Social Perspectives Evolutionary Theorist: Ø Ibn Khaldun:

He was a historian and wrote history of the cultural life of Babar tribes. He studied the socio-­‐cultural aspects of these tribes and thus laid down the foundation of a new science called Ilmul Imran, which became the foundation of sociology.

His social theories included:

• Social Solidarity (Al-­‐Asabiya):

o A force that unites people with one another that subsequently leads to the formation of a state.

o People, when combine their minds and forces, create solidarity amongst themselves, which is social solidarity.

o Al-­‐Asabiya is the emotions of similarity that keeps the people of a group united together having a common effective action.

o The uniting force is highest in this relation. a spirit that is shared by another great social philosopher – Emile Durkheim.

o The state decides conflicts of the group.

o The group that achieves social solidarity becomes an invincible force that cannot be subjugated.

o While studying the tribes, he said that the force of solidarity is what’s keeping tribes strong, as it is what brings power and authority to the tribes.

o The more luxury they gain, the more weakened this force may become. Without the force of unity, they would lose their social solidarity and therefore be vulnerable to their enemies.

o He further emphasized that religion sharpens the solidarity amongst the tribes. It brings them a lot closer to each other.

o He mentions that it is easier to overcome states with less solidarity or none.

o Of nomadic people, Ibn Khaldun said that they thrive on the force of solidarity as they are closely bonded by it. Therefore, for them, it

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becomes easier to travel different regions and survive by depending upon each other.

o An individual cannot survive without the help of others in the society for livelihood. This gave rise to the social process of urbanization that is termed Civilization by Ibn Khaldun.

o Man is an animal. The society makes him a human being. He learns in the association of the social organization and receives justice from the government in this organization.

o The social organization only develops when mutual needs are satisfied by cooperation, which is due to the mutual help of each other. Subsequently, a civilization is established.

o He concludes that justice is an important factor in the civilization. As a tyrant cannot, at any cost, subjugate poor. If so, it would result in the extinction of human beings. Therefore, justice would have to prevail.

Theory of Rural and Urban Society:

o He said that human society supersedes the animal society due to the following conditions:

1. On the basis of wisdom 2. The need for a supreme governor 3. Search for the means of livelihood 4. Living together with their fellow human being leading to the development of the state.

o He divided the human society amongst two types: Badvi i.e. Rural and Hazri i.e. Urban.

o Badvi characteristics:

§ They are strong, brave, hard-­‐working and generous people with minimal basic needs. The force of social solidarity is very strong in these people.

§ Ibn Khaldun mentioned about the tribes living a nomadic life, which is of rural type.

§ He further states that they live in deserts and the tough life there enables them to defeat their enemies. § However, when the tribes become sedentary, the group life weakens and this according to Khaldun is the urban (Hazri) society.

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o Hazri characteristics:

§ They depend upon the forces of army and police § They aren’t able to physically defend themselves, as they are weak. § The forces of solidarity are weak amongst this group due to the immense importance of luxury in their lives.

The Theory of Social Change:

o According to Ibn Khaldun, the society is ever changing. One government fails to handle state matters; therefore the other overtakes it.

o The weakened force of Asabiya results into the downfall of that group and rise of another.

o Ibn Khaldun outlined three principles of social change; physical boundaries should not be out of the limit of control; physical age of a state is about 120 years that is further divided into three equal stages of 40 years; only when the first nation falls, the other rises.

Ø Herbert Spencer Spencer never earned a university degree and was surprisingly productive in spite of his physical and mental illness. Spencer is well known for his scholarly work, a few of which are discussed.

Spencer applied the principle of evolution to the social world and called it “Social Evolution.” The term here implies the evolution of man’s social relations. “Evolution is a change from a state of relatively indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity.”

Spencerian interpretations relating to ‘evolution’ can be divided in to two parts: General Theory of Evolution and Theory of Social Evolution.

