What is Sociology? – Yogesh Atal

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Book No. – 17 (Sociology)

Book Name – Sociology (Yogesh Atal)

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1. SOCIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE OF THE SOCIAL SPHERE

2. INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

3. THE BEGINNINGS OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

4. THE CONTRIBUTION OF PIONEERS

5. FORMALIZATION OF THE DISCIPLINE

6. SOCIOLOGY: MOVING TOWARDS BECOMING A SCIENCE

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What is Sociology?

Yogesh Atal

Chapter – 1

Harshit Sharma

Alumnus (BHU)

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The author was struggling to start the inaugural chapter when the computer malfunctioned, prompting a call to a technician.
During the repair, the technician asked about the book the author was writing, leading to a discussion about sociology.
The author explained that it was a book on the science of society, to which the technician responded with surprise, questioning the distinction between common knowledge and scientific understanding of society.
The technician pointed out that many people, including sages like Manu and reformers like Mahatma Gandhi, have written about society, asking if they could be considered sociologists.
The technician’s question highlighted that living in society makes it seem like everyone understands it, and such knowledge is part of common sense.
The author compared the distinction between ordinary knowledge and scientific understanding by using the analogy of human anatomy.
The author explained that, just like anatomists and physiologists understand the human body more deeply, sociologistsstudy the anatomy and physiology of society.
The sociologist, according to the author, is not like a doctor curing ailments but can potentially address societal issues with their deep understanding of social structures and their functioning.
The technician, however, remained unconvinced, associating science with abstract, mathematical procedures and laboratory testing that produce technological marvels.
The technician’s question was acknowledged as relevant and stimulated the author to begin the book, with the hope that similar doubts from readers would be addressed in the following pages.

SOCIOLOGY AS A SCIENCE OF THE SOCIAL SPHERE

The computer boy’s observation is accurate: much has been written about society by various groups, such as sages, thinkers, social reformers, political leaders, litterateurs, and travellers. However, this literature cannot be classified as sociology.
Sociology is the science of things social, with socio meaning society and logy derived from the Latin logos, meaning a systematic arrangement or science.
In Hindi and Sanskrit, sociology is translated as Samaj Shastra, distinct from vigyan, meaning science.
Social can refer to events within society or the relationship between societies.
Sociology is a relatively young discipline, with founding fathers like Auguste Comte (1798) and Ferdinand Tönnies(1885), emerging in nineteenth-century Europe.
The Industrial Revolution in the 18th century expanded European awareness of their past and led to the discovery of ancient civilizations and cultures, including Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern antiquities.
Industrialization and urbanization in Europe disrupted traditional social structures, prompting social thinkers and philosophers to focus on reforms and reorganization.
The discoveries of primitive societies in Asia and Africa led to research on human evolution and the relationships among different societies, influencing the development of social anthropology and sociology.
Ethnographers and ethnologists studied other societies, while those focused on their own societies within social reform were the precursors to sociology.
Before sociology, thinkers and social reformers from various traditions wrote about societal issues but did not aim to develop a science of society.
Their writings provided useful insights and descriptions of social institutions, but they lacked the theoretical framework needed for comprehensive understanding, thus differing from sociology proper.
Sociologically relevant literature provides data for analysis but does not form the basis of sociology itself.
Indian sociologists have worked on sacred scriptures and writings from reformers like Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, and B. R. Ambedkar, but these are not sociological works.
Sociology focuses on the social, studying human interactions that lead to the formation of groups and ultimately societies.
Social phenomena have existed as long as humans, creating complex relationship structures, practices, beliefs, and knowledge systems.
The science of sociology is still evolving due to the complexity of social phenomena.
Sociology is considered a science of society when its concepts and theories apply universally, to all societies, whether primitive or modern, European or non-European, historical or contemporary.
Early European theories were based on limited European experiences and were often parochial, though they were accepted as universal for a long time.
As sociology spread globally, the limitations of these early theories became apparent, leading to a demand in the 1980s for the indigenization of social sciences to develop universally applicable theories.

INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Sociology and social anthropology are part of the social sciences, which emerged in the nineteenth century but were late compared to other disciplines.
The Gulbenkian Commission Report (chaired by Immanuel Wallerstein) summarizes the birth and growth of social sciences, emphasizing the disciplinarization and professionalization of knowledge in the 19th century.
The report highlights the creation of permanent institutional structures to produce and reproduce new knowledge and knowledge producers.
The goal of social science was to achieve objective knowledge based on empirical findings, as opposed to speculation.
Five main locales for social science: Great Britain, France, Germanies, Italies, and United States.
The five disciplines in social science: history, economics, sociology, political science, and anthropology.
History evolved to focus on nations and their new sovereigns, with an emphasis on what really happened (wie es eigentlich gewesen ist).
Economics began in the 19th century as Political Economy and later became more present-oriented, focusing on individual psychology rather than social institutions.
Political Science emerged by breaking ties with law and political philosophy, legitimizing economics as a separate discipline.
Sociology emerged as a new discipline from the work of social reform associations, addressing the issues of urban working-class populations. It became more positivist and present-oriented, aligning with the nomothetic approach.
The quartet of history, economics, sociology, and political science, developed primarily in the five countries, mainly described social reality within those nations until 1945.
The European encounter with the Third World expanded social science by including the study of different cultures and social structures, with anthropology focusing on other societies.
Fields like Geography, Psychology, and Law did not become core social sciences, and by the 20th century, Historyand Anthropology were marginalized.
The trinity of Sociology, Economics, and Political Science consolidated their positions as the core nomothetic social sciences.

