DK THE SOCIOLOGY BOOK

SCIENCE CAN BE
USED TO BUILD A
BETTER WORLD

LOCAL PERSPECTIVES

SOME COMMIT CRIMES BECAUSE THE MARRIAGE
THEY ARE RESPONDING TO CONTRACT IS A
WORK CONTRACT
A SOCIAL SITUATION

MODERN
IDENTITIES
ARE BEING
DECENTERED

GENDER IS THE
AN IMITATION

FOR WHICH
THERE IS NO
CONSUMPTION
SOCIOLOGYORIGINAL OF VALUABLE
GOODS IS A

MEANS OF
REPUTABILITY
BOOK TO THE

GENTLEMAN

BIG IDEAS SIMPLY EXPLAINED

W OBAL CITIES
B STRATEGIC SITES

NEW TYPES OF

PERATIONS

ABANDON ALL RELIGION IS THE A
HOPE OF TOTALITY, SIGH OF THE OPPRESSED SENSE
YOU WHO ENTER OF ONE’S
CREATURE PLACE
THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY, LIKE ART,
FLUID MODERNITY IS A SOARING EXERCISE OF
THE HUMAN IMAGINATION



THE

SOCIOLOGY
BOOK



THE

SOCIOLOGY
BOOK

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CONTRIBUTORS

CHRISTOPHER THORPE, CONSULTANT EDITOR MEGAN TODD

Our co-consultant and contributor Christopher Thorpe is a A senior lecturer in social science at the University of Central
sociologist with an interest in social theory, cultural sociology, Lancashire, England, Megan Todd has a doctorate in sociology
and British representations of Italy. He has a doctorate in sociology from the University of Newcastle, England. Her research interests
from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and is coeditor of the include gender, sexuality, and violence. She has contributed
journal Cultural Sociology, author of several academic articles, and chapters on intimacies and violence in various publications and
coauthor of An Invitation to Social Theory (2012). is currently writing a textbook on sexualities.

CHRIS YUILL, CONSULTANT EDITOR SARAH TOMLEY

Our co-consultant and contributor Chris Yuill is a sociologist and A writer, editor, and psychotherapist, Sarah Tomley has
lecturer at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. His contributed to many books on the social sciences, including The
interests include the social dimensions of health, both in the Philosophy Book (2011) and The Psychology Book (2012) in DK’s
community and the workplace, and what makes for a successful Big Ideas series.
urban space. He is a former committee member of The British
Sociological Association and has written several books, including MARCUS WEEKS
Understanding the Sociology of Health: An Introduction (2011)
A writer and musician, Marcus Weeks studied philosophy and
MITCHELL HOBBS worked as a teacher before embarking on a career as an author. He
has contributed to many books on the arts and popular sciences,
A lecturer in the department of media and communications at the including various titles in DK’s Big Ideas series.
University of Sydney, Australia, Mitchell Hobbs has a doctorate
in media sociology from the University of Newcastle, Australia.
He is coauthor of Communication, New Media and Everyday
Life (2011); author of several national and international studies
on global media, cultural flows, and political communication;
and has worked in a communications role for former Australian
prime minister Julia Gillard.

6

CONTENTS

10 INTRODUCTION SOCIAL
INEQUALITIES
FOUNDATIONS OF
SOCIOLOGY 66 I broadly accuse the
bourgeoisie of social
20 A physical defeat has murder Friedrich Engels
never marked the end
of a nation Ibn Khaldun 68 The problem of the 20th
century is the problem
21 Mankind have always 32 Gemeinschaft and of the color line
wandered or settled, Gesellschaft W.E.B. DuBois
agreed or quarreled, Ferdinand Tönnies
in troops and companies 74 The poor are excluded
Adam Ferguson from the ordinary living
patterns, customs, and
22 Science can be used to 34 Society, like the human activities of life
build a better world body, has interrelated Peter Townsend
Auguste Comte parts, needs, and
functions Émile Durkheim 75 There ain’t no black
26 The Declaration of in the Union Jack
Independence bears 38 The iron cage of Paul Gilroy
no relation to half the rationality Max Weber
human race 76 A sense of one’s place
Harriet Martineau 46 Many personal troubles Pierre Bourdieu
must be understood in
28 The fall of the bourgeoisie terms of public issues 80 The Orient is the stage
and the victory of the Charles Wright Mills on which the whole East
proletariat are equally is confined Edward Said
inevitable Karl Marx 50 Pay to the most
commonplace activities 82 The ghetto is where the
the attention accorded black people live
extraordinary events Elijah Anderson
Harold Garfinkel
84 The tools of freedom
52 Where there is power become the sources
there is resistance of indignity
Michel Foucault Richard Sennett

56 Gender is a kind of 88 Men’s interest in
imitation for which patriarchy is condensed
there is no original in hegemonic masculinity
Judith Butler R.W. Connell

7

90 White women have been 150 No social justice without
complicit in this global cognitive justice
imperialist, white- Boaventura de Sousa Santos
supremacist capitalist
patriarchy bell hooks 152 The unleashing of
productive capacity by
96 The concept of the power of the mind
“patriarchy” is Manuel Castells
indispensable for an
analysis of gender 124 The bonds of our 156 We are living in a
inequality Sylvia Walby communities have world that is beyond
withered Robert D. Putnam controllability Ulrich Beck
MODERN LIVING
126 Disneyization replaces 162 It sometimes seems as
104 Strangers are not really mundane blandness with if the whole world is on
conceived as individuals, spectacular experiences the move John Urry
but as strangers of a Alan Bryman
particular type 163 Nations can be imagined
Georg Simmel 128 Living in a loft is like and constructed with
living in a showcase relatively little historical
106 The freedom to remake Sharon Zukin straw David McCrone
our cities and ourselves
Henri Lefebvre 164 Global cities are strategic
sites for new types of
108 There must be eyes on operations Saskia Sassen
the street Jane Jacobs
166 Different societies
110 Only communication can
communicate LIVING IN A GLOBAL appropriate the materials
Niklas Luhmann WORLD of modernity differently
Arjun Appadurai
112 Society should articulate
what is good 136 Abandon all hope of 170 Processes of change have
Amitai Etzioni totality, you who enter altered the relations
the world of fluid between peoples and
120 McDonaldization affects modernity communities
virtually every aspect of Zygmunt Bauman David Held
society George Ritzer
144 The modern world-
system
Immanuel Wallerstein

146 Global issues, local
perspectives
Roland Robertson

148 Climate change is a
back-of-the-mind issue
Anthony Giddens

8

196 We live in a world 232 Automation increases
where there is the worker’s control
more and more over his work process
information, and less Robert Blauner
and less meaning
Jean Baudrillard 234 The Romantic ethic
promotes the spirit
200 Modern identities are of consumerism
being decentered Colin Campbell
Stuart Hall
236 In processing people,
202 All communities are the product is a state
imagined of mind Arlie Russell
Benedict Anderson Hochschild

CULTURE AND 204 Throughout the world, 244 Spontaneous consent
IDENTITY culture has been combines with coercion
doggedly pushing Michael Burawoy
176 The “I” and the “me” itself center stage
G.H. Mead Jeffrey Alexander 246 Things make us just as
much as we make things
178 The challenge of Daniel Miller
modernity is to live
without illusions and WORK AND 248 Feminization has had
without becoming CONSUMERISM only a modest impact
disillusioned on reducing gender
Antonio Gramsci 214 Conspicuous consumption inequalities
of valuable goods is a Teri Lynn Caraway
180 The civilizing process is means of reputability
constantly moving to the gentleman
“forward” Norbert Elias of leisure
Thorstein Veblen
182 Mass culture reinforces
political repression 220 The Puritan wanted to
Herbert Marcuse work in a calling; we
are forced to do so
188 The danger of the future Max Weber
is that men may become
robots Erich Fromm 224 Technology, like art, is a
soaring exercise of the
189 Culture is ordinary human imagination
Raymond Williams Daniel Bell

190 Stigma refers to an 226 The more sophisticated
attribute that is deeply machines become, the
discrediting less skill the worker has
Erving Goffman Harry Braverman

9

THE ROLE OF 280 Our identity and 304 Heterosexuality must be
INSTITUTIONS behavior are determined recognized and studied
by how we are described as an institution
254 Religion is the sigh of the and classified Adrienne Rich
oppressed creature Howard S. Becker
Karl Marx 310 Western family
286 Economic crisis is arrangements are diverse,
260 The iron law of oligarchy immediately transformed fluid, and unresolved
Robert Michels into social crisis Judith Stacey
Jürgen Habermas
261 Healthy people need no 312 The marriage contract
bureaucracy to mate, 288 Schooling has been at is a work contract
give birth, and die once something done to Christine Delphy
Ivan Illich the poor and for the poor
Samuel Bowles and 318 Housework is directly
262 Some commit crimes Herbert Gintis opposed to self-
because they are actualization Ann Oakley
responding to a social 290 Societies are subject,
situation Robert K. Merton every now and then, 320 When love finally wins
to periods of moral panic it has to face all kinds
264 Total institutions strip Stanley Cohen of defeat
people of their support Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth
systems and their sense 291 The time of the tribes Beck-Gernsheim
of self Erving Goffman Michel Maffesoli
324 Sexuality is as much
270 Government is the right 292 How working-class kids about beliefs and
disposition of things get working-class jobs ideologies as about
Michel Foucault Paul Willis the physical body
Jeffrey Weeks
278 Religion has lost its FAMILIES AND
plausibility and social INTIMACIES 326 Queer theory questions
significance Bryan Wilson the very grounds of
298 Differences between the identity Steven Seidman
sexes are cultural
creations 332 DIRECTORY
Margaret Mead
340 GLOSSARY
300 Families are factories
that produce human 344 INDEX
personalities
Talcott Parsons 351 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

