Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad

Year: 2018

Sociological Theory
Three Sociological Perspectives:
Structural Functionalism
 The functionalist perspective is based largely on the works of Herbert Spencer, Emile
Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. According to functionalism, society is a
system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of
balance and social equilibrium for the whole.
 For example, each of the social institutions contributes important functions for society:
Family provides a context for reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children; education
offers a way to transmit a society’s skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth; politics
provides a means of governing members of society; economics provides for the
production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; and religion provides
moral guidance and an outlet for worship of a higher power.
 The structural-functional paradigm sees society as a complex system whose parts work
together.
 It asserts that our lives are guided by social structures.
 Each social structure has social functions.
 The influence of this paradigm has declined in recent decades.
 It focuses on stability, thereby ignoring inequalities of social class, race, and gender.

Symbolic Interactions
 Both the functionalist and the conflict perspectives are concerned with how broad aspects
of society, such as institutions and large social groups, influence the social world.
 This level of sociological analysis is called macro sociology: It looks at the big picture of
society and suggests how social problems are affected at the institutional level.
 Micro sociology, another level of sociological analysis, is concerned with the social
psychological dynamics of individuals interacting in small groups.
 Symbolic interactionism reflects the micro-sociological perspective, and was largely
influenced by the work of early sociologists and philosophers, such as George Simmel,
Charles Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Erving Goffman.

1
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

 Symbolic interactionism emphasizes that human behavior is influenced by definitions and

meanings that are created and maintained through symbolic interaction with others.
 The symbolic-interaction paradigm sees society as the product of the everyday
interactions of individuals
 Symbolic-interactionism has a micro-level orientation.
 It focuses on patterns of social interaction in specific settings. Ignores class, gender, and
race

The Social-Conflict Paradigm

 The functionalist perspective views society as composed of different parts working
together.
 In contrast, the conflict perspective views society as composed of different groups and
interest competing for power and resources.
 The conflict perspective explains various aspects of our social world by looking at which
groups have power and benefit from a particular social arrangement.
 Critical evaluation: This paradigm has developed rapidly in recent years.
 It has several weaknesses: It ignores social unity. Like the structural-functional
paradigm, it envisions society in terms of broad abstractions.

Theorists:
Ibn-i-khaldum
 Ibn Khaldun is a great Muslim thinker of the fourteenth century . Modern writers are
inclined to consider him as a pioneer in the science of society and the philosophy of
history. Some of them consider him as the first sociologist in the history of mankind and
even the founder of modern sociology.
 Born in 1332 in Tunis, North Africa and died in 1406 in Egypt.
 An outstanding 14th century scholar in various branches of knowledge including
philosophy of history, historiography, education, political economy and sociology.
 He came from an aristocratic family of scholars.
 He studied both religious and philosophical sciences at an early age.
 A renowned public administrator and a Professor dedicated to teaching and research.

 He wrote Kitab Al-Ibar-The Book of History which consists of 7 Volumes

 The Muqaddimah or also known as the Prolegomena is the first volume and it is the
introduction to Kitab Al Ibar

2
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

 The Prolegomena alone contains more than 1,500 pages and it was written in just 5
months

 He also wrote his own biography or Al-Taarif bi Ibn Khaldun.

 He studies the rise and decline of nations based on empirical and rational nature of
inquiry

 He was the first to develop a scientific approach to the study of human behavior, society
and history

 He discoverd the theory of human social development

Herbert Spencer
 1820 to 1903
 Every man is free to do that which he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom
of any other man."
 Spencer’s first and foremost concern was with evolutionary changes in social structures.
 Evolution was a universal process, which explains both the “earliest changes which the
universe at large is supposed to have undergone…and those latest changes which we
trace in society and the products of social life.”
 Differentiation "The change from the homogenous to the heterogeneous is displayed in
the progress of civilization as a whole, as well as in the progress of every nation; and it is
still going on with increasing rapidity.
 Functionalism Much of Spencer’s discussion of social institutions and their changes is
expressed in functional terms.
 Ethnocentrism: He warned against the common error of regarding customs that
appeared strange and disgusting by contemporary standards of being of no valued to
particular societies.
 Non-Interventionism: While Comte, stressed that we should aim to discover the laws of
society so that we could act to change society for the better, Spencer argued with equal
conviction that we should not seek social reform. Spencer argued that sociologists should
convince the public that society must be free from the meddling of governments and
reformers.
 Social Darwinism: “Survival of the Fittest” Spencer was not a cruel, heartless,
reactionary who enjoyed human suffering. Rather, he was a man who saw societies as

