CHAPTER COMMENTARY

This chapter of the book returns to the area of theory, first mentioned in Chapter 1. This
theory chapter is organized around a chronological structure. The main advantage of this is
that it allows students to follow the development of sociology from its nineteenth-century
origins, through the period of Parsonian functionalist dominance and up to the present
theoretical pluralism. In this way, readers are reminded that sociology has not always been
as openly tolerant of competing perspectives as it may now appear. Students may want or
need to reacquaint themselves with the contents of Chapter 1 before approaching this one.
The chapter opens with a useful consideration of what we think we are doing when we do
theory. Conceptual ground is drawn between grand theory and the less ambitious pursuit of
Mertons theories of the middle range, which he believed was the proper concern of
sociologists. Such theories combine general applicability with the criterion of testability.
However, the text suggests that so-called grand theories have made something of a
comeback since the early 1990s. Figure 3.1 on page 71 presents a simplified guide to major
schools of theory and some representative key individuals in different time periods, which is
intended to act as a reference point, not just for this chapter, but also for the book as a
whole.
The next section begins a chronological account of the rise of sociology since the Industrial
and French Revolutions in the eighteenth century, arguing for the influence of the
Enlightenment and its championing of science against religion and superstition on the
disciplines founders. Comtes positivist approach is outlined with its emphasis on the
acquisition of social knowledge for the purpose of social reform and improvement.
Problems associated with attempts at social engineering are discussed as a way of critiquing
Comtes arguments. Comtes contemporary, Herbert Spencer, is introduced as a pioneer of
the ideas of social evolution in sociological thinking. Spencers theory of structural
differentiation and functional adaptation are described alongside his advocacy of the
principle of the survival of the fittest in societies as well as in nature.
From Spencer, the text moves on to Karl Marxs historical materialism. Marxs work is
presented as an example of a grand theory which attempts to cover the history of human
societies via the central concept of a mode of production. Marxs theory of class conflict
and the movement from primitive communism through feudalism and into capitalism is
discussed and Marxs account of the capitalist mode of production is seen as his most
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Theories and Perspectives in Sociology

enduring and relevant legacy. The Frankfurt School of critical theory is used as a Classic
Study to demonstrate some of the way in which Marxist thought developed during the
twentieth century. Although Marx shows how useful grand theory can be, his work also
illustrates a major problem with it, namely its resistance to definitive empirical testing and
refutation.
Emile Durkheim is seen as following some of Comtes ideas and is described as the key
figure in establishing sociology as an independent academic discipline. Durkheims focus on
social facts and functional analysis is outlined and some important critical points
introduced. Following the chronological approach, Parsonss structural functionalism with its
central problem of social order is discussed via his well-known AGIL schema. The chapter
makes clear that Parsons was the most important figure in mid-twentieth-century sociology,
laying down the basic problems that later scholars such as Merton took up. This section
closes by suggesting that one reason why sociological theories have changed over time may
have more to do with societys emergent central problems than the whims of theoretical
fashions and fads.
The final founding figure is Max Weber. His famous study of the Protestant Ethic and
capitalism is wide-ranging, both over time and across space. However, Webers theory
about the relationship between the spirit of capitalism (the urge to accumulation) and the
Protestant Ethic (the desire for vocation and belief in predestination among Calvinists)
meets several criteria central to theoretical thinking in sociology:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

its thinking is counterintuitive;

it solves a puzzle the paradox of frugality and wealth;
it has potential applicability beyond its immediate context;
the theory is not just valid but fruitful it acts as a stimulus to further
research.

Weber is seen as providing an alternative account to Marx of the development of

capitalism and, along with George Herbert Mead, as laying the foundations for
interactionist theory in sociology. To illustrate the development of interactionist
thinking in the twentieth century, three perspectives are outlined in some detail:
symbolic interactionism, phenomenology and ethnomethodology.
From here, the chapter divides clearly into two parts. The first of these sets out an
agenda of theoretical dilemmas inherited from early sociological theorizing, and the
second looks at theoretical thinking within twenty-first century sociology. These are:
The first of the enduring dilemmas concerns the degree to which societies exert social
constraint over our actions. Durkheim believed social structure had a firmness akin to
structures in the material world. It is external to the individual in the same way as are the
walls of a room. While this is a widely accepted view, critics have tried to overcome this
binary opposition. Norbert Elias argued that social phenomena are not actually like things,
but depend for their existence on meanings we actively give to them. People are always in
networks or relations of interdependence, which Elias calls figurations, and the understand
them means we have to be concerned with every aspect of human life, from individual
personalities to the large figurations represented by the concepts of nation-state or the
city.

