What list of literature on sociology can be compiled in order to learn how to better understand this subject? First you need to understand what this science is. Many sociologists strive to conduct research that can be applied directly to social policy and welfare, while others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. The subject ranges from the microsociology level of individual agencies and interactions to the macro level of systems and social structure.
Various traditional sociological tricks include social ones: stratification, class, mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, gender, and various deviations from the norm. As all spheres of human activity are affected by the interaction between the global social structure and individual societies, sociology has gradually expanded its attention to other topics, such as healthcare, medicine, economics, military and penitentiary institutions, the Internet, education, social capital and the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge.
Background
The case study precedes the foundation of discipline. Social analysis is based on a common stock of Western knowledge and philosophy, and has been carried out since the time of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, if not earlier. Ancient philosophers, such as Confucius, wrote about the importance of public roles.
There is evidence of early sociology in medieval Arabic scriptures. Some sources believe that Ibn Khaldun, a 14th-century Arab Islamic scholar from North Africa (Tunisia), was the first sociologist and “father” of this science, and his “Mukaddima” was perhaps the first work to advance socio-scientific discourse on social cohesion and conflict. The above authors, if desired, can be included in the list of literature on sociology.
Etymology
The word "sociology" of Latin and Greek origin. From the first he has a root - socius, "companion", which was modified using the suffix -logi, "study" from the Greek -λογία from λόγος, lógos, "word", "knowledge". It was first used in 1780 by the French essayist Emmanuel-Joseph Siey (1748-1836) in an unpublished manuscript.
Sociology was later identified by the independent French philosopher of science, Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in 1838, as a new way to look at society. Comte used the term “social physics” before, but later it was assigned by others, primarily the Belgian statistician Adolf Ketle.
Comte tried to combine history, psychology and economics with the help of a scientific understanding of the social sphere. Having written his work on sociology shortly after the French Revolution, he proposed that social problems be eliminated with the help of social positivism, an epistemological approach outlined in The Course on Positive Philosophy (1830-1842) and A General Look at Positivism (1848).
Comte believed that the positivist stage would mark the final era after hypothetical, theological and metaphysical phases, in the development of human knowledge. Observing the circular dependence of theory and practice and classifying various sciences, Comte became the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the word.
History of Sociology: References
Auguste Comte and Karl Marx (1818-1883) set about developing scientifically sound systems in light of European industrialization and secularization, as evidenced by various key movements in philosophy and history. Marx rejected Comte's positivism, but, trying to develop the science of society, nevertheless recognized him as the founder of sociology, since the word acquired a broader meaning. Both authors are always included in the list of literature on sociology and political science.
Herbert Spencer (April 27, 1820 - December 8, 1903) was one of the most popular and influential sociologists of the 19th century. It is estimated that he has sold a million books in his entire life — far more than any other sociologist of the time. Its influence was so strong that many 19th-century thinkers, including Emil Durkheim, openly recognized their own ideas only by developing Spencer's ideas. "Society and Labor," the well-known treatise of Durkheim, is largely a continuation of discussions with Spencer, and it was his ideas that formed the basis of the sociology to which we all owe to Durkheim.
In addition, as a well-known biologist, Spencer coined the term "survival of the fittest." While Marxist ideas defined one thread of sociology, Spencer was a critic of socialism, as well as a strong advocate of government non-intervention. His ideas greatly influenced conservative political circles, especially in the United States and England.
Sociology at universities
The world's first formal faculty of sociology was created by Albion Mal at the insistence of William Rainey Harper at the University of Chicago in 1892, and the American Journal of Sociology was founded shortly afterwards in 1895 by the same Small. However, the institutionalization of sociology as an academic discipline was carried out mainly by Emil Durkheim (1858-1917), who singled out positivism as the basis for practical social research.
Although Durkheim rejected most of the details of Comte's philosophy, he retained and refined his method, arguing that social sciences are a logical extension of the natural in the field of human activity, insisting that they can maintain the same objectivity and the same approach to causality as and in exact disciplines.
Durkheim founded the first European faculty of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895, publishing his "Rules of the Sociological Method" (1895). For Durkheim, sociology can be described as "the science of institutions, their genesis and functioning."
Durkheim's "Suicide"
Durkheim's monograph Suicide (1897) is considered the main work of statistical analysis for modern sociologists. This publication is an example of the study of differences in suicide rates among Catholic and Protestant groups and serves to distinguish sociological analysis from psychology or philosophy. She also became an important contribution to the theoretical concept of structural functionalism. By carefully studying suicide statistics in different police districts, he tried to demonstrate that Catholic communities have lower suicide rates than Protestant ones, which he attributed to social (as opposed to individual or psychological) reasons.
He developed the concept of objective “social facts” to define a unique empirical object, which is the main subject of sociology. Through such studies, he believed that this science would be able to determine whether any given society is “healthy” or “pathological,” and seek reform to correct an organic disorder or “social anomaly.”
Practical value
Sociology quickly evolved and more adequately than other sciences perceived the challenges of our time, such as industrialization, urbanization, secularization and the process of "rationalization". This science prevailed in continental Europe, and British anthropology and statistics eventually went on a separate trajectory. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, many theorists of this science were active in the English-speaking world. The few early sociologists were strictly connected with the main subject of their study, interacting also with economics, jurisprudence, psychology and philosophy, and their theories often belonged to very different fields. Since its inception, sociological epistemology, research methods and frameworks have expanded significantly.
Main authors
The list of used literature on sociology can be quite long. Durkheim, Marx and the German theorist Max Weber (1864-1920) are usually referred to as the three main "architects" of science. Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner, Lester F. Ward, W.E. B. Du Bois, Wilfredo Pareto, Alexis de Tocqueville, Werner Sombart, Thorstein Veblen, Ferdinand Tennies, Georg Simmel and Karl Mannheim are often included in academic literature lists on sociology management. Curricula may also include Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Marianne Weber and Friedrich Engels as founders of the feminist tradition in sociology. Each figure is associated with a specific theoretical perspective and orientation. If you are interested in the sociology of the family, the list of references must include the last mentioned authors.
Positivism in Methodology
The generally accepted methodological principle of positivism is the conduct of sociology as a whole as well as natural science. The emphasis on empiricism and the scientific method is aimed at providing a proven basis for sociological research, based on the assumption that the only genuine knowledge is scientific, and that it can be obtained only by positive confirmation through the scientific methodology. Therefore, when studying the economics and sociology of labor, the list of literature needed to study these disciplines is often replenished by positivist philosophers.
Reactions against social empiricism began when the German philosopher Hegel spoke out against him, calling this approach uncritical and simultaneously criticizing determinism, which he considered too mechanistic. For this reason, Hegel's "Phenomenology of the Spirit" is also often included in the list of books on sociology. Nevertheless, to understand how dialectics influenced the social sciences, it is enough to read Marx and Engels.
Sociology: current list of references
Recent books on sociology useful for studying this subject include:
- Summa ideologiae: the triumph of false consciousness. Renata Alexandrovna Galtseva.
- "Natural experiments in history." James A. Robinson.
- "At the risk of his own skin." Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
- "The study of relations in the Russian Army." Pavel Andreevich Kuznetsov.
- "Polish Chontology. Things and People in the Years of Transition." Olga Drenda.