Chapter 2:Sociology’s Family Tree: Theories and Theorists
Transcript of Chapter 2:Sociology’s Family Tree: Theories and Theorists
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Chapter 2:Sociology’s Family Tree:Theories and Theorists
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What is a Theory?A set of assumptions that attempts to provide a plausible explanation of cause-and-effect (causal) relationships among a group of 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
• A 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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Formal Sociological Theory
• The importance of formal sociological theorizing is that it makes assumptions and categories explicit
• Thus, 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• Are propositions that explain the social
world and• Help make predictions about future
events
• Theories are 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
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Auguste Comte
• Sociology is like other scientific disciplines
• Laid 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
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Harriet Martineau
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
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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”
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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)• Worked to establish sociology as an
academic discipline
• Interested in the social factors that bond and hold people together
• Social solidarity• Mechanical solidarity• Organic solidarity
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Emile Durkheim
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
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Founders of Sociology, continued
• Karl Marx (1818-1883)• German philosopher
• Political activist
• Contributed significantly to sociology’s Conflict Theory
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Videos about Marx
© 2010 Sage/Pine Forge All rights reserved
• 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
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Karl Marx
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
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Marx Core Ideas
© 2010 Sage/Pine Forge All rights reserved
• Reaction to economic & social conditions due to Industrial Revolution
• Theory not only interprets the world, but also changes it
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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, continued
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Founders of Sociology, continued
• Max Weber interested in how society was becoming industrialized and
• The process of rationalization• Applying economic logic to all
human activity
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Max Weber
• Believed that contemporary life was filled with disenchantment
• The result of dehumanizing features of modern societies• Bureaucracy • Capitalism• Oligopolies
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Weber: Dehumanizing Effect of Modern Society
• Modern capitalism--lifelong entrapment of individuals within organizational structure
• Efficient accumulation of private wealth as an end in itself
• Humanity's ever increasing confinement within a bureaucratized, "disenchanted" world, from which there is 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 is an
ordered system of interrelated parts (structures)
• Social institutions make up society (family, education, politics, the economy)
• Each structure meets the needs of society
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Modern Schools of Thought,continued
• Conflict Theory: • Social conflict as the basis:• Of society and• Social change
• Source of Conflict: Inequality
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1/26 Modern Schools of Thought, continued
• Symbolic Interactionism:• Interaction and meaning as central to
society
• Assumes that meaning is not inherent in object or symbols
• Shared meaning is created through interaction using symbols
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New Theoretical Approaches
• Feminist Theory: • Gender inequalities in society
• How gender structures the social world
• Considers remedies to inequalities
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New Theoretical Approaches, continued
• Queer Theory:• Proposes that categories of sexual
identity are social constructs
• No sexual category is fundamentally deviant or normal
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New Theoretical Approaches, continued
• Postmodernist Theory:• Social reality is:• Diverse• Pluralistic• Constantly changing• No truth, reason, right, order, or stability• Everything is relative, temporary etc.
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Theory in Everyday Life
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
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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