Critical Sociological Approach

In this essay I will compare and contrast Marx and Weber’s theories on social change and the rise of modern capitalism. Firstly I will provide a brief outline of Marx’s theories relating to social change and capitalism. I will then briefly outline Weber’s theories on social change and the rise of modern capitalism. Finally I will give my own critique of the theories outlining which one I prefer and the reasons for my choice.

In the nineteenth century modern science, which is based on scientific methods, took the place of the appeals to divine and religions. The rapid social change and the great success of natural scientific approaches encouraged people to explore the social world with more systematic, rational and empirical methods which results in the emergency of social science (Benton and Craib, 2001:22). Due to the lack of formalized rules for studying societies, sociologists developed a series of principles for research which could help them explore different social phenomena (Bilton et al, 2002:444). Emile Durkheim, whose conception of sociology was one of the earliest attempts to explain how the society could be studied scientifically, set out his methodological

I see Marx as a voice for the voiceless, the weak, and the vulnerable in all societies across the globe. “Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist who with Friedrich Engels authored the “communist manifesto” a critical analysis of capitalism that saw the material or economic basis of inequality and power relations as the cause of social instability and conflict” (Little & McGivern, 2013, p.13). Marx worked towards changing the economic dynamics of the society. He foresaw impact of private dominance, “ Marx’s analysis of the foundations of a capitalist society raises questions of the justice of the distribution of wealth,” (Amies, 2008, p.7). This is worse in today’s world.

Another significant school of thought is Conflict theory. It emerged as a criticism to the unified view of society proposed by the functional theorists. Conflict theory appeared within the areas if inequality, systematic exercise of power and the structural causation of conflict. Lewis Coser introduced the idea of functional role of conflict in ensuring social order. He theorized on the role of conflict in society to consolidate a loosely structured social

To fully understand what Robert K. Merton contributed to sociology. We must understand who he was, what he believed in, why he believed what he did and finally, why he argued against other sociologists. In this essay, I will be talking about Self Fulfilling Prophecies, Middle Range Theories, Manifest and Latent Functions and the Strain between Culture and Social Structure. Robert Merton, is one of America’s most significant social scientists. He was born on the 4th of July 1910 and died 23rd February 2003, aged 92.

The earliest functionalist’s viewed society as a human body. A functionalist view of society is, they view society as a system and that is in-terconnected parts which forms a whole Durkheim believed there could be conflict, if so, that it could be kept in a manageable limit through the existence of profes-sional associations and the teaching of moral values, for example, justice systems help maintain order, and schools teach children and treating society as fairly mem-bers (Haralambos and Holborn,1991).Functionalist Talcott Parsons was an Ameri-can Sociologist, like Durkheim he wondered how social order is possible and for social order to be maintained for society to exist. Parson use the term social equilib-rium to define the ways in which to keep a healthy society and keep harmony or balance (Cunningham and Cunningham (2014). Parsons believed that obligation to common values provides a basis for order members (Haralambos and Hol-born,1991). Like Durkheim Parson believed society could function as a system, he debates that any social system has four basic functional basics, adaption, goal tar-gets, integration and pattern.

This grand design would give a conception of the social system as a single unified system. The basic unit of analysis of social theory according to Parsons was the total social system. He wanted to create “an all-encompassing theory”, a framework within the limits of which all kinds of social action takes place. This theoretical schema would also help us understand the conceptual terms like structures, functions and systems and how these are synthesized into a unified whole which presents a sort of a map that would guide us in our understanding of social actions of various kinds. Parsons tried to create a macro theory in contradiction to the pragmatic and grounded theories prevalent in American sociology at that time (contributed by the Chicago

Weber is regarded as one of the founding fathers of sociology along with Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx. But unlike Marx and Durkheim, Weber believed that the study of society should focus on social action and not so much on the social structures. He argued that structures in society were not independent of individuals but were an effect of interplay of human actions and it was sociology’s task to find the true meaning of those actions. If Weber somehow came to know about the influence his theories wield in the field of management today, he would be more than bemused.

Karl Marx, a well-known sociologist and economist was keen on social welfare and initiated the socialist, Marxist movement which helped the poor and the underprivileged. Darwinism also rose during this period of time and it contradicted the ideas of Karl Marx as Charles Darwin’s theory was based on the fact that evolution took place due to the “survival of the fittest”. Some of the great thinkers were influenced by the French Revolution. Few of them were Auguste Comte, Hebert Spencer, and Emile Durkheim. This eventful period of history was termed “The Great Transformation” by Karl Polanyi, an Austro-Hungarian philosopher.

It is clear Theodor Adorno gives a better understanding of a contemporary society through his theories along with Marxists Ideologies. He believes all of society’s problems originate from capitalism and its ruling class. Theodor Adorno was a German philosopher who was a part of the Frankfurt School. Their aim was to develop a psychological understanding of problems in which were produced in capitalist’s societies (Held, p. 533). An example of the factors they criticise is mass culture and its results on the public.