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

The Real WorldCopyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Chapter 2

Sociology’s Family Tree: Theories and Theorists


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.”


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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Sociology’s Family Tree—Max Weber Max Weber was also interested in the shift

from traditional society to the modern industrial society.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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).


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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).


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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.


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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.


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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.


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New Theoretical Approaches—Feminist Theory Feminist Theory looks at gender inequalities

in society and the way that gender structures the social world.


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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.


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New Theoretical Approaches—Postmodern Theory Postmodern Theory is a paradigm that

suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly in flux.


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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.


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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.


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Concept Quiz:3. What century is generally referred to as

sociology’s classical period?a. 1600s

b. 1700s

c. 1800s

d. 1900s


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Concept Quiz:4. According to Karl Marx, _______ is the source of all

social change.

a. conflict

b. solidarity

c. politics

d. anomie


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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


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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

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

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