Western systems typically rely on rational-legal authority, underpinning bureaucracies.
The modern trend is toward rational-legal authority and bureaucracy, while traditional and charismatic authorities tend to impede its development in other regions.
The broader project: the rationalization of the Western world.
The Acceptance of Weber4s Theory
Weber4s greater political acceptability compared to Marx:
He was more liberal on some issues and conservative on others (e.g., the role of the state).
Although critical of modern capitalist society, Weber did not advocate radical reforms; this made his work more palatable to many sociologists.
Weber attracted American sociologists, especially because rationalization applied to both capitalist and socialist societies; he provided a broader framework than Marx for interpreting social life.
A second advantage: Weber presented judgments within a historical/humanistic frame rather than polemical political rhetoric, making his work sound more scientific.
A third advantage: Weber operated within a Kantian tradition, modeling cause-and-effect reasoning, which was more accessible to mid-20th-century American sociologists than Marx4s dialectical logic.
A fourth advantage: Weber offered a more rounded view of social life than Marx, addressing a wider range of phenomena beyond the economy.
Weber4s major works emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries:
Early career: initially identified as a historian concerned with sociological issues; later became a leading figure in German sociology.
1910: founded the German Sociological Society (with Simmel) and maintained Heidelberg as an intellectual hub.
Webers influence grew in the United States, particularly after Talcott Parsons introduced Weber4s ideas to American audiences; Marxs influence on American theorists grew more significantly in the 1960s.
We also note:
Weber4s home in Heidelberg served as a center for sociologists and scholars across disciplines.
Simmels Theory
Georg Simmel was Weber's contemporary and cofounder of the German Sociological Society.
Simmel was somewhat atypical in that his influence on American sociology was immediate and profound, particularly shaping the Chicago School and symbolic interactionism.
Chicago figures like Albion Small and Robert Park were exposed to Simmel in Berlin (late 1800s), attended his lectures (1899-1900), and maintained correspondence (1890s).
They helped translate, disseminate, and popularize his ideas in the U.S., contributing to the rise of American sociology in the 1920s and 1930s.
Simmel4s level of analysis emphasized micro-sociology: small-scale issues such as individual action and interaction.
Key contribution: forms of interaction and types of interactants (e.g., the stranger).
He believed it was possible to isolate a limited number of interaction forms applicable across many settings, enabling analysis of different social contexts.
Similarly, a limited set of interactants types could help explain various interaction settings.
Ironies in Simmel4s influence:
While focused on micro-level interaction, he also tackled large-scale issues akin to Marx and Weber, though his macro work was less influential in his time.
Simmel4s style helped the diffusion of his ideas in early American sociology:
His deceptively simple essays on poverty, the prostitute, the miser and spendthrift, and the stranger made his work accessible.
Lebensphilosophie influence:
Simmel was a major figure in Lebensphilosophie (life philosophy), positing that human action is an expression of dynamic life forces.
Life as a foundational concept in his work; the tension between life4s movement and social/cultural stabilization.
Recent English translations of View of Life (1918/2011) and Rembrandt (1916/2005) have renewed interest in this aspect.
Macro-oriented work existed in Simmel as seen in Philosophy of Money (1907/1978), which discusses the money economy and its autonomy from the individual.
The dyad (two-person group) transforming into a triad with a third participant produces new social possibilities (e.g., mediation vs domination).
This theme underlies the broader argument about the domination of culture over the individual in the modern world; as the culture (including the money economy) expands, the individual4s significance decreases; the industrial machine gains greater control over workers.
Overall takeaway: Simmel4s enduring impact on micro-sociology (forms of interaction, the stranger, etc.) coexists with a macro-sociological contribution that anticipated later concerns about the impersonal forces of modern life.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: SIGMUND FREUD
Freud was a leading figure in German social science in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, though not a sociologist, his ideas significantly influenced sociologists (e.g., Talcott Parsons, Norbert Elias).
Life timeline:
Born in Freiberg (Austro-Hungarian Empire) on May 6, 1856; family moved to Vienna in 1859.
Entered the University of Vienna medical school in 1873; initially focused on science through physiology.
After leaving the lab in 1882, he worked in hospitals and then established a private practice in neurology.
Early work used hypnosis (learned from Jean-Martin Charcot in 1885) to treat hysteria.
With Joseph Breuer, he developed the talking cure, showing that hysteria could be alleviated by talking through the original causes of symptoms; this marked the birth of psychoanalysis (ca. 1895).
Freud gradually emphasized sexual factors (libido) as central to neurotic symptoms, shaping his later theories.
By 1902, Freud had gathered several disciples who met weekly at his house; by 1903-1904, others (e.g., Carl Jung) began applying Freud4s ideas clinically.
1908: First Psychoanalytic Congress; 1909/1910s: a periodical for disseminating psychoanalytic knowledge formed.
The psychoanalytic movement quickly splintered as Freud split with Jung and others who developed their own groups.
World War I slowed psychoanalysis but it expanded in the 1920s.
With Nazism, the center of psychoanalysis shifted to the United States; Freud remained in Vienna until 1938, despite his Jewish background; Nazis burned his books as early as 1933.
June 4, 1938: Freud left Vienna after a ransom and intervention by President Roosevelt; he died in London on September 23, 1939, after suffering from jaw cancer since 1923.
Freuds legacy: Although not a sociologist, his ideas about the unconscious, drive theory, and psychosexual development connected with sociological questions about culture, family, and social behavior; his work remains relevant to social theorists (e.g., Chodorow, Elliott, Kaye, Kurzweil, Movahedi).
