Essentials of Sociology. George Ritzer
and intense partisanship. Trump has been reported to revel in the chaos that was characteristic of both his campaign and presidency. More importantly, as President Trump has aggressively sought to implement his largely conservative agenda, liberals have ramped up their rhetoric and political opposition to it.
How would a sociologist deal with such highly partisan political action and mutual antagonism? The answer depends to a large extent on which sociologist you ask. Like other scientists, sociologists use theories and do research to make sense of the phenomena they study. A sociologist’s perspective on any given issue is therefore framed by the particular explanatory theories and research methods to which he or she subscribes.
Theoretically, some sociologists suggest that partisan political maneuvering and debate, even if impassioned, are a normal aspect of stable government, necessary to resolve issues and move society forward. Others believe that factions fighting to promote their own interests are enacting a simple, if large-scale, power struggle. Still others might focus on the interaction of those involved in the conflict.
In this chapter, we first identify the particular sociological theories that frame each of these perspectives—and many more. Each is the product of decades (and sometimes centuries) of development, and each has undergone testing, modification, and critique by some of sociology’s greatest minds. As you learn about the notable sociological thinkers—both classical and contemporary—and the theories they developed, consider the sociopolitical events that shaped them during their lives. Consider too the events that have shaped, and are shaping, you and your own perspectives on the world. Finally, use those perspectives (yours and those of sociologists) to think about U.S. politics today.
Second, we will look at the major research methods in sociology. Some of them are qualitative, involving observation and interviews. Using those methods, a sociologist interested in the political issues mentioned above could, for example, observe an acrimonious debate in the U.S. Senate or interview senators on both sides of that debate. Quantitative methods include surveys of those involved and experiments involving small groups on either side of a major political issue. Instead of doing their own survey on this issue, sociological researchers could reanalyze relevant data collected by the government or other researchers. Another method involves a historical-comparative analysis to see whether political debates in the United States were more or less heated at other times and/or in other parts of the world. Finally, a researcher could analyze the content of the Congressional Record, the official record of daily debates and proceedings in the Congress, to study differences in political debates over time.
The current high level of political tension in the United States gives the theorist and the researcher much to think about and to study.
Theorizing the Social World
Theories are sets of interrelated ideas that have a wide range of applications, deal with centrally important issues, and have stood the test of time (Ritzer and Stepnisky 2018). Theories have stood the test of time when they continue to be applicable to the changing social world and have withstood challenges from those who accept other theories. Sociological theories are necessary to make sense of both the innumerable social phenomena and the many highly detailed findings of sociological research. Without such theories, we would have little more than knowledge of isolated bits of the social world. However, once those theories have been created, they can be applied broadly to such areas as the economy, organizations, religion, society as a whole, and even the globe. The theories to be discussed in this chapter deal with very important social issues that have affected the social world for centuries and will likely continue to affect it. Among these issues are violence, suicide, alienation and exploitation in the work world, and revolution.
Classical Sociological Theory
The emergence of sociological theory was closely related to intellectual and social developments throughout the nineteenth century in Europe. It is important to recognize that sociological theory did not develop in isolation or come of age in a social vacuum. In Chapter 1, we briefly mentioned the impact of the Industrial Revolution. Other changes that profoundly affected sociological theorizing were the political revolutions that wracked European society (especially the French Revolution, 1789–1799), the rise of socialism, the women’s rights movement, the urbanization occurring throughout Europe, ferment in the religious realm, and the growth of science.
Among the most important early sociological theorists are Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, and Herbert Spencer.
Auguste Comte (1798–1857) is noted, as pointed out in Chapter 1, for the invention of the term sociology, development of a general theory of the social world, and interest in developing a science of sociology (Pickering 2011).
Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), like Comte, developed a scientific and general theory, although she is best known today for her feminist, women-centered sociology (Hoecker-Drysdale 2011).
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) also developed a general, scientific theory of society, but his overriding theoretical interest was in social change, specifically evolution in not only the physical domain but also the intellectual and social domains (Francis 2011).
Harriet Martineau was a social theorist essential for, among other things, bringing attention to gender in sociology.
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Although Comte, Martineau, and Spencer were important predecessors, the three theorists to be discussed in this section—Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim—are the most significant of the classical era’s social theorists and of the greatest continuing contemporary relevance to sociology (and other fields).
Karl Marx
Marx (1818–1883) focused most of his attention on the structure of capitalist society, a relatively new phenomenon in his day. Marx defined capitalism as an economic system based on the fact that one group of people—the capitalists—owns what is needed for production, including factories, machines, and tools. A second group—the proletariat, or workers—owns little or nothing except their capacity for work and labor. In order to work and survive, the workers must sell their labor time, primarily their working hours, to the capitalists in exchange for wages. In Marx’s view, the capitalist system is marked by exploitation (Carver 2018). The proletariat produces virtually everything but gets only a small portion of the income derived from the sale of the products. The capitalists, who do little productive work, reap the vast majority of the rewards. In other words, the capitalists exploit the workers. Furthermore, driven by the need to compete in the marketplace, the capitalists are forced to keep costs, including wages, as low as possible. Then, as competition with other capitalists intensifies, the pressure is on to reduce wages further. As a result, the proletariat barely subsists, living a miserable, animal-like existence.
Karl Marx was in many ways the most important social theorist because his thinking profoundly affected both social theory and the social world.
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In addition, the workers experience alienation on the job and in the workplace (Carver 2018; Mészáros 2006). They are alienated because
The work they do—for example, repetitively and mechanically inserting wicks into candles or attaching hubcaps to cars—is not a natural expression of human skills, abilities, and creativity.
They have little or no connection to the finished product.
Instead