3
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

systems that were in constant adjustment to their natural and social environments. He
viewed government action to take the edge off these necessary adjustments as ultimately
causing more human suffering.
 Systems Theory: The effects of any sizable intervention in a system—whether that be an
ecosystem, a physiological system, or a social system—are like ripples spreading out on a
pond from a dropped pebble; they go on and on.

August Comte
 Auguste Comte was born in Montellier of Southern France in January 1, 1798 and died in
1857. He was the first thinker who realized the need for a distinct science of human
society. He is regarded as the father of sociology. He is regarded as the father not because
of his significant contributions to the subject but because of creating sociology as a
science of society or science of human behavior.

 Comte first gave the name “Social Physics” to the science invented by him but later he
coined the word “Sociology a hybrid term compounded of Latin and Greek words to
describe the new science.
 Founder of Doctrine of Positivism: Positivism is the term used to describe an approach
to the study of society that relies specifically on scientific evidence, such as experiments
and statistics, to reveal a true nature of how society operates. The term originated in the
19th century, when Auguste Comte described his ideas in his books The Course in
Positive Philosophy and A General View of Positivism.
 The Law of Three Stages: The Law of Three Stages is an idea developed by Auguste
Comte in his work The Course in Positive Philosophy. It states that society as a whole,
and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1)
the theological stage, (2) the metaphysical stage, and (3) the positive stage.
o Theological Stage:  Theology is man's attempt to study God through ideas,
beliefs, experiences and doctrines.
o Metaphysical Stage: Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with
explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it.
o Positive Stage: Positivism is a philosophical theory stating that positive
knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations.
Thus, information derived from sensory experience, interpreted
through reason and logic, forms the exclusive source of all authoritative
knowledge

Emile Dukheim
The Study of Suicide by Emile Dukheim

4
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

 The Book, Suicide by founding sociologist Émile Durkheim is a classic text in sociology

that is widely taught to students within the discipline. Published in 1897, the work is
considered groundbreaking both for showcasing an in-depth case study of suicide that
revealed that there can be social causes to suicide, and because it was the first book to
present a sociological study.
 Suicide offers an examination of how rates of suicide differed by religion. Specifically,
Durkheim analyzed differences between Protestants and Catholics. He found a lower rate
of suicide among Catholics, and theorized that this was due to stronger forms of social
control and cohesion among them than among Protestants.
 Additionally, Durkheim found that suicide was less common among women than men,
more common among single people than among those who are romantically partnered,
and less common among those who have children. Further, he found that soldiers commit
suicide more often than civilians, and that curiously, rates of suicide are higher during
peacetime than they are during wars.
 Based on what he saw in the data, Durkheim argued that suicide can be caused by social
factors, not just individual psychological ones. Durkheim reasoned that social integration
in particular is a factor. The more socially integrated a person is--connected to society
and generally feeling that they belong and that their life makes sense within the social
context--the less likely they are to commit suicide. As social integration decreases, people
are more likely to commit suicide.

 Anomic suicide occurs when a person experiences a anomie--a sense of disconnection

from society and a feeling of not belonging that result from weakened social cohesion.
Anomie occurs during period of serious social, economic, or political upheaval, which
results in quick and extreme changes to society and everyday life. In such circumstances
a person might feel so confused and disconnected that they choose to commit suicide.
 Altruistic suicide happens when there is excessive regulation of individuals by social
forces, such that a person will be moved to kill themselves for the benefit of a cause or
for society at large. In such social circumstances, people are so strongly integrated into
social expectations and society itself that they will kill themselves in an effort to achieve
collective goals.
 Egoistic suicide happens when people feel totally detached from society. Ordinarily,
people are integrated into society by work roles, ties to family and community, and other
social bonds. When these bonds are weakened through retirement or loss of family and
friends, the likelihood of egoistic suicide increases. Elderly people who lose these ties are
the most susceptible to egoistic suicide.
 Fatalistic suicide occurs under conditions of extreme social regulation that result in
oppressive conditions and a denial of the self and of agency. In such a situation a person
may elect to die rather than continue enduring the oppressive conditions, such as the case
of suicide among prisoners.