The Origins of British Sociology
Transition from continental to British sociology involved native influences in addition to continental ideas.
Philip Abrams (1968) argued that British sociology in the nineteenth century was shaped by three often conflicting sources: political economy, ameliorism, and social evolution.
The Sociological Society of London was founded in 1903; there were strong differences over the definition of sociology, but there was a shared belief that sociology could be a science.
Key ideas shaping British sociology and their tensions:
Political Economy:
Tracing back to Adam Smith (1723-1790) and the concept of the invisible hand shaping markets for labor and goods.
Marx studied political economy and was critical of it, but British economists and sociologists tended to view the market as a positive force that provided order, harmony, and integration in society.
The market and social life were viewed as independent realities that governed behavior rather than being mere reflections of social relations.
The British emphasis on the individual:
British sociologists focused on individuals who form large-scale structures; they collected individual-level data and combined them into a collective portrait.
Data and methods focus of mid-1800s British sociology:
Statisticians dominated early British social science, emphasizing data collection, life tables, methods of classification, comparability, and empirical indicators.
The major task was to improve data and methods rather than to develop broad theory.
Limits of the statisticians' approach:
Some early statisticians developed a sense of poverty as a data problem rather than a structural social problem; they did not readily recognize structural victimization (Abrams, 1968:27).
Ameliorism and social evolution were also influential in shaping British sociology:
Ameliorism emphasized reform and improvement of social conditions, often within existing structures.
The idea of social evolution framed Britain4s sociological inquiries within a progressive narrative of social change.
The section highlights how British sociology balanced empirical rigor with theoretical reflection, and how this balance differed from continental traditions.
Political Economy, Ameliorism, and Social Evolution (Summary of British Sociology integration)
Political economy provided a framework for understanding industrial capitalism, particularly its mechanisms and outcomes, but in Britain it was often used to describe the market as a stabilizing and organizing force rather than a site of critique.
Ameliorism framed social issues as problems to be solved within existing institutions, emphasizing practical reform and improvement.
Social evolution offered a longue-duree perspective on societal change, informing comparative studies and the search for universal laws or patterns.
The combined influence of these strands created a distinctive British sociological approach that differed from German and French traditions, particularly in its emphasis on data-driven inquiry and practical policy relevance.
The tension between these strands contributed to a diverse American reception of British sociological ideas and laid groundwork for later theoretical development, including structural and empirical analyses of poverty and social structure.
Key Concepts and Terms (Definitions and Significance)
Alienation: the breakdown of the natural interconnection between individuals and their production, as well as between individuals themselves, under capitalism.
Dialectical method: a mode of reasoning emphasizing reciprocal interactions and contradictions leading to development; central to Marx and Hegel.
Formal rationality: decision-making based on universally applicable rules and procedures within large organizations and bureaucracies.
Rationalization: the historical process by which social life becomes organized according to formal rules, efficiency, and calculability.
Three types of authority: traditional, charismatic, rational-legal; the modern state tends to rational-legal authority, enabling bureaucratic administration.
Proletariat: the class of wage laborers who sell their labor power in a capitalist system; central to Marx's analysis of capitalism and socialist revolution.
Social reproduction vs. productive production: the ways society maintains and reproduces its social structure and labor power across generations (implicit in discussions of capitalism and social order).
Lebensphilosophie (life philosophy): a philosophical current emphasizing dynamic life forces and their expression in social action; relevant to Simmel's ontology of modern life.
The Protestant Ethic: Protestant religious ideas as a driving force behind the development of a spirit conducive to capitalist accumulation (Weber's analysis).
Dyad and triad: micro-sociological forms of social life; a dyad is a two-person group; a triad introduces a third member, enabling new dynamics such as mediation or coalition.
Structural victimization: the idea that poverty and other social problems arise from systemic features of social structure, not just individual circumstances.
Connections to Foundations, Real-World Relevance, and Implications
Marx and Weber offer complementary lenses on modern capitalism: Marx emphasizes exploitation and class contradictions; Weber emphasizes rationalization, bureaucracy, and the autonomy of ideas in shaping economic life.
Simmel4s emphasis on micro-interaction and macro-level cultural processes helps explain how everyday interactions contribute to larger social structures, including the role of money and the autonomy of the market from individual actors.
Freud4s psychoanalytic framework, though not a sociology text, informs sociological concerns about the formation of culture, family structures, and social norms through unconscious processes and drives.
British sociology's data-driven emphasis provided the empirical backbone for later structural and functional analyses, influencing the way poverty, class, and social order are studied and understood in policy contexts.
Notable Dates and Works (for quick reference)
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: 1904-1905/1958
The Capital: 1867/1967 (where Marx described capitalists as "vampires" and "werewolves")
Philosophy of Money: 1907/1978
The Psychology and Development of Psychoanalysis: mid-1890s (with Breuer)
First Psychoanalytic Congress: 1908
Talcott Parsons introducing Weber to American sociologists: late 1930s
German Sociological Society founded: 1910
Freud left Vienna: 1938; Freud died: 1939
Simmel's Influence on Chicago School: late 19th to early 20th century; key links through Small and Park
Abrams on British sociology: 1968
Kant: 1724-1804; Hegel: earlier, influences on Marx
Marx: 1818-1883; Weber: 1864-1920; Simmel: 1858-1918; Freud: 1856-1939