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College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

SOCI 101

Principles of Social

Organizations

Session 3 –The Founders of Sociology (Contd.)

Lecturer: Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, UG Contact Information: [email protected]

Session Overview

Introduction

This session is sequel to the preceding one that dealt with Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. It deals with the works and ideas of three other founders of sociology: Emile Durkheim, (French) Karl Marx (German) and Max Weber (Germany).

Goals and Objectives

By the end of this session you should be able to:

• give a brief background of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber.

• identify and understand the various concepts and ideas associated with each of them

• compare the ideas of these three founders.

Dr. Dan-Bright S. Dzorgbo, Sociology Dept. UG Slide 2

Session Outline

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Topic One: Emile Durkheim

• Topic Two : Karl Marx

• Topic Three: Max Weber


Reading List

• Ballantine, J. and K. A. Roberts (2007) Our Social World: Introduction

to Sociology, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. • Berger P. L. (1963) Invitation to Sociology, New York: Anchor Books. • Dzorgbo D-B. S. (2013) Sociological Theory: Classical Ideas and their

Application in the African Context, Accra: Woeli Publishing Services

• Giddens, A. (2004) Sociology: Introductory Readings, Cambridge: Polity Press

• Haralambos M. (1995) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, London: Collins Educational.

• Robertson, Ian (1987) Sociology: The Basic Concepts, New York: Worth Publishers.

• Schaefer R. (2004) Sociology, New York: McGraw-Hill. • Turner, J. H. (2006) Sociology New Jersey: Pearson


Topic One: Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

• Durkheim like Comte was worried

about the social disorder of his day so dealt with the issue of social order.

• To him, society is held together by the shared beliefs, sentiments and values of members in a society i.e. society exists because of consensus (agreement) to follow the rules to keep society stable

• The subject-matter of sociology is “social facts”

• Evolution of Society: traditional to modern, social solidarity, collective conscience, happiness, anomie and suicide

• The social significance of religion • Functionalism


Emile Durkheim (cont’d)

• Sociology should study social facts: things

that are external to individuals and coercive of them in society: for example, social norms, traditions and customs, societal laws, common morality, etc.

• Society evolves from traditional to modern state due mainly to population growth—moral density

• Simple societies are characterized by limited division of labour and specialization; modern societies have increased division of labour and specialization

• Simple societies experience “mechanical solidarity” and modern societies “organic solidarity”


Emile Durkheim (cont’d)

• Anomie/Normlessness and Suicide

• According to Durkheim, the act of suicide is influenced by social forces—level of social integration and social regulation and not simply an individual matter as it might appear

• Religion: the Profane and the Sacred

• Religion is a social fact. Its social significance is social integration and social solidarity


Topic Two: Karl Marx (1818-1883)

• Born in Germany but expelled from various countries for his revolutionary activities, he finally settled in England

• Marx on social class and exploitation of the masses by the industrialists— the bourgeoisie

• The rich and the poor in industrial capitalist society

• Superstructure and substructure • False consciousness and class

consciousness • Alienation • Religion as social opium of the • Capitalism should be replaced by

socialism to end exploitation of the masses and the poor


Karl Marx (cont’d)

• The industrial capitalist society that emerged in the 19th century had split society into

two major classes: the few who were the owners of the industries, banks, shops, etc.—the bourgeoisie and the many who did not own productive means or property so were forced to sell their labour power to the industrialist as labourers—or the proletariat

• There is conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat or “the haves and the have-nots”– hence class conflict which the motor that would change society

• This class conflict and the exploitation of the capitalist system would propel the workers

into revolution that would destroy and abolish the capitalism system of production

• The workers would create a socialist society and abolish private ownership of property and also abolish social classes and end exploitation

• The conflict, the tensions and the contradictions in society are the factors that transform society from one stage to the other

• The distinction between capitalism, socialism and communism



• Marx divided social institutions into two parts: the substructure and the superstructure

• Substructure: is the economic institution of society (where production of material things for sustaining life takes place)

• Superstructure: includes, religion, education, family, politics and others beliefs systems, law, media, etc.

• Substructure contains the forces of production and relations of production

• Superstructure is full of ideas (where the ideas that govern society—the ruling ideas are produced)



• The superstructure is an ideological apparatus of society

which serves to hide or explain away the exploitation and poverty the workers suffer in capitalist society.

• Religion is part of the superstructure so it is used by the ruling class or the economically and politically dominant group to explain away the poverty and suffering, unemployment of the masses.

• After the rich in society have exploited the masses through the payment of low wages and then made them poor, they tend to preach to them in churches that “blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the kingdom”

• When the masses hear and accept such religious messages, they come to experience “false consciousness” and would not revolt against their exploitation and against the rich capitalist class.

• For Marx religion is “the opium of the masses”. In other words, Christian religion is offered them so that they would not know the objective conditions that create their miseries; rather they would look to heaven for better lives and not on earth



• Marx also said that social scientists had all along been describing society and social conditions, it was time to change them for the better

• Most of his writings had revolutionary ideas and Marx worked through his writings to overthrow the capitalist system of production (see the Communist Manifesto) and create socialist and finally communist society

• For Marx, there would be communism: where everyone makes contribution to society according to his or her ability and receive according to his or her needs. Human exploitation and suffering would cease. No more class society


Topic Three: Max Weber (1864-1920)

• Max Weber (pronounced VAY-ber) German Sociologist

• Mar, Durkheim and Weber are the most influential founders of sociology

• Sociologists should uncover or study the feelings and thoughts of individuals—using the method of Verstehen (fehr-SHTAY-en)

• Ideal type concept • Value-free sociology • Societal evolution or social change is a

rationalization process • Modernity and industrialization would

not necessarily lead to happiness • Humanity would be trapped in an

“iron cage of rationality”


FOUNDERS OF SOCIOLOGY (CONTD) Max Weber

• By verstehen Weber meant that sociologists should be interested in the personal meanings people

attach to their behaviours. Verstehen is thus a method of being able to put oneself in the shoes of others in order to gain insight into others persons’ behaviour. The understanding of meanings people attach to their behaviours.

• By value free sociology Weber meant that sociologists in their professional work should not let their personal values, preferences or biases introduce in their work so that they should be able to generate objective knowledge

• Weber also asked that sociologists should construct ideal type concepts: Ideal type is a description of the essential characteristic s of a phenomenon or some aspect of society, a description that brings out its essential features in a pure and ideal manner. With this, sociologists would then observe how the reality conforms to or diverges from such an ideal type description: e.g. bureaucracy

• Weber believed that social evolution entails increasing rationalization of every aspect of society:

Humans beings become more calculative in their actions and behaviours, they think of cost and benefits of a particular action before executing it and society also becomes organized to achieve profits and efficiency.

• This rationalization and concern for technical efficiency would not always make us happy and we would appear to be trapped in an iron cage of rationality from which we cannot extricate ourselves: human beings would become disenchanted with modernity and rationalization.


Conclusion: Durkheim, Marx and Weber

• Durkheim laid emphasis on how society through its institutions, norms, values, etc. exert pressure on humans—social facts as the subject matter of sociologists

• Durkheim was interested in social order, what holds society and individuals together—hence social solidarity is a theme running through his work

• Whereas others were concerned with social order, Marx discovered conflict is society and the exploitation of the many by the few and predicted that societal change would lead to the development of a more socially just and humane society

• Weber asked that sociologists discover the motives for human actions through the method of verstehen and sociologists should not let their values intrude into their professional work.

• Whereas some sociologists saw modernity as progressive Weber indicated that societal evolution would mean increasing rationality in the affairs of humans to the point that humans would become disenchanted with the modern world


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