THE BEGINNINGS OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Sociology and Social Anthropology arose from ideological concerns: support for colonization and reorientation of Western society due to industrialization.
Colonization required justification of the superiority of the colonizer, while industrialization demanded a new equation between owners and the labouring class.
With advancements in shipping and later aviation, developed nations sent people to distant lands in search of raw materials, markets, and exotic samples.
Anthropology was born as the study of primitive societies and was seen as the study of the past.
Colonization created a need for understanding the cultures of colonized societies.
Students of society in Europe studied the problems caused by changing social structures due to industrialization.
The ideological battle between Marxists and non-Marxists influenced early sociological research.
Sociology was the study of one’s own society (Western society), while Anthropology studied other cultures.
Anthropology was considered a colonial discipline, used to study the tribes of the colonies to better manage them.
Colonizers encouraged the study of native cultures, which helped train administrators and shape their understanding of governance.
Darwin’s theory of evolution influenced anthropologists who created an evolutionary ladder for societies: savages at the bottom, barbarians in the middle, and civilized societies at the top.
Francis Galton promoted Eugenics based on natural selection, reinforcing ideas of racial superiority.
Early theories of human behavior were guided by biological determinism and geographical determinism.
The nature vs. nurture debate arose, with anthropologists emphasizing culture as an influence on behavior rather than just biology or geography.
Scholars of human society focused on the origin of society and its evolution, including ethnologists and ethnographers who studied primitive societies.
Participant observation became a key research method developed by A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and Bronislaw Malinowski.
Sociology emerged from concerns about deteriorating social conditions due to World War I and industrialization, with scholars from diverse backgrounds.
Sociologists were focused on the present and on shaping the future, while Marx focused on historical materialism, and others developed structural-functionalism.
Anthropology developed a holistic framework, studying social structure, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology in small societies.
Sociology studied larger societies with complex methodologies suited to large populations and social relationships.
Despite differences in size and methodology, both disciplines aimed to study the social sphere, and the distinction between them is increasingly regarded as superficial and discarded.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF PIONEERS

Those who laid the foundations of sociology crossed the frontiers of their disciplines to create a new territory, forming approaches to study social phenomena.
As a new discipline, sociology drew on older sciences (natural and social) to develop its own paradigms and theories, influenced by evolutionism and Marxism.
Evolutionism from biological sciences inspired models of society similar to organic systems, emphasizing growth.
The Industrial Revolution improved transportation and created the need for raw materials and markets for industrial economies in the West.
Auguste Comte (1798–1857) is credited with naming sociology in the 1840s, arguing that social phenomena are more complex than natural phenomena and required scientific tools to study.
Comte’s hierarchy of sciences placed social sciences near the top due to their relative newness and complexity.
Comte’s hierarchy was not to indicate superiority but to show the developmental stage of sociology compared to older disciplines.
Comte viewed sociology as an umbrella term for all social sciences, encompassing economics, political science, psychology, etc.
Comte advocated positivism, emphasizing empirical, objective observation over speculation, although he did not promote the use of mathematics in sociology.
Comte believed scientific determinism could lead to superior civilizations through sociology.
Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) followed Comte’s ideas, teaching sociology under the term Science Sociale (social science) and focusing on law, religion, socialism, crime, incest, kinship, and suicide.
Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of Religious Life used anthropological material to study primitive tribes.
His study on suicide was a precursor to statistical methods in sociology.
Durkheim’s The Rules of Sociological Method is a key work on social science methodology.
Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), a contemporary of Comte, viewed sociology as a study of social organisms, drawing parallels between biological and social organisms.
Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy covered sociology, psychology, and biology, focusing on social structures.
Georg Simmel (1858–1918), a German sociologist, was one of the first to publish a book titled Soziologie (Sociology), focusing on forms of sociation.
Max Weber (1864–1920) contributed significantly to sociology through his work on the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, studying capitalism and religion.
Weber’s intellectual journey brought him into critical confrontation with Karl Marx and influenced his methodologyand social stratification theories.
Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936) distinguished between community (Gemeinschaft) and society (Gesellschaft) and contributed to social change, customs, technology, crime, and suicide.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) profoundly impacted social science, especially through his works on economic foundations, class structure, and social change.
Marx’s Capital analyzed the role of economy in shaping society, creating the foundation for Marxism, influencing socialism and communism.
Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) introduced mathematical economics and focused on elite circulation, residues, and productivity, becoming a significant influence in sociology and management science.
The pioneers of sociology, including Marx, Pareto, Simmel, Veblen, Durkheim, Weber, and Comte, were often outsiders in their societies, with personal histories shaping their intellectual contributions.