• General Theory of Evolution: o According to general theory of evolution, the fundamental principle behind every phenomenon or every development whether it is physical or social in nature, there is the supreme law of evolution operating.

o The law of evolution, according to him, is the supreme law of every becoming. o For Spencer, this law was universal in character, as it was applicable to the physical, organic and the social world.

o With in the framework of universal evolution, Spencer developed his “three basic laws” and his “four secondary laws

o Three Basic Laws:

§ Law of Persistence of Energy or Force: There is a force or energy persistent in the world that is beyond our knowledge and control. We can only be obliged to accept its presence.

§ The Law of Indestructibility of Matter: The basic elements of matter and energy in the world are neither created nor destroyed, but conserved.

§ The Law of Continuity of Motion: Like matter, motion cannot be stopped or destroyed, its continuous and persistent in the world. Energy transferred, passes from one form to another and motion only changes with the form.

o Four Secondary Laws:

§ Uniformity of Law: There is a persistency of certain relationship among the forces in the world. Recurring manifestation of events in the natural world, the forces, elements of matter, and relations of motion existing among have a definite regularity.

§ Law of Transformation and Equivalence of Forces: The force, the elements of matter, the motion, are never lost or dissipated in a process of change. They are merely transformed into the manifestation of some other event or some other form.

§ The Law of Least Resistance and Great Attractions: There is the tendency of every thing (all forces and elements) to move along the line of least resistance and of greatest attraction

§ The Principle of Alteration or Rhythm of Motion: All phenomena in nature have their own particular rate and rhythm of movement of duration and development. Force, matter and motion, each of these has its appropriate pattern of transformation.

o According to Spencer, when we examine the nature of both order and change in any kind of phenomena in the world, we find that the pattern of the transformation is the same.

o This is how Spencer made evolution a universally applicable system of analysis and thus used it to analyze the development and evolution of the human society. It was in this context that he gave birth to the “theory of social evolution.”

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Social Evolution Theory

o Analyses the genesis, development, evolution and finally decay of the society.

o Evolutionary principle was applicable to society as per Spencer

o Both organism and society grows from simple to complex and from homogenous to heterogeneous.

o Abraham and Morgan pointed out that this theory involves essential but interrelated trends or strains of thought:

§ Change from simplicity to complexity or movement from simple society to various levels of compound societies.

Spencer identified four types of societies in terms of stages of their evolutionary development:

I. Simple Society: This is the most primitive society without any complexities and consisting of several families. II. Compound Society: A large number of above mentioned simple societies make a compound society. This is ‘clan’ society. III. Double Compound Society: These consist of several clans compounded into tribes or tribal society. IV. Trebly Compound: Here the tribes are organized into nation states. This is the present from the world.

§ Change from military society to industrial society.

The type of social structure depends on the relation of a society to other societies in its significant characteristics.

i. Therefore, a military society is characterized by compulsory co-­‐operation whereas an industrial society is based on voluntary co-­‐operation. ii. While military society has a centralized government, the industrial society has decentralized government. iii. Military society has economic autonomy unlike industrial society. iv.
State
dominates all social organizations in a military society whereas state has a very limited function in an industrial society.

Order Theorists Ø Auguste Comte

A great French thinker and a famous social philosopher, Comte insisted that the science of society, that is sociology, should be treated on par with other sciences.

Comte used the term sociology for the fist time in his workings known as “Positive Philosophy.” In this, he also outlined his view that sociology is the ultimate science.

He described sociology as a science committed to social reconstruction and moral rejuvenation. He called sociology a synthetic and abstract science. His sociological thoughts included: •

Comtean Positivism

o According to Comte, “Positivism is nothing but science of philosophy.”

o It’s a Doctrine, which asserts that the only true knowledge is scientific knowledge, which describes and explains the co-­‐existence and succession of observable phenomena, including both physical and social phenomena.

o It operates on the general assumption that any physical scientific method can be carried over to the social sciences.

o Therefore, it can be seen that Comte has used the term; Positivism, in two distinct ways:

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Positivism as a “Doctrine”

a. Positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works. b. Metaphysical speculation, intuitive insight and the use of pure logic were set outside the realm of true knowledge. c. In essence, Comte rejected any approach whose existence was not the evidence of a method of physical science but mere thought or pure logic.

