Chapter 1Section 2Development of Sociology

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

•Founder of sociology•1st to apply the methods of science to study of

social life•Interest began in the causes and consequences

of the French Revolution•Focused on two areas: social order and social

change▫Certain processes, called social statics, held

society together▫Social dynamics: society changes through certain

processes

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)

•Wrote Society in America-a review of how well America lived up to its promise of democracy

•Focused on marriage, family life, race relations, education, and religion; creating the topics of sociological study

•Set the standard for objectivity in research

•Believed scholars should advocate change to solve the problems that they studied

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)•In a living organism the biological

systems work together to maintain the overall health of the organism

•Attributed a similar process to society•Strongly influenced by Charles Darwin

(theory of evolution) •Social change and unrest are natural

occurrences during a society’s evolution toward perfection and stability

•Social Darwinism “survival of the fittest”

Karl Marx (1818-1883)•Structure of society is influenced by how its

economy is organized•Society is divided into two classes:

▫Bourgeoisie: the capitalists who own the means of production(materials and methods to produce goods)

▫Proletariat: the workers who own only the labor needed for production

•Imbalance of power between classes would lead to inevitable conflict

Émile Durkheim (1858-1917)•Like Comte, Durkheim focused on social order•Like Spencer, Durkheim saw society as a set of

interdependent parts that maintain the system over time

•Durkheim saw the interdependent parts in terms of their functions▫Function: the consequence that an element of

society produces for the maintenance of its social system

•Focused on the function of religion in maintaining the social order

•Believed that shared beliefs and values were the glue that held society together

Max Weber (1864-1920)•Focused on separate groups within society rather

than society as a whole•Focused on the effect of society on the individual•Moved passed studying what can be directly

observed to discover people’s feelings and thoughts▫Verstehen: an attempt to understand the meanings

individuals attach to their actions•Used the idea of ideal type in his work

▫Ideal type: a description comprised of essential characteristics of a feature of society Ex: ideal type for a school might not be a perfect rep. of

your school but is a general description of schools

Jane Addams (1860-1935)

•Undertook a series of surveys of poor people and the conditions in which they lived

•Study covered wage levels, sweatshops, child labor, the immigrant experience, and living conditions in poverty-stricken neighborhoods

•First to focus on the effects of industrialization and urbanization on society (especially workers)

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)

•Mixed social analysis with social reform•Examined life in an African American

community in Philadelphia•Race needed to be addressed•Focused on improving the lives of African-

Americans (founded the NAACP in 1909)

Homework

•Pg. 14 #1-5