302 Western man has become
a confessing animal
Michel Foucault

INTRODU

CTION

12 INTRODUCTION

H umans are social Sociology is the study of how philosophy emerged from these
creatures. Throughout our individuals behave in groups and civilizations, sociology appeared
evolution, from our days of how their behavior is shaped by as a result of profound changes
foraging and hunting animals, we these groups. This includes: how in Western society during the
have tended to live and work in groups are formed; the dynamics Age of Enlightenment.
social groups, which have become that animate them; and how these
progressively larger and more dynamics maintain and alter the There were several aspects to
complex. These groups have ranged group or bring about social change. these changes. Most noticeably,
from simple family units, through Today, sociology’s scope ranges technological advances had
clans and tribes, villages and from the theoretical study of social provided the machinery that
towns, to cities and nation states. processes, structures, and systems, brought about the Industrial
Our natural inclination to live to the application of these theories Revolution, radically changing
and work together has led to as part of social policy. And, methods of production and creating
the formation of civil societies, because societies consist of a prosperous industrial cities. The
which have been shaped by collection of individual people, traditional certainties based
the increasing breadth of our there is an inevitable connection on religious belief were called into
knowledge and sophistication of between the structures of society question by the philosophy of the
our technology. In turn, the nature as a whole and the behavior of its Enlightenment. It was not only
of the society we live in influences individual members. Sociologists the authority of the Church that
our social behavior, affecting may therefore focus on the was undermined by this so-called
virtually every aspect of our lives. institutions and organization Age of Reason: the old order of
of society, the various social monarchies and aristocracies was
Sociology was born groupings and stratifications under threat, with demands for
of the modern ardor within it, or the interactions more representative government
to improve society. and experiences of individuals. leading to revolutions in America
Albion W. Small and France.
Perhaps surprisingly, sociology
US scholar (1854–1926) is a comparatively modern Society and modernity
discipline. Although philosophers A new, modern society was created
in ancient China and ancient from the Age of Enlightenment.
Greece recognized the existence Sociology began to emerge at
of civil society and the benefits the end of the 18th century as a
of social order, their concern was response to this transformation,
more political than sociological— as philosophers and thinkers
how society should be organized attempted to understand the nature
and governed, rather than a study of modernity and its effects on
of society itself. But, just as political society. Inevitably, some simply

INTRODUCTION 13

bemoaned the erosion of traditional in the early part of the following of capitalism and the subsequent
forms of social cohesion, such as century by Auguste Comte, whose class struggle; Durkheim on the
the family ties and community scientific approach to the study of division of labor brought about by
spirit found within small, rural society firmly established sociology industrialization; and Weber on the
societies, and the shared values as a distinct discipline. secularization and rationalization of
and beliefs offered by a common modern society. All three have had
religion. But others recognized Following in Comte’s footsteps an enthusiastic following, influencing
that there were new social forces came three ground-breaking sociology’s major schools of thought
at work, bringing about social sociologists, whose different to the present day.
change with a potential for both approaches to the analysis and
social order and disorder. interpretation of social behavior set A social science
the agenda for the subject of Sociology was a product of the
In keeping with the spirit of the sociology in the 20th century and Age of Reason, when science and
Enlightenment, these early social beyond: Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, rational thinking began to reign
thinkers sought to make their study and Max Weber. Each identified a supreme. Early sociologists were
of society objective, and create different aspect of modernity as therefore anxious that, for their
a scientific discipline that was the major factor in creating social discipline to be taken seriously,
distinct from philosophy, history, order, disorder, and change. Marx, their methods should be seen to be
and politics. The natural sciences a materialist philosopher and rigorously scientific—no mean feat,
(physics, chemistry, astronomy, economist, focused on the growth given the nature of their subject:
and biology) were well established, human social behavior. Comte
and the time was ripe for the study Human nature is... laid the ground rules for the new
of humans and their behavior. unbelievably malleable... “science” of sociology, based on
responding accurately and empirical evidence in the same
Because of the nature of the contrastingly to contrasting way as the natural sciences. Marx,
Industrial Revolution and the too, insisted on approaching the
capitalism that it fostered, the first cultural traditions. subject scientifically, and Durkheim
of the new “social sciences” to Margaret Mead was perhaps the first to gain
emerge was economics, pioneered acceptance for sociology as a social
by Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into science in the academic world.
the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations, better known To be scientific, any research
as The Wealth of Nations, in method must be quantitative—that
1776. However, at the same time, is to say, have measurable results.
the foundations of sociology were Marx and Durkheim could point
also being laid, by philosophers and to facts, figures, and statistics to
theorists such as Adam Ferguson back up their theories, but others ❯❯
and Henri de Saint-Simon, and

14 INTRODUCTION

maintained that social research followers (sociologists as well a more interpretive stance, they
should be more qualitative. as political activists) have taken also advocated sociology as a tool
Weber especially advocated an this to heart. of social reform.
interpretive approach, examining
what it is like to live in modern Durkheim, who was nowhere This was particularly noticeable
society, and the social interactions near as politically radical as among sociologists with a Marxian
and relationships that are necessary Marx, made great efforts to have perspective and others with a left-
for social cohesion. sociology accepted as an academic wing political agenda. After World
discipline. To gain the approval War II, sociologists, including
Although this viewpoint was of the authorities, he had to Charles Wright Mills and Michel
initially dismissed by many as demonstrate not only the subject’s Foucault, examined the nature of
unscientific, sociology has become scientific credentials, but also its power in society and its effects on
increasingly interpretive in the objectivity, especially in light of the individual—the ways in which
latter half of the 20th century, with the political unrest that had existed society shapes our lives, rather
a methodology that includes a in Europe for more than a century than the way we shape society,
combination of quantitative and following the French Revolution. and how we can resist these forces.
qualitative research techniques. This somewhat “ivory tower” Even in more mainstream sociology,
approach, divorced from the real the mood was changing, and the
Social reform world, dominated sociology for the scope of the subject broadened
For many sociologists, sociology first part of the 20th century, but from the academic study of
is more than simply the objective as sociologists gradually adopted society as it is, to include practical
study of society, and the quest applications informing public policy
to analyze and describe social The function of sociology, and driving social change. In 1972,
structures and systems. as of every science, Howard Becker, a respected US
Sociological theories, like theories sociological theorist, wrote: “Good
in the natural sciences, have is to reveal that which sociology... produces meaningful
practical applications, and can is hidden. descriptions of organizations and
be used to improve the society in events, valid explanations of how
which we live. In the 19th century, Pierre Bourdieu they come about and persist,
Comte and Marx saw sociology and realistic proposals for their
as a way of understanding the improvement or removal.”
workings of society in order to
bring about social change. Marx Institutions and individuals
famously said, “The philosophers As a reflection of the increased
have only interpreted the world, in emphasis on the relevance of
various ways. The point, however, sociology, the subject gained
is to change it,” and his many greater acceptance, and even

INTRODUCTION 15

popular interest, in the second half and new social norms have taken national identity and to the effects
of the 20th century, and as more their place. In the Western world, of globalization, especially on local
thinkers turned their attention the civil rights and women’s communities. With new forms
to social issues, so the scope of movements have done much of communication—particularly
sociology broadened. Evolving to address racial and gender the Internet and fast international
from the traditional study of the inequalities, and sociological travel—have come entirely new
structures and systems of modern theories have also helped change social networks. These do not
society and the forces of social attitudes to sexuality and family depend on face-to-face contact,
cohesion and causes of social life. Here, as Zygmunt Bauman but bring together individuals
disorder, it began to examine advises, “The task for sociology and groups in ways that were
the connections between these is to come to the help of the unimaginable even 50 years
areas and the interactions of individual. We have to be in ago. Modern technology has
individuals and social groups. service of freedom.” also provided sociology with a
sophisticated means of researching
A century or so ago, sociologists The global age and analyzing the evolution of
were divided into those who Technological innovations have these new social structures. ■
approached the subject on a arguably brought about social
macro level (looking at society as changes comparable to—or The real political task in a
a whole and the institutions that more far-reaching than—those society such as ours is to
it is constituted of), and those who wrought by the Industrial criticize the workings of
approached it on the micro level— Revolution. Increased automation institutions that appear to be...
focusing on the individual’s and computerization, the rise of both neutral and independent...
experience of living within a the service industries, and the to criticize and attack them...
society. While this distinction still growth of consumer society have
exists to an extent, sociologists all contributed to the shape of so that one can fight
now recognize that the two are society many of us live in today. against them.
closely connected and many While some sociologists see this
concentrate their work on groups as a continuation of the process Michel Foucault
that fall between these two of modernity, others believe we
approaches—social classes; ethnic, are now entering a postmodern,
religious, or cultural groups; post-industrial age.
families; or groups that are defined
by gender or sexual orientation. Advances in communication
and mobility have also made the
Sociology has also responded world a smaller place. Sociologists
to the accelerating pace of change. have recently turned their attention
Since World War II, many social to the importance of cultural and
conventions have been challenged,

FOUNDA
OF SOCI

TIONS
OLOGY

18 INTRODUCTION

In his Henri de In Theory and Practice of Karl Marx Ferdinand Tönnies
Muqaddimah, Ibn Saint-Simon Society in America, Harriet produces the first differentiates
Khaldun describes proposes a
science of Martineau describes the volume of his between traditional
asabiyyah, the society in Essay social inequalities in the comprehensive community and
Arabian concept of on the Science modern society
oppressive treatment of analysis of in Gemeinschaft
“solidarity” or of Man. slaves, women, and the capitalism, und Gesellschaft.
social cohesion. Das Kapital.
working class.

C.1377 1813 1837 1867 1887
1767 1830–42 1848 1874–85

Adam Ferguson’s Essay on Auguste Comte’s In The Communist Herbert Spencer’s
the History of Civil Society Course in Positive Manifesto, Karl Marx multi-volume System
explains the importance of Philosophy details the and Friedrich Engels of Synthetic Philosophy
civic spirit to counteract evolution of sociology predict social change argues that societies evolve
the destructive influence of like life forms, and only
as a science. as a result of a the strongest survive.
capitalism in society. proletarian revolution.

S ociology did not establish its industrialization and the growth Like Comte, Karl Marx believed
credentials as a discipline of capitalism, and the less tangible that the purpose of studying
until the 20th century, (but no less significant) effects of society is not simply to describe
but its many strands of thought, secularization and rationality. or explain it, but also to improve it.
approaches, and fields of study had He was just as keen to be scientific,
evolved from centuries of work by A social science but chose as his model the new
historians and philosophers. Modern society was the product of science of economics, identifying
the Age of Reason: the application capitalism as the major factor of
Although the first recognizably of rational thought and scientific modernity driving social change.
sociological study was made by Ibn discoveries. In keeping with this
Khaldun in the 14th century, the mood, the pioneers of sociology, Almost a century before Marx,
pioneers of sociology as we know such as French philosopher Henri the Scottish philosopher Adam
it today only began to emerge de Saint-Simon and his protégé Ferguson had warned of the threat
from the late 18th century, when Auguste Comte, sought to provide to traditional social cohesion posed
society underwent a sea-change verifiable evidence to support by the self-interest of capitalism,
in Western Europe: Enlightenment theories. Comte believed that not and both Harriet Martineau and
ideas were replacing traditional only could the forces of social order Marx’s colleague Friedrich Engels
beliefs, and the Industrial be explained by rules similar to the described the social injustices of
Revolution was transforming the laws of physics and chemistry, but industrialized capitalist society in
way that people lived and worked. that applied sociology could bring the mid-19th century. Another
These observers identified social about social reform in the same pioneer sociologist, Ferdinand
change being driven by forces that way that applied sciences had led Tönnies, echoed Ferguson’s ideas
became known as “modernity,” to technological advances. with his description of two very
which included the effects of different forms of social cohesion in

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 19

Émile Durkheim founds Charles Wright Mills and Harold Garfinkel presents Judith Butler
the first European Hans Heinrich Gerth a new methodology questions traditional
department of introduce Weber’s ideas of gender and
sociology at the ideas to the for sociology, observing sexuality in Gender
the everyday actions Trouble: Feminism
University of Bordeaux, English-speaking public that foster social and the Subversion
and publishes The Rules in From Max Weber: order, in Studies
of Sociological Method. Essays in Sociology. in Ethnomethodology. of Identity.

