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Sociological Theory SSoocciioollooggiiccaall TThheeoorryy Dr. Ashok Shivaji Yakkaldevi LAXMI BOOK PUBLICATION 258/34, Raviwar Peth, Solapur - 413005 +91 9595359435 / 0217-2372010 [email protected] / [email protected] Rs. : 325/- Sociological Theory Dr. Ashok Shivaji Yakkaldevi © 2014 by Laxmi Book Publication, Solapur All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN- 978-1-312-70223-3 Published by, Laxmi Book Publication, 258/34, Raviwar Peth, Solapur, Maharashtra, India Contact No. : +91 9595-359-435 / 0217-2372010 Website : http://www.lsrj.in Email ID :[email protected] / [email protected] Dedicated to My best friend Dr. Ecaterina Patrascu (Editor, European Academic Research Journal, Romania) Who inspired to write 1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. 1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.- book CONTENT Sr. Page Title No. No. Chapter-1 1 1 Sociological Theory Chapter-2 2 4 Conflict Theory Chapter-3 3 132 Functional Theory Chapter-4 4 267 Interactionist Theory Chapter-5 5 433 Structural Theory Acknowledgement I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout the completion of this book. I am thankful for their aspiring guidance, invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice during the written work. I am sincerely grateful to them for sharing their truthful and illuminating views on a number of issues related to the project. At the very outset, I would like to record my deep sense of gratitude and everlasting indebtedness. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me the possibility to complete this book. I gratefully acknowledge the unstinted encouragement and unreserved support from my beloved teacher, Dr. H. N. Jagtap for providing me the necessary knowledge and support in bringing this work. Also I would like to thankful to Principal Dr. Rajendra Shendge, A. R. Burla Mahila Varishta Mahavidyalay, Solapur. It is with great pleasure and a sense of gratitude I remember the encouragement I received from my parents, wife, son and my loving daughters. More than anything else, their love and affection is so gratifying that it always motivates me to do the things to be worthy of their love and affection. But for the blessings, incessant help at all levels and the constant insistence of my parents, this work could not have been completed. I am ever grateful to them for the sincerity and warmth in their blessings. Dr. Ashok S. Yakkaldevi ~1~ Sociological Theory Introduction: A sociological theory is a set of ideas that provides an explanation for human society. Theories are selective in terms of their priorities and perspectives and the data they define as significant. As a result they provide a particular and partial view of reality. Sociological theories can be grouped together according to a variety of criteria. The most important of these is the distinction between Structural and Social action theories. Structural or macro perspectives analyses the way society as a whole fits together. Structural theory sees society as a system of relationships that creates the structure of the society in which we live. It is this structure that determines our lives and characters. Structured sets of social relationships are the 'reality' that lie below the appearance of 'the free individual' of western individualism. Structuralism focuses on the particular set of 'structural laws' that apply in any one society. Despite their differences, both functionalism and Marxism use a model of how society as a whole works. Many functionalists base their model of society around the assumption of basic needs and go to explain how different parts of society help to meet those needs. Marxists, on the other hand, see society as resting upon an economic base or infrastructure, with a superstructure above it. They see society as divided into social classes which have the potential to be in conflict with each other. However, the main differences between functionalist and Marxist perspectives then, is the way they characterize the social structure. Functionalists stress the extent to which the different elements of the social structure fit together harmoniously. Marxists 6 stress the lack of fit between the different parts, particularly social classes, and so emphasize the potential for social conflict. Not all sociological perspectives base their analysis upon an examination of the structure of society as a whole. Rather than seeing human behaviour as being largely determined by society, they see society as being the product of human activity. They stress the meaningfulness of human behaviour, denying that it is primarily determined by the structure of society. These approaches are known as social action theory, interpretive sociology or micro sociology. Max Weber was the first sociologist to advocate a social action approach. Symbolic interactionists try to explain human behavior and human society by examining the ways in which people interpret the actions of others, develop a self-concept or self-image, and act in terms of meanings. Ethno methodology moves even further from a structural approach by denying the existence of a social structure as such. They see the social world as consisting of the definitions and categorizations of members of society. The job of the sociologist, in their view, is to interpret, describe and understand the subjective reality. Marxism is an economic and socio-political worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and a critique of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid-19th century by two German philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism encompasses Marxian economic theory, a sociological theory and a revolutionary view of social change that has greatly influenced socialist political movements worldwide. Social theories are frameworks of empirical evidence used to study and interpret social phenomena. A tool used by social scientists, social theories relate to historical debates over the most valid and reliable methodologies (e.g. positivism and anti-positivism), as well as the primacy of either structure or agency. Certain social theories 7 attempt to remain strictly scientific, descriptive, and objective. Conflict theories, by contrast, present ostensibly normative positions, and often critique the ideological aspects inherent in conventional, traditional thought. The origins of social theory are difficult to pinpoint, but debates frequently return to Ancient Greece (Berberoglu 2005, p. xi). From these foundations in Western philosophy arose Enlightenment social contract theory, sociological positivism, and modern social science. Today, 'social science' is used as an umbrella term to refer to sociology, economics, political science, jurisprudence, and other disciplines. Social theory is interdisciplinary and draws upon ideas from fields as diverse as anthropology and media studies. Social theory of an informal nature, or authorship based outside of academic social and political science, may be referred to instead as "social criticism" or "social commentary". Similarly, "cultural criticism" may be associated both with formal cultural and literary scholarship, as well as other non-academic or journalistic forms of writing. Social theory as a distinct discipline emerged in the 20th century and was largely equated with an attitude of critical thinking, based on rationality, logic and objectivity, and the desire for knowledge through a posteriori methods of discovery, rather than a priori methods of tradition. With this in mind it is easy to link social theory to deeper seated philosophical discussions to assure the responsibility in every human also. 8 ~ 2 ~ Conflict Theory Introduction: Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservatives. Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast historically dominant ideologies. It is therefore a macro level analysis of society. Karl Marx is the father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of the 4 paradigms of sociology. Certain conflict theories set out to highlight the ideological aspects inherent in traditional thought. Whilst many of these perspectives hold parallels, conflict theory does not refer to a unified school of thought, and should not be confused with, for instance, peace and conflict studies, or any other specific theory of social conflict. Conflict theory is based on the writings of Karl Marx (1818- 1883), he argues that in all stratified societies there are two major social groups: a ruling class and a subject class. The ruling class derives its power from its ownership and control of the forces of production and exploits the subject class hence a conflict between the two classes. Conflict theory are basically the perspectives in social science that emphasize on the social, political or material inequality of a social group, which critique the broad socio-political system, or which otherwise detract from structural functionalism. The concept of Conflict Theory was first fronted by Karl Max and was meant to explain the workings of a society with a ruling and subject classes and their conflicts of interest. 9 In
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