Introduction to

Sociology
Society
• Society: People who interact in a defined territory and share
culture.
• In sociology, four diverse perspectives on what accounts
for social change and societal evolution are considered
important:
• Gerhard Lenski: Society and technology
• Karl Marx: Society in conflict
• Max Weber: The power of ideas shapes society
• Emile Durkheim: How traditional and modern societies hang
together
Gerhard Lenski
• Sociocultural Evolution: The changes that occur as a society
gains new technology.
• Inventing/adopting new technology causes society to change
• The more technology a society has, the faster it changes
• Societies range from simple to the technologically complex.
• Societies simple in technology tend to resemble one another.
They can only support small numbers of people who live
simple lives.
• More technologically complex societies reveal striking cultural
diversity and are able to sustain large numbers of people who
are engaged in a diverse division of labor.
Lenski’s Five Types Of Societies
• Hunting and Gathering
The use of simple tools to hunt animals and gather vegetation
• Horticultural and Pastoral
Horticulture: The use of hand tools to raise crops
Pastoralism: The domestication of animals
• Agriculture
Large-scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more
powerful energy sources
• Industrialism
The production of goods using advanced sources of energy to drive
large machinery
• Postindustrialism
The production of information using computer technology
The Limits of Technology
• Technology provides no quick fix for social problems.
• Poverty still remains a problem
• Peace and justice
• Technology also creates new problems.
• Lack of sense of community
• Nuclear weapons and their threat
• It may end up harming the physical environment.
• Exhausting natural resources
Karl Marx
• Social Conflict: Struggle between segments of society over
valued resources
• Capitalists: People who own and operate factories and other
businesses in pursuit of profits
• Proletariat: People who sell their productive labor for wages
• These two groups are in conflict, gain of one is loss of the
other.
• Social Institutions: All the major spheres of social life or societal
subsystems organized to meet human needs
• Infrastructure: Society’s economic system
• Superstructure: Other social institutions: family, religion, political
• Economy is the social institution that lies at the base of the
society.
Figure 4.1
Karl Marx’s Model of Society
This diagram illustrates Marx’s materialist
view that the system of economic
production shapes the entire society.
Economic production involves both
technology (industry, in the case of
capitalism) and social relationships (for
capitalism, the relationship between the
capitalists, who own the factories and
businesses, and the workers, who are the
source of labor). On this infrastructure, or
foundation, rests society’s superstructure,
which includes its major social institutions
as well as core cultural values and ideas.
Marx maintained that every part of a
society supports the economic system.
Karl Marx
• Marx rejected False Consciousness, the explanation of social
problems as the shortcomings of individuals rather than the
flaws of society.
• Marx believed that the history of all existing society is the
history of class conflict–conflict between entire classes over
the distribution of a society’s wealth and power.
• Marx believed that workers must replace false consciousness
with class consciousness–workers’ recognition of themselves
as a class unified in opposition to capitalists and, ultimately, to
capitalism itself.
• Marx said the only way out of capitalism is revolution and
remaking society – Socialism.
Max Weber
• Idealism: A philosophical approach that focuses on how
human ideas – especially values and beliefs – shape society.
• It is not how people produce things but how people think
about the world that differentiates one society from another
Two World Views: Tradition
and Rationality
• Tradition: Values and beliefs passed from generation to
generation.
• A characteristic of preindustrial societies
• Attachment with past and long-established ways of life
• Particular actions are labeled right for their long-drawn
acceptance
• Rationality: A way of thinking that emphasizes deliberate,
matter of fact calculation of the most efficient way to
accomplish a particular task.
• A characteristic of industrial-capitalist society
• Present and future consequences of actions are considered
• Evaluation of input Vs return is the basic concern
Two World Views: Tradition
and Rationality
Weber viewed both industrialization and capitalism as evidence
of modern rationality, which is a part of
• Rationalization of Society: The historical change from
tradition to rationality as the main type of human thought.
• The willingness to adopt the latest technology depends on a
society’s people’s world view and is a strong indicator of how
rationalized the society is.
• Options are available but why do we make use of some and
not others? E.g. Gamete donation, breast-milk donation.
Emile Durkheim
• The key to change in society is expanding division of labour.
• Society is more than individuals.
• Society has a life of its own, beyond our personal experiences.
• Social Facts: Any patterns rooted in society rather than the
experience of individuals.
• Society has an “objective reality” beyond our own subjective
perceptions of the world
• Examples: Norms, values, religious beliefs, and rituals
• These possess the power to guide our thoughts and actions
Emile Durkheim
• Change from mechanical solidarity – Social bonds based on
common sentiment and shared moral values that are common
among members of preindustrial societies.
• Traditional societies based on moral consensus
• Organic Solidarity: Social bonds based on specialization and
interdependence, that are strong within industrial societies.
• Modern societies based on functional interdependence
• Key to the change is an expanding division of labor –
Specialization of economic activity
Four Visions of Society
How Have Societies Changed?
• Gerhard Lenski
• Changing technology
• Karl Marx
• Social conflict
• Max Weber
• From traditional to rational thought
• Emile Durkheim
• From mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity
Four Visions of Society
What Holds Societies Together?
• Gerhard Lenski
• A shared culture based on technology
• Karl Marx
• Elites force an ‘uneasy peace’
• Max Weber
• Rational thought that favours large-scale organizations
• Emile Durkheim
• Specialized division of labor
Are Societies Improving?
• Gerhard Lenski: Modern technology offers expanded human
choice, but leaves us with new sets of dangers.
• Karl Marx: Social conflict would only end once production of
goods and services were taken out of the hands of the
capitalists and placed into the hands of all people.
• Max Weber: Saw socialism as a greater evil than capitalism, as
large, alienating bureaucracies would gain even more control
over people.
• Emile Durkheim: Optimistic about modernity and the
possibility of more freedom for individuals, but concerned
about the dangers of anomic feelings.
Thank You

Questions?