Part of a series on |
Sociology |
---|
Criminology |
---|
Main Theories |
Methods |
Subfields and other major theories |
Browse |
This bibliography of sociology is a list of works, organized by subdiscipline, on the subject of sociology. Some of the works are selected from general anthologies of sociology, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] while other works are selected because they are notable enough to be mentioned in a general history of sociology or one of its subdisciplines. [lower-roman 1]
Sociology studies society using various methods of empirical investigation to understand human social activity, from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and social structure. [6] [7] [8]
Economic sociology attempts to explain economic phenomena. While overlapping with the general study of economics at times, economic sociology chiefly concentrates on the roles of social relations and institutions. [25]
Industrial sociology is the sociology of technological change, globalization, labor markets, work organization, managerial practices and employment relations. [35] [36]
Environmental sociology studies the relationship between society and environment, particularly the social factors that cause environmental problems, the societal impacts of those problems, and efforts to solve the problems.
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It encompasses the study of the size, structure and distribution of these populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging and death.
Urban sociology refers the study of social life and human interaction in metropolitan areas.
Sociology of knowledge refers to the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises, as well as of the effects prevailing ideas have on societies.
Traditionally, political sociology has been concerned with the ways in which social trends, dynamics, and structures of domination affect formal political processes, as well as exploring how various social forces work together to change political policies. [67] Now, it is also concerned with the formation of identity through social interaction, the politics of knowledge, and other aspects of social relations.
The sociology of race and ethnic relations refers to the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society, encompassing subjects such as racism and residential segregation.
The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society, including practices, historical backgrounds, developments, and universal themes. [75] There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history.
Sociological theories are complex theoretical and methodological frameworks used to analyze and explain objects of social study, which ultimately facilitate the organization of sociological knowledge. [78]
Conflict theories , originally influenced by Marxist thought, are perspectives that see societies as defined through conflicts that are produced by inequality. [79] : 34–6 Conflict theory emphasizes social conflict, as well as economic inequality, social inequality, oppression, and crime.
Rational choice theory models social behavior as the interaction of utility-maximizing individuals.
Social Exchange Theory models social interaction as a series of exchanges between actors who give one another rewards and penalties, which impacts and guides future behavior. George Homans' version of exchange theory specifically argues that behaviorist stimulus-response principles can explain the emergence of complex social structures.
Making use of network theory, social network analysis is structural approach to sociology that views norms and behaviors as embedded in chains of social relations.
Sociocybernetics is the application of systems theory and cybernetics to sociology.
Structural functionalism is a broad perspective that interprets society as a structure with interrelated parts.
Symbolic interactionism argues that human behavior is guided by the meanings people construct together in social interaction.
Maximilian Karl Emil Weber was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profoundly influence social theory and research. While Weber did not see himself as a sociologist, he is recognized as one of the fathers of sociology, along with Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim.
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of society", established in the 19th century. In addition to sociology, it now encompasses a wide array of academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, economics, human geography, linguistics, management science, communication science and political science.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the discipline of sociology:
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, along with both Karl Marx and Max Weber.
The sociology of knowledge is the study of the relationship between human thought and the social context within which it arises and the effects that prevailing ideas have on societies. It is not a specialized area of sociology. Instead, it deals with broad fundamental questions about the extent and limits of social influences on individuals' lives and the social-cultural basis of our knowledge about the world. The sociology of knowledge has a subclass and a complement. Its subclass is Sociology of scientific knowledge. Its complement is the sociology of ignorance.
In sociology, social facts are values, cultural norms, and social structures that transcend the individual and can exercise social control. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim defined the term, and argued that the discipline of sociology should be understood as the empirical study of social facts. For Durkheim, social facts "consist of manners of acting, thinking and feeling external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him."
Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology and social psychology that emphasize a materialist interpretation of history, dialectical method of analysis, a critical stance toward existing social arrangements, and political program of revolution or, at least, reform. Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast historically dominant ideologies. It is therefore a macro-level analysis of society.
Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how power is distributed and changes throughout and amongst societies, political sociology's focus ranges across individual families to the state as sites of social and political conflict and power contestation.
Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena. A tool used by social scientists, social theories relate to historical debates over the validity and reliability of different methodologies, the primacy of either structure or agency, as well as the relationship between contingency and necessity. Social theory in an informal nature, or authorship based outside of academic social and political science, may be referred to as "social criticism" or "social commentary", or "cultural criticism" and may be associated both with formal cultural and literary scholarship, as well as other non-academic or journalistic forms of writing.
James Samuel Coleman was an American sociologist, theorist, and empirical researcher, based chiefly at the University of Chicago.
Economic sociology is the study of the social cause and effect of various economic phenomena. The field can be broadly divided into a classical period and a contemporary one, known as "new economic sociology".
Dorothy Edith Smith was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines. These include women's studies, feminist theory, psychology, and educational studies. Smith is also involved in certain subfields of sociology, such as the sociology of knowledge, family studies, and methodology. She founded the sociological sub-disciplines of feminist standpoint theory and institutional ethnography.
Sociology as a scholarly discipline emerged, primarily out of Enlightenment thought, as a positivist science of society shortly after the French Revolution. Its genesis owed to various key movements in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of knowledge, arising in reaction to such issues as modernity, capitalism, urbanization, rationalization, secularization, colonization and imperialism.
The philosophy of social science is the study of the logic, methods, and foundations of social sciences. Philosophers of social science are concerned with the differences and similarities between the social and the natural sciences, causal relationships between social phenomena, the possible existence of social laws, and the ontological significance of structure and agency.
Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical perspective to view social transformation. It originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. As Marxism has developed over time into various branches and schools of thought, no single, definitive Marxist theory exists. Marxism has had a profound impact in shaping the modern world, with various left-wing to far-left political movements taking inspiration from it in varying local contexts.
Suicide: A Study in Sociology is an 1897 book written by French sociologist Émile Durkheim. It was the first methodological study of a social fact in the context of society. It is ostensibly a case study of suicide, a publication unique for its time that provided an example of what the sociological monograph should look like.
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. In simple words sociology is the scientific study of society. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change. While some sociologists conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes and phenomenological method. Subject matter can range from micro-level analyses of society to macro-level analyses.
The Rules of Sociological Method is a book by Émile Durkheim, first published in 1895. It is recognized as being the direct result of Durkheim's own project of establishing sociology as a positivist social science. Durkheim is seen as one of the fathers of sociology, and this work, his manifesto of sociology. Durkheim distinguishes sociology from other sciences and justifies his rationale. Sociology is the science of social facts. Durkheim suggests two central theses, without which sociology would not be a science:
In Marxism, class consciousness is the set of beliefs that a person holds regarding their social class or economic rank in society, the structure of their class, and their class interests. According to Karl Marx, it is an awareness that is key to sparking a revolution that would "create a dictatorship of the proletariat, transforming it from a wage-earning, property-less mass into the ruling class".