Theoretical Foundations

• Karl Marx


  - wrote before the institutionalization of sociology

  - early example of an "interdisciplinary thinker"

  - focused on the society we currently live in

  - methodological pluralist

  - according to...structure influences culture
• Marxism


  - focuses on what we DO not what we THINK

  - argues that humans produce nature rather than consuming it directly therefore humans aren't considered separate from nature but work with nature instead

  - according to ...all societies have a Mode of Production
• Mode of Production


  a system that allows a society to achieve the collective production of the means of subsistence (supporting life/livelihood)
• 2 Types of Mode of Production

  1. Means of Production

  2. Relations of Production
• Means of Production


  what is being used to get things done
• Relations of Production


  who is getting things done (division of labour)
• Feudal Mode of Production

  Means of Production:tech for feudal agriculture

  Relations of Production:aristocracy/nobility (consume) + peasant class (work)
• Capitalist Mode of Production


  Means of Production:factory system, internet

  Relations of Production:proletariat/working class + bourgeois/owning class
• Marx's Theory of Historical Change (aka historical materialism)


  - Means + Relations of Production have tension with one another

  - the term "dialectic" is used to describe these tensions
• 2 Things Dialectical Tension is Responsible for

  1. Historical Change within some consistent MoP

  2. Historical Change from one MoP to another (revolution)
• Max Weber


  - influenced by the work of Marx

  - focused on how societalunderstandingof the material conditions of life, influenced the character of society

  - according to... culture influences structure
• Verstehen Sociology


  the social world can't simply be described, it must be interpreted
• Weber: Class


  a person's relationship to the economy
• Weber: Status


  a person's relationship to the "cultural order"
• French Revolution


  - shifted from a feudal to a capitalist economy

  - "bourgeois revolution"
• The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism


  Weber challenges Marx's argument about the centrality of social structure in history

  - he stated that capitalism's growth was influenced by the religious understanding of work, known as "work ethic"
• 3 Religious Beliefs of The Protestant Reformation

  1. Catholicism

  2. Lutheranism

  3. Calvinism
• Catholicism


  wrong doings are forgiven via confession and punishment
• Lutheranism


  value fulfilling duties in worldly affairs as the highest form of moral activity
• Calvinism


  emphasize predestination, arguing that self-confidence is achieved through intense worldly activity
• Emile Durkheim


  - was the most committed to establishing sociology as a distinct academic discipline

  - focused on "social facts" which are external to individuals similar to physics and biology
• What Holds Society Together? (according to Durkheim)

  solidarity because societies lacking solidarity risk disorganization and disorder
• 2 Sources of Solidarity (Durkheim)

  1. Traditional Societies (mechanical solidarity)

  2. Modern Societies (organic solidarity)
• Traditional Societies


  - mechanical solidarity

  - social cohesion is achieved when people have things in common

  Ex:

  - religious beliefs

  - moral judgements
• Modern Societies


  - organic solidarity

  - social cohesion is achieved whenpeople are objectively interdependent

  Ex:economic interdependence