Pioneers of Sociology: Key Figures and Their Contributions - Prof. Michael J. Lovaglia, Study notes of Introduction to Sociology

Download Pioneers of Sociology: Key Figures and Their Contributions - Prof. Michael J. Lovaglia and more Study notes Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! Auguste Comte (1798-1857) coined the term “sociology” in 1838; he was a conservative thinker who was motivated by opposing the rapid changes in French society; he promoted gradual changes and the preservation of traditional social life; never conducted any research Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) first woman sociologist; born in England; studied slavery, factory working conditions, and gender inequality in the 1800’s; translated Auguste Comte’s works to English; advocate of voting rights and higher education for women; feminist; founded both the Conflict and Feminist perspectives Robert Merton (1910-2003) made functionalism a more flexible theory; he said social structures can be functional or dysfunctional and not all functions are manifest (intended, easily observed) but that some functions are latent (unintended, less obvious) Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) the first professor of sociology in France; considered the first modern sociologist; argued that human behavior is shaped by the social context in which people are embedded, including the constraints and opportunities within which people must act Durkheim suggested that the most personal decisions (ex: suicide) are profoundly influenced by societal forces; developed a theory of suicide that states more freedom and autonomy leads to higher risk of suicide C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) American sociologist who said that the ability to see the connection between personal troubles and social structures was the sociological imagination; he thought economic, political, and military power is highly concentrated in U.S. society and is less of a democracy than we think; in order to make our society more democratic, power needs to be evenly distributed W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) Harvard’s first African-American Ph.D; founder of the NAACP; suggested that decline in inequality and prejudice would solve problems in the African American community Karl Marx (1818-1883) German who thought that major sociohistorical changes are the result of conflict between society’s main social classes; originated conflict theory; named Communism--classless society that will develop out of capitalism; socialism is the name Marx gave to the transitional phase between capitalism and communism Friedrich Engels Karl Marx’s collaborator who located the root of male domination in class inequality; Engels stated that men gained substantial power over women when preliterate societies were first able to produce more than their members needed for their own subsistence, which resulted in men controlling the economic surplus Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) British social theorist who was influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution, thought society was made of interdependent parts like any biological organism Charles Darwin observed wide variations in the physical characteristics of members of each species; led to his conclusion that the “fittest” members of each species are more likely to survive long enough to produce offspring Max Weber (1864-1920) Germany’s greatest sociologist who found flaws in Marx’s argument; showed that class conflict isn’t the only driving force of history; author of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; argued that capitalism wouldn’t seg way to socialism; he stated that the growth of bureaucracy and the overall “rationalization” of life as the defining characteristics of the modern age, detailed in his Economy and Society Edward Sapir with help from Benjamin Whorf; proposed that experience, thought, and language interact in what came to be known as the Sapir-Whorf thesis Benjamin Whorf with help from Edward Sapir; proposed that experience, thought, and language interact in what came to be known as the Sapir-Whorf thesis Sapir-Whorf thesis: we experience certain things in our environment and form concepts about them, we then develop language to express our concepts; finally the language itself influences how we see the world Lillian Rubin one of the most talented participant-observation researchers in the United States; her work in Families on the Fault Line, gave voice to the voiceless by investigating how race, ethnicity, and other gender divide the working class. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian, the founder of psychoanalysis; his main sociological contribution was his insistence that the self emerges during early social interaction and that early childhood experience exerts a lasting impact on personality development Id: part of the self that demands immediate gratification Superego: part of the self that acts as a repository of cultural standards Ego: psychological mechanism that balances the conflicting needs of the pleasure-seeking id and the restraining superego Unconscious: part that contains repressed memories that we are not normally aware of Criticisms of Freud’s Analysis: connections between early childhood development and adult personality are more complex than Freud assumed; gender bias in Freud’s analysis of male and female sexuality; neglecting socialization after childbirth Jean Piaget Swiss psychologist who divided the development of thinking (cognitive) skills during childhood into 4 stages Sensorimotor: first 2 years of life when children explore the world only with their 5 senses; children’s knowledge of the world is limited and can’t think using symbols Preoperational: ages 2-7 when language and imagination bloom; children of this age are still unable to think abstractly Concrete Operational: ages 7-11 when children are able to see the connections between causes and effects in their environment Formal Operational: begins at age 12; children develop the ability to think more abstractly and critically George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) his work led to symbolic interactionism (the study of how an individual’s sense of self is formed by interaction with others): Mead also developed