1895 1946 1967 1990
1893 1904–05 1959 1975

In The Division of Max Weber, in The In The Sociological Michel Foucault
Labor in Society, Émile Protestant Ethic and Imagination, Charles begins his study
Durkheim describes the the Spirit of Capitalism, Wright Mills argues of the nature of
offers a novel explanation sociologists should power in society
organic solidarity suggest the means of
of interdependent of how modern improving society. in Discipline
individuals. society evolved. and Punish.

traditional and modern societies— discovered. Max Weber advocated After World War II, others took a
a concept variously interpreted by a more subjective—“interpretive”— similar stance: Harold Garfinkel
many subsequent sociologists. approach. Whereas Marx advocated a complete change of
named capitalism, and Durkheim sociological methods, to examine
Toward the end of the 19th industrialization, as the major social order through the everyday
century, sociology proved itself as a force of modernity, Weber’s focus actions of ordinary people; while
field of study distinct from history, was on the effects on individuals of Michel Foucault analyzed the way
philosophy, politics, and economics, rationalization and secularization. power relations force individuals to
largely thanks to Émile Durkheim. conform to social norms, especially
Adopting Comte’s idea of applying A strictly scientific discipline sexual norms—an idea taken
scientific methodology to the study was gradually supplanted by a further in Judith Butler’s study
of society, he took biology as his sociology that was a study of of gender and sexuality.
model. Like Herbert Spencer before qualitative ideas: immeasurable
him, Durkheim saw society as an notions such as culture, identity, By the end of the century, a
“organism” with different “organs,” and power. By the mid-20th century balance had been found between
each with a particular function. sociologists had shifted from a the objective study of society as a
macro view of society to the micro whole and the interpretive study of
An interpretive approach view of individual experience. individual experience. The agenda
While Durkheim’s objective rigor Charles Wright Mills urged had been set by a handful of
won him academic acceptance, not sociologists to make the connection ground-breaking sociologists,
all sociologists agreed that it was between the institutions of society and their various methods are
possible to examine social issues (especially what he called the now being applied to the study
with scientific methods, nor that “power elite”) and how they of society in an increasingly
there are “laws” of society to be affect the lives of ordinary people. globalized late-modern world. ■

20

A PHYSICAL DEFEAT
HAS NEVER MARKED
THE END OF A NATION

IBN KHALDUN (1332–1406)

IN CONTEXT T he group dynamics of how younger one with a stronger
some societies come to sense of solidarity: a nation may
FOCUS flourish and take over experience—but will never be
Solidarity others fascinated Ibn Khaldun, brought down by—a physical defeat
the Arab philosopher and historian. but when it “becomes the victim of
KEY DATES He is best known for his ambitious a psychological defeat... that marks
c.622 The first Islamic state multivolume history of the world, the end of a nation.”
is established in Medina. the Kitab al-‘Ibar, especially the
first part called the Muqaddimah. This concept of the importance
c.1377 Ibn Khaldun completes The Kitab is seen as a precursor of of solidarity and social cohesion
Muqaddimah (or Prolegomena), sociology because of its analyses in society anticipated many ideas
the introduction to his history of Berber and Arabic societies. of community and civic spirit in
of the world. modern sociology, including Robert
Central to Ibn Khaldun’s Putnam’s theory that contemporary
1835 Volume 1 of Alexis de explanation of the success of a society is suffering from a collapse
Tocqueville’s Democracy in society is the Arabic concept of of participation in the community. ■
America describes how the asabiyyah, or social solidarity.
association of individuals Originally, asabiyyah referred to The desert Bedouin tribes were
for mutual purpose benefits the family bonds found in clans and cited by Ibn Khaldun in his theory of
political and civil society. nomadic tribes, but as civilizations group dynamics, in which social and
grew it came to mean a sense psychological factors contribute to the
1887 Ferdinand Tönnies of belonging, usually translated rise and fall of civilizations.
writes Gemeinschaft und today as “solidarity.” According to
Gesellschaft (Community Ibn Khaldun, asabiyyah exists in
and Society). societies as small as clans and as
large as empires, but the sense of
1995 Robert Putnam explains a shared purpose and destiny
the concept of social capital in wanes as a society grows and
his article “Bowling Alone,” ages, and the civilization weakens.
expanded into a book in 2000. Ultimately, such a civilization
will be taken over by a smaller or
1996 Michel Maffesoli’s
Du Nomadisme continues See also: Ferdinand Tönnies 32–33 ■ Robert D. Putnam 124–25 ■
his study of neotribalism. Arjun Appadurai 166–69 ■ David Held 170–71 ■ Michel Maffesoli 291

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 21

MANKIND HAVE ALWAYS
WANDERED OR SETTLED,
AGREED OR QUARRELED,
IN TROOPS AND COMPANIES

ADAM FERGUSON (1723–1816)

IN CONTEXT P rogress is both inevitable Man is born in civil society...
and desirable, but we must and there he remains.
FOCUS always be aware of the Montesquieu
Civic spirit social costs that might be exacted
as progress is made. Such was French philosopher (1689–1755)
KEY DATES the warning of the philosopher
1748 Montesquieu publishes and historian Adam Ferguson, advocated promoting a sense of
The Spirit of the Laws, arguing who was one of the “Select Society” civic spirit, encouraging people
that political institutions of Edinburgh intellectuals of the to act in the interest of society
should derive from the social Scottish Enlightenment, a group rather than in self-interest.
mores of a community. that included the philosopher David
Hume and economist Adam Smith. Ferguson’s criticism of
1767 Adam Ferguson outlines capitalism and commercialism
his views in his book Essay Ferguson believed, as did meant that his theories were
on the History of Civil Society. Smith, that commercial growth is rejected by mainstream thinkers
driven by self-interest, but unlike such as Hume and Smith, but they
1776 With The Wealth of Smith he analyzed the effects of later influenced the political ideas
Nations, Adam Smith pioneers this development and felt it was of Hegel and Marx. And because
modern economics. happening at the expense of he viewed the subject from a social
traditional values of cooperation rather than political or economic
1867 Karl Marx analyzes and “fellow-feeling.” In the past, angle, his work helped to lay the
capitalism in the first volume societies had been based on foundations of modern sociology. ■
of Das Kapital. families or communities, and
community spirit was fostered
1893 Émile Durkheim by ideas of honor and loyalty.
examines the importance of But the self-interest demanded by
beliefs and values in holding capitalism weakens these values,
society together in The and ultimately leads to social
Division of Labor in Society. collapse. To prevent commercial
capitalism from sowing the seeds
1993 Amitai Etzioni founds of its own destruction, Ferguson
The Communitarian Network
to strengthen the moral and See also: Ferdinand Tönnies 32–33 ■ Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■
social foundations of society. Amitai Etzioni 112–19 ■ Norbert Elias 180–81 ■ Max Weber 220–23

22 IN CONTEXT

SCIENCE CAN BE FOCUS
USED TO BUILD Positivism and the
A BETTER WORLD study of society

AUGUSTE COMTE (1798–1857) KEY DATES
1813 French theorist Henri
de Saint-Simon suggests the
idea of a science of society.

1840s Karl Marx argues
that economic issues are at
the root of historical change.

1853 Harriet Martineau’s
abridged translation The
Positive Philosophy of Auguste
Comte introduces Comte’s
ideas to a wider public.

1865 British philosopher
John Stuart Mill refers to
Comte’s early sociological and
later political ideas as “good
Comte” and “bad Comte.”

1895 In The Rules of
Sociological Method, Émile
Durkheim seeks to establish
a systematic sociology.

B y the end of the 18th
century, increased
industrialization had
brought about radical changes to
traditional society in Europe. At the
same time, France was struggling
to establish a new social order in
the aftermath of the French
Revolution. Some thinkers, such as
Adam Smith, had sought to explain
the rapidly changing face of society
in economic terms; others, such as
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, did so in
terms of political philosophy. Adam
Ferguson had described the social
effects of modernization, but no
one had yet offered an explanation
of social progress to match the
political and economic theories.

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 23

See also: Harriet Martineau 26–27 ■ Karl Marx 28–31; 254–59 ■
Ferdinand Tönnies 32–33 ■ Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■ Max Weber 38–45; 220–23

Knowledge of ...and by observing
society can only be the laws that govern

acquired through social stability
scientific investigation... and social change.

