Sociology developed...
Out of the Enlightenment, after which a variety of Europeans and American thinkers developed the field into what it is today.
Sociology is...
The scientific study of human behavior in society
Sociology began...
in 18th century Europe, where there were massive social problems
Father of Sociology
Auguste Comte
University of Chicago
1st department of Sociology
Sociologists look at..
BOTH SIDES
Sociology is a...
Social Science. They look at issues in a broader context.
Alexis de Tocqueville
French theorist and historian known for his studies of American democracy argued that democracy can either enhance or erode individual liberty and suggested that Americans needed to prevent the concentration of wealth and power, emphasize the free spirit
Karl Marx
the most important socialist thinker, who offered the sociological insight that class was the organizing principle of social life argued that class was the organizing principle of
social life and encouraged social thinkers to focus on material
concerns ra
Emile Durkheim,
early sociologist who looked for the social origins of even the most individual and personal issues, as in his classic study of suicide examined the social origins of seemingly
individual behaviors (like suicide) and focused much of his work on
examining
Max Weber,
early sociologist best known for his studies of "rationality" in the modern world, and of the connections between religion and economic activity advocated an interpretive and value-free sociology
and whose work focused on rationality in the modern world a
Georg Simmel,
philosopher who contributed to all the social sciences, in particular seeking a subject matter than set sociology apart from the other social sciences studied the forms of social interaction (e.g.,
domination, competition) rather than their content in ord
Thorstein Veblen,
examined the class divisions in American
society, including how those class relationships distorted the
benevolent forces of technology.
Lester Ward
rejected the Social Darwinism of many early
American sociologists and argued that each society needed to improve
through social planning and reform. He also believed that the social
"inferiors" of society are equal to their "superiors" and only need
educa
George Herbert Mead,
American sociologist who studied the development of individual
identity through social processes
distinguished between the "I" (the
inherent, biological part of the self) and the "me" (the self-conscious
part of the self developed over time through social
The "Other" Canon
Some early sociologists were not included in the classical canon because the
issues they raised (such as the ways inequality and identity are derived from
race, class, ethnicity, and gender) were not seen as legitimate at the time. In
fact, they were ofte
Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman
produced important work on the position of women in society,
including advocating gender equality and describing the factors, such
as women's economic dependence on men through marriage and
women's under-recognized social contributions through housework
a
Frederick Douglass
a former slave, examined the institution of slavery
and argued that slaveholding was learned behavior that could be
changed.
W. E. B. Du Bois
conducted a series of scientific studies of the
condition of African Americans and the psychological effects of
racism to demonstrate the argument that "the problem of the twentieth
century is the problem of the color line.
Symbolic interactionists
like Erving Goffman, who follow in the tradition
started by George Herbert Mead, examine how the individual's interactions
with his or her environment shape the individual's sense of "self.
Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton, and others created
the structural functionalist
paradigm to analyze society as a system of distinct, integrated levels that
enable the world, and the individuals within it, to find stability, order, and
meaning. This paradigm focuses on balance and equilibrium and the
funct
canon
the core texts or thinkers in an academic field
conflict theory
theory that suggests that the dynamics of society, both of social order and social resistance, are the result of the conflict among different groups
globalization
the economic, political, cultural, and social interconnections among different groups of people all over the world, a dynamic web that connects us to one another and also creates cleavages among different groups of people
latent functions
the hidden, unintended functions of an institution or interaction
manifest functions
the overt and obvious functions of an institution or interaction
macrolevel analysis
analysis focused on large-scale institutional processes
McDonaldization
the homogenizing spread of consumerism around the globe
mechanical solidarity
form of solidarity in traditional society, where life is uniform and people are similar and share a common culture and sense of morality
mircrolevel analysis
analysis focused on ways in which different groups of people and even individuals construct their identities based on membership in those groups
modernism
the belief in evolutionary progress through the application of science
multiculturalism
literally, the understanding of many cultures; a way to understand the very different ways that different groups of people approach issues, construct identities, and create institutions that express their needs
organic solidarity
form of solidarity in modern society, where there is a division of labor and diverse and conflicting interests, and common values are less obvious (
paradigm
a coherent model of how society works and how individuals are socialized into their roles within it
postmodernism
perspective that suggests that the meaning of social life may not be found in conforming to rigid patterns of development but rather in the creative assembling of interactions and interpretations that enable us to negotiate our way in the world
social Darwinism
theory that saw each succeeding society as improving on the one before it
sociological imagination
sees our lives as contextual lives�our individual identities are
sensible only in the social contexts in which we find ourselve
structural functionalism
theory that social life consists of several distinct integrated levels that enable the world�and individuals who are within in�to find stability, order, and meaning
symbolic interactionism
theory that examines how an individual's interactions with his or her environment help people develop a sense of "self
Erving Goffman
symbolic interactionist sociologist who created the dramaturgical model to understand social interaction
C. Wright Mills
coined the term "the sociological imagination
Talcott Parsons
Harvard sociologist who was the central figure in structural-functionalist thinking
Mary Wollstonecraft
called the first major feminist, Wollstonecraft was a passionate advocate of the equality of the sexes
Comte believed that each society...
passed three different stages of development: religious, metaphysical, science
Sociology comes from...
The American Revolution and the "Age of Reason" Enlightenment
Charles Darwin
American sociologist believed sociology could help solve social problems
Thorstein Veblen
American sociologist who examined class divisions and tensions between the benevolent forces of technology and the profit system that distorts them
Lester Ward
one of the founders of American sociology; rebelled against the social Darwinism to which early American sociology was tied
conflict theorists
believed those who had power sought to maintain it and those who did not have power sought to change the system to get it.