Positivism as a “Method”

a. Positivism implies the application of scientific methods to understand society and its changes.

b. Careful observation based on statistical measures of social statics and social dynamics. c. Comte believed that social life is governed by underlying laws and principles that can be discovered through the use of methods of physical sciences.

d. Method of Science can give us knowledge of the laws of co-­‐ existence and succession of phenomena, but can never penetrate to the inner “essence” or “nature” of things. e. When applied to the social world, these methods yield a law of successive states as stated by Comte in his theory; “The Law of Three Stages.”

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The Law of Three Stages in Human Thinking

Auguste Comte gave birth not only to a specific methodology of studying knowledge but also analyzed the evolution of human thinking and its various stages. The principle presumes gradual evolution and development in human thinking and is known as “the law of Three Stages.”

Comparing it to the evolution of an individual mind, he says, just as an individual is a staunch believer in childhood; critical metaphysician in adolescence; and a natural philosopher in manhood, similarly society in its growth follows three major stages. These are:

o Theological or Fictitious Stage:

§ It refers to explanation by personified deities. During the earlier stages, people believe that all the phenomena of nature are the creation of the divine or supernatural.

§ Men and children failed to discover the natural causes of various phenomena and hence attributed them to supernatural or divine power.

§ Comte broke this stage into 3 sub-­‐stages:

a. Fetishism: Fetishism was the primary stage of the theological stage of thinking. Throughout this stage, primitive people believe that inanimate objects have living spirit in them, also known as animism. People worship inanimate objects like trees, stones, a piece of wood, volcanic eruptions, etc.

b. Polytheism: The explanation of things through the use of many Gods. Primitive people believe that different Gods control all natural forces; a few examples would be God of water, God of rain, God of fire, God of air, God of earth, etc. c. Monotheism: Monotheism means believing in one God or God in one; attributing all to a single, supreme deity.

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o Metaphysical Stage:

§ The metaphysical thinking is almost an extension of the theological thinking.

§ Rationalism takes place instead of imagination. Rationalism states that God does not stand directly behind every phenomena.

§ Pure reasoning insists that God is an “Abstract Being.”

§ Reasoning helped man find out some order in the natural world.

§ The abstract being is therefore guiding and determining events in the world rather than being a reason behind them.

§ This abstract power is attributed with establishing continuity, regularity and infallibility in the natural order.

o Positive Stage:

§ The positive stage represents the scientific way of thinking.

§ As stated by Comte, “in the final stage, the mind has given over the vain search after Absolute notions, the origin and destination of the universe and the causes of succession and resemblance.”

§ A pure intellectual way of looking at the world.

§ Comte emphasized the necessity for observation of uniformities and classification of phenomena.

§ He declared the attempt to determine causes behind these uniformities as futile since they were mere speculations, which had already been rejected by his theory of positivism.

§ Positivism in essence glorified observation and classification of data rather than speculating causes behind it.

Law of Three Stages in Social Organization

Comte not only identified the stages in the development of human thinking but also aligned it with the development of the society. Each of the three stages corresponds to a type of social organization.

I.
Theological
Stage leads to military and monarchical social organization where God would be portrayed by the head of the hierarchy and human beings would be arranged in military fashion. Divine sanction rules and cannot be challenged and if so, the challengers would face severe punishments.

II.

Metaphysical Stage produces a government nominated by doctrines of abstract rights. It corresponds to the legalistic social organization. Here the natural rights were substituted for divine rights. Society becomes legalistic, formal and structural

III.

Positive Thinking produces a society dominated by industrialists. It leads to an industrial society in which men inquire into nature and utilization of the natural resources and forces. Here the emphasis is on the conversion of material resources for the benefit of human kind and the production of material inventions. In this stage, the great thought blends itself with the great power.

