Sociology’s Genesis

1. Sociology’s Genesis • The Men and Women That Created the Field.

2. Origins • The origins of Sociology were based in philosophy and religion • Ibn Khaldun was a Muslim scholar writing about tribal and clan dynamics in the late 1300’s in Northern Africa • He is considered by some to be a founding father of sociology. • Plato was a philosopher who wrote about the appropriate ways that people should act. • He strove for what he called Virtú or the ideal behaviors. • he did not really try to explain behaviors, but to establish the most desirable. • Religion • Religion was incredibly important for people • it gave their lives purpose and meaning • old them how they should act • Like Plato, religion points out undesirable and desirable traits • it does not attempt to explain them. ibn Khaldun

3. Auguste Comte • Comte was the first person to approach the study of people in groups in a scientific way. • He adapted the theory of evolution to the realm of society with his “Law of Three Stages” • The law states that society progresses through three distinct stages: • the Theological Stage • itself divided into 3 stages • Fetishistic • Polytheistic • Monotheistic • the Metaphysical Stage • and the Positive Stage

4. Law of Three Stages • 3. Positive • People are using science to solve their problems. • They are relying almost entirely on science to explain life rather than philosophical concepts or religion to explain their lives. • 1.Theological • People explain the world around them using religion. • God or supernatural powers are responsible for world being the way that it is, and people behave as such. • 2. Metaphysical • The world is being explored and questioned. • People are beginning to see concepts of rights and freedoms to be above the authority of mankind, and to question the existence of deities.

5. Emile Durkheim • Emile Durkheim brought sociology as a study to prominence. • His primary goal was to extract sociology from philosophy and make it into its own scientific field. • His was a functionalist theory of psychology.

6. Functionalism • Society is a mix of social institutions that join together like organs in the body to create the society as a whole. • These institutions can include trade, government, religion, the nuclear family unit, the extended family, educational systems, etc. • The functionalist asks “How does this affect a stable society.”

7. Herbert Spencer • Herbert Spencer was a functionalist that applied Darwin’s theory of Evolution to society. • Societies grow and adapt to their environment, but the adaptation creates new pressures. • Thus, societies grow, change to meet that growth, and then if a society can no longer adapt, begin to fall apart. Then a new society rises in its place and the cycle starts again.

8. Society in Spencer’s Model

9. Max Weber • Weber wanted to analyze concrete phenomena, that is, something that can be measured and observed, and then use them to understand and make generalizations about sociological phenomena from history. • He maintained a rigorous adherence to scientific principles.

10. Max Weber • He used his methodology to analyze religion and economics. • He insisted that teachers of sociology should focus on facts and avoid personal viewpoints.

11. Karl Marx • Karl Marx laid the groundwork for the Conflict Theory of Sociology. • He stated that conflict exists between those who own the factors of production (land, capital, and equipment) and those who perform labor.

12. Karl Marx

13. Karl Marx • The Bourgeoise • Own the factory, the land and the equipment. • They make tons of money on the products their factories produce

14. Karl Marx • The Proletariat • Work in the factories • They work long hours • They don’t get paid enough.

15. The Conflict • The Bourgeoise want the proletariat to work more for less money. • The proletariat want to work less for more money. • The Bourgeoise put a system in place to protect their wealth.

16. The conflict • There are many more Proletariat than Bourgeoise • Eventually, Marx says, the unrest will grow to the point that the “have nots” overthrow the “haves.” • In this scenario, the excesses of capitalism are its own downfall.

17. Belshevik (1920) by Kustodiev

18. Conflict theories • Conflict theories have grown from Marx’s First theory. • Unlike the Structural functionalism of Weber and Durkheim, which sought out directly observable (concrete) phenomena, Marx and conflict theorists focus on abstract processes. • Why we get into conflict with some, but not others • Why some have and others do not • Why some succeed and others fail

19. W E B DuBois • DuBois was an American historian, sociologist, and leader of the African American community in the early 1900’s. • He helped found the NAACP • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People • DuBois wrote about life as an African American in the United States.

20. DuBois • DuBois felt that if African Americans were going to find success in American society, they needed to have: • Full civil rights • Access to advanced education • An increase in political power • He was the editor of a newspaper that wrote about those things called the Crisis.

21. The Waco Horror • Dubois had a direct impact on this area • In his newspaper, he had a reporter investigate the lynching of Jesse Washington in Waco, TX in 1916. • Washington was accused and found guilty of raping and murdering the wife of his employer. • The members of the community dragged him out of the courthouse, mutilated his body, then hung him over a bonfire. • They then took his charred body and cut off limbs, selling them as souvenirs.

22. The Waco Horror

23. Du Bois • By publishing the story of Washington in his paper, DuBois exposed the evils of Lynching • The practice sharply fell, as people began to realize how truly awful the practice was. • DuBois also disproved racial stereotypes using scientific methods, which he published in his book The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study • The ideas of DuBois strongly influenced the Civil rights movement of the 60’s.

24. Booker T Washington • Washington was born into slavery in the mid 1850’s • After emancipation, he became a leader among newly freed men in the south and eventually the entire country.

25. Booker T Washington • WEB DuBois thought that African Americans should demand their civil rights and fight for them. • Washington thought that demanding these things so soon after emancipation was dangerous and would not be successful. • His approach was long-term. He suggested that the African American community advance through: • Educational achievement • Economic advancement • Solidarity

26. Booker T Washington • Washington’s approach was the more popular of the two. • Washington himself was good at public relations • he could raise money • navigate tricky political situations • network with new people. • This made him very influential.

27. Harriet Martineau • Martineau was a leading feminist theorist in the mid 1800’s • She believed that men used the as a way to limit a woman’s power and make them dependent on men. • She saw a link between Slavery and women’s rights, and sought freedom for both woman and slave.

28. Jane Addams • Jane Addams’ focus was on the imbalance of power between social classes and the problems that arose from them. • She was also active in the women’s suffrage movement.

29. Jane Addams • During her life time, she was never considered a sociologist. • This is because she was a woman and because she worked with the poor. • She was the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.