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Theoretical Thinking in Sociology

Anthony Giddens developed the concept of structuration to capture this process whereby
people actively make and remake social structure during the course of their everyday lives.
We are creators of society, not its creatures. Moreover, constraint is not synonymous with
determinism if enough of us simultaneously decided not to endorse the monetary system
it would cease to be viable.
The second controversy is between consensus and conflict. Durkheim, and most
functionalists after him, emphasize integration and harmony in society. Those more
influenced by Marx see societies as inherently full of tension conflict is built into the form
rather than being a pathological aberration. Once again these positions are not totally
irreconcilable. Marx noted that some interests cross-cut social classes, helping to unite them
against other interests (country vs town, provinces vs capital being examples). The concept
of ideology is a useful tool for analysing the coexistence of and relationship between
consensus and conflict.
How can we understand the continuing changes in the modern world? Can the classics still
be made relevant or do we need new theories altogether? The chapter first turns to the
shaping of the modern world in Marx and Weber. Marx saw capitalism as a motive force
behind social change its dynamism, along with its global tendency, is its distinctive feature.
The current period sees Marx more criticized than ever, especially since the stalling of the
socialist project after 1989. However, the current capitalist crisis may see Marx
reinvented. Weber is still seen as having carried on a debate with the ghost of Marx, his
classic Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism emphasizing the importance of noneconomic factors. In addition to capitalism, Weber adds the forces of science and
bureaucracy, which together equal rationalization. The debate is ongoing and politically
polarized; however, it is also argued that this area of theoretical controversy is at least more
amenable to empirical analysis than others. Studies of contemporary societies can be used
as yardsticks against which to judge such theories.
Issues of gender have been absent from most of classical sociology. The feminist charge is
that sociological theory has ignored the gendered nature of knowledge and has been maledominated a malestream sociology. This involved a perceived male bias in sociological
theorizing, which imputed general conclusions from the experience of men. There is an
important distinction between the need to incorporate women into sociology and the need
to incorporate gender. Forging a relationship between gender and other forms of social
division is a major task for the future.
Feminist theorists today, such as Judith Butler, are not simply interested in gender
inequalities but also in questioning the very concept of gender and its meaning. However,
theoretical explanations of womens position differ, sometimes quite markedly. For
example, while radical feminists see patriarchy as the main source of oppression, dualsystems theorists argue that both patriarchy and capitalism combine to reproduce male
dominance. Black feminism insists that race, racism and ethnicity need to be part of feminist
theorizing and criticizes earlier theories for assuming that all women have essentially similar
interests despite their radically divergent backgrounds and living conditions
Postcolonial sociology explores the ways in which the legacy of European colonialism
remains active in both societies and academic disciplines, long after former colonies have
achieved independence. Postcolonial studies try not only to expose this continuing legacy,
but also to transform the core concepts and theories which failed to take account of colonial
and postcolonial relations.

Theories and Perspectives in Sociology

Poststructuralists like Michel Foucault have explored the idea of discourse: ways of talking
or thinking about health, crime and sexuality, and their powerful impact on the structuring
of social life. For postmodernists such as Bauman and Baudrillard, modernity or the modern
world itself is the subject of radical critique. Whilst Marxists strive to hold onto rationality
and science, many postmodernists point to their negative impact on societies, which
undermines their legitimacy.
The identification of closer global interconnectedness and global environmental issues such
as climate change has given rise to new theories of globalization and risk. In the work of
Giddens and Beck, risk has emerged as a central concept alongside a focus on how global
risks are created and managed. In recent years, Becks thinking has followed that of others
into a theory of cosmopolitanism which begins from a critique of nation-state-based
thinking that is, sociological theories which take national societies as the main unit of
analysis. This national outlook fails to grasp that political, economic and cultural action and
their (intended and unintended) consequences know no borders.
Clearly, Marx, Durkheim and Weber could not have foreseen the present global
environmental crisis and the question now is, how can and should sociologists theorize
such new problems?

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Theoretical Thinking in Sociology

TEACHING TOPICS
1. The power and promise of sociological theory
This topic covers the opening section of the chapter and aims to establish the main
distinctions between the theoretical approaches discussed therein. It also ties them back to
the concepts and ideas associated with the founders, as presented in Chapter 1.
2. Theoretical issues in modern sociology
Here the emphasis is on the students ability to think beyond the confines of theoretical
approaches and address controversies and questions which span the discipline. An effort is
made to tie these to empirical cases.
3. Contemporary theories of the modern world
This topic is concerned to illustrate the capacity of sociological theory to contribute to the
wider purpose of sociology. In short, it aims to show what theory is for and how it can be
deployed to good effect.