Max Weber
Theory of Bureaucracy

5
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

 Max Weber argued that bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and rational way in
which one can organize human activity, and that systematic processes and organized
hierarchies were necessary to maintain order, maximize efficiency and eliminate
favoritism.
 Major Principles of Bureaucracy: Weber observed the major principles of
bureaucracy:
o A formal hierarchical structure Each level controls the level below and is
controlled by the level above. A formal hierarchy is the basis of central planning
and centralized decision making.
o Management by rules Controlling by rules allows decisions made at high levels
to be executed consistently by all lower levels.
o Organization by functional specialty Work is to be done by specialists, and
people are organized into units based on the type of work they do or skills they
have.
o An "up-focused" or "in-focused" mission If the mission is described as "up-
focused," then the organization's purpose is to serve the stockholders, the board,
or whatever agency empowered it. If the mission is to serve the organization
itself, and those within it, e.g., to produce high profits, to gain market share, or to
produce a cash stream, then the mission is described as "in-focused."
o Purposely impersonal The idea is to treat all employees equally and customers
equally, and not be influenced by individual differences.
o Employment based on technical qualifications

Karl Marx
 The following concepts of Marx have aided sociological thought significantly; 

6
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

o Dialectical Materialism
o Class and Class conflict
o Alienation
Dialectical Materialism
 Dialectical materialism, a philosophical approach to reality derived from the teachings
of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. For Marx and Engels, materialism meant that the
material world, perceptible to the senses, has objective reality independent of mind or
spirit. They did not deny the reality of mental or spiritual processes but affirmed that
ideas could arise, therefore, only as products and reflections of material conditions. Marx
and Engels understood materialism as the opposite of idealism, by which they meant any
theory that treats matter as dependent on mind or spirit, or mind or spirit as capable of
existing independently of matter.
Class and Class Conflict
 Marx recognized class as a unique feature of capitalist societies. Marx has used the term
Social class throughout his works but explained it only in a fragmented form. The
clearest passages on the concept of class structure can be found in the third volume of his
famous work Capital (1894). Under the title of “Social classes”
 Marx distinguished three classes related to the three sources of income.
o (i) Labourers whose main source of income is labour.
o (ii) Capitalists whose main source of income is profit or surplus value.
o (iii) Landowners whose main source of income is ground rent.

Talcott Parson
Parson Theory of Social Action
 Parson's theory of social action is based on his concept of the society. Parsons is known
in the field of sociology mostly for his theory of social action. Action is a process in the
actor-situation system which has motivational significance to the individual actor or in
the case of collectively, its component individuals.
 Social actions are guided by the following three systems which may also be called as
three aspects of the systems of social action
 Personality system: This aspect of the system of social action is responsible for the
needs for fulfillment of which the man makes effort and performs certain actions. But
once man makes efforts he has to meet certain conditions. These situations have definite
meaning and they are distinguished by various symbols and symptoms. Various elements
of the situation come to have several meanings for ego as signs or symbols which become
relevant to the organization of his expectation system.
 Cultural system: Once the process of the social action develops the symbols and the
signs acquire general meaning. They also develop as a result of systematised system and

7
Sociology Lecture # 11 Arooj Shahzad
Year: 2018

ultimately when different actors under a particular cultural system perform various social
interactions, special situation develops.
 Social System: A social system consists of individual actor's interacting with each other
in a situation which has at least a physical or environmental aspect, actors are motivated
in terms of tendency to the optimization of gratification and whose relations to the
situation including each other is defined and motivated in terms of system of culturally
structured and shaped symbols.

Sociology Past Paper: Question Practice

Question (Year 2018)

Ibn-e-Khaldun but not August Comte is the founder of Sociology? Make your
argument in favor or against this thought with logic and examples from the
historical development of Sociology.