:''This article is about history of the field of sociology. For a specific field of historical and sociological studies, see
social history.''
Sociology is a relatively new academic discipline among other
social sciences including
economics,
political science,
anthropology, and
psychology. The ideas behind it, however, have a long history and can trace their origins to a mixture of common human
knowledge, works of
art and
philosophy.
Precursors and foundations
Sociological reasoning can be traced back to
ancient Greece (cf.
Xenophanes' remark: "''If horses would adore gods, these gods would resemble horses''").
There is evidence of
early Muslim sociology from the
14th century:
Ibn Khaldun, in his ''
Muqaddimah'' (later translated as ''Prolegomena'' in
Latin), the introduction to a seven volume analysis of
universal history, was the first to advance
social philosophy in formulating theories of
social cohesion and
social conflict. The ''Muqaddimah'' is viewed as the earliest work on sociology, and Ibn Khaldun is hence regarded as the father of sociology.
[H. Mowlana (2001). "Information in the Arab World", ''Cooperation South Journal'' '1'.][Dr. S. W. Akhtar (1997). "The Islamic Concept of Knowledge", ''Al-Tawhid: A Quarterly Journal of Islamic Thought & Culture'' '12' (3).] Several other forerunners of sociology, from
Giambattista Vico up to
Karl Marx, are nowadays considered classical sociologists.
Sociology as a scientific discipline emerged in the early
19th century as an academic response to the challenge of
modernity: as the world is becoming smaller and more integrated, people's experience of the world is increasingly atomized and dispersed. Sociologists hoped not only to understand what held social groups together, but also to develop an "antidote" to
social disintegration and
exploitation.
The term “sociology” was coined by
Auguste Comte in
1838 from
Latin ''socius'' (companion, associate) and
Greek ''logia'' (study of, speech). Comte hoped to unify all studies of humankind--including history, psychology and economics. His own sociological scheme was typical of the
19th century; he believed all human life had passed through the same distinct historical stages and that, if one could grasp this progress, one could prescribe the remedies for social ills.
"Classical" theorists of sociology from the late 19th and early 20th centuries include
Ferdinand Tönnies,
Émile Durkheim,
Vilfredo Pareto,
Ludwig Gumplovicz, and
Max Weber. Like Comte, these figures did not consider themselves only "sociologists". Their works addressed
religion,
education,
economics,
law,
psychology,
ethics,
philosophy, and
theology, and their theories have been applied in a variety of academic disciplines. Their influence on sociology was foundational.
Early works
The first books with the term 'sociology' in the title were ''A Treatise on Sociology, Theoretical and Practical'' by the North-American lawer
Henry Hughes and ''Sociology for the South, or the Failure of Free Society''
[1] by the North-American lawyer
George Fitzhugh. Both books were published in 1854, in the context of the debate over slavery in the
antebellum US. ''The Study of Sociology'' by the English philosopher
Herbert Spencer appeared in 1874.
Lester Frank Ward, described by some as the father of American sociology, published ''Dynamic Sociology'' in 1883.
Institutionalizing Sociology
The discipline was taught by its own name for the first time at the
University of Kansas,
Lawrence in 1890 by Frank Blackmar, under the course title ''Elements of Sociology'' (the oldest continuing sociology course in America). The ''Department of History and Sociology'' at the University of Kansas was established in 1891
[2],
[3], and the first full fledged independent university department of sociology was established in 1892 at the
University of Chicago by
Albion W. Small, who in 1895 founded the
American Journal of Sociology [4].
The first European department of sociology was founded in 1895 at the
University of Bordeaux by
Émile Durkheim, founder of
L'Année Sociologique (1896). In
1919 a sociology department was established in Germany at the
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich by
Max Weber and in 1920 in
Poland by
Florian Znaniecki. The first sociology departments in the
United Kingdom were founded after the
Second World War.
International cooperation in sociology began in
1893 when
Rene Worms founded the small
Institut International de Sociologie, eclipsed by much larger
International Sociological Association from
1949. In 1905 the
American Sociological Association, the world's largest
association of professional sociologists, was founded, and
Lester F. Ward was selected to serve as the first President of the new society.
Positivism and anti-positivism
:''Main articles:
Positivism,
Sociological positivism, and
Antipositivism.''
