Ferdinand Tönnies’ pivotal work, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, published in 1887, analyzes traditional versus modern societies. He distinguishes Gemeinschaft, community based on familial bonds, from Gesellschaft, a more impersonal capitalist society. Tönnies’ ideas on “will” shaped sociological thought, influencing later theorists like Weber and Durkheim despite his conservative views on modernity.
The “second-wave” feminists of the 1960s to 1980s presented a far more formidable and thoroughgoing challenge to male domination than
Michel Foucault’s analysis of power critiques traditional theories by proposing that power is decentralized, pervasive, and enacted through social norms instead of direct coercion. His concepts of discourse and surveillance illustrate how individuals regulate their own behavior, showing that power and knowledge are intertwined. Resistance to power can occur through opposing discourses.
Max Weber’s analysis of modern industrial society highlights the advances of technology and economics shadowed by increased rationalization and bureaucratic control. He critiques how bureaucracy restricts individual freedoms and erodes community ties, creating an “iron cage.” Despite its efficiency, this system dehumanizes individuals, prioritizing organizational goals over personal autonomy.
Auguste Comte, founder of Positivism, believed that scientific inquiry was key to understanding society and fostering social progress. During a period of significant change in Europe, he developed sociology as a science, proposing a hierarchy of knowledge culminating in his vision. His ideas faced criticism but laid foundational principles for modern sociology.
Risk society, a concept by Ulrich Beck, describes modern societies where technological advancements create unprecedented risks and uncertainties. This shift from viewing science as progress to recognizing its dangers necessitates new societal responses. Key characteristics include global, incalculable damage, irreversible consequences, and extensive reach, challenging traditional risk management methods.
Ethnomethodology, established by Harold Garfinkel in the 1960s, investigates how individuals construct social order through everyday interactions. It emphasizes that social order is a collective fiction, maintained by shared practices. Through breaching experiments, it reveals hidden social norms, critiquing traditional sociology for overlooking the subjective methods that shape social reality.
Reselling is when people buy cheap goods from one retailer and then sell them on at a higher price for
Barbie lives in Barbieland, which for some is a feminist utopia in which women can do anything: be president, have
Postmodern feminism criticises the discourse of heteronormativity: gender and sex are fluid!