SUBMITTED BY MAHLIQA IQBAL
REG NO 14892
ODOO ID: IU05-0122-0474
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THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology is the study of society, its structures, and how people interact within it. While
sociology as we know it today began in the 19th century, its roots go back much earlier.
EARLY THOUGHTS ABOUT SOCIETY
Before sociology became a formal subject, philosophers like **Plato** and **Aristotle**
in ancient Greece thought about how societies should be organized and how people
should behave in them. Their ideas were mainly about ethics, governance, and justice.
In the Middle Ages, thinkers like **Augustine** and **Thomas Aquinas** focused on the
role of religion in society. But it was during the **Renaissance** and the
**Enlightenment** (in the 17th and 18th centuries) that new ways of thinking about
society began to emerge.
THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND EARLY IDEAS
The Enlightenment was a period when thinkers like John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
and Voltaire challenged old ideas about authority and government. They argued that
people should have more freedom and that societies could be improved by reason,
science, and equality. These ideas were important because they encouraged people to
think about society in new ways, laying the foundation for sociology.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution changed society dramatically.
New machines, factories, and cities were built, leading to huge changes in how people
lived and worked. These changes also created social problems like poverty, inequality,
and exploitation. This made many people think that society needed to be studied
scientifically to understand and solve these problems.
One of the first people to use the term sociology was Auguste Comte in the early 19th
century. Comte believed that just like science studies nature, society could be studied
scientifically to improve it. He called this idea **positivism**, which means studying
society through observation and evidence rather than just ideas or religion.
KEY THINKERS IN SOCIOLOGY
As sociology developed, several important thinkers shaped the field:
- Karl Marx focused on the ways that society is divided by economic class. He believed
that the rich controlled society and that the poor were exploited. Marx’s ideas about
**class struggle** and how society can change through conflict became very influential
in sociology.
- Max Weber looked at how culture and ideas influenced society, not just economics.
He studied how religion, like Protestantism, helped shape the development of
capitalism. Weber also talked about how society was becoming more **rational** and
bureaucratic (run by organized rules and offices).
- Émile Durkheim is known for studying how society maintains order and stability. He
believed that society was held together by shared beliefs and values. Durkheim looked at
how different parts of society (like family, religion, and law) worked together to keep
things stable. He also studied social problems like suicide to understand how social
forces impact individuals.
SOCIOLOGY IN THE 20TH CENTURY
In the 20th century, sociology became more complex, with new ideas and methods. The
Chicago School of Sociology focused on how individuals create meaning in small
interactions. They believed that society could be understood by studying how people
communicate and act in everyday life.
During this time, Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton developed structural functionalism,
which looked at how different parts of society work together to maintain stability. They
believed that society works best when all its parts are functioning properly.
Later in the century, postmodernists like Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu challenged
the old ideas of sociology. They argued that society is shaped by power and that
knowledge is not neutral—it is often used to control people. They also questioned
whether we could ever really understand society objectively.
SOCIOLOGY TODAY
Today, sociology continues to grow and change. It studies a wide range of issues, such as
globalization, digital technology, race, and gender. Sociologists now look at how societies
are influenced by things like the internet, climate change, and cultural differences.
CONCLUSION
Sociology has come a long way since its early beginnings. From early philosophers to the
thinkers of the Industrial Revolution and beyond, the field has evolved to help us
understand the complex and changing nature of human societies. Sociology is still
important today because it helps us understand how societies work and how we can
improve them.
