Introduction to Sociological Theory Michele Dillon
Overview
The approach of Introduction to Sociological Theory by Michele Dillon is to show how sociological theory is not only abstract, but also highly practical and relevant for understanding the complexity of the social world we live in.
Publisher
Wiley Blackwell
ISBN
9781118471920
Year
2014
Pages
565
Summary
The aim of Introduction to Sociological Theory to provide a solid foundation in sociological theory. It examines the key conceptual frameworks developed by sociology’s founding thinkers—Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber—alongside the broader range of ideas that make up contemporary sociological theory.
The approach of the book is to show how sociological theory is not only abstract, but also highly practical and relevant for understanding the complexity of the social world we live in. This chapter outlined the historical background behind the emergence of sociology as an intellectual discipline, emphasizing the role of Enlightenment thought and Auguste Comte’s vision of sociology as a scientific field of social inquiry.
At the same time, the chapter highlighted how the subject matter of sociology—human social behavior and social processes—makes analysis and interpretation more complex than in the natural sciences.
Points to Remember
Sociological theory is concerned with explaining empirical social phenomena.
It focuses on social structures, including culture and institutional practices.
It incorporates both macro-level and micro-level approaches to the study of society.
It examines the interaction between individual and collective agency and structural forces.
It develops critical and analytical thinking skills.
Sociology is a relatively new discipline, with origins in the mid-nineteenth century.
The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century laid the groundwork for the emergence of sociology.
An emphasis on reason and progress.
A move away from myth, tradition, and despotism.
The application of reason to politics, including ideals of equality and collective self-governance.
Key historical moments such as the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Revolution (1789).
Scientific reasoning also played a crucial role in shaping sociology.
An emphasis on observable and empirical phenomena.
Auguste Comte’s view of sociology as the positive, empirical science of society.
The idea that societies operate according to scientifically discoverable laws.
Harriet Martineau’s contribution to sociology as the scientific study of morals and manners.
The recognition that the subject matter of sociology differs from that of the natural sciences.
The development of a scientific method that includes a sympathetic understanding of individuals.
Wilhelm Dilthey further expanded sociological thought by emphasizing sociology as a form of interpretive understanding.
Early observers of American society included Harriet Martineau and Alexis de Tocqueville. Their contrasting interpretations highlight the importance of recognizing how an observer’s social background and theoretical perspective shape what is observed, analyzed, and critiqued in society.
Contents
Introduction
Welcome to Sociological Theory
Analyzing Social Life
Societal Transformation and the Origins of Sociology
The Establishment of Sociology
The Sociological Craft in the Nineteenth Century
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Karl Marx
Expansion of Capitalism
Marx’s Theory of History
Human Nature
Capitalism as a Distinctive Social Form
Wage-Labor
The Division of Labor and Alienation
Economic Inequality
Ideology and Power
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Emile Durkheim
Durkheim’s Methodological Rules
The Nature of Society
Societal Transformation and Social Cohesion
Traditional Society
Modern Society
Social Conditions of Suicide
Religion and the Sacred
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Max Weber
Sociology: Understanding Social Action
Culture and Economic Activity
Ideal Types
Social Action
Power, Authority, and Domination
Social Stratification
Modernity and Competing Values
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton
Functionalism and Modernization
The Social System
Socialization and Societal Integration
Social Differentiation, Culture, and Secularization
Pattern Variables
Modernization Theory
Stratification and Inequality
Middle-Range Theory
Parsons’s Legacy
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Critical Theory
Dialectic of Enlightenment
Mass Culture and Consumption
Politics: Uniformity and Control
Jürgen Habermas: State and Society
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Conflict, Power, and Dependency
Ralf Dahrendorf’s Theory of Group Conflict
C. Wright Mills
Dependency Theory
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Exchange and Rational Choice Theories
Exchange Theory
Exchange Network Theory
Actor–Network Theory
Rational Choice Theory
Analytical Marxism
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Symbolic Interactionism
Development of the Self
Premises of Symbolic Interactionism
Erving Goffman
Ethnographic Research
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology
Phenomenology
Ethnomethodology
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Feminist Theories
Consciousness of Women’s Inequality
Standpoint Theory
Patricia Hill Collins
Sociology of Emotion
Arlie Hochschild: Emotional Labor
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Michel Foucault
Sexuality, the Body, and Power
Disciplining the Body
Queer Theory
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Race, Racism, and Racial Otherness
Social Change and Racism
Slavery and Colonialism
W. E. B. Du Bois
Race and Class
Culture and the New Racism
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Pierre Bourdieu
Social Reproduction of Inequality
Social Stratification
Cultural Capital
Taste and Everyday Practices
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Economic and Political Globalization
What is Globalization?
Economic Globalization
World-System Theory
Political Globalization
Migration and Transnationalism
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Modernities and Global Consumer Culture
Multiple Modernities
Risk Society
Cosmopolitan Modernity
Human Rights
Consumer Culture
Disembeddedness and the Self
Summary
Points to Remember
Glossary
Questions for Review
Autor
Michele Dillon is a well-known sociologist and currently serves as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire. She studied in Ireland and at the University of California, Berkeley, and her main research interests focus on the Catholic Church, especially issues of authority, autonomy, cultural change, and how religion and spirituality evolve over the life course.
She has written and edited many influential books on Catholicism and sociological theory, along with more than fifty academic articles published in leading journals. Her work has been widely supported by major research foundations, showing its importance and impact within the field.
Beyond her research, Dillon has played a major leadership role in professional sociological organizations related to the study of religion. She is also frequently invited to speak at academic events and to comment in the media on religion and social change.
Over the years, she has received numerous honors for her contributions to sociology and religious studies. She has been recognized internationally for the quality of her research and is regarded as one of the leading scholars in the sociology of religion today.
Book Details
Title
Introduction to Sociological Theory
Subtitle
Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century
