Sosiologer og teorier Flashcards
What do postcolonial scholars argue
That sociology has not taken enough account of the devastating impact of colonialism on countries in the global south
Auguste Comte
Created the term sociology around 1840. Wanted sociology to become a «positive science»
Positivism
A doctrine which says that science should be concerned only with observable entities that are known directly to experience. On the basis og careful observation, laws can then be inferred that explain the relationships between those observed phenomena
Comte’s three stages
Theological, metaphysical and positive
Comte theological
In the theological stage, thinking was guided by religious ideas and a belief that society was an expression of God’s will.
Comte metaphysical stage
In the metaphysical stage, society came to be seen in natural rather than supernatural terms, with events being explained by reference to natural laws
Comte positive stage
The positive stage, ushered in by the discoveries of Copernicus, Galileo and Newton, encouraged the application of scientific methods
Emile Durkheim
Saw sociology as a new science that turned traditional philosophical questions into sociological ones demanding real-world - empirical - research studies.
What is a social fact
Durkheim explains that social facts are all those institutions and tules of action which constrain or channel human behaviour.
What is anomie
Deep feelings of aimlessness, dread and despair, as many people are left perceiving that their lives lack meaning and structure without clear guidelines for action
Karl Marx
Mainly focused on capitalism and class consciousness
Max Weber
Weber thought economic factors are important, but ideas and values can also bring about social change
What did Max Weber think sociologists should study
Social action - the subjectively meaningful actions of people that are oriented towards others
What are ideal types
Ideal types are models that are created to alert us to some social phenomenon and to help us make sense of it
What sort of concerns did Weber have about the outcome of rationalization?
He feared that the spread of beaurocracy, which is the most efficient form of administration, would stifle crwativity and imprison individuals in a ‘steel-hard cage’ fron which there would be little chance of escape
What are the three theoretical traditions and which sociologist do they belong to?
Functionalism (Durkheim)
Conflict theory (Marx)
Social action or ‘interactionalist’ approaches (Weber)
