So how did sociology begin? Firstly it can be argued that sociology is a development of, as well as reaction too significant events, which took place in the 18th and 19th century. The first of these events is the enlightenment, which was a revolution of ideas. Philosophers and social theorists of the period were seeking to change the way we understood humanity, to one based upon rational thinking and empirically based findings. The next influential great events were the Democratic revolutions of the United States of America in 1776 and France in 1789. The old absolutist Monarchies were either overthrown or seriously under threat as new classes appeared on the political stage and demanded democratic representation and citizen rights. This is also about the time (roughly between 1780-1840) that this Industrial revolution of England (and later elsewhere) began. This transformed the ‘British economy from one based primarily upon agriculture to one based primarily upon manufacture’ (Lee, D and Newby, H, 1983: 26-27). These new methods of manufacture, first based on water power and then steam power – to the operation of large machines, gave birth to factories, which had an overwhelming effect one all elements of peoples lives. In pre-industrial society the family worked together as a means to production (handicraft), but the move to machine production in the factories, meant that many of the ‘rural surplus population’ had to go to the cities to find work. This led to the breaking of family ties and traditions, which had supported and united small communities for centuries. There was also a massive growth of cities and with so many people close together disease spread fiercely, which was only one of the social problems, others were pollution, poverty, crime and homelessness (not enough houses to home the people), which contrasts to the thought that people believed they would have a ‘better’ way of living.
‘Sociology’ arrived in the wake of these events. The term ‘sociology was coined by a French man named Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in 1838. He wanted to understand the great social changes that had occurred around him and made the earliest contribution to the development of sociological thinking. He set about devising a ‘science of sociology’. A science in the manner set down by the scientist and philosophers of the enlightenment He believed that the methods used in the natural sciences could be applied to the study of society, thus Comte was a proponent of Positivism, defined as ‘an epistemological position that advocates the application of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of social reality and beyond’ (Bryman, A, 2004: 542). Another Key thinker is Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), He did draw on many aspects of Comte’s Work but he believed that Comte’s ideas where too “speculative and vague and that Comte had not successfully carried out his programme” (Gidden’s, 2001: 8). Durkheim did believe that social life could be studied with the same objectivity as the natural world and he developed the concept of social facts, which should be studied by sociologists; “social facts are aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, such as the state of economy or the influence of religion” (Gidden’s, 2001: 9). Another key influential thinker was Karl Marx, (1818-1883), but his ideas were strikingly different from that of Comte’s and Durkheim. Marx ideas where inspired by the industrial revolution and argued that the system of capitalism affected human experience. He focused on conflicts between the classes, and the need for substantial social change to a communist society. Another key thinker was Max Weber. (1894-1920) He was influenced by Marx, but saw class conflict as less significant and believed that ideas and values had as much impact on social change. He developed the idea of ‘ideal types’, which are “conceptual and analytical models that can be used to understand the world”. Weber made use of ideal types in his writing on forms of bureaucracy and the market.
As you can see, sociologists differ in their explanations of the functioning of societies and the nature of social change; therefore they often undertake their social analysis from different theoretical perspectives - ‘can be seen as a basic image that guides thinking and research’ (Macionis, J & Plummer, K, 2002, p22). There are three classical perspective; Functionalism views society as a unit made up of interrelated parts that work together to produce stability and and solidarity. It owes much of its ideas to August Comte and Emile Durkheim. For a long time this perspective dominated sociology, particularly in the USA, where Talcott Parson (1902-1979) and Robert Merton extended our understanding of social functions. The conflict perspective, like Functionalism, stresses the importance of structures within society, but highlights division based on inequality. This view corresponds with Marx’s ideas, which aimed, not only to understand society, but also to reduce social inequality. These two perspectives hold a macro-level orientation; in that they focus on society as a whole, where as Social action perspective provides a micro level orientation; focus on everyday interaction and on how actors assemble social meaning. One founder of the action perspective is Max Weber, who held the view that the structures within society are created through the social actions of individuals. It is worth pointing out here that sociology did not become the institutionalised and professional discipline that we know today until the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. As Jenkins puts it ‘Comte first gave it a name and Marx sketched out some of its most enduring ideas…sociology as we no it today was established…by Weber, Simmel, Durkheim and Mead’ (Jenkins, 2002:21).
These three perspectives are still very common today, however many more have emerged over the past 20 years. Although describing these is beyond the scope of the essay. I will suggest that many do still have their roots firmly gripped in the ideas of the earlier thinkers I described above. Just as they aimed to understand the changes they had experienced, sociologists work now is to understand continuing change that is occurring now in the twenty-first century: to understand this ‘post modern society’ (Macionis & Plummer, 2002: 16). The importance of information technology, the media, new reproductive technologies and the increased global interconnectedness of society, are all in the process of being described, analysed and explained.
Jenkins suggests social anthropology (as well as other social studies - cultural anthropology, social history and social psychology), could be included “under the broad umbrella of ‘generic sociology’”(Jenkins, 2002: 22 – 27). His attempts can be justified by the fact that sociology and social anthropology do share similar theoretical and philosophical origins, as Jenkins states, “understanding social change and the relationship between the collective and the individual are important”. Social anthropology was developed in the early years of the twentieth century, under the heavy influence of sociological theory (Particularly Emile Durkheim). None the less, social anthropology and sociology do retain distinct traditions and methods of research. Sociologists are much more likely to focus their research on urban, industrialised societies and tend to rely on the quantitative analysis of statistical data: the survey is perhaps the most important tool. Social anthropologists continue to concentrate on exotic societies and to rely on participant observation as their main method.
The information obtained in sociological research can have quite a significant effect on social policy – “the study of social welfare, and its relationship to politics and society. It focuses on the social services and the welfare state’ (cited on the web page title – , 28/10/04). To improve peoples lives it is necessary to understand why people are the way they are and how welfare policies relate to their situation. This is where social policy draws on sociology. An example of how research may effect social policy could be Peter Townsend classic study ‘Poverty in the United Kingdom: a survey of household resources and Standards of living, 1967-1969. (cited on the web page title – http:/www. Data-archive.ac.uk, linked from the web site –, 03/11/04). This study showed that poverty was a lot more extensive than officially believed, and may have indirectly led to policies such as the National Minimum Wage, which guaranteed a minimum hourly pay level.
Although there are many aspects of sociology that I have not discussed, this essay has demonstrated that sociology developed in a period of massive social change, and this key aspect of human life is one of the key things sociology aims to understand. Sociology holds different theoretical views, which all play a part in explaining the social world. I have shown that other disciplines and subjects draw on sociology for its theoretical expertise and social understanding.
Bibliography
Bauman Z and May T. (2001) Thinking Sociologically, Oxford: Blackwell
Bryman A. (2004) Social Research Methods, New York: Oxford University Press
Giddens, A. (1997) Sociology (3RD edition), Cambridge: Polity
Giddens, A. (2001) sociology (4th edition), Cambridge: polity
Jenkins R. (2002) foundations of sociology, Basingstoke: Palgrave
Lee, D and Newby, H. (1983) The Problem of Sociology, London: Hutchinson/Routledge
Macionis, J. J. and Plummer, K. (2002) sociology: A Global Introduction, Harlow, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge
Wright Mills, C. (1959) The sociological Imagination, New York: Oxford University Press/Harmondsworth: Pelican
Internet
http:/www. Data-archive.ac.uk