FORMALIZATION OF THE DISCIPLINE

The formation of any new discipline is a product of interactions across various fields, such as the physical sciences, biological sciences, arts and humanities, and social sciences, creating an interdisciplinary hybrid.
A new specialty may initially emerge as a special course in a pre-existing program, eventually establishing its credentials as an independent discipline.
Sociology entered academia differently in various countries: in Germany, it was linked to economics or political economy, while in France, Durkheim introduced it through Education.
Though sociology originated in Europe, its systematization and formalization happened in the United States.
The landmark sociology textbook, still referenced today, was written by Robert Morrison MacIver in 1931, titled Society: Its Structure and Changes.
MacIver was born in Scotland, educated in classics, and began teaching sociology in 1911 at Aberdeen University.
He joined Columbia University in 1929 as a professor of Political Philosophy and Sociology and rejected growing notions of professionalism, specialization, quantification, and positivism, instead emphasizing human agency, methodological diversity, and ethical issues.
Around the same time, Pitirim A. Sorokin was working on Contemporary Sociological Theories (1928), a guide to classify sociological ideas, rather than just presenting individual sociologists’ works.
Sorokin, born in Russia, had an unconventional background, starting as a farmer’s son and being imprisoned for revolutionary activities against the Czar.
After his release, Sorokin moved to the United States in 1923 and later became a professor at Harvard University, where he founded the Department of Sociology.
Talcott Parsons, influenced by Sorokin, helped formalize sociology and became a major figure in theoretical perspectives not just in sociology but in all social sciences.
Parsons came from an interdisciplinary background, originally trained in biology and economics, and developed a general theory of the social system.
Robert K. Merton, a student of Parsons, made significant contributions to the sociology of science and developed the concept of middle-range theories, contrasting them with general theories.
Merton argued that the early works of sociology’s founders were often alternative and competing conceptions rather than a cumulative scientific tradition.
Merton criticized early sociological contributions, suggesting they had little relevance to current sociological problems, and described sociology as still in the early stages of development.
Paradigmatic battles continue in sociology, with various schools of thought, such as Marxist sociology and capitalist sociology, influencing research approaches.
Three major paradigms in contemporary sociology are the Structural-Functional Paradigm, Social Conflict Paradigm, and Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm, though they are not explored in detail here.
The essay focuses on middle-range theories, emphasizing their role in facilitating research and understanding in sociology.

SOCIOLOGY: MOVING TOWARDS BECOMING A SCIENCE

As Merton remarked, the forerunners of sociology provided speculations and competing conceptions of social reality, but their views cannot be cumulated into a systematic theory of society.
Sociology deals with significant aspects of Man (Anthropos), who lives in both a natural and social environment and is concerned with his past, present, and future.
The study of human beings from different perspectives—like history, economics, and sociology—has led to different disciplines being formed around these concerns.
Sociology and social anthropology primarily deal with the present, while disciplines like history, ancient history, and archaeology focus on the past and future.
As sociology grew, distinctions between disciplines such as historical sociology, economic sociology, political sociology, and mathematical sociology began to blur.
Sociology and social anthropology study the same subject matter—human society—but differ in methodology, with anthropology traditionally focusing on tribal societies and sociology on civilized societies.
These differences began to fade as scholars began studying their own societies, like the phenomenon of caste in India, which was studied by both Indian and Western scholars, making the distinction between sociology and anthropology illogical.
The development of a universal science of sociology has made the two disciplines closer, with comparative research becoming more prominent.
Sociology is considered a science, with the following characteristics:
- Empirical: Relies on observation rather than philosophical speculation.
- Objective: Aims for value neutrality, although debates about the possibility of a value-free social science persist.
- Theoretical with Powers of Prediction: Involves the development of generalizations and theories that are tested through empirical research.
Sociology has not yet reached the sophistication of the physical and biological sciences, as earlier speculative thinking about society was not cumulative.
Objectivity in sociology requires separating values from scientific research, with sociologists needing to maintain a balance between their socialized, political, and scientific values.
Architecture and medicine are examples of professions where value-free scientific approaches are possible, as values from non-scientific domains (e.g., religion) should not interfere with the scientific pursuit.
Sociology, like other scientific disciplines, is a journey from question to answer, where observations guide research and hypotheses lead to dependable answers.
Sociology has not yet developed a unified theory, and it remains diverse, with different theories, concepts, and models, such as ideal types, statistical models, and game theories.
Francis Abraham noted that sociology must embrace diversity in its theories, and the weakness of the discipline lies in sociologists’ defensiveness about the multiplicity of theories.
There has been a significant shift in social sciences, including sociology, toward a multidisciplinary approach, influenced by political changes, the expansion of human activities, and the growth of universities after 1945.
Quantitative and geographic expansion in social sciences have made disciplines more comparative, change-oriented, and multidisciplinary in terms of theory and research.
To be an effective sociologist today, one must be exposed to other social sciences and move away from ideological constraints.