Three Stages Nature of Society Unit of Society Basic Principle of Type of Order Prevailing Sentiment

Theological

Military Society Family Love of Family or Domestic Order Affection or Attachment

Metaphysical

Legal Society Nation Mutual Co-­‐existence or Collective Order Mutual Respect or Veneration

Positive Industrial Society Entire Humanity Universality or Universal Order Kindness or Benevolence

Table1: Summary of Three Stages in Social Organizations

• Social Static and Social Dynamics

According to Comte, there are two divisions in Sociology; Social Statics and Social Dynamics. They are not two classes of facts but two aspects of the same theory. It dictates the correlation of order and progress or statics and dynamics.

o Social Statics:

§ It refers to the study of the laws of action and reaction of the different parts of social orders. § It studies the interrelation of the elements in the society, dealing with major institutions such as Family, Economy and Policy.

§ Inquires into co-­‐existence of social phenomena. § It emphasizes the unity of society, as the lack of harmony between the elements of society would give rise to a pathological situation.

o Social Dynamics:

§ In contrast to social statics, this studies the society as a whole instead of studying the interrelation of the elements of the society.

It discusses how human kind and society developed and changed through out the passage of time towards ever increasing perfection.

Comtean Hierarchy of the Sciences

o Just like the human thinking and social organizations, the sciences go through the same three stages that Comte proposed. o The main aim behind classification was to set up a background and the basis for the study of sociology; a new science founded by him.

o This also helped in establishing a relationship between sociology and other sciences. o The order of the hierarchy was increasing complexity and decreasing generality. o The classification started with mathematics, as Comte considered it as the ‘chief tool’ with which ‘the mind of man can go anywhere in its thinking.’ o According to Comte, mathematics is the most powerful instrument that can be used to investigate the natural laws. o It’s a science that measures precisely the relations between objects and ideas.

o The Hierarchy started with mathematics, followed by Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Physiology and Sociology & the Moral Science respectively.

o Inorganic – simpler and clearer, i.e. astronomy, physics and chemistry – and Organic – complex, e.g. Biology – sciences were another approach of classification by Comte. §

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Ø Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim was the most prominent French sociologist of the 19th Century. He was actively concerned about French politics throughout his life. The most prominent area of his interest was moral education. He wanted to discover values and moral principles that would guide French education. Durkheim had evinced interest in socialism rooted from collectivist social thoughts by di Maistre, St. Simon and Comte. His sociological contributions include: •

Theory of Social Facts

o Durkheim has defined Sociology as the science of social facts.

o Durkheim for a fact was a positivist, following the Comtean Positivism and believed in applying methods of physical science.

o Durkheim aimed to demonstrate that social fact is the subject that forms the realm of sociology.

o Social facts represents a category of facts with distinctive characteristics, consisting of ways of acting, thinking and feeling,

external to the individual and endowed with a power of coercion by means of which they control him.

o Social fact simply is a behavioral phase – acting, thinking & feeling – that is coercive in nature due to which, it controls an individual.

o Examples of social facts for Durkheim were social institutions such as kinship and marriage, currency, language, religion, political organization and all the other institutions of society that require that we take them into account in our everyday interactions with other members of our societies.

o Characteristics of Social Facts as outlined by Durkheim:

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They must be treated as ‘things.’

1. Empirical facts that must be discovered in the way physical facts are discovered. 2. The emphasis on physical discovery is due to the presence of the illusion of knowing social realities when in fact we don’t.

Social Facts are ‘External to the Individual’ and ‘Exercise a Constraint on Them.’

1. External to the Individual: Produced by the society that the individual exists in. They are not formed within an individual and are independent of them.

2. Exercise a Constraint on Them: Influences from external factors that form an individuals morals and etiquettes. It conditions them in a manner that makes them behave in accordance to its requirement.

