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Norhailah Ali & Girlie Deniega

SOC105 A5

PART 1. OVERVIEW OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY


IN THE UNITED STATES

Cite any print or online sociological theory references in answering the following questions
for your reading assignment:

Q: What were the major periods in Sociological theorizing in the United States after
World War 11?
 “In 1949 the International Sociological Association was established under the
sponsorship of UNESCO, and Louis Wirth of the University of Chicago was elected its
first president. The rapid increase of full-time sociologists, along with the growth of
sociology publications, allowed the content of the discipline also to expand rapidly.
Research grew throughout the 20th century at an accelerated pace, especially after World
War II, partly because of strong financial support from foundations, government,
commercial sources, and individuals. This period was also marked by the rising
popularity of anthropology, and many universities formed joint anthropology-sociology
departments.”

 The discipline of sociology experienced a dramatic turn toward methodological


positivism . the most important and all-encompassing of the new conditions after world
war 2 was the social formation theat retrospectively has come to known as Fordism. The
fordist security state relied to a greater extent than previous forms of governmentality on
the skill of sociologists, and this entailed a greatly enhanced level of public funding for
social research.
 Talcott Parson (1902–1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best
known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one
of the most influential figures in sociology in the 20th century. Here are the following
contribution of Parsons after World war 2:
1. Russian Research Center - became a member of the Executive Committee of
the new Russian Research Center at Harvard in 1948; He happened to
interview in Germany a few members of the Vlasov Army, a Russian
Liberation Army that had collaborated with the Germans during the war
2. Anticommunism- Parsons' fight against communism was a natural extension of
his fight against fascism in the 1930s and the 1940s.
3. Defender of American exceptionalism
4. Defender of modernity
5. . Parsons was instrumental in forming the Department of Social Relations, an
interdisciplinary venture among sociology, anthropology, and psychology

Q: What was American Sociology like in the 1940s and 1950s?


 “For about the first 40 years of the 20th century, most American sociologists
emphasized the practical aspects of the field, especially in terms of initiating
various social reforms. That is, they viewed sociology as an applied social
science (applying their knowledge to create practical solutions to societal
problems). Later, when sociologists became more interested in developing general
theories of how society works, many viewed sociology as a basic social science,
(seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge only). Along with the ideal of
knowledge for its own sake came the notion that sociology should be “pure” and
objective—without values, opinions, or agendas for social reform. As a result,
between 1940 and 1960, sociologists developed and applied rigorous and
sophisticated scientific methods to the study of social behavior and societies.”

 “In the mid-20th century there was a general—but not universal—trend for U.S.-
American sociology to be more scientific in nature, due to the prominence at that
time of action theory and other system-theoretical approaches. Robert K.
Merton released his Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)”

Q: What was the positivist methodology developed by American sociologists in the 1950s?

 “In sum, Methodological positivism combines positivism, empiricism, and


scientism; the last encompasses the fact/value dichotomy, mimicry of hard
science styles of presentation, a preference for quantification, and a belief in the
concept, space, and time independence of social mechanisms. This cluster of
premises has broadly defined by dominant position in U.S sociology since the
1950s “
Methodological Positivism became so prevalent in sociology during in the 1950’s
and 1960’s that it marginalized not only other positions but also philosophical
discussion per se. C. Wright Mills’s The Sociological Imagination is perhaps the
only direct and sustained critiqued of Methodological positivism from within U.S
Sociology during 1950’s. “

Q: What sociological theory was dominant in America during the 1940s and 1950s along
with the empiricist-positivist methodology

 Parsons’s brand of systematic and grand theory was dominant through the 1940s
and 1950s. arsons synthesized the classical theoretical ideas of Weber, Durkheim,
and Vilfredo Pareto to develop (with Edward Shils) his “action theory.” Parsons’s
action theory focused on the integration of social structural, psychological, and
cultural elements of human behavior in the hopes of creating a unified theory of
social action for the social sciences.
 Parsons and the functionalist approach to sociology occupy an intermediate
position between classical and contemporary sociology.  Some new sociological
approaches were developed in North America before Parsons.  But Parsons and
the functional approach to sociology became so dominant that by the late 1950s,
sociology and functionalism became more or less identical (Adams and Sydie, p.
345).  This meant that sociology studied the roles of institutions and social
behaviour in society, the way these are related to other social features, and
developed explanations of society in social terms (Wallace and Wolf, p. 17). 

Q: What were the major changes that erupted in the 1960s and how did American
Sociology deal with these phenomena?
 “Sociology once debated ‘the social’ and did so with a public readership. Even as
late as the Second World War, sociologists commanded a wide public on
questions about the nature of society, altruism and the direction of social
evolution. As a result of several waves of professionalization, however, these
issues have vanished from academic sociology and from the public writings
of sociologists. From the 1960s onwards sociologists instead wrote for the public
by supporting social movements. Discussion within sociology became constrained
both by ‘professional’ expectations and political taboos. Yet the original
motivating concerns of sociology and its public, such as the compatibility of
socialism and Darwinism, the nature of society, and the process of social
evolution, did not cease to be of public interest. With sociologists showing little
interest in satisfying the demand, it was met by non-sociologists, with the result
that sociology lost both its intellectual public, as distinct from affinity groups, and
its claim on these topics. “

Q: What alternative perspective/ theory emerged in America in the 1960s?

 The Alliance for Progress emerged in the 1960s, aiming to strengthen the ties
between the United States and Latin America. The modernization theory,
elaborated by political scientist Walt Whitman Rostow, supported the alliance
ideologically.
 This theory’s premise is the establishment of an ideal of modernized nation,
setting universal standards of economic, social and cultural development to all
countries. Countries whose societies differ from these standards should follow a
path to modernization to accomplish the ideal model of nation-state.

Q: What was Sociology like in the 70s?

 According to Catton (1971), 1970s is the time for troubles to for mankind. The
1970s is the continuation that has plague people all over the world. The world in
such a condition both ecologically and politically, and modern social system have
evolved such as characteristics, the increasing numbers of people to alienation and
the sense of meaninglessness in their lives. This crisis of identity has affected
sociology, because sociologist themselves has spent agonizing hours rethinking
what means to be sociologist, as well as what it means to be a human being, or an
academic, or a Protestant, etc.

Q: What are the major trends in sociological theorizing in the 1980s?

 According to Berger ( 1989),the 1980's have not been kind to sociology. The field
has become impoverished, fragmented, vulnerable, precisely the kind of subject
sociologists like to study.
 During the early Reagan years, Federal administrators, who considered the
failures of the Great Society's antipoverty programs evidence that sociology was
expendable, sharply cut funds for research on housing, crime, welfare and health.
The level of financing is still 30 percent below what it was in 1980, and
sociologists continue to scale down projects, forsake new inquiries and disguise
their work as anything but sociological.
 At the same time, fewer students are studying sociology or choosing careers in the
field. The number of sociology doctorates dropped to 451 in 1986-87 from a peak
of 729 in 1975-76. Even the content of sociology - the field that gave the world
such concepts as ''the lonely crowd,'' ''the organization man'' and ''the power elite''
- is in turmoil. One part of the field advocates more rigorously mathematical
studies, while others worry that such an emphasis would drive away students keen
to solve social problems or learn about themselves.

Q: What are neos?

 Neo-positivism. A movement in early twentieth-century American sociology


which blended together the three themes of quantification, behaviourism,
and positivist epistemology. Its principal proponents were Franklin
H. Giddings and George A. Lundberg, although the mathematical sociology of
writers such as George K. Zipf (1902–50) can be seen as a development of neo-
positivist theory.

 Neo-Kantianism. A philosophical movement opposing mid-19th century


materialism and idealism, developing from Kant's epistemology, considering the
thing-in-itself as a borderline concept and emphasizing normative considerations
in ethics and jurisprudence.
 Neo‐Marxism is a wide‐ranging term referring to the critical renaissance of
Marxist theory in the post‐war period, most often used to denote work in radical
political economy which tried to combine the revolutionary aspirations and
orienting concepts of Marxism with some of the tools provided by non‐Marxist
economics, especially the work of Keynes. 
 Neo-institutionalism is a school of thought focused on developing
a sociological view of institutions—the way they interact and how they
affect society. It provides a way of viewing institutions outside of the traditional
views of economics by explaining why and how institutions emerge in a certain
way within a given context. This institutional view argues that institutions have
developed to become similar (showing an isomorphism) across organizations
even though they evolved in different ways, and has studied how institutions
shape the behavior of actors (i.e. people, organizations, and governments).

