Chapter 2:Sociology’s Family Tree:Theories and Theorists

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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