Founding Fathers of Sociology; Part 2

Lecture 4

We discussed the main ideas and theories developed by Comte and Durkheim.

Those included:

Positivism, Law of Three Stages, Social Facts, Social Solidarity and Anomie.

Review from last week:

Karl Marx theories and ideas on Capitalism and social class.

Max Weber’s ideas on Social Action, Bureaucracy & Rationalisation.

This week we will be discussing:

In Marx’ view labour was man’s essence.

He saw power, wealth and social status, primarily originate in the forms of economic production: what is produced, how it is produced and how it is exchanged.

Economic arrangements and forces of production in each society - to

meet humans’ basic needs - will determine all other aspects of social life and were of primary significance in understanding the social system.

‘Ideas’ in Marx’s view are simply the reflections of material conditions (Materialism).

Karl Marx (1818- 83): Like Durkheim and Comte, Marx’s core ideas developed around changes and transformations happened following the Industrial Revolution.

1. Primitive communist stage: societies of hunters and gatherers

2. Slave-owning systems 3. Feudal systems: landowners and peasant

farmers4. Capitalist system5. Communism

Marx argues that except in ‘primitive communist stage’, the history of human being and social institutions are characterised by social inequality.

Historical development according to Marx:

Definition: The organisation of economic activities in modern societies that led to the unprecedented division of labour and the formation of social classes.

In Marx’s view, capitalism contrasts radically with all previous economic systems; those who own capital – capitalists or bourgeoisie - form a ruling class, while the mass of the population make up a class of waged workers- the working class or proletariat.

Capitalism:

Capital: any asset including money, machines, factories that can be used or invested to make future assets.

Wage-labour: pool of workers who do not own any means of production themselves but must find employment provided by the owners of capital.

Marx’s core idea: social stratification emerges out of differential access to the forces of production and consequently to the sources of power.

Two main elements in Capitalism:

Capitalism according to Marx was a class system in which relations between the two main classes are characterised by conflict and not functional collaboration. Class conflicts is the motor of history and the motivation for historical developments:

Although both classes depends on each other, but this dependency is unbalanced: Workers have little or no control over their labour, and employers are able to generate profit by appropriating the products of the workers’ labour.

Class Conflict:

‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles’(Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels, 1848).

Definition: A condition in which men are dominated by the forces of their own creation which then confront them as an alien power; the lack of recognition that society and [capitalist] social institutions are constructed and reconstructed by human beings and therefore can be changed.

Alienation

a. Objects of labour: workers have no ownership of the

products or tools of production.b. The process of production: workers do not play a part is

setting organisational goals. c. Other workers: due to increasing division of labour and

competition. d. Himself/herself: work is an enforced activity simply the

means for survival and no longer an expression of individuals’ creativity & freedom.

Marx regards ‘the capitalist relations of production’ as the source of alienation in modern capitalist societies.

Under Capitalism, workers are alienated as they lose control over their:

Marx argues that Capitalism carries the seeds of its own destruction as bourgeoisie is constantly creating more powerful forces of production – thanks to technological advancements- which leads to increasing concentration of wealth in the hand of the few.

Class consciousness among workers will bring about a new society in which there would be no large-scale division between owners and workers.

The economic system would be under communal ownership and a more humane, egalitarian society would emerge.

And finally Workers’ Revolution/Communism:

Like Marx, Weber also developed his core ideas around capitalism and modernity. Weber believed economic factors are important, but

ideas and values can also help to bring about social change (Idealism).

Sociology for Weber was a comprehensive science of social action: Sociologists should study ‘social action’ i.e the subjectively meaningful actions and interactions of people that are oriented towards other people within specific social contexts.

Max Weber (1864-1920)

In ‘The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism (1904), Weber argues that: Religious values –especially those associated

with Puritanism – were of fundamental importance in creating capitalism (Idealism).

Calvinism in particular provided religious sanctions that promoted a spirit of rigorous discipline and rational pursuit of wealth.

On Puritanism and the creation of Capitalism:

I. Weber argues that modernity accompanied by important shifts in patterns of social action.

II. Traditional beliefs grounded in superstition, religion, customs increasingly replaced by rational, instrumental calculations that took into account efficiency and the future consequences of their actions.

Modernity and shift in patterns of social action:

Traditional Authority: dominant type of authority in traditional societies, based on the sacredness of tradition.

Rational-legal Authority: impersonal rules that have been legally established. Weber considers rational-legal authority as the main feature of social relations in modern world.

Charismatic: associated with leaders with extraordinary personalities who could mobilise people.

Weber’s primary concern in developing such typologies was to differentiate between modern and traditional societies by highlighting the shift in the motivation of individual behaviours.

Types of authority:

Weber regards rationalisation as the defining feature of modernity.

Rationalisation refers to the practical application of knowledge to achieve a desired end and is characterised by greater efficiency, coordination, and control over both the physical and the social environment.

Some examples: Development of scientific knowledge, modern technology and bureaucracies, mechanisation, new division of labour.

Rationalisation:

Organisation of social life according to principles of efficiency and on the basis of technical knowledge. Bureaucratisation values efficiency, individualism, self-discipline and calculability.

Rationalisation is at the heart of modern bureaucracies.

Bureaucratisation:

Hierarchy of authority Impersonality

Written rules of conduct Promotion based on achievement

Specialised division of labor Efficiency

Characteristics of modern bureaucracies:

Bureaucracies: goal-oriented organizations designed according to rational principles in order to efficiently attain their goals. They became the dominant structural features of modern societies.

Weber was concerned that the spread of bureaucracy and increased rational calculations and control would imprison individuals in a ‘steel-hard cage’.

Bureaucratic domination and its impersonality – that is needed in attaining efficiency- could crush the human spirit by over-regulating all aspects of life, over consumption of world resources and threatening traditional social institutions such as family and religion. All these may lead to greater social inequality and socio-political instability.

Bureaucracy as an ‘Iron Cage’:

In Weber’s view, bureaucracies increasingly dominate the social structures of modern societies.

Those on the top of bureaucratic hierarchies (oligarchs) can use unregulated economic, political and social power for their own interest, eventually undermining human freedom and democracy.

Oligarchy:

This week we addressed the main ideas of Karl Marx and Max Weber and concluded that while Marx regarded economic structures as the main factor in his analysis of changes and transformations in human societies, Weber was primarily concerned with shifts in the patterns of social actions and its consequences in modern world i.e rationalisation and bureaucratisation.

Summary:

Review lecture four and read Giddens & Sutton (2015) pp: 15-17 and take notes.

Homework: