Chapter 3 Theories and Perspectives

Theoretical thinking in sociology is needed if we are to explain and understand

social life, and theories are linked to society’s main problems. Understanding the
field of sociological theory today is more complex than in the past because society’s
central problems are changing and sociologists have been forced to develop new
theories as a result. Students therefore need to grasp both classical and
contemporary theories.

There is a distinction between grand theory and the less ambitious pursuit of
‘theories of the middle range’. The latter combine general applicability with the
criterion of testability, one example being the theory of relative deprivation.
However, there has been a return to grand theorizing in recent times.

Early sociological thinkers, such as Comte and Spencer, drew heavily on the
successful natural sciences and were influenced by emerging evolutionary theory.
Comte’s positivism and Spencer’s theory of social evolution are good examples of
this trend. Marx’s theory of successive modes of production leading from primitive
communism through feudalism and capitalism towards communism is probably the
most influential example of grand theory yet seen.

Later scholars influenced by Marx include the Frankfurt School, which sought to
address some of the problems within Marxist theory. However, it was Durkheim
who did most to establish sociology as an academic discipline within universities.
His argument about the existence of social facts and the need for a new discipline
capable of studying them marked a major turning point in the social sciences.

The later structural functionalism of Parsons became dominant in sociology for a

time, but his overly abstract systems theory and unconvincing handling of social
conflicts led to the emergence of a plurality of theoretical perspectives.

Max Weber’s study of the Protestant Ethic is an example of good theory because it
is counter-intuitive, solves a puzzle and can be applied beyond its immediate
context to act as a stimulus to further research. Along with Mead’s ideas, Weber’s
work provided the basis for numerous interactionist studies and perspectives
rooted in the study of micro-level phenomena. Symbolic interactionism,
phenomenology and ethnomethodology are the main variants of such broadly
interactionist perspectives.

Two enduring dilemmas can be identified in theoretical thinking within sociology:

action versus structure, and consensus versus conflict. Durkheim believed that
social structure is external to the individual in the same way as are the walls of a
room. While this is a widely accepted view, its critics argue that society is nothing
but a composite of many individual actions.

Norbert Elias’s figurational perspective does not try to ‘bridge’ the structure–agency
dilemma in sociology. Rather, it effectively dissolves the ‘problem’ altogether: there
is no need for sociologists to focus exclusively on the micro or the macro level, but
they should rather seek to understand shifting figurations.

Anthony Giddens’s concept of structuration holds that ‘structure’ and ‘action’ are
necessarily related to each other: societies have ‘structure’ insofar as people behave
in regular ways, and ‘action’ is only possible because each individual possesses
socially structured knowledge. The second controversy is consensus versus 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. A further debate in classical
sociology concerns the shaping of the modern world. 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 collapse of Eastern European communism after 1989. 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 non-
economic factors. In addition to capitalism, Weber adds the forces of science and
bureaucracy, which together equal rationalization.

Further problematizing has appeared in sociology more recently. 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
male-dominated – 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 women’s position differ, sometimes quite
markedly. For example, while radical feminists see patriarchy as the main source of
oppression, dual-systems 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.

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, Beck’s thinking 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.

Contemporary theorists all have connections to the classic theories in sociology, but
they now look to adapt and refine these in order to explain the characteristics of the
contemporary world. In this sense, they are emulating sociology’s founders by
producing theories of similar scale and scope.