Science can be Scientific Auguste Comte
used to build understanding of
a better world. these laws can bring Auguste Comte was born
in Montpellier, France. His
about change. parents were Catholics and
monarchists, but Auguste
Against the background of social approach to philosophy. He made rejected religion and adopted
uncertainty in France, however, a detailed analysis of the natural republicanism. In 1817 he
the socialist philosopher Henri de sciences and their methodology, became an assistant to
Saint-Simon attempted to analyze then proposed that all branches of Henri de Saint-Simon, who
the causes of social change, and knowledge should adopt scientific greatly influenced his ideas
how social order can be achieved. principles and base theory on of a scientific study of society.
He suggested that there is a observation. The central argument After disagreements, Comte
pattern to social progress, and of Comte’s “positivism” philosophy left Saint-Simon in 1824, and
that society goes through a number is that valid knowledge of anything began his Course in Positive
of different stages. But it was can only be derived from positive, Philosophy, supported by John
his protégé Auguste Comte scientific inquiry. He had seen Stuart Mill, among others.
who developed this idea into the power of science to transform:
a comprehensive approach to scientific discoveries had provided Comte suffered during this
the study of society on scientific the technological advances that time from mental disorders,
principles, which he initially called brought about the Industrial and his marriage to Caroline
“social physics” but later described Revolution and created the modern Massin ended in divorce. He
as “sociology.” world he lived in. then fell madly in love with
Clotilde de Vaux (who was
Understand and transform The time had come, he said, for separated from her husband),
Comte was a child of the a social science that would not only but their relationship was
Enlightenment, and his thinking give us an understanding of the unconsummated; she died
was rooted in the ideals of the mechanisms of social order and in 1846. Comte then devoted
Age of Reason, with its rational, social change, but also provide himself to writing and
objective focus. The emergence us with the means of transforming establishing a positivist
of scientific method during the society, in the same way that the “Religion of Humanity.”
Enlightenment influenced Comte’s physical sciences had helped to He died in Paris in 1857.
modify our physical environment. ❯❯
Key works

1830–42 Course in Positive
Philosophy (six volumes)
1848 A General View of
Positivism
1851–54 System of Positive
Polity (four volumes)

24 AUGUSTE COMTE

He considered the study of human Comte identified three stages of progress in human
society, or sociology, to be the most understanding of the world. The theological stage came
challenging and complex, therefore to an end with the Enlightenment at the end of the 18th
it was the “Queen of sciences.” century. Focus then shifted from the divine to the human in
a metaphysical stage of rational thought, from which evolved
Comte’s argument that the a final stage in which science provides the explanations.
scientific study of society was
the culmination of progress in our Theological Metaphysical Scientific
quest for knowledge was influenced stage stage stage
by an idea proposed by Henri
de Saint-Simon and is set out Early human society 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 Present day
as the “law of three stages.” This
states that our understanding of secular principles and ideals, divided sociology into two broad
phenomena passes through three especially the rights to liberty fields of study: “social statics,” the
phases: a theological stage, in and equality. Comte believed that, forces that determine social order
which a god or gods are cited as recognizing the shortcomings of and hold societies together; and
the cause of things; a metaphysical postrevolutionary society, it now “social dynamics,” the forces
stage, in which explanation is in had the possibility of entering the that determine social change.
terms of abstract entities; and a positive stage, in which social order A scientific understanding of
positive stage, in which knowledge could be determined scientifically. these forces provides the tools
is verified by scientific methods. to take society into its ultimate,
A science of society positive stage of social evolution.
Comte’s grand theory of social Comte proposed a framework for
evolution became an analysis of the new science of sociology, based Although Comte was not the
social progress too—an alternative on the existing “hard” sciences. He first to attempt an analysis of
to the merely descriptive accounts organized a hierarchy of sciences, human society, he was a pioneer
of societal stages of hunter- arranged logically so that each in establishing that it is capable
gatherer, nomadic, agricultural, science contributes to those of being studied scientifically. In
and industrial-commercial. Society following it but not to those addition, his positivist philosophy
in France, Comte suggested, was preceding it. Beginning with offered both an explanation of
rooted in the theological stage mathematics, the hierarchy ranged secular industrial society and the
until the Enlightenment, and social through astronomy, physics, and means of achieving social reform.
order was based on rules that were chemistry to biology. The apex of He believed that just as the
ultimately religious. Following the this ascending order of “positivity”
revolution in 1789, French society was sociology. For this reason, From science
entered a metaphysical stage, Comte felt it was necessary to comes prediction;
becoming ordered according to have a thorough grasp of the other
sciences and their methods before from prediction
Sociology is, then, not an attempting to apply these to the comes action.
auxiliary of any other science; study of society. Auguste Comte

it is itself a distinct and Paramount was the principle
autonomous science. of verifiability from observation:
Émile Durkheim theories supported by the evidence
of facts. But Comte also recognized
that it is necessary to have a
hypothesis to guide the direction of
scientific inquiry, and to determine
the scope of observation. He

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 25

sciences have solved real-world examines society to a subjective The philosophers have
problems, sociology—as the final and quasi-religious exposition of only interpreted the world...
science and unifier of the other how it should be.
sciences—can be applied to social the point is to change it.
problems to create a better society. The shift in Comte’s work from Karl Marx
theory to how it could be put into
From theory to practice practice lost him many followers. mere theorizing. In particular
Comte formed his ideas during Mill and other British thinkers he established a methodology
the chaos that followed the French saw his prescriptive application of observation and theory for the
Revolution, and set them out in of positivism as almost dictatorial, social sciences that was taken
his six-volume Course in Positive and the system of government he directly from the physical sciences.
Philosophy, the first volume of advocated as infringing liberty. While later sociologists, notably
which appeared in the same year Émile Durkheim, disagreed with
that France experienced a second By this time, an alternative the detail of his positivism and his
revolution in July 1830. approach to the scientific study of application of it, Comte provided
society had emerged. Against the them with a solid foundation to
After the overthrow and same backdrop of social turmoil, work from. Although today Comte’s
restoration of monarchy, opinion Karl Marx offered an analysis dream of sociology as the “Queen
in France was divided between of social progress based on the of sciences” may seem naive, the
those who wanted order and those science of economics, and a model objectivity he advocated remains
who demanded progress. Comte for change based on political action a guiding principle. ■
believed his positivism offered a rather than rationalism. It is not
third way, a rational rather than difficult to see why, in a Europe
ideological course of action based riven by revolutions, Comte’s
on an objective study of society. positivist sociology became
eclipsed by the competing
His theories gained him as claims of socialism and capitalism.
many critics as admirers among Nevertheless, it was Comte, and
his contemporaries in France. to a lesser extent his mentor Saint-
Some of his greatest supporters Simon, who first proposed the idea
were in Britain, including liberal of sociology as a discipline based
intellectual John Stuart Mill, who on scientific principles rather than
provided him with financial support
to enable him to continue with his
project, and Harriet Martineau, who
translated an edited version of his
work into English.

Unfortunately, the reputation
Comte had built up was tarnished
by his later work, in which he
described how positivism could be
applied in a political system. An
unhappy personal life (a marriage
break-up, depression, and a tragic
affair) is often cited as causing a
change in his thinking: from an
objective scientific approach that

The 1830 revolution in France
coincided with the publication of
Comte’s book on positivism and
seemed to usher in an age of social
progress that he had been hoping for.

26

THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE BEARS
NO RELATION TO HALF
THE HUMAN RACE

HARRIET MARTINEAU (1802–1876)

IN CONTEXT The United States ...yet these rights are
is established on granted to men only...
FOCUS the principle of
Feminism and social equal rights... ...and women are treated as
injustice second-class citizens.
The Declaration
KEY DATES of Independence and 1836, Harriet Martineau
1791 French playwright and bears no relation traveled around the US and
political activist Olympe recorded a very different picture of
de Gouges publishes the to half the society. What she saw was a
Declaration of the Rights of human race. marked discrepancy between the
Woman and the Female Citizen ideals of equality and democracy,
in response to the “Declaration I n 1776, the Declaration and the reality of life in the US.
of the Rights of Man and of the of Independence proclaimed:
Citizen” of 1789. “We hold these truths to be Before her visit, Martineau had
self-evident, that all men are made her name as a journalist
1807–34 Slavery is abolished created equal, that they are writing on political economy and
in the British Empire. endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that
1869 Harriet Taylor and John among these are Life, Liberty, and
Stuart Mill coauthor the essay the pursuit of Happiness.” More
“The Subjection of Women.” than 50 years later, between 1834

1949 Simone de Beauvoir’s
The Second Sex lays the
foundations for “second-wave”
feminism of the 1960s–1980s.

1981 The United Nations
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) is
ratified by 188 states.

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 27

See also: Judith Butler 56–61 ■ R.W. Connell 88–89 ■ Sylvia Walby 96–99 ■
Teri Caraway 248–49 ■ Christine Delphy 312–17 ■ Ann Oakley 318–19

social issues, so on her travels society to identify and oppose other Harriet Martineau
she set down in book form her forms of exploitation and social
impressions of US society. Her oppression, such as the unjust Harriet Martineau was born
Theory and Practice of Society treatment of the working class in in Norwich, England, the
in America went beyond mere industrial Britain and the daughter of progressive
description, however, for it analyzed subjugation of women in the parents who ensured she
the forms of social injustice she Western world. had a good education. She
came across there. showed an early interest in
Martineau highlighted the politics and economics, and
Social emancipator hypocrisy of a society that prided after the death of her father
For Martineau, the degree to which itself on liberty, yet continued to in 1825, made a living as a
a society can be thought of as oppress women. This treatment journalist. Her success as a
civilized is judged by the conditions was a particular affront because, writer enabled her to move
in which its people live. Theoretical as she pointed out, women were to London, and in 1834–36
ideals are no measure of how half the human race: “If a test of to travel around the US.
civilized a society is if they do not civilization be sought, none can On her return to England,
apply to everybody. The supposed be so sure as the condition of she published a three-volume
ideals of US society, notably the that half of society over which the sociological critique of the
cherished notion of freedom, other half has power.” Unlike many US. Her experiences there
were “made a mockery” by the of her contemporaries, however, confirmed her commitment
continued practice of slavery, which Martineau did not merely campaign to campaigning for the
Martineau identified as the prime for women’s rights to education or abolition of slavery and for
example of one section of society the vote, but described the ways the emancipation of women.
having domination over another. in which society restricted
women’s liberty in both domestic Although profoundly deaf
Throughout her life, Martineau and public life. since her teenage years,
campaigned for an end to slavery, Martineau continued working
but she also applied her principles Martineau was well known in and campaigning until the
of what constitutes a civilized her lifetime, but her contribution 1860s. She had by this time
to the development of sociology moved to the Lake District,
The Continental Congress adopted was not recognized until recently. where, housebound by ill
its highly moral plan for government on Today, however, she is regarded as health, she died in 1876.
July 4, 1776. But Martineau questioned not only the first woman to make a
whether social virtues were possible methodical study of society, but Key works
in a society characterized by injustice. also the first to formulate a feminist
sociological perspective. ■ 1832–34 Illustrations of
Political Economy
1837 Theory and Practice
of Society in America
1837–38 How to Observe
Morals and Manners

28 IN CONTEXT

THE FALL OF THE FOCUS
BOURGEOISIE AND Class conflict
THE VICTORY OF THE
PROLETARIAT ARE KEY DATES
EQUALLY INEVITABLE 1755 Genevan philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
KARL MARX (1818–1883) identifies private property as
the source of all inequality.

1819 French social theorist
Henri de Saint-Simon launches
the magazine L’Organisateur
to promote his socialist ideas.

1807 Georg Hegel interprets
historical progress in The
Phenomenology of Spirit.

1845 In The Condition of the
Working Class in England
in 1844, Friedrich Engels
describes the division of
capitalist society into two
social classes.