Theory of Division of Labor and Social Solidarity

o Often described as Durkheim’s major contribution to the field of sociological thought.

o Division of labour as described by Durkheim is referred to differentiation in society as a whole.

o Social solidarity refers to the condition within a group in which there is social cohesion plus co-­‐operate, collective action described in simple societies and complex societies.

o The bases of social solidarity are different in simple societies and complex societies.

o Durkheim made comparisons between primitive and the civilized societies in terms of his concept of solidarity.

o According to him, the primitive society is characterized by “mechanical solidarity” based on the “conscience collective”; and the advanced society is characterized by “organic solidarity” based on the “division of labour.”

o Mechanical Solidarity: § Mechanical solidarity refers to social solidarity based upon homogeneity of values and behaviour, strong social constraint and loyalty to tradition and kinship.

§ The term applied to small, non-­‐literate societies characterized by a simple division of labour, very little specialization of function, only a few social roles and very little tolerance of individuality.

o Organic Solidarity: § Organic solidarity refers to a type of social solidarity typical of modern industrial society, in which unity is based on the independence of a very large number of highly specialized roles in a system involving a complex division of labour that requires the co-­‐operation of almost all the groups and individuals of the society.

§ This type of solidarity is called organic because it is similar to the unity of a biological organism in which highly specialized parts or organs, must work in co-­‐ordination if the organism is to survive.

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Theory of Suicide

o Durkheim’s Suicide was the first methodological study of a social fact in the context of society.

o What does that mean? Well, it means that Durkheim wanted to look at suicide, a known occurrence in society, and do it scientifically. He wanted to break the social causes of suicide, back them up with research, and present them to the greater world via this book.

o He splits this book into three parts, which are outlined below; the most important of which for our concerns is Book Two. This book explains his theories of the social causes of suicide and the different types he defined.

o Durkheim’s main argument was that suicide is not an individual act, as was previously thought by leading scientists of his time. Accordingly, his theory was that suicide was a social fact that was tied to social structures. He defined suicide as a social fact because it was something that happened driven by social causes, however hidden they were.

o In order to test his theory he studied suicide rates across time and place (throughout Europe, spanning many years). Once he had completed his preliminary research and analyses, he came to the conclusion that, despite major differences in suicide rates between individual societies, rates within a society remained stable over time.

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Durkheim then proceeded to theorize three different types of suicide that are found in all societies. These include: o Egoistic suicide § It results from lack of integration of the individual into society.”

§ This means that a person is not included in many things that happen in society, they feel unattached, helpless and useless. Due to these feelings of inadequacy, the person takes his of her own life. o Altruistic suicide

§ It results from the individual’s taking his own life because of higher commandments.”

§ This means that the individual feels that something larger than himself is causing him to take his own life, such as religious Martyrs or suicide bombers. o Anomic suicide

§ It results from lack of regulation of the individual by society. § This means that the society is going through some sort of change, where the rules of the society are not as clear as they were.

§ The individual feels confused and does not know how to handle the major changes occurring around him/herself, and thus commits suicide.

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The relevance of Durkheim’s Suicide Theory on sociology is seen very well through a series of quotes from the editor/translator: o “His work on suicide remains the prototype of systematic, rigorous and unrelenting attack on the subject with the data, techniques, and accumulated knowledge available at any given period.”

o “Le Suicide is among the first modern examples of consistent and organized use of statistical method in social investigation.”

o “Durkheim is seeking to establish that what looks like a highly individual and personal phenomenon is explicable through the social structure and its ramifying functions.”

