Key Figures Wrap-up!

Emile Durkheim ( )

Key Problem – Understanding the social forces that produce social order and disorder

Emile Durkheim ( ) Key Concepts – Social Facts (They exist!) outside the individual, observable – Division of Labor Mechanical Solidarity vs. Organic Solidarity – Mechanical = more traditional, shared values, no division of labor – Organic = more modern, high division of labor, more integrated society, vast differences of opinion – Anomie Normlessness = condition of society in which people become detached from the norms that usually guide behavior

Emile Durkheim ( ) Key Works – The Division of Labor in Society (1893) – Suicide (1897) Importance of social integration Demonstrated the social roots of personal acts Illustrates value of scientific sociological analysis – The Rules of Sociological Method (1901) – Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912)

Karl Marx ( )

Key Problem – Understanding how the economic system of capitalism affects society and its people

Karl Marx ( ) Key Concepts – Historical Materialism The development of societies is shaped by the ways humans produce life’s necessities – Class Struggle By its nature, capitalist society is contentious; conflict between workers (proletariat) and owners/capitalists (bourgeoisie) – Surplus Value The difference between what someone makes off your labor and what they pay you – False Consciousness Workers’ acceptance and defense of the capitalist system

Karl Marx ( ) Key Works – The Communist Manifesto (1848) – Capital

Max Weber ( )

Key Problems – Effects of Rationality on Modern Society – Response to Marx’s Economic Emphasis Not simply economics that produce reality, you need culture too

Max Weber ( ) Key Concepts – Rationalization Oriented toward science, calculated, measured, controlled Rational vs. non-rational—capitalism is highly rational All this rationality eliminates the human component – Bureaucracy Modern society is oppressive, increasingly bureaucratic because increasingly rational

Max Weber ( ) Key Works – Economy and Society – The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) Cultural and religious roots to modern capitalism Salvation in a “calling” The “iron cage” of capitalism—you can’t opt out!

MOVING ON!

Theoretical Sociological Paradigms

Three Theoretical Paradigms Structural Functionalism – Society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society’s equilibrium Conflict Theory – Society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for resources Symbolic Interactionism – Society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another