1923 The Institute for Social
Research is founded and
attracts Marxist scholars to
the University of Frankfurt.

I n the mid-19th century,
Europe was characterized
by political instability that had
begun with the French Revolution.
The insurrectionary spirit spread
across the continent, and there
were attempts to overthrow and
replace the old order of monarchies
and aristocracy with democratic
republics. At the same time, much
of Europe was still coming to
terms with the changes in society
created by industrialization. Some
philosophers had explained the
problems of the modern industrial
world in political terms and offered
political solutions, and others
such as Adam Smith looked to
economics as both the cause of the

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 29

See also: Auguste Comte 22–25 ■ Max Weber 38–45 ■ Michel Foucault 52–55 ■ Friedrich Engels 66–67 ■
Richard Sennett 84–87 ■ Herbert Marcuse 182–87 ■ Robert Blauner 232–33 ■ Christine Delphy 312–17

problems and the answer to them, Modern society has two great classes: the industry-owning
but there had been little research bourgeoisie and the proletariat (workers).
into the social structure of society.
Controlling the means The majority proletariat
Between 1830 and 1842, the of production enriches owns little and sells its
French philosopher Auguste Comte labor to the bourgeoisie
had suggested that it was possible, the bourgeoisie and yet stays poor because
and even necessary, to make a enables it to dominate
scientific study of society. Karl of exploitation.
Marx agreed that an objective, private property.
methodical approach was overdue
and was among the first to tackle Self-interest mitigates This dehumanizing
the subject. Marx did not set out, against solidarity among the status leads to alienation
however, to make a specifically bourgeoisie, while unceasing and a group consciousness
sociological study, but rather to competition fuels regular that seeks its own class’s
explain modern society in historical
and economic terms, using economic crises. collective good.
observation and analysis to identify
the causes of social inequality. The fall of the bourgeoisie
And where Comte saw science and the victory of the proletariat
as the means of achieving social
change, Marx pointed to the are equally inevitable.
inevitability of political action.
dismissing much of his philosophy. economic change. “Historical
Historical progress He was also influenced by French materialism,” as this approach to
In Marx’s time, the conventional socialist thinkers, such as Jean- historical development came to be
explanation of the development Jacques Rousseau, who laid the known, provided an explanation
of society was of an evolution in blame for inequality in civil society for the transition from feudal to
stages, from hunting and gathering, on the emergence of the notion of modern capitalist society, brought
through nomadic, pastoral, and private property. about by new methods of economic
agricultural communities to production. Under feudalism, the
modern commercial society. As a Marx offered a new approach to nobles had controlled the means of
philosopher, Marx was well aware the study of historical progress. It agricultural production, as owners
of this idea of social progress and is the material conditions in which of the land that the peasants or
the economic origins of industrial people live that determine the serfs worked. With the machine
society, but developed his own organization of society, he said, and age a new class, the bourgeoisie,
interpretation of this process. changes in the means of production emerged as owners of a new means
(the tools and machinery used to of production. As technology ❯❯
His primary influence was the create wealth) bring about socio-
German philosopher Georg Hegel,
who had proposed a dialectic view
of history: that change comes about
through a synthesis of opposing
forces in which the tension
between contradictory ideas is
resolved. Marx, however, viewed
history as the progression of
material circumstances rather
than ideas, and took from Hegel
the dialectical framework, while

30 KARL MARX

Five historical epochs were identified by Marx. Each corresponds to an era in which

people were clearly defined by their labor. According to Marx, the determining force of CLASSLESS
SOCIETY
history is the dominant mode of production, which shapes the classes in society. The
(Communism—
epochs progress from early human history, when people held things in a dictatorship of the
proletariat; class conflict
common, to capitalism in Marx’s day, with its two great social classes. In resolved and the means
of production held
the future lies the classless society of communism. BOURGEOISIE
in common)
Control of the means of production (Ruling class in
capitalist society)

Majority of the population ARISTOCRATIC
Collective ownership and control ELITE

SOCIAL ELITE PEASANTS PROLETARIAT
SLAVES (Farmers and agricultural (Workers who do not own
the means of production)
laborers with limited
CLASSLESS rights)
SOCIETY

(Primitive communism)

EARLY HUMAN HISTORY THE ANCIENT WORLD FEUDALISM CAPITALISM THE END OF HISTORY

became more prevalent, the Marx maintained that, as he and classes of capital and labor.
bourgeoisie challenged the nobles Friedrich Engels put it in The Capitalists obtain their wealth
and brought about a change to Communist Manifesto, “the history from the surplus value of goods
the economic structure of society. of all hitherto existing society is the produced, in the factories they
The opposing elements of feudal history of class struggles.” Whereas own, by the labor of the workers.
society contained the seeds of the feudalism had been characterized The proletariat, on the other hand,
capitalist society that replaced it. by the two classes of nobles or own almost nothing, and in order
aristocracy and peasants or serfs, to survive have to sell their labor to
Karl Marx’s prediction of a modern industrial society had the bourgeoisie.
communist revolution became a reality created a bourgeoisie class of
in 1917—it did not, however, take place capitalists, which owned the The relationship between the
in an advanced industrial nation as he means of production, and a classes is exploitative, enriching
had anticipated, but in Tsarist Russia. proletariat class, which worked the owners of capital and keeping
in the new industries. the working class poor. In addition,
the unskilled nature of the work in
Class conflict factories and mills contributes to
Tension and conflict between the a feeling of dehumanization and
classes in society was inevitable, alienation from the process of
according to Marx. Therefore, just production, which is aggravated
as feudalism had been replaced, so by the threat of unemployment
too would capitalist society and the when production exceeds demand.
dominant bourgeoisie. He believed
that the proletariat would one day Over time, however, oppression
control society, having overthrown fosters a class-consciousness in
the system that had brought the proletariat—a realization that
it into existence. together the working class can
organize a movement for its
It is the method of production collective good. The inherent self-
of material necessities, Marx interest of capitalism tends to
argued, that determines the social prevent such a development among
structure of capitalist society: the the bourgeoisie, and constant
competition leads to more and

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 31

more frequent economic crises. division of society into bourgeoisie Karl Marx
The increasing solidarity of the and proletariat on purely economic
working class, and weakening of grounds was too simple. He Regarded as one of the
the bourgeoisie, will in time allow believed that there were cultural “founding fathers” of social
the proletariat to take over control and religious as well as economic science, Karl Marx was also an
of the means of production and causes for the growth of capitalism, influential economist, political
bring about a classless society. and these were reflected in classes philosopher, and historian. He
based on prestige and power as was born in Trier, Germany,
A key contribution well as economic status. and at his lawyer father’s
Marx’s analysis of how capitalism insistence, he studied law,
had created socioeconomic classes Although Marx’s influence on rather than the philosophy
in the industrial world was based sociology in the Western world and literature he was
on more than mere theorizing, waned during the first half of the interested in, at the University
and as such was one of the first 20th century, the members of the of Bonn, and later at Berlin.
“scientific” studies of society, so-called “Frankfurt School” of There he developed his
offering a comprehensive economic, sociologists and philosophers interest in Hegel, and went on
political, and social explanation of (including Jürgen Habermas, Erich to gain a doctorate from the
modern society. In the process, he Fromm, and Herbert Marcuse) University of Jena in 1841.
introduced several concepts that remained notable adherents to his
became central to later sociological principles. After World War II, with After becoming a journalist
thinking, particularly in the area of the advent of the Cold War, opinion in Cologne, Marx moved to
social class, such as class conflict became even more divided. In the Paris, where he developed his
and consciousness, and the notions US in particular, Marxist theory economic, social, and political
of exploitation and alienation. of any type was largely discredited, theory, collaborating with
while in Europe, especially France, Friedrich Engels. In 1845 the
His ideas inspired numerous a number of philosophers and pair cowrote The Communist
revolutionaries, and at one stage in sociologists further developed Manifesto. Following the
the 20th century, around a third of Marx’s social ideas. failure of the revolutions in
the world’s population lived under Europe in 1848, Marx moved
a government espousing Marxist Today, as new technology is to London. After the death of
principles. But not everyone agreed once again transforming our world, his wife in 1881, his health
with the Marxian division of and at the same time people are deteriorated, and he died two
society into classes defined by their becoming conscious of a growing years later at 64.
economic status, nor the idea that economic inequality, some of
social change is the inevitable Marx’s basic ideas have begun to Key works
result of class conflict. In the be revisited by social, economic,
generation following Marx, both and political thinkers. ■ 1848 The Communist
Émile Durkheim and Max Weber, Manifesto
who along with Marx are often [Marx is] the true father 1859 A Contribution to the
cited as the “founding fathers” of modern sociology, Critique of Political Economy
of modern sociology, offered 1867 Das Kapital, Volume 1
alternative views in reaction to his. in so far as anyone can
claim the title.
Durkheim acknowledged that Isaiah Berlin
industry had shaped modern
society, but argued that it was Russo-British philosopher (1909–1997)
industrialization itself, rather than
capitalism, that was at the root
of social problems.

Weber, on the other hand,
accepted Marx’s argument that
there are economic reasons behind
class conflict, but felt that Marx’s

32

GEMEINSCHAFT AND
GESELLSCHAFT

FERDINAND TÖNNIES (1855–1936)

IN CONTEXT There are two kinds of motivation
for our social actions:
FOCUS
Community and society a natural will to act a rational will to act
cooperatively... for a specific end...
KEY DATES
1651 English philosopher ...which characterizes ...which characterizes
Thomas Hobbes describes the the interactions of a the interactions of a
relationship between man’s traditional community
nature and the structure of (Gemeinschaft). modern society
society in Leviathan. (Gesellschaft).

1848 In The Communist T oward the end of the Ferdinand Tönnies, widely
Manifesto, Karl Marx and 19th century, a number regarded as founding fathers
Friedrich Engels lay out the of thinkers turned their of sociology. Tönnies’ major
effects of capitalism on society. attention to the social implications contribution to the discipline
of modernity, and in particular was his analysis of contrasting
1893 Sociologist Émile the growth of capitalist industrial types of social groupings in his
Durkheim outlines the idea society. Among them were Émile influential Gemeinschaft und
of social order maintained Durkheim, Max Weber, and Gesellschaft, published in 1887.
by organic and mechanical
solidarity in The Division of
Labor in Society.

1904–05 Max Weber
publishes The Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism.