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The Elementary Forms of Religion

o Durkheim argued that religious phenomena emerge in any society when a separation is made between the sphere of the profane-­‐-­‐the realm of everyday utilitarian activities-­‐-­‐and the sphere of the sacred-­‐-­‐ the area that pertains to the numinous, the transcendental, the extraordinary.

o An object is intrinsically neither sacred nor profane. It becomes the one or the other depending on whether men choose to consider the utilitarian value of the object or certain intrinsic attributes that have nothing to do with its instrumental value.

o The wine at mass has sacred ritual significance to the extent that it is considered by the believer to symbolize the blood of Christ; in this context it is plainly not a beverage.

o The community of believers values sacred activities, not as means to ends, but because the religious community has bestowed their meaning on them as part of its worship.

o Groups who band together in a cult and who are united by their common symbols and objects of worship always make distinctions between the spheres of the sacred and the profane.

o Religion is "an eminently collective thing." It binds men together, as the etymology of the word religion testifies.

o Religion, he argued, is not only a social creation, but it is in fact society divinized. In a manner reminiscent of Feuerbach, Durkheim stated that the deities which men worship together are only projections of the power of society.

o Religion is eminently social: it occurs in a social context, and, more importantly, when men celebrate sacred things, they unwittingly celebrate the power of their society. This power so transcends their own existence that they have to give it sacred significance in order to visualize it.

o Religious representations are collective representations, which express collective realities; the rites are a manner of acting which take rise in the midst of assembled groups and which are destined to excite, maintain, or recreate certain mental states in these groups.

o So if the categories are of religious origin, they ought to participate in this nature common to all religious facts; they should be social affairs and the product of collective thought. At least -­‐-­‐ for in the actual condition of our knowledge of these matters, one should be careful to avoid all radical and exclusive statements -­‐-­‐ it is allowable to suppose that they are rich in social elements."

o If religion in its essence is a transcendental representation of the powers of society, then, Durkheim argued, the disappearance of traditional religion need not herald the dissolution of society. All that is required is for modern men now to realize directly that dependence on society which before they had recognized only through the medium of religious representations.

o We must discover the rational substitutes for these religious notions that for a long time have served as the vehicle for the most essential moral ideas.

o Society is the father of us all; therefore, it is to society we owe that profound debt of gratitude heretofore paid to the gods.

o Durkheim's one of the purposes was in identifying certain elements of religious beliefs that are common across different cultures. A belief in a supernatural realm is not necessary or common among religions, but the separation of different aspects of life, physical things, and certain behaviors into two categories -­‐-­‐ the sacred and the profane -­‐-­‐ is common.

Ø Max Weber

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Theory of Class, Status & Party o Marx saw class divisions as the most important source of social conflict. Weber's analysis of class is similar to Marx's, but he discusses class in the context of social stratification more generally. Class is one dimension of the social structure. Social status, or "social honor," is another. Both are significant contributors of social difference.

o Weber's treatment of class and status indicates the manner in which the material basis of society is related to the ideological. Social conflict can result from one or the other, or both. Social action is motivated by both, though in some cases more one than the other. By bringing in status, Weber provides a more flexible view of the details of social differences, and their implications for the lived experience of social actors.

o In order to fully understand Weber's perspective on stratification, we need to be familiar with a few general concepts: (i) power; (ii) domination; and, (iii) communal and societal action. §

Power, Domination, Communal & Societal Action

A. Power

a. Weber defines power as, the ability of an actor (or actors) to realize his or her will in a social action even against the will of other actors.

b. Power relates to the ability to command resources in a particular domain. Economic power, then, is the ability to

control material resources: to direct production, to monopolize accumulation, to dictate consumption.

c. Societal power includes economic power, social power, legal or political power, and so forth.

d. Although, the control of these domains of resource usually goes together, they represent different mechanisms of power, and are conceptually distinct.