ACTIVITIES
Activity 1: The power and promise of sociological theory
A. Read the opening section of the chapter on the nature of theory. Then study this extract:
Like so many words that are bandied about, the word theory threatens to become
meaningless. Because its referents are so diverse including everything from minor
working hypotheses, through comprehensive but vague and unordered
speculations, to axiomatic systems of thought use of the word often obscures
rather than creates understanding.
Throughout this book, the term sociological theory refers to logically
interconnected sets of propositions from which empirical uniformities can be
derived. Throughout we focus on what I have called theories of the middle range:
theories that lie between the minor but necessary working hypotheses that evolve
in abundance during day-to-day research and the all-inclusive systematic efforts to
develop a unified theory that will explain all the observed uniformities of social
behavior, social organization and social change.
Middle-range theory is principally used in sociology to guide empirical inquiry. It is
intermediate to general theories of social systems which are too remote from
particular classes of social behavior, organization and change to account for what is
observed and to those detailed orderly descriptions of particulars that are not
generalized at all. Middle-range theory involves abstractions, of course, but they
are close enough to observed data to be incorporated in propositions that permit

Theories and Perspectives in Sociology

empirical testing. Middle-range theories deal with delimited aspects of social
phenomena, as is indicated by their labels. One speaks of a theory of reference
groups, of social mobility, of role-conflict and of the formation of social norms just
as one speaks of a theory of prices, a germ theory of disease, or a kinetic theory of
gases.
(Robert Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure, New York: Free Press, 1968, pp.
3940)
1. Make a list of the main distinctions between middle-range theory and grand theory.
Then think more generally about what you would look for in a good theory. Suppose you
were offered a number of theories to explain a particular situation. What kinds of criteria
would you use to choose between them?
2. Which of the following are theoretical approaches and which are theories?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

labelling theory
the materialist conception of history
symbolic interactionism
relative deprivation
educational socialization

B. Now read the account of Max Webers work on the Protestant ethic on pages 824. Think
about this as an example of theoretical thinking in sociology. In the light of Activity A above,
try to decide whether the theory of the Protestant ethic is a grand theory, a middle-range
theory or a single hypothesis about one event.
Activity 2: Theoretical issues in modern sociology
1. Consider the place of gender in the process of sociological theorizing. The text uses the
term the issue of gender. What is the issue of gender?
2. Select a substantive topic from the Sociology text. How different would your approach to
that topic be if you were of the opposite gender?
3. Now think of general theories of human behaviour. Are there situations where gender is
irrelevant to such theorizing? If not, would it only ever be possible to have theories
segregated by sex?
4. Why and how did the invisibility of women in classical sociology weaken the ability of
the discipline to achieve the aims discussed in Chapter 1?
Activity 3: Contemporary theories of the modern world
A. Read pages 92104 of the text. Have another look at the sections on the founders of
sociology from Chapter 1 and then the readings for this chapter. Make sure you are familiar
with the main concerns of Marx, Weber and Durkheim and how their concepts may have
influenced contemporary writers. You may want to refer to Figure 3.1 on page 71.
B. Read the following passage by Anthony Giddens:
How far can we where we means humanity as a whole harness the juggernaut,
or at least direct it in such a way as to minimize the dangers and maximize the
opportunities which modernity offers to us? Why, in any case, do we live in such a

24

Theoretical Thinking in Sociology

runaway world, so different from that the Enlightenment thinkers anticipated? Why
has the generalizing of sweet reason not produced a world subject to our
prediction and control?
Several factors suggest themselves the first might be termed design faults.
Modernity is inseparable from the abstract systems that provide for the
disembedding of social relations across space and time and span both socialized
nature and the social universe. Perhaps too many of these suffer from design faults
which, when they lead systems to go wrong, send us spinning away from our
projected paths of development?
A second factor is what we might call operator failure. Any abstract system, no
matter how well designed it is, can fail to work as it is supposed to do because
those who operate it make mistakes. This also applies both to social and natural
systems. Unlike design faults, operator failure appears to be ineradicable. Good
design can make the possibility of operator failure very low, and so can rigorous
training and discipline; but so long as human beings are involved, the risk must be
there.
However, neither design faults nor operator failure are the most important
elements producing the erratic character of modernity. The two most significant
influences are those referred to briefly earlier: unintended consequences and the
reflexivity or circularity of social knowledge. Design faults and operator failure
clearly fall within the category of unintended consequences, but the category
includes much more. No matter how well a system is designed and no matter how
efficient its operators, the consequences of its introduction and functioning, in the
contexts of the operation of other systems and of human activity in general, cannot
be wholly predicted.
For all these reasons, we cannot seize history and bend it readily to our
collective purposes. Even though we ourselves produce and reproduce it in our
actions, we cannot control social life completely.
(Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity, 1990, pp.
1513)
1. The ideas of system failure and operator failure seem to be metaphors for many
earlier concepts in social theory. Reading this discussion, see how many similarities you
can find with functionalism.
2. Giddens argues that the we riding the juggernaut is the whole of humankind. Consider
this idea in some more detail and decide who you think is most likely to be at the
steering wheel.