Q: What doe Sociology a multiparadigmatic discipline mean?

 Sociology is a multiparadigmatic discipline: different theories and methods


coexist temporally and geographically. According to Ritzer (1975), Sociology
can be described as ‘multiparadigmatic’ discipline. The different paradigms
underlie diverging conceptualizations of the subject matter of the discipline,
resulting in the application and production of different methods and theories.
References
Anzola, David et al. (2017). “Sociology and Non-Equilibrium Social Science.” Non-
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(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/144078337100700211)
Berger, Joseph.(1989). “Sociology’s Long Decade of Wilderness.”New York Times.
Retrieved from (https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/28/weekinreview/ideas-trends-sociology-s-
long-decade-in-the-wilderness.html
Catton, William R.(1971). “Sociology in the 1970s.” Journal of the Sociology, 7(2):80.
Retrieved September 1, 1971
(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/144078337100700211)
Friere, Flavia M., and Daniela da Costa Britto Pereira Lima (2018). The 1960s
Modernization Theory: The Role of the Evaluative State in Today’s Brazilian Education.
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Merriam Webster Dictionary. N.d. “ Neo- Kantianism”. Retrieved from
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neo-Kantianism)
Oxford University Press.2020. “Neo-positivism.” Retrieved from
(https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-
releases/neo-positivism)
Wikipedia (n.d.). New Institutionalism. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_institutionalism
Toscano, Alberto (n.d.). Neo-Marxism. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosn012

Turner, Stephen P. (2012, November 5). De-intellectualizing American sociology: A


history, of sorts. Retrieved from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1440783312458226

Gingrich, Paul. 2002, December 2. Functionalism and Parsons. Retrieved from


http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/n2202.htm

Calhuon, Craige (n.d.). Mid Twentieth Century American Theory. Retrieved from
http://routledgesoc.com/profile/mid-twentieth-century-american-theory
Steinmetz, George (2005). The politics of method in human sciences, positivism and its
Epistemological Others. Duke University Press. Retrieved from http://www-
personal.umich.edu/~geostein/docs/SteinmetzPoMch.pdf

Wikipedia (n.d.). history of sociology. Retrieved from


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sociology#20th_century:_critical_theory,_postmoderni
sm,_and_positivist_revival

Cliff notes (n.d.). Sociology in America. Retrieved from


https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/sociology-in-
america

Britannica (n.d.). Status of Contemporary Sociology. Retrieved from


https://www.britannica.com/topic/sociology/Status-of-contemporary-sociology

Steinmetz, George (2005). The politics of method in human sciences, positivism and its
Epistemological Others. Duke University Press. Retrieved from http://www-
personal.umich.edu/~geostein/docs/SteinmetzPoMch.pdf

Wikipedia (n.d.). Talcott Parsons. Retrieved from


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talcott_Parsons#Postwar
CONTEMPORARY THOERIES AND THEIR REFERENCES
Harrisong, David. 1988. The Sociology of Modernization and Development. London and New
York: Routledge

 Early modernization
 Neo-Evolutionism and Modernization Theory
 Underdevelopment Theory
Menzies, Ken. 1982. Sociological Theory in Use. London, Boston, and Henley: Routledge &
Kegan Paul

 Causal Role Theory


 Labelling Theory
 Research interest Theories
 Exchange Theory
 Theoretician’s Interest Theory
 Action Theory
 Middle-range Theory
Fulcher, James and Jhon Scott. 1999. Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press

 Feminist Theory
 Post-modernism theory
 Theories of Socialization and Idnetity
 Role-learning Theory
 Social Construction Theory
 Pschoanalytic Theory
 Elitist Theories
Ritzer, Goerge. 2000. Sociological Theory(5th ed). New York:Oxford University Press

 Developments of Marxian Theory


 Structural Functionalism: Peak and Decline
Radical Sociology in America: C. Wright Mills
 The Development of Conflict Theory
The Birth of Exchange Theory
Dramaturgical Analysis: The work of Erving Goffman
 The Challenge of Feminist Theory
 Structuralism and Poststructuralism
 Neofunctionalism
 Conflict theory: the work of Ralf Dahrendorf
 Varities of Neo-Marxian Theory
 Systems Theory
 Symbolic Interactionism

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