B. Domination (Theory of Authority) a. Domination is the exercise of authority. Possession of power in a sphere results in dominance. Weber articulated three ideal types of domination: charisma, tradition and rational-­‐legal. b. Charismatic domination rests on the character of the leader. Through inspiration, coercion, communication and leadership, a particular individual may succeed in occupying a central role in the planning and co-­‐ordination of social action. Charisma, Weber believed, emerges in times of social crisis. People lose confidence in existing forms of authority, and the charismatic leader takes advantage of the crisis.

c. Traditional authority is based on the belief in the legitimacy of well-­‐established forms of power. Tradition implies an inherent, natural, or metaphysical quality in the state of affairs that makes it resistant to challenges by reason. Traditional authority is based on loyalty to the leadership. Traditional authority tends not to distinguish between public and private affairs. The task specialization, in terms of the exercise of power, is minimal. d. Rational-­‐legal authority is based on a set of rules, and the belief in the legitimacy of the process of rule creation and enforcement. This form of domination is routinized through bureaucracy. It tends to remain independent of particular individuals, because authority resides in the office, or the organizational position of the role. Authority functions by means of obedience to the rules rather than persons.

C. Communal & Societal Action a. A communal action is oriented on the basis of a shared belief of affiliation. In other words, actors believe that they somehow belong together in some way.

b. Their action stems from, and is coordinated by this sentiment. In contrast, societal action is oriented to a rational adjustment of interests.

c. The motivation is not a sense of shared purpose, but rather, recognition of shared interests.

o Class

§ Weber identified three aspects of class: (i) a specific causal component of actors life chances (ii) which rests exclusively on economic interests and wealth, and (iii) is represented under conditions of labor and commodity markets.

§ The possession of material resources, accumulated by advantage in the marketplace, results in distinctive qualities in terms of the standard of living.

§ The possession of property defines the main class difference, according to Weber. The owners of property have a definite advantage, and in some cases a monopoly on, action in the market of commodities and, especially, labor.

§ Weber identified a subdivision among property owners based on the means of their wealth creation. Entrepreneurs use wealth in commercial ventures. Renters profit by interest on their property, through investments or rent of land.

§ The property-­‐less class is defined by the kinds of services individual workers provide in the labor market. Workers are classified as skilled, semi-­‐skilled and unskilled. These distinctions are based on the value of different kinds of labor. Different wages result in different qualities in terms of the standard of living.

§ Weber did not believe that class interests necessarily led to uniformity in social action. Neither communal nor societal action is the inexorable result of class interest. Weber challenges, here, the Marxian notion of the primarily material basis of social action. He is not denying it outright, but rather, introducing an element of unpredictability. Weber did not believe that proletarian revolutionary action would arise as a certain result of structural contradiction.

§ Communal or societal action may develop from a common class situation in certain conditions. Weber believed that the general cultural conditions played a large role in this determination. Intellectuals occupy a key position in this regard. Weber argued that the extent of the contrasts between the property owners and the property-­‐less workers must become transparent to the workers in order for collective action around the issue of class to occur. Intellectuals function either to call attention to and explain these contrasts, or, to obscure them.

§ For communal or societal action to take place, the workers must not only recognize the differences in wealth and opportunity, but these differences must be seen as the result of the distribution of property and economic power. If the differences are believed to be a natural characteristic of society, as a given fact, then only occasional and

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irrational action is possible. Very often, collective action centers on the labor market. Workers seek higher wages, and see this as the goal of their struggle. Most class antagonism, Weber noted, is directed at managers, rather than at owners—stockholders and bankers—because they appear to be have the power to set the price of labor power.

o Status

§ While class groups do not constitute communities, according to Weber, status groups normally are communities. Status is defined as the likelihood that life chances are determined by social honor, or, prestige. Status groups are linked by a common style of life, and the attendant social restrictions.

§ Wealth is not necessarily the primary cause of status, though it is generally associated with it. Some forms of property ownership, are connected with prestige, others are not. "Old money" typically confers greater status than "new money." Renters usually hold greater status than entrepreneurs, because their wealth is less visibly connected to labor.

§ Wealth is a key determinant of the lifestyle differences upon which status depends. Weber notes, "Material monopolies are the most effective motives for the exclusiveness of a status group." Social restrictions, such as marriage patterns, residence, and so forth, follow from differences in wealth reflected in prestige.