2000 Zygmunt Bauman
introduces the idea of “liquid
modernity” in an increasingly
globalized society.

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 33

See also: Adam Ferguson 21 ■ Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■ Max Weber 38–45 ■ Amitai Etzioni 112–19 ■
Zygmunt Bauman 136–43 ■ Karl Marx 254–59 ■ Bryan Wilson 278–79 ■ Michel Maffesoli 291

In this book, his magnum opus, Gemeinschaft by its very social order of Gemeinschaft, the
Tönnies points out what he sees as essence is of an earlier origin will to do things for and as a part of
the distinction between traditional than its subject or members. the community. On the other hand,
rural communities and modern Kürwille motivates us to act in a
industrialized society. The former, Ferdinand Tönnies purely rational way to achieve a
he argues, are characterized by specific goal, and is the type of will
Gemeinschaft, community that is capitalism and competition had behind decisions made in large
based on the bonds of family and led to a predominance of mere organizations, and particularly
social groups such as the church. association in the industrial society businesses. It is Kürwille that
Small-scale communities tend to in which he lived. characterizes the Gesellschaft
have common goals and beliefs, of capitalist urban society.
and interactions within them are At the root of Tönnies’ theory
based on trust and cooperation. was his idea of “will”—what Despite his Left-leaning politics,
motivates people to action. He Tönnies was seen as an essentially
Triumph of “will” distinguished between what he conservative figure, lamenting
In large-scale societies such as called Wesenwille, “natural will,” modernity’s loss of Gemeinschaft,
modern cities, the division of labor and Kürwille, “rational will.” rather than advocating social
and mobility of the workforce have Wesenwille, he said, is the change. Although he had gained
eroded traditional bonds. In place of instinctive will to do something the respect of fellow sociologists,
Gemeinschaft there is Gesellschaft, for its own sake, or out of habit or his ideas had little influence
association or society. Relationships custom, or moral obligation. This until many years later. Tönnies’
in such societies are more is the motivation that underlies the theory, along with his work on
impersonal and superficial, and methodology, paved the way for
based on individual self-interest 20th-century sociology. Weber
rather than mutual aid. further developed Tönnies’
notions of will and motivation
The two extremes of to social action, and Durkheim’s
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft idea of mechanical and organic
exist to a greater or lesser extent solidarity echoed the contrast
in every social grouping, but between Gemeinschaft and
Tönnies argued that the ethos of Gesellschaft. ■

Ferdinand Tönnies Ferdinand Tönnies was born Sociological Society. Because of
in North Frisia, Schleswig his outspoken political views, he
(now Nordfriesland, Schleswig- was not offered a professorship
Holstein, Germany). After at Kiel until 1913. His Social
studying at the universities of Democratic sympathies and a
Strassburg, Jena, Bonn, and public denunciation of Nazism
Leipzig, he was awarded his led to his removal from the
doctorate at Tübingen in 1877. university in 1931, three years
before his death at age 80.
In his postdoctoral studies
in Berlin and London, Tönnies’ Key works
interest shifted from philosophy
to political and social issues. He 1887 Gemeinschaft und
became a private tutor at the Gesellschaft
University of Kiel in 1881, but an 1926 Progress and Social
inheritance allowed him to focus Development
on his own work. He was also 1931 Introduction to Sociology
a cofounder of the German

34 IN CONTEXT

SOCIETY, LIKE THE FOCUS
HUMAN BODY, HAS Functionalism
INTERRELATED
PARTS, NEEDS, KEY DATES
AND FUNCTIONS 1830–42 Auguste Comte
advocates a scientific approach
ÉMILE DURKHEIM (1858–1917) to the study of society in his
Course in Positive Philosophy.

1874–77 Herbert Spencer says
society is an evolving “social
organism” in the first volume of
The Principles of Sociology.

1937 In The Structure of Social
Action, Talcott Parsons revives
the functionalist approach in
his action theory.

1949 Robert K. Merton
develops Durkheim’s idea
of anomie to examine social
dysfunction in Social Theory
and Social Structure.

1976 Anthony Giddens offers
an alternative to structural
functionalism in New Rules
of Sociological Method.

S ociology was only gradually
accepted as a distinct
discipline, a social science
separate from philosophy, in the
latter half of the 19th century.
The intellectual atmosphere of the
time meant that for sociology to be
recognized as a field of study, it had
to establish scientific credentials.

Among those who had studied
philosophy but been drawn to the
new branch of knowledge was
Émile Durkheim, who believed that
sociology should be less of a grand
theory and more of a method that
could be applied in diverse ways to
understanding the development of
modern society. Now regarded as
one of the principal founders of

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 35

See also: Auguste Comte 22–25 ■ Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Max Weber 38–45 ■
Jeffrey Alexander 204–09 ■ Robert K. Merton 262–63 ■ Herbert Spencer 334

Humankind has evolved from gathering in small, homogeneous
communities to forming large, complex societies.

In traditional society, religion and culture created
a collective consciousness that provided solidarity.

In modern society, the division of labor has brought Émile Durkheim
about increased specialization and the focus is more
Born in Épinal in eastern
on the individual than the collective... France, Émile Durkheim broke
with family tradition and left
...and solidarity now comes from the interdependence rabbinical school to follow a
of individuals with specialized functions. secular career. He studied at
the École Normale Supérieure
Society, like the human body, has interrelated in Paris, graduating in
parts, needs, and functions. philosophy in 1882, but was
already interested in social
sociology, with Karl Marx and Max ideas on the new science of science after reading Auguste
Weber, Durkheim was not the first economics rather than biology. But Comte and Herbert Spencer.
scholar to attempt to establish the the appearance of Charles Darwin’s
subject as a science; the earlier theory of the origin of species Durkheim moved to
work of other thinkers inevitably provoked a radical rethink of many Germany to study sociology.
influenced his own ideas. conventionally held ideas. This was In 1887 he returned to France,
especially true in Britain, where teaching the country’s first
Forging a scientific model Darwin’s work provided a model sociology courses at the
Auguste Comte had laid the of organic evolution that could be University of Bordeaux, and
foundations with his theory that applied to many other disciplines. later founded the first social
the study of human society is the science journal in France.
pinnacle of a hierarchy of natural Among those inspired by He was appointed to the
sciences. And, because society Darwin was Herbert Spencer, Sorbonne in 1902 and stayed
is a collection of human animals, a philosopher and biologist who there for the rest of his life,
the idea grew that of all the natural likened the development of modern becoming a full professor in
sciences, biology was the closest society to an evolving organism, 1906. He felt increasingly
model for the social sciences. with different parts serving marginalized by the rise of
Not everyone agreed: Marx, for different functions. His writing right-wing nationalist politics
example, based his sociological established the idea of an “organic” during World War I, and after
model for the social sciences. ❯❯ his son André was killed in
1916, his health deteriorated
and he died of a stroke in 1917.

Key works

1893 The Division of Labor
in Society
1895 The Rules of Sociological
Method
1897 Suicide

36 ÉMILE DURKHEIM

Durkheim argued that religions,
especially long-established faiths such
as Judaism, are fundamentally social
institutions that give people a strong
sense of collective consciousness.

Durkheim upheld Spencer’s that had shaped modern society, a society fosters what Durkheim
functional idea of separate parts the various forces known as called “collective consciousness,”
serving a purpose and the notion “modernity.” But where Marx had which is the basis of its solidarity.
that society was greater than the associated them with capitalism,
sum of its individual elements. And and Weber with rationalization, But as societies grew in size
Auguste Comte’s “positivism” (his Durkheim connected the and complexity, people began to
belief that only scientific inquiry development of modern society develop more specialized skills,
yields true knowledge) helped to with industrialization, and in replacing self-reliance with
shape the scientific methodology particular the division of labor that interdependence. The farmer, for
that Durkheim felt would reveal came with it. example, relies on the blacksmith
how modern society functions. to shoe his horses, while the
A functional organism blacksmith relies on the farmer to
Durkheim focused on society What differentiates modern society provide his food. The mechanical
as a whole and its institutions, from traditional ones, according to solidarity, as Durkheim refers to
rather than the motivations and Durkheim, is a fundamental change it, of traditional society becomes
actions of individuals within in the form of social cohesion; the replaced by an organic solidarity
society; above all, he was advent of industrialization has based not on the similarity of its
interested in the things that hold evolved a new form of solidarity. individual members, but their
society together and maintain Durkheim outlined his theory complementary differences.
social order. He argued that the of the different types of social
basis for sociological study should solidarity in his doctoral thesis, This division of labor reaches its
be what he called “social facts,” or “The Division of Social Labor.” peak with industrialization, when
“realities external to the individual” society has evolved to become a
that can be verified empirically. In primitive societies, such as complex “organism” in which
hunter-gatherer groups, individuals individual elements perform
Like the other pioneering do much the same jobs, and specialized functions, each of
sociologists, Durkheim tried to although each could be self- which is essential to the well-being
understand and explain the factors sufficient, society is held together of the whole. The idea that society
by a sense of a common purpose is structured like a biological
Is it our duty to seek to and experience, and commonly organism composed of distinct
become a... complete held beliefs and values. The parts with specialized functions
human being, one quite similarity of individuals in such became a significant approach to
sufficient unto himself; sociology, known as functionalism.
or... to be only a part of
a whole, the organ of

an organism?
Émile Durkheim

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 37

The “social fact”—by which he people become disoriented and Society is not a mere sum
meant a thing that exists without society unstable. Organic solidarity of individuals. Rather, the
being subject to any individual will can only work if elements of system formed by their
upon it—that Durkheim identifies mechanical solidarity are retained, association represents a
as driving this evolution from and members of society have a specific reality which has
mechanical to organic solidarity sense of common purpose. its own characteristics.
is the increase in “dynamic
density,” or population growth and The speed of industrialization, Émile Durkheim
concentration. The competition for according to Durkheim, had forced
resources becomes more intense, a division of labor so quickly consistent with scientific research.
but with the increased population on modern society that social Durkheim also went against the
density comes the possibility of interaction had not developed intellectual mood of the time
greater social interaction within sufficiently to become a substitute by looking at society as a whole
the population itself, triggering a for the decreasing collective rather than at the experience of
division of labor to more efficiently consciousness. Individuals felt the individual, which was the basis
deal with its demands. increasingly unconnected with of the approach adopted by Max
society, and especially the sort of Weber. His concept of “social facts”
In modern society, the organic moral guidance that mechanical with a reality of their own, separate
interdependence of individuals is solidarity had previously given from the individual, was dismissed,
the basis for social cohesion. But them. Durkheim used the word and his objective approach was
Durkheim realized that the division anomie to describe this loss of also criticized for explaining the
of labor that came with rapid collective standards and values, basis of social order but not making
industrialization also brought and its consequent sapping of any suggestions to change it.
social problems. Precisely because individual morale. In a study of
it is built on the complementary patterns of suicide in different But Durkheim’s analysis of
differences between people, areas, he showed the importance society as composed of different
organic solidarity shifts the of anomie in the despair that leads but interrelated parts, each with
focus from the community to the someone to take their own life. its own particular function, helped
individual, replacing the collective In communities where collective to establish functionalism as an
consciousness of a society—the beliefs were strong, such as among important approach to sociology,
shared beliefs and values that Catholics, the suicide rate was influencing among others Talcott
provide cohesiveness. Without that lower than elsewhere, which Parsons and Robert K. Merton.
framework of norms of behavior, confirmed for Durkheim the value of
solidarity to the health of a society. Durkheim’s explanations of
A beehive is created by the division solidarity were an alternative to
of labor of industrious insects. As well An academic discipline the theories of Marx and Weber, but
as producing a functioning whole, the Durkheim based his ideas on the heyday of functionalism lasted
bees maintain a symbiotic relationship thorough research of empirical only until the 1960s. Although
with the flora of their environment. evidence, such as case studies and Durkheim’s positivism has since
statistics. His major legacy was fallen out of favor, concepts
the establishment of sociology introduced by him, such as anomie
as an academic discipline in the and collective consciousness (in
tradition of the positivist doctrine the guise of “culture”), continue to
of Comte—that social science is figure in contemporary sociology. ■
subject to the same investigative
methods as the natural sciences.

