The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1 Chapter 2 Sociology’s Family Tree: Theories and Theorists

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2 What Is Theory?  According to sociologists, a theory is an abstract proposition that both explains the social world and makes predictions about future events. Theories can and do change over time because theories seek to explain society, which itself also changes over time.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 3 Sociology’s Family Tree—Auguste Comte  Auguste Comte is often only remembered for coining the term, “sociology,” though his other contributions to the discipline were also significant. He developed the theory of positivism, which argues that sense perceptions are the only valid source of knowledge.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4 Sociology’s Family Tree—Auguste Comte (cont’d)  He also began to imagine how the scientific method, a procedure for acquiring knowledge that emphasized collecting concrete data through observation and experiment, could be applied to the study of social affairs.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 5 Sociology’s Family Tree—Harriet Martineau  Harriet Martineau was an English journalist and political economist. She traveled to the United States and studied American society, which she believed was flawed and hypocritical because of the existence of slavery and the fact that both women and blacks were denied equal rights.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 6 Sociology’s Family Tree—Harriet Martineau (cont’d)  Despite these impressive works, her most important contribution may have been her English translation of Comte’s Introduction to Positive Philosophy.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 7 Sociology’s Family Tree—Herbert Spencer  Herbert Spencer was the first great English- speaking sociologist. Spencer was an advocate of the idea of evolution, even before Darwin made it famous and coined the phrase “survival of the fittest.” He believed that societies, like living organisms, evolve through time by adapting to their changing environment. His philosophy is often referred to as “social Darwinism.”

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 8 Sociology’s Family Tree—Classical Period  The era of the 1800s is referred to as sociology’s classical period because it marked the beginning of sociology as a substantive discipline and the work done in this period forms the theoretical foundations for all sociological work that followed.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 9 Sociology’s Family Tree—Emile Durkheim  Emile Durkheim spent much of his life trying to establish sociology as an important academic discipline. In his first major study, he demonstrated that social bonds exist in all types of societies.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 10 Sociology’s Family Tree—Emile Durkheim (cont’d)  He believed that agrarian, pre-modern societies were held together by mechanical solidarity, a type of social bond where shared traditions and beliefs created a sense of social cohesion.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 11 Sociology’s Family Tree—Emile Durkheim (cont’d)  On the other hand, industrial societies were held together by organic solidarity, a type of social bond based on a division of labor that created interdependence and individual rights.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 12 Sociology’s Family Tree—Emile Durkheim (cont’d)  In another study, Durkheim found that the more firmly connected people are to others, the less likely they are to commit suicide; thus demonstrating that even suicide is impacted by social forces.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 13 Sociology’s Family Tree—Karl Marx  Karl Marx was a German philosopher and political activist whose contribution to sociology can be found in conflict theory.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 14 Sociology’s Family Tree—Karl Marx (cont’d)  Marx lived during the Industrial Revolution, when major societal changes were leading to the emergence of capitalism, the economic system that is based on the private for-profit operation of industry.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 15 Sociology’s Family Tree—Karl Marx (cont’d)  Marx believed that capitalism was creating class conflict and social inequality between the bourgeoisie, who owned the means of production (money, factories, natural resources, land), and the proletariat, who were the workers.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 16 Sociology’s Family Tree—Max Weber  Max Weber was also interested in the shift from traditional society to the modern industrial society.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 17 Sociology’s Family Tree—Max Weber (cont’d)  He was particularly concerned with the process of rationalization, the application of economic logic to all human activity, due to the development of bureaucracies throughout society.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 18 Sociology’s Family Tree—Max Weber (cont’d)  He believed that contemporary life was filled with disenchantment, the inevitable result of the dehumanizing features of bureaucracies that dominated modern societies.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 19 Sociology’s Family Tree—Sigmund Freud  Sigmund Freud is usually associated with psychoanalysis, but his theories have helped sociologists gain a better understanding of social behavior.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 20 Sociology’s Family Tree—Sigmund Freud  Among his greatest contributions to understanding human behavior were the concepts of the subconscious and the unconscious mind, which he believed were responsible for most of our drives and impulses and the unacknowledged source of our conscious thoughts and behavior.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 22 Modern Schools of Thought— Structural Functionalism  Structural Functionalism begins with the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures. Its origins can be traced to the ideas of Comte, Spencer, and Durkheim.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 23 Modern Schools of Thought— Structural Functionalism  Society is viewed as an ordered system of interrelated parts, or structures, which are the different large-scale social institutions that make up society (family, education, politics, the economy). Each of these different parts of society meets the needs of society by performing specific functions for the whole system (society).

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 24 Modern Schools of Thought— Structural Functionalism  Talcott Parsons addressed the types of functions that social structures (or institutions) might fulfill, such as adaptation to the environment (socialization of children), realization of goals (opportunity for success provided by education system), social cohesion (shared values provided by religion helping to bring people together), and the maintenance of cultural patterns (the passing along of traditions by families).

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 25 Modern Schools of Thought— Structural Functionalism  Robert Merton clarified the difference between manifest functions, the obvious intended functions of a social structure for the social system, and latent functions, the less obvious unintended functions of a social structure.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 26 Modern Schools of Thought—Conflict Theory  Conflict Theory sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change, and emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change, emerged from the writings of Marx.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 27 Modern Schools of Thought— Symbolic Interactionism  Symbolic Interactionism sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction. It is America’s unique contribution to sociology and has proved to be the most influential perspective of the twentieth century.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 28 New Theoretical Approaches— Feminist Theory  Feminist Theory looks at gender inequalities in society and the way that gender structures the social world.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 29 New Theoretical Approaches—Queer Theory  Queer theory is a paradigm that proposes that categories of sexual identity are social constructs, and that no sexual category is fundamentally either deviant or normal.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 30 New Theoretical Approaches— Postmodern Theory  Postmodern Theory is a paradigm that suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly in flux.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 31 Concept Quiz: 1.The purpose of sociological theory is: a.to prove sociological hypotheses. b.to demonstrate that human behavior can be seen in predictable absolutes. c.to show that sociology has more to offer that psychology. d.to help people understand the world around us.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 32 Concept Quiz: 2.Which of the following is NOT true about social theory? a.Social theories are completely consistent over time. b.Social theories are also known as perspectives. c.Social theories will change over time because society changes over time. d.Social theories attempt to explain human behavior.

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 33 Concept Quiz: 3.What century is generally referred to as sociology’s classical period? a.1600s b.1700s c.1800s d.1900s

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 34 Concept Quiz: 4.According to Karl Marx, _______ is the source of all social change. a. conflict b. solidarity c. politics d. anomie

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 35 Concept Quiz: 5.Which of the following is a paradigm that begins with the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures? a. Conflict Theory b. Labeling Theory c. Structural Functionalism d. Symbolic Interactionism

The Real World Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 36 Concept Quiz: 6.What theory looks at gender inequalities in society and the way that gender structures the social world? a.Conflict Theory b.Psychoanalytic Theory c.Critical Theory d.Feminist Theory