Sociology. Anthony Giddens
what Elias means by human figurations. Provide some real-world examples of figurations.
7 According to Giddens, what constitutes the ‘duality of structure’? Provide some examples which illustrate this idea.
8 How did feminist theorists criticize malestream sociology? In what ways has sociology changed following such criticisms? Why do some people still insist that sociology has not fully integrated the concept of gender into the discipline?
9 Discuss the proposition that the prefix ‘post-’ in postcolonial, postmodern and poststructuralist theories implies a critique of mainstream perspectives but puts nothing constructive in their place. What evidence is there that the postmodern idea that the age of modernity is over is simply wrong?
10 Following Ulrich Beck, what is a ‘manufactured risk’? Provide some examples. What is meant by a risk society? Do we live in risk societies today?
11 Should we abandon the classical sociological theories of Durkheim, Marx and Weber as unsuitable for the twenty-first century? Which aspects of their work, if any, remain relevant today, and what might they still help us to understand?
The question of whether the classical sociological theories and perspectives have anything to contribute to our understanding of the global problems of the twenty-first century remains pertinent. Marx could not have predicted the emergence and impact of AI and robotics on the workforce, Weber did not foresee global warming, and Durkheim’s work is not the best example of postcolonial theory.
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century a range of theorists, some discussed in this chapter, have tried to develop new perspectives and frameworks that may give us a better grasp of such emerging issues. The article below introduces a special issue of the journal, reflecting on the challenges facing sociology today. Read it (and perhaps others in this issue) and answer the questions below.
Possamai-Inesedy, A., Rowe, D., and Stevenson, D. (2017) ‘Sociology in the 21st Century: Challenges Old and New’, Journal of Sociology, 53(4): 723–9; https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783317747443.
1 Make a list of the ‘issues and challenges’ in this piece, both socially and in terms of the discipline of sociology. Which of these are genuinely ‘new’?
2 What concepts and/or theories do the authors draw on to address the postcolonial critique of sociology?
3 The authors suggest that they have not ‘turned their backs’ on ‘the old, proven skills’ necessary for doing sociology. Explain what these skills are and why they are thought still to be relevant.
4 What evidence is there in this paper that some of the older theories, concepts and ideas are still in play, even as the authors argue for creative new developments?
5 ‘Sociology remains firmly anchored in its founding preoccupations.’ How do the authors square this conclusion with their overall focus on the need for novel approaches?
The postcolonial critique of mainstream sociology is a powerful one which raises some fundamental problems with the idea of ‘business as usual’ for today’s sociologists. One key issue is the problematizing of the central concept of ‘modernity’, which has long been the focus of sociological theories, from Marx to Giddens, Beck, Bauman and many more. Is the concept of modernity doomed to the ‘dustbin of history’ or is there a way to modify and save it? Does it deserve to be saved?
In recent decades, one way to hang onto the concept has been to note the widely differing and divergent paths of modernization taken by countries around the world. These have led to a series of ideas on ‘multiple modernities’. The article below summarizes these various attempts and tries to explain why they have not had as much impact as might have been expected. Read the paper, then write a 750-word defence of the concept of modernity, taking account of the postcolonial critique from earlier in this chapter. In particular, discuss what sociology would lose should this concept be abandoned, and whether moving towards multiple modernities can reinvigorate the theory of modernization in a globalizing world.
Fourie, E. (2012) ‘A Future for the Theory of Multiple Modernities: Insights from the New Modernization Theory’, Social Science Information, 51(1): 52–69.
Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale is often described as a work of speculative fiction, portraying events in the USA – renamed Gilead – following environmental catastrophe and civil war. American society is subjected to the rule of a strict theocratic dictatorship rooted in a very specific and fundamentalist reading of the Bible. In Gilead, gender roles are clearly defined and brutally established, with new social categories created that shape the lives of all individuals. The book was the source for a television series which, as of 2019, was in its third season (and moved beyond the novel). Read the book and/or watch at least one season of the series.
Many people have interpreted this work as a feminist novel on account of the stark power imbalance between men and women and the ways in which women at the bottom of the hierarchy still find novel ways of resisting the system. However, there are other sociological themes in the story. In particular, as you read/watch, take notes on the central theoretical issues introduced earlier of consensus versus conflict and structure versus agency.
1 Following Marx’s ideas on class conflict, what would you say is the central organizing conflict in Gilead society? In what ways is this conflictual society held together and presented as consensual? Is there any theoretically deduced contradiction within Gilead that might eventually lead to a social revolution from within?
2 Write a 1,000-word essay applying either Giddens’s structuration theory, Elias’s ideas on figurations, or Durkheim’s concept of social institutions and social facts to Atwood’s Gilead. Take account of the extensive militarization of this society, which social categories offer the best prospects for individual agency, and whether these are entirely male-dominated.
There are many books covering sociological and social theory, so you could try dipping into a few titles to find one that suits. A comprehensive text aiming to use social theory in real-world applications is Michelle Dillon’s (2019) Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century (3rd edn, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell). Pip Jones and Liz Bradbury’s (2018) Introducing Social Theory (3rd edn, Cambridge: Polity) is also very good.
For the classical theories, Kenneth Morrison’s (2006) Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought (London: Sage) is reliable, while George Ritzer and Jeffrey Stepnisky’s (2017) Classical Sociological Theory (7th edn, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage) is an excellent book. For contemporary theory, Anthony Elliott’s (2014) Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction (2nd edn, London: Routledge) is well written and comprehensive.
Remember that at some point it will be necessary to read the key theorists in their original works, most of which are not as daunting as you might think. Ultimately this is a necessary requirement if you are to