§ Status distinctions are usually not ethnic. When carried to their fullest extent, as a caste system, perceived ethnicity is sometimes involved. In the case of caste, social distinctions are reinforced by legal and ritual restrictions. Caste usually develops into a functional system, by virtue of occupational differences.

§ The dignity of high status groups is always worldly. It involves their distinctive life style, as manifest in patterns of association and consumption. Low status groups, on the other hand, project their sense of worth on salvation hopes. Their due, they believe, is guaranteed in the life to come. It is common for low status groups to believe that they enjoy a special relationship with their god or gods.

§ Status divisions tend to codify on the basis of the stable distribution of economic power. When economic stratification is relatively invariant, status differences tend to increase.

o Party

§ Class and status interests interact in the realm of the legal order, the arena of politics.

§ Political power is, obviously, often based on class and status interests. Parties are the organizations of power. Their purpose is the struggle for domination.

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Parties commonly operate in the political/legal domain, but as an ideal type, parties are not restricted to this field. Parties represent a high degree of rationality in social action. Parties require planning; their motives are strategic. Irrational types of social action are not completely excluded, however. Tradition and affect are a part of the operation of parties.

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Theory of Social Action

o Social action according to Weber possesses the following characteristics:

§ Relationship with the action of others: No action shall be called a social action unless it has relationship with the present, past or future behaviour of others.

§ Others are not necessarily known persons. They may be unknown individuals as well.

§ Social action includes both failures to act and possess acquiescence may be oriented to the past; present or accepted further behaviour of others.

o Social action is not isolated:

§ Social action in order to be really social has to be oriented to the behaviour of other animate things as well.

§ Worship before an idol or worship in a lonely place is not a social action. It has to be oriented to the behaviour of animate beings as well.

§ In every kind of action even overt action is social in the sense of the present discussions. Overt action is non-­‐social if it is oriented solely to the behaviour of the inanimate objects.

o Result of cooperation and struggle between individual and members of the society: Mere contact with human beings is not a social action. It should deal with the cooperation and struggle between various individuals.

o A crowd that may collect at a place does not necessarily indulge in the social action unless it starts behaving with one another. Social action is not identical with the similar action, actions of many persons or action influenced by others.

o Has a meaningful understanding with other, action or action of others: Mere contact with others or actions in relation to others are not a social action.

o Social action should have a meaningful understanding with the social action of others. In every type of contact of human beings has a social character. This is rather confined to cases where the actor’s behaviour is meaningfully oriented to that of others.

o Weber argued that to explain an action we must interpret it in terms of it’s subjectively intended meaning.

o A person’s action is to be explained in terms of the consequences he or she intended purpose rather than in terms of its actual effects the two are often at variance.

o A subjectively intended meaning is also a causal explanation of the action, in that the end in view is a cause of present actions. For Weber it is important that action is defined in terms of meaningfulness and sociological analysis must proceed by identifying the meaning that actions have for actors.

o Types of social action §

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According to Max Weber social action like other social forms of action may be classified in the following four types Rational Action: In terms of rational orientation to a system of discrete individual ends that is through expectations as to the behaviour of objects in the external situation and of other human individuals making use of these expectations as conditions or means for the successful attainment of the actor’s own rationally chosen ends. Evaluative actions: In terms of rational orientation to an absolute value; involving a conscious belief in the absolute value of some ethical, aesthetic, religious or other form of behaviour entirely for its own sake and independently of any prospects of external success.

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Emotional actions: In terms of effectual orientation especially emotional determined by the specific affects and state of feeling of the actors.

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Traditional actions: Traditionally oriented through the habituation of long practice.

Conflict Theorists Ø George Hegel Ø Karl Marx

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Marx was considered amongst the pioneers of sociology as his thoughts left huge influence and had great significance in the society. Following are some of his thoughts.

Theory of Historical Materialism

o The idea of historical materialism is derived from the most fundamental principle of Marx, namely, “dialectical materialism.” o Dialectic literally means discussion

Ø Lewis Coser

Ø Mills