Key Figures Wrap-up!

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

• Key Problem– Understanding the social forces that produce

social order and disorder

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

• 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 (1858-1917)

• 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 (1818-1883)

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

• Key Problem– Understanding how the economic system of

capitalism affects society and its people

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

• 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 (1818-1883)

• Key Works– The Communist Manifesto (1848)– Capital

Max Weber (1864-1920)

Max Weber (1864-1920)

• 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 (1864-1920)

• 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 (1864-1920)

• 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!

TheoreticalSociological 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