REFLECTION & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

The power and promise of sociological theory
Would sociology be better off altogether without theory?
Is there a relationship between theoretical approaches and research methods?
Can a middle-range theory simultaneously be a theoretical approach?

Theories and Perspectives in Sociology

Theoretical issues in modern sociology
Is it necessary to overcome dilemmas between action and structure?
Do theoretical positions always imply consistent political preferences?
Do any sociological theories deal adequately with gender?
Contemporary theories of the modern world
Could there be a society independent of discourse?
In what ways is the world a riskier place to live than it was a hundred years ago?
Does increased social reflexivity entail greater freedom or greater responsibility?

ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Fashions have come and gone in the history of sociological theory but the basic
dilemmas remain the same. Discuss.
2. Can questions of gender be incorporated by sociological theory or do they threaten to
destroy it totally?
3. The fact that there is not a single theoretical approach which dominates the whole of
sociology might seem to be a sign of weakness but the jostling of rival theoretical
approaches and theories is an expression of the vitality of the sociological enterprise.
Discuss.
4. In their attempts to reconstruct overarching theories that describe and explain the
changing world around them, contemporary social theorists owe much more to classical
sociologists than they admit. Discuss with reference to TWO of the following: Anthony
Giddens, Ulrich Beck, Judith Butler, Manuel Castells.

MAKING CONNECTIONS
The power and promise of sociological theory: The recurring themes of the entire book,
What can sociology do? and What is it for?, can be specifically revisited in Chapters 1, 2
and 4.
Theoretical issues in modern sociology: The dilemma of action and structure could be
illustrated in the form of the glass ceiling phenomenon in the labour market (Chapter 7);
conflict and consensus with regard to politics (Chapter 22); or the problem of gender could
be tied back to Chapter 15.
Contemporary theories of the modern world: All the theorists mentioned in the text have
their ideas alluded to in substantive chapters of the book. Foucault gets a substantial
treatment in Chapter 19; Habermass ideas can be related to debates about the media
(Chapter 18); Castellss concept of the network economy links well to material in Chapter 4
and also Chapter 19. Becks work is scattered throughout the text, but the most relevant
material is in Chapter 5.

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Theoretical Thinking in Sociology

SAMPLE SESSION
Contemporary theories of the modern world
Aims: To evaluate and compare leading figures in sociological theory. To introduce and
explore commonly used concepts in recent theories.
Outcome: By the end of the session the student will be able to:
1. Explain the concepts of network economy, social reflexivity and risk society.
2. Apply each of these concepts to the analysis of one area of social life.
3. Assess the prospects for democracy implied by the work of Castells, Giddens and Beck.
4. Show some appreciation of the lineage between classical and contemporary social
theory.
Preparatory tasks
Complete Task A of the activity. Students have been split into four groups and have been
allotted a contemporary theorist. Students meet in small groups to prepare summary of
key ideas and an empirical illustration of their ideas in action
Classroom tasks
1. Tutor-led introduction: student feedback from preparatory task leads to main concerns
of classical sociologists being written up on board/flip chart; tutor to highlight common
concerns. (510 minutes)
2. Student-led presentations from each of the four groups, presenting and explaining core
position. Students asked to argue a case for their theorist being most influential in
sociology. Each group presents flip chart with their main points (4 x 10 = 40 minutes)
3. Tutor makes display of all four posters and leads discussion on merits of each theorist
and the features common to some or all. (510 minutes)
Assessment task
Essay: Write a letter to your government, arguing a case for one of the above thinkers to
be awarded a years fellowship to advise on matters of social and public policy. Provide a
testimonial that summarizes their achievements and contribution to the discipline.