Durkheim’s positivist approach
was met with skepticism, however.
Sociological thinkers from Marx
onward rejected the idea that
something as complex and
unpredictable as human society is

THE IRON

CAGE

OF RATIONALITY

MAX WEBER (1864–1920)



40 MAX WEBER Modern industrial society brought technological
and economic advances.
IN CONTEXT
But this was accompanied by increased
FOCUS rationalization and a bureaucratic structure...
Rational modernity
...that imposed new controls, restricted individual
KEY DATES freedoms, and eroded community and kinship ties.
1845 Karl Marx notes down
11 “Theses on Feuerbach” Bureaucratic efficiency has stifled
and introduces the idea of traditional interactions, trapping us
historical materialism—that
economics, rather than ideas, in an “iron cage of rationality."
drive social change.

1903 German sociologist
Georg Simmel examines
the effects of modern city
life on the individual in The
Metropolis and Mental Life.

1937 In The Structure of Social
Action, Talcott Parsons puts
forward his action theory,
which attempts to integrate
the contrasting (subjective–
objective) approaches of Weber
and Durkheim.

1956 In The Power Elite,
Charles Wright Mills describes
the emergence of a military-
industrial ruling class as the
result of rationalization.

U ntil the latter half of the Germany’s unfamiliarity with the Weber was not concerned with
19th century, the economic effects of modernity meant it had establishing sociology as a
growth of the German not yet developed a tradition of discipline in the same way
states was based on trade rather sociological thought. Karl Marx was as Auguste Comte and Émile
than production. But when they German by birth, but he based his Durkheim in France, who sought
made the shift to large-scale sociological and economic ideas on universal “scientific laws” for
manufacturing industry, of the sort his experiences of industrialized society (in the belief, known as
that had urbanized Britain and society elsewhere. However, “positivism," that science could
France, the change was rapid and toward the end of the century, a build a better world).
dramatic. This was especially number of German thinkers turned
noticeable in Prussia, where the their attention to the study of While Weber accepted that any
combination of natural resources Germany’s emergent modern study of society should be rigorous,
and a tradition of military society. Among them was Max he argued that it could not be truly
organization helped to establish Weber, who was to become objective, because it is the study
an efficient industrial society in perhaps the most influential of the not so much of social behavior but
a very short time. “founding fathers” of sociology. of social action, meaning the ways
in which individuals in society

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 41

See also: Auguste Comte 22–25 ■ Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■ Charles Wright Mills 46–49 ■ Georg Simmel 104–05 ■
George Ritzer 120–23 ■ Max Weber 220–23 ■ Karl Marx 254–59 ■ Jürgen Habermas 286–87 ■ Talcott Parsons 300–01

interact. This action is necessarily Weber synthesized ideas from both The fate of our times
subjective, and needs to be Marx and Durkheim to develop is characterized...
interpreted by focusing on the his own distinctive sociological above all... by the
subjective values that individuals analysis, examining the effects of disenchantment of
associate with their actions. what he saw as the most pervasive the world.
aspect of modernity: rationalization. Max Weber
This interpretive approach, also
called verstehen (“understanding”), An “iron cage” of capitalism had brought many
was almost the antithesis of the In arguably his best-known work, material benefits, it also had
objective study of society. Whereas The Protestant Ethic and the numerous social drawbacks;
Durkheim’s approach examined Spirit of Capitalism (1904–05), traditional cultural and spiritual
the structure of society as a whole, Weber describes the evolution of values had been supplanted by
and the “organic” nature of its the West from a society governed rationalization, which brought
many interdependent parts, Weber by tribal custom or religious with it a sense of what Weber
sought to study the experience of obligations to an increasingly called “disenchantment” as the ❯❯
the individual. secular organization based on
the goal of economic gain.
Weber was heavily influenced
by Marx’s theories, especially the Industrialization had been
idea that modern capitalist society achieved through advances in
is depersonalizing and alienating. science and engineering, and the
He disagreed, however, with capitalism that accompanied it
Marx’s materialist approach and called for purely rational decisions
its emphasis on economics rather based on efficiency and cost-benefit
than culture and ideas, and with analysis (assessing the benefits and
Marx’s belief in the inevitability costs of projects). While the rise
of proletarian revolution. Instead,

The 1936 film Modern Times
depicts actor Charlie Chaplin as
an assembly line worker subject
to the dehumanizing effects of
modernity and rationalization.

...the world could one day be
filled with nothing but those
little cogs, little men clinging

to little jobs and striving
toward bigger ones.
Max Weber

42 MAX WEBER

intangible, mystical side of many power was apparently unstoppable. The fully developed
people’s day-to-day lives was However, whereas the eclipse bureaucratic apparatus
replaced by cold calculation. of religion meant that people were compares with other
liberated from irrational social organizations exactly as
Weber recognized the positive norms, a bureaucratic structure does the machine with
changes brought about by imposed a new form of control
increased knowledge, and the and threatened to stifle the very the non-mechanical
prosperity that resulted from logical individualism that had led people modes of production.
decision-making rather than the to reject dogmatic religious
dictates of outdated religious authority. Many members of Max Weber
authorities. But rationalization was modern society now felt trapped by
also changing the administration the rigid rules of bureaucracy, as if overseen by an uncompromising
of society by increasing the level in an “iron cage” of rationalization. bureaucracy. A rigid, rule-based
of bureaucracy in all kinds of Moreover, bureaucracies tend to society not only tends to restrict
organizations. Having been produce hierarchical organizations the individual, but also has a
brought up in Prussia, where well- that are impersonal, and with dehumanizing effect, making
established military efficiency standardized procedures that people feel as though they are at
became the model for the newly overrule individualism. the mercy of a logical but godless
industrialized state, this system. The power and authority of
development would have been Dehumanization a rational bureaucracy also affects
especially noticeable to Weber. Weber was concerned with these the relationships and interactions
effects on the individual “cogs in of individuals—their social actions.
Bureaucracy, Weber believed, the machine." Capitalism, which These actions are no longer based
was both inevitable and necessary had promised a technological on ties of family or community, nor
in modern industrial society. Its utopia with the individual at its traditional values and beliefs, but
machinelike effectiveness and heart, had instead created a society are geared toward efficiency and
efficiency is what enables society dominated by work and money, the achievement of specific goals.
to prosper economically, which
meant its growth in scope and Because the primary goal of
rationalization is to get things
done efficiently, the desires of the
individual are subservient to the
goals of the organization, leading
to a loss of individual autonomy.
Although there is a greater degree
of interdependence between people
as jobs become more and more
specialized, individuals feel that

The German Chancellery in Berlin
is the headquarters of the German
government. The civil servants who
work there are a bureaucracy tasked
with implementing government policy.

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 43

their worth in society is determined Increased bureaucracy
by others rather than by their is, says Weber, a product of
own skills or craftsmanship. The rationalization, providing society
desire for self-improvement is with a machinelike organization that
replaced with an obsessive promotes efficiency. However, to work within
ambition to acquire a better job, an administrative apparatus can lead to individual
more money, or a higher social disenchantment: with little scope for personal
status, and creativity is valued initiative and creativity, a bureaucrat can feel their
less than productivity. lot is one of monotonous and repetitive paperwork.

In Weber’s view, this exploitation and alienation of the based on the assessment of costs
disenchantment is the price proletariat by capitalism would and consequences, which Weber
modern society pays for the inevitably lead to revolution, considered the culmination of
material gains achieved by Weber felt communism led to even rational conduct. In addition, he
bureaucratic rationalization. greater bureaucratic control than identified three elements of social
The social changes it causes are capitalism. Instead, he advocated stratification in which these social
profound, affecting not only our that within a liberal democracy, actions could be taken, affecting
system of morality but also our bureaucracy should only have as different aspects of a person’s
psychological and cultural makeup. much authority as members of “life chances." As well as the
The erosion of spiritual values society are prepared to allow it. economically determined social
means our social actions are This is, he said, determined by the class, there is also status class
instead based on calculations social actions of individuals as they based on less tangible attributes
of cost and benefit, and become try to improve their lives and their such as honor and prestige, and
a matter more of administration “life chances” (or opportunities). party class based on political
than moral or social guidance. affiliations. Together these help
Just as society had progressed the individual to establish a
Social actions and class from the “charismatic” authority of distinct position in society.
While Weber often despaired of the kinship ties and religion, through
soulless side of modern society, he the patriarchal authority of feudal A gradual acceptance
was not completely pessimistic. society, to the modern authority of Weber’s innovative perspective
Bureaucracies may be difficult to rationalization and bureaucracy, formed the foundation of one of the
destroy, but because they are so too individual behavior had major approaches to sociology in
created by society he believed they evolved from emotional, traditional, the 20th century. By introducing the
can also be changed by society. and value-based social actions idea of a subjective, interpretive ❯❯
Where Marx had predicted that the to “instrumental action”—action

...what can we oppose to
this machinery... to keep a
portion of mankind free from
this... supreme mastery of
the bureaucratic way of life.