Early theorists' approach to sociology, led by Comte, was to treat it in much the same manner as natural science, applying the same methods and
methodology used in the natural sciences to study social phenomena. The emphasis on
empiricism and the
scientific method sought to provide an incontestable foundation for any sociological claims or findings, and to distinguish sociology from less empirical fields such as
philosophy. This methodological approach, called
positivism, became a source of contention between sociologists and other scientists, and eventually a point of divergence within the field itself.
While most sciences evolved from
deterministic,
Newtonian models to
probabilistic models which accept and even incorporate
uncertainty, sociology began to cleave into those who believed in a deterministic approach (attributing variation to
structure, interactions, or other forces) and those who rejected the very possibility of
explanation and
prediction. One push away from positivism was philosophical and political, such as in the
dialectical materialism based on Marx's theories.
A second push away from scientific positivism was cultural, even sociological. As early as the 19th century, positivist and naturalist approaches to studying social life were questioned by scientists like
Wilhelm Dilthey and
Heinrich Rickert, who argued that the natural world differs from the social world because of unique aspects of human society such as
meanings,
symbols,
rules,
norms, and
values. These elements of society inform human
cultures. This view was further developed by Max Weber, who introduced
antipositivism (
humanistic sociology). According to this view, which is closely related to
antinaturalism, sociological research must concentrate on humans' cultural values (see also:
French pragmatism. This has led to some controversy on how one can draw the line between
subjective and
objective research and has also influenced
hermeneutical studies. Similar disputes, especially in the era of the
Internet, have led to variations in sociology such as
public sociology, which emphasizes the usefulness of sociological expertise to abstracted audiences.
Twentieth century developments
During the
interwar period sociology continued to expand in United States, but made much less progress in Europe, where it was attacked both by increasingly totalitarian governments and rejected by conservative universities. Meanwhile, in United States, the focus of sociology changed from
macrosociology interested in
evolution of societies towards
microsociology, eventually resulting in the development of the
structural-functional theory by
Talcott Parsons in the 1930s.
Since
World War II sociology has been revived in Europe, although during the
Stalin and
Mao eras it was suppressed in the
communist countries. In the second half of the
20th century, sociology has been increasingly employed as a tool by governments and businesses. Sociologists made efforts to integrate macro- and microsociology and developed new types of
quantitative research and
qualitative research methods.
In the late 20th century, some sociologists embraced
postmodern and
poststructural philosophy. Others began to debate the nature of
globalization. These developments have led to the reconceptualization of basic sociological categories and theories. For instance, inspired by the thought of
Michel Foucault, power may be studied as dispersed throughout society in a wide variety disciplinary cultural practices. In
political sociology, the power of the nation state may be seen as transforming due to the globalization of trade (and cultural exchanges) and the expanding influence of international organizations (Nash 2000:1-4).
Throughout the development of sociology, controversies have raged about how to emphasize or integrate concerns with
subjectivity,
objectivity,
intersubjectivity and practicality in theory and research. One outcome of such disputes has been the formation of multidimensional theories of society, such as
critical theory. Another outcome has been the formation of
public sociology, which emphasizes the usefulness of sociological analysis to various social groups.
See Also
Timeline of sociology
References
★
Gerhard Lensky. 1982. ''Human societies: An introduction to macrosociology'', McGraw Hill Company.
★ Nash, Kate. 2000. ''Contemporary Political Sociology: Globalization, Politics, and Power.'' Blackwell Publishers.
Further reading
★
Samuel William Bloom, ''The Word as Scalpel: A History of Medical Sociology'', Oxford University Press 2002
★
Raymond Boudon, ''A Critical Dictionary of Sociology''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989
★
Deegan, Mary Jo, ed. ''Women in Sociology: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook'', New York: Greenwood Press, 1991.
★
A. H. Halsey, ''A History of Sociology in Britain: Science, Literature, and Society'', Oxford University Press 2004
★
Barbara Laslett (editor),
Barrie Thorne (editor), ''Feminist Sociology: Life Histories of a Movement'', Rutgers University Press 1997
★ Levine, Donald N. ''Visions of the Sociological Tradition,'' University Of Chicago Press, 1995: ISBN 0-226-47547-6
★
T.N. Madan, ''Pathways : approaches to the study of society in India''. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994
★
Wiggershaus, Rolf, ''The Frankfurt School : its history, theories and political significance'', Polity Press, 1994.
External links
★
History of Sociology
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