The founding fathers

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Auguste Comte

Thought that a new science (social physics) could use the scientific method to explain social phemomena.

We could then plan and predict human behavior because it is constructed by us.

Karl Marx

Studied economy, philosophy and politics and tried to explain the social transformations associated with the process of industrialization of society.

Marx sees a strong connexion between social change and economic structures in society.

Global perspective: “our actions have consequences for others outside of our immediate circumstances and that the problems of others have consequences for us – often unintended.”

Micro-workshop: Clothing companies – production location

Anomie

Anomie: “situation in which social norms lose their hold over individuals”. This situation is typical of modern society where “traditional controls and standards, formerly supplied by religion, largely break down under modern development, and this leaves many individuals feeling that their lives lack meaning.”

Durkheim also studied the importance of religions in maintaining social order.

Micro-workshop: Mind map – The role of institutions in society

Sociologists are guide by three questions

Social constraints

Division of labour

1) How are the things we take to be natural socially constructed.

2) How is social order possible?

3) Is the individual important?

4) How are the times we live in different from those that came before?

Social constraint: “The conditioning influence on human behavior of the groups and societies of which we are members.”

Society is exterior to individuals and shapes their actions by limiting what they can and can’t do.

Division of labor: “The specialization of work tasks, by means of which different occupations are combined within a production system.”

Work is seen as replacing the role of religion as source of social cohesion in society. This division of labor creates an interdependence between individuals of a same society.

One of Durkheim’s most influential concepts is his study of suicide. He tried to understand this phenomena by isolating the social factors that can cause it such as anomie.

The global sociological perspective

Alienation

Capitalism: “Economic system based on the private ownership of wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce wealth, which is invested and reinvested in order to produce profit.”

Marx also had a political perspective on the future of society. He believed that capitalism, source of social inequalities, should be replaced by a classless society based on communal ownership of property.

“Until recently, more than a third of the earth’s population lived in societies whose governments derived inspiration from Marx’s ideas.”

Alienation: “The estrangement of individuals from themselves and others.” (…) “Occurs when, once objectified, man no longer recognizes himself in his product which has become alien to him.”

Types of alienation:

1) Alienation from product of one’s labour

2) Alienation from the act of production

3) Alienated from his species being (human qualities that distinguish humans from animals)

4) Alienation from other people

Micro-workshop: The link between life expectancy and gross national income per capita.

Sweeping technological and communicational changes over the past 50 years have created a context of interdependence between individuals.

Globalization: “The development of social and economic relationships stretching worldwide.” Conception of the world as a social interrelated order affecting all individuals.

Types of suicide

Material conception of society

Material conception of society: “Material or economic structures have a prime role in determining historical change.” “All human history thus far is the history of class struggles.”

On one hand the ruling class is composed by the individuals that own capital (machine, factories, money).

On the other, the class ow wage workers sell their labour force to the ruling in exchange for a salary, without any hold on the fruits of their labor.

1) Egotistic – Integration in society not strong enough

2) Anomic – Lack of rules in society

3) Altruistic – Integration in society too strong

4) Fatalistic – Excess of social regulation

Types of solidarity

Organic solidarity: “social cohesion that results from the various parts of a society functioning as an integrated whole”. This perspective implies that society is based on a social consensus attained through cooperation.

Mechanical solidarity: “based on common consensus and beliefs” as well as strong social bonds characteristic of traditional societies.”

Emile Durkheim

Sociologists need “methodological principles to guide their research”. Durkheim considered social facts to be the main object of study of the sociological discipline.

Social facts: “According to Emile Durkheim, the aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals. These facts can be studied scientifically.”

Society is constituted of different institutions that each play specific roles to maintain a cohesive social order. (ex: organs in a body)

Ideal type

Ideal type: “social scientists select certain aspects of behavior or institutions which are observable in the real world, and exaggerate these to form a coherent intellectual construction.”

“Any situation can be compared to an ideal type”.

Ex: Globalization

Ideal types are used to explain social phenomena in other words.

The founding fathers

of sociology

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy: “A type of organization marked by a clear hierarchy of authority and the existence of written rules of procedure and staffed by full time, salaried officials.”

In Weber’s view, this bureaucracy helps large social organizations be more efficient but also limits the democratic participation of individuals within an organization.

Weber did not see eye to eye with Durkheim concerning the ambitions of sociology.

We simply cannot understand society by using the same methodological tools as the natural science because society revolves around meaning.”

Studied law, philosophy, economy, sociology and comparative history while trying to understand the development of modern capitalism.

During his studies on religions, he “concluded that certain aspects of Christian beliefs strongly influenced the rise of capitalism.”

Marx also tried to understand the structure and influence of bureaucracy in modern societies.