Max Weber

44 MAX WEBER

examination of individuals’ social No one knows who will live attempted to reconcile Weber’s
actions, he offered an alternative to in this cage in the future, ideas with the then dominant
Durkheim’s positivism by pointing positivist tradition in sociology
out that the methodology of the or whether... there will established by Durkheim, and to
natural sciences is not appropriate be a great rebirth of old incorporate them into his own
to the study of the social sciences, theories. Parsons also did much to
and to Marx’s materialist ideas and ideals... popularize Weber and his ideas
determinism by stressing the Max Weber within US sociology, but it was
importance of ideas and culture Charles Wright Mills who, with
over economic considerations. credentials of sociology as a science; Hans Heinrich Gerth, brought the
his notion of subjective verstehen most important of Weber’s writings
Although Weber's ideas were and his examination of individual to the attention of the English-
highly influential among his experience rather than of society speaking world with their
contemporaries in Germany, such as a whole was seen as lacking the translation and commentary in
as Werner Sombart and Georg necessary rigor and objectivity. 1946. Wright Mills was especially
Simmel, they were not widely And some critics, especially those influenced by Weber’s theory of
accepted. He was regarded in steeped in the ideas of Marxian the “iron cage” of rationality, and
his lifetime as a historian and economic determinism, disputed developed this theme in his own
economist rather than a sociologist, Weber’s account of the evolution analysis of social structures, in
and it was not until much later that of Western capitalism. which he showed that Weber’s
his work received the attention it ideas had more significant
deserved. Many of his works were Nevertheless, Weber’s ideas implications than had previously
only published posthumously, gradually became accepted, as the been thought.
and few were translated until influence of Durkheim’s positivism
well after his death. Sociologists began to wane. Weber was, for The rational gone global
at the beginning of the 20th example, an influence on the By the 1960s, Weber had become
century felt antipathy toward critical theory of the Frankfurt mainstream, and his interpretive
Weber's approach because they School, centered around Goethe approach had all but replaced the
were anxious to establish the University in Frankfurt, Germany. positivism that had dominated
These thinkers held that traditional sociology since Durkheim. In the
Franz Kafka, a contemporary of Marxist theory could not fully last decades of the 20th century,
Weber, wrote stories depicting a account for the path taken by Weber’s emphasis on the social
dystopian bureaucracy. His work Western capitalist societies, and actions of individuals, and their
engages with Weberian themes such so sought to draw on Weber's anti- relationship to the power exerted
as dehumanization and anonymity. positivist sociological approach and by a rationalized modern society,
analysis of rationalization. Escaping provided a framework for
the rise of Nazism, members of the contemporary sociology.
Frankfurt School took these ideas
to the US, where Weber's insights More recently, sociologists
were enthusiastically received, and such as British theorist Anthony
where his influence was strongest Giddens have focused on the
in the period following World contrast between Durkheim’s
War II. In particular, American approach to society as a whole,
sociologist Talcott Parsons and Weber’s concentration on the
individual as the unit of study.
Giddens points out that neither
approach is completely right or
wrong, but instead exemplifies one
of two different perspectives—the
macro and micro. Another aspect of
Weber’s work—that of culture and
ideas shaping our social structures

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 45

The conditions within semiconductor
fabrication plants, where workers
wear masks and “bunny suits," are a
visible symptom of rationalization and
the stifling of human interactions.

more than economic conditions—
has been adopted by a British
school of thought that has given
rise to the field of cultural studies.

Weber and Marx lead to tyranny. Where Marx had has proved to be the case, as
In many ways, Weber’s analysis a vision of workers’ emancipation economic “rational calculation”
proved more prescient than Marx’s. and the establishment of a utopian has led to the eclipse of high-street
Despite his dismissal of Marx’s communist state, Weber argued sole traders by supermarkets and
interpretation of the inevitability of that in modern industrial society shopping malls, and the export of
historical change, Weber predicted everybody's lives—those of both manufacturing and clerical jobs
the endurance, and global triumph, owners and workers—are shaped from the West to lower-wage
of the capitalist economy over by the ongoing conflict between economies worldwide. The hopes
traditional models as a result of impersonal, organizational and desires of individuals have, in
rationalization. He also foresaw efficiency and individual needs and many cases, been contained by the
that a modern technological desires. And in recent decades, this iron cage of rationalization. ■
society would rely upon an efficient
bureaucracy, and that any problems
would not be of structure but
management and competence:
too rigid a bureaucracy would
paradoxically decrease rather
than increase efficiency.

More significantly, Weber
realized that materialism and
rationalization created a soulless
“iron cage," and if unchecked would

Max Weber Max Weber is one of the founding and in 1897 he had a breakdown
fathers of sociology, along with following the death of his father.
Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim. In spite of his untimely death in
Born in Erfurt into a German 1920, at the age of 56, Weber’s
middle-class intellectual family, account of the role of religion in
Weber received his doctorate in the rise of capitalism remains
1888 and held professorial posts at a sociological classic.
the universities of Berlin, Freiburg,
and Heidelberg. His knowledge Key works
of economics, history, politics,
religion, and philosophy serve as 1904–1905 The Protestant Ethic
the terrain out of which so much and the Spirit of Capitalism
sociological thinking in these 1919–1920 General Economic
areas has developed and grown. History
1921–1922 Economy and Society:
Although Weber’s professional An Outline of Interpretive
legacy remains outstanding, his Sociology
personal life was a troubled one,

46 IN CONTEXT

MANY PERSONAL FOCUS
TROUBLES MUST The sociological
BE UNDERSTOOD imagination
IN TERMS OF
PUBLIC ISSUES KEY DATES
1848 In The Communist
CHARLES WRIGHT MILLS (1916–1962) Manifesto, Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels describe
progress in terms of class
struggles and depict capitalist
society as a conflict between
the bourgeoisie and proletariat.

1899 In The Theory of the
Leisure Class, Thorstein
Veblen suggests that the
business class pursues profit
at the expense of progress
or social welfare.

1904–05 Max Weber
describes a society stratified
by class, status, and power
in The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism.

1975 Michel Foucault looks
at power and resistance in
Discipline and Punish.

D uring the Cold War that
developed after World
War II, very few US
sociologists openly adopted a
socialist standpoint, particularly
during the anti-communist
witch-hunt that was known as
McCarthyism. Yet Charles Wright
Mills went against the grain; his
most influential books criticized
the military and commercial power
elites of his time.

Wright Mills risked not only
falling foul of the authorities during
this “Red Scare” era of the 1940s
and 1950s, but also rejection by
mainstream sociologists. However,
he was no apologist for Marxist
ideology and instead presented a

FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGY 47

See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Max Weber 38–45 ■ Michel Foucault 52–55 ■ Friedrich Engels 66–67 ■
Richard Sennett 84–87 ■ Herbert Marcuse 182–87 ■ Thorstein Veblen 214–19

Many personal troubles must be
understood in terms of public issues.

But ordinary people do not link A “sociological imagination”
their troubles with the issues can grasp this link and help

of society as a whole. transform individual lives by
tackling social problems.

Social scientists have a moral duty to use
their knowledge to reveal individual–social
connections objectively.

critique of the effects of modernity, economic model proposed by Marx, production, had become divorced
pointing out what he saw as the introducing the elements of status from traditional values, such
complacency among his fellow and power as well as wealth. as pride in craftsmanship, and
intellectuals that had allowed the dehumanized by ever-increasing
oppression of “mass society.” With a thorough understanding rationalization. In his view, they
of Weber’s theories, and the belief were now “cheerful robots”—
Wright Mills’ maverick stance that they were more radical than finding pleasure in material things,
belied the firm foundations on had been thought previously, but intellectually, politically, and
which it was based. He had been Wright Mills set about applying socially apathetic—without any
a brilliant and uncompromising them to his own analysis of the control over their circumstances.
student of sociology, and especially effects of rationalization in mid-
admired the work of Max Weber, 20th century Western society. The failure of the working class,
whose idea of rationalization and the inability of the middle
inspired the central theme of his He focused his attention first class, to take control allowed ❯❯
own social thinking. on the working class in the US,
criticizing organized labor for Let every man be his own
Dehumanized society collaborating with capitalists and methodologist, let every man
For Weber, modern society was thus allowing them to continue
replacing traditional customs to oppress the workforce. But be his own theorist.
and values with rational decision- his was not a Marxist attack on Charles Wright Mills
making in a dehumanizing process capitalism; he felt Marxism failed
that affected not only the culture to address the social and cultural
but also the structure of society. issues associated with the
He noted that rational social dominance of commercial industry.
organization is not necessarily
based on reason, or for the welfare Next, he examined the most
of all. Weber also provided Wright obvious product of rationalization:
Mills with a more sophisticated the bureaucratic middle classes.
notion of class than the simple He maintained that by the mid-
20th century the US middle classes,
alienated from the processes of

48 CHARLES WRIGHT MILLS

The collapse of the auto industry
in Detroit brought ruin to the city, but
many workers did not link their poverty
to the actions of a power elite, which
included union leaders.

society to be shaped by what problem, according to Wright Mills, in terms of larger public issues,
Wright Mills called a power elite. is the fact that ordinary people it is up to sociologists to enlighten,
This, he emphasized, was not in “mass society” are unaware of inspire, and instruct them—to
necessarily an economic elite, the way in which their lives are provide essential knowledge
but one that included military, affected by this concentration of and information.
political, and union leaders too. political and social power. They
Whereas Weber had argued half a go about their lives without What ought to be?
century earlier that rationalization realizing how the things that Wright Mills was highly critical
meant that the business elite made happen to them are connected of academic sociology of the time,
the decisions, Wright Mills said to the wider social context. Each which was, in his opinion, remote
that a new military–industrial individual’s troubles, such as from everyday experience; more
ruling class had been created. becoming unemployed, or ending concerned with providing “grand
He believed that this was a turning up homeless or in debt, are theory” than becoming involved in
point marking the transition perceived as personal and not in social change. Wright Mills took
from the modern age to what terms of forces of historical change. the pragmatic view that knowledge
he called a “Fourth Epoch.” As Wright Mills puts it, “They do should be useful, and felt that it
Rationalization, which had been not possess the quality of mind was the moral duty of sociologists
assumed to produce freedom and essential to grasp the interplay to take the lead. It was time, he
social progress, was increasingly of men and society, of biography said, for intellectuals to leave their
having the opposite effect. and history, of self and world”— ivory towers and provide people
the quality that he calls “the with the means of changing
This was not just a problem for sociological imagination.” society for the better, and
liberal democracies, which now transforming their individual lives
faced the prospect of being It was the lack of sociological by encouraging public engagement
powerless to control social change, imagination that was to blame for in political and social issues.
but also for the communist states the emergence of the power elite.
in which Marxism had proved In The Sociological Imagination, His attack on the social science
equally unable to provide a means published in 1959, Wright Mills establishment called into question
of taking control. At the heart of the turns his sights from society the very notion of what sociology
to sociology and the social was about. At that time, social
Neither the life of an sciences themselves. Because it scientists were striving to be
individual nor the history is difficult for the ordinary person neutral observers, objectively
to think of their personal troubles describing and analyzing social,
of a society can be
understood without
understanding both.
Charles Wright Mills