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Chapter 2:Sociology’s Family Tree:Theories and Theorists
1
What is a Theory?
• A set of assumptions• Attempts to provide a plausible explanation• Of cause-and-effect (causal) relationships •Among observed phenomenon
Origin (from the Greek thorós, a spectator), stresses that all theories are mental models of perceived reality.
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Theory
• Vital to making sense of social life
• Facts make sense because we interpret them using categories and assumptions
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Categories
• Class of people or things regarded as having particular shared characteristics
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Assumptions
• Assumptions are beliefs or ideas that we hold to be true — often with little or no evidence required.
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Assumptions About Human Nature
1. Selfish or Selfless
2. Aggressive or Compassionate
3. Competitive or Cooperative
4. Have basic needs:• Food / Water• Companionship• Perception of control
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Formal Sociological Theory
Formal sociological theorizing makes
• Assumptions and categories explicit
• Open to examination
• Scrutiny, and
• Reformulation
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Practical Theory
• Our lives are filled with theories as we try to understand the world around us
• Examples:
• How do we make friends?
• How to succeed in college?
• How to get a job?
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Sociological Theories
• Explain the social world and
• Make predictions about future events
• Theories—Sometimes referred to as Approaches,
• Schools of thought,
• Paradigms, or
• Perspectives
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Founders of Sociology
• Auguste Comte (1798–1857)
• Coined the term “sociology” in 1839
• Also used the term “social physics” to refer to the new discipline and…
• His organic conceptualization of society
Auguste Comte
• Sociology is like other scientific disciplines
• Groundwork for future sociologists
• Helped build the discipline
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Auguste Comte
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
13
Founders of Sociology
• Harriet Martineau (1802-1876):
• A social activist • Supported labor unions• Abolition of slavery• Women’s suffrage
• Traveled around the United States
• Translated Comte’s work from French into English
Harriet Martineau
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
15
9/6 Founders of Sociology
• Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
• Believed that societies evolve by adapting to the changing environment
• Coined the phrase “survival of the fittest”
• Philosophy is often referred to as “Social Darwinism”
Herbert Spencer
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
17
Founders of Sociology
• Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
• Helped establish sociology as an academic discipline
• Interested in the social factors that bond and hold society together
• Social solidarity• Mechanical solidarity• Organic solidarity
Emile Durkheim
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
19
Founders of Sociology
• Karl Marx (1818-1883)
• German philosopher
• Political activist
• Contributed significantly to sociology’s Conflict Theory
Videos about Marx
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ztVeUX8Hpo&feature=related
• Marxism made simple
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUl4yfABE4&feature=related
• The Communist Manifesto Cartoon
Karl Marx
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
Marx Core Ideas
•Reaction to economic & social conditions due to Industrial Revolution
•Theory not only interprets the world, but also changes it
Marx
• Focus: Economic classes
• Bourgeoisie--owners
• Proletariat--workers
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• Capitalism created social inequality
• Between the bourgeoisie, who owned the means of production (money, factories, natural resources, land), and the proletariat, who were the workers
• According to Marx, this inequality leads to class conflict
Founders of Sociology
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Founders of Sociology
• Max Weber interested in how society was becoming industrialized and
• Rationalization
• Economic logic to human activity
Max Weber
• Contemporary life filled with disenchantment
• Dehumanizing of modern societies• Bureaucracy • Capitalism• Oligopolies
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Weber: Dehumanizing Effect of Modern Society
• Modern capitalism--lifelong entrapment of individuals organizational structures
• Efficient accumulation of private wealth as end in itself
• Humanity's increasing confinement within a bureaucratized, "disenchanted" world, no escape
• “The Iron Cage”
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Max Weber
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
29
Modern Schools of Thought
• Structural Functionalism:
• Society as:
• Stable
• Ordered system
• Interrelated parts (structures)
Structural Functionalism
• Social institutions:
• Family
• Education
• Politics
• Economy
• Each meets a need of society
• Function
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Modern Schools of Thought
• Conflict Theory: • Social conflict as basis:
• Of society and
• Social change
• Source of Conflict: Inequality
Conflict theory
• Conflict and tension• Basic to social life
• Disagreements over goals & values
• Struggles• Resources
• Power
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Conflict theory
• Focus on:
• Dominance
• Competition
• Social change
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Conflict theory
1. Materialist
• Labor and Economic reality
2. Critical of existing arrangements
3. Dynamic historical change
• Societal transformation inevitable
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Modern Schools of Thought
• Symbolic Interactionism:
• Interaction & Symbols
• Meaning not inherent in object
• Shared meaning through
• Face-to-face interaction
• Using symbols
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New Theoretical Approaches
• Feminist Theory:
• Gender inequalities
• How gender structures social world
• Remedies to inequalities
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New Theoretical Approaches:Queer Theory
• Categories of sexual identity are social constructs
• No sexual category is fundamentally deviant or normal
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New Theoretical Approaches Postmodernist Theory
• Social reality is:
• Diverse
• Changing
• No truth, reason, right, order, or stability
• Everything relative & temporary
Theory in Everyday Life
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
Theory in Everyday Life
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
Perspective Level of Analysis Focus of Analysis Case Study