The Real World 2 nd Edition AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein Chapter 2...

The Real World

2nd EditionAN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein

Chapter 2Sociology’s Family Tree:Theories and Theorists

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Sociological Theories

• Theories in sociology are propositions that explain the social world and help to make predictions about future events.

• Theories are also sometimes referred to as approaches, schools of thought, paradigms, or perspectives.

Figure 2.1 Sociology’s Family Tree

The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology, 2nd EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company

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Founders of Sociology

• Auguste Comte:• Stated that sociology needed to be treated like

any other scientific discipline.• Laid the groundwork for future sociologists and

helped build the discipline.

Auguste Comte


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Founders of Sociology, continued

• Harriet Martineau:• A social activist who traveled the United States

and wrote about social changes which were radical for this time period.

• Martineau translated Comte’s work into English, making his ideas accessible to England and America.

Harriet Martineau


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• Herbert Spencer was the first

great English-speaking sociologist.

• Spencer believed in evolution and

coined the phrase “survival of the fittest.”

• He believed that societies evolve through time by adapting to their changing environment. His philosophy is often referred to as “social Darwinism.”

Herbert Spencer


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• Emile Durkheim worked to establish sociology as an important academic discipline.

• Interested in the social factors

that bond and hold people together

• Studied the correlation between social isolation and suicide

Emile Durkheim


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• Karl Marx was a German philosopher and political activist.

• Marx contributed significantly to sociology’s conflict theory.

Karl Marx


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• Marx believed that capitalism was creating 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.


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• Max Weber was also interested in how society was becoming industrialized.

• He was concerned with the process of rationalization, applying economic logic to all human activity.

• He believed that contemporary life was filled with disenchantment, the result of the dehumanizing features of modern societies.

Max Weber


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• Sigmund Freud is usually associated with psychoanalysis, but his theories have helped sociologists gain a better understanding of social behavior.

• Freud developed the idea of the subconscious and the unconscious mind,

which he believed controls most of our drives, impulses, thoughts, and behaviors.

Sigmund Freud


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Schools of Thought

• Your book refers to paradigms, or schools of thought. Paradigms are ways of thinking or theoretical umbrellas, meant to provide a broad explanation for the way things work.

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Modern Schools of Thought

• Structural Functionalism:• Society is viewed as an ordered system of

interrelated parts, or structures, which are the social institutions that make up society (family, education, politics, the economy).

• Each of these different structures meets the needs of society by performing specific functions for the whole system (society).

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Modern Schools of Thought, continued

• Conflict Theory: • Sees social conflict as the basis of society

and social change.

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Modern Schools of Thought, continued

• Symbolic Interactionism: • Sees interaction and meaning as central to

society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction.

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New Theoretical Approaches

• Feminist Theory: • Looks at gender inequalities in society and

the way that gender structures the social world, and considers remedies to these inequalities.

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New Theoretical Approaches, continued

• Queer Theory: • Proposes that categories of sexual identity

are social constructs and that no sexual category is fundamentally either deviant or normal.

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New Theoretical Approaches, continued

• Postmodernist Theory:• Suggests that social reality is diverse,

pluralistic, and constantly changing.

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Theories and Theorists | Concept Quiz

Abstract propositions that both explain the social world and make predictions about future events are known as:a. theoriesb. social inequalitiesc. ideasd. social assumptionse. means of production

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What are paradigms?a. broad theoretical perspectivesb. specific research methodsc. dominant sociological

applicationsd. all of the abovee. none of the above

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Marx believed that there was a class struggle between:

a. groups of people who worked alongside one anotherb. groups of people who practiced different religionsc. people who owned the means of production and people

who worked for a wage.d. people who were born rich versus people who earned

their wealthe. people who were born poor versus people who fell into

poverty due to poor work ethic

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Which of these sociological paradigms has proved to be the most influential of the twentieth century?a. structural functionalismb. conflict theoryc. symbolic interactionismd. world-systems theorye. critical race theory

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Additional Art from Chapter 2

Chapter Opener


The Blind Men and the Elephant


Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406)


Charles Darwin


Gender, Parenting, and Theory


Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)


Robert Merton (1910–2003)


W. E. B. DuBois (1868–1963)


Martin Luther King


George Herbert Mead (1863–1931)


Jane Addams (1860–1935)


Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul, Minnesota


Blogger Mario Lavandeira, a.k.a. Perez Hilton


Analyzing Wal-Mart


Jacques Derrida (1930–2004)


Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007)


Michel Foucault (1926–84)


Theory in Everyday Life (Table 2.1,top)


Theory in Everyday Life (Table 2.1,bottom)


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© 2010 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

The Real World2nd Edition

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Kerry Ferrisand

Jill Stein

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Chapter 2

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