CSS Sociology Sociological Theory Syllabus

Who is the principal founding figure of conflict theory in sociology?

Karl Marx.

According to Marx, what are the two main classes in capitalist society?

The bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (wage labourers who sell their labour power).

Define Marx's concept of the 'means of production.'

The resources used to produce goods, including land, factories, machinery, tools and raw materials; ownership of them defines class position.

What is the base–superstructure model in Marxist theory?

The economic base (forces and relations of production) shapes and conditions the superstructure (politics, law, religion, ideology, culture).

Define Marx's concept of 'alienation.'

Under capitalism, workers become estranged in four ways: from the product of their labour, from the act of production, from their species-being (human potential), and from other people.

What does Marx mean by 'surplus value'?

The difference between the value workers produce and the wages they are paid; it is appropriated by capitalists as profit and is the source of exploitation.

What is 'false consciousness' in Marxist theory?

A distorted understanding among the proletariat that prevents them from recognizing their exploitation and true class interests, sustained by the dominant ideology.

What is 'class consciousness' according to Marx?

The awareness by members of a class of their common interests and shared exploitation, a precondition for revolutionary action; the shift from a 'class in itself' to a 'class for itself'.

According to Marx, what is the engine of historical change (historical materialism)?

Class struggle arising from contradictions between the forces of production and the relations of production drives the transition between modes of production (e.g., feudalism to capitalism to socialism).

What is the level of analysis (micro vs. macro) of symbolic interactionism?

Micro-level: it focuses on small-scale, face-to-face interactions and the meanings individuals create and exchange through symbols.

State the three basic premises of symbolic interactionism (Herbert Blumer).

(1) People act toward things based on the meanings those things have for them; (2) meanings arise out of social interaction; (3) meanings are handled and modified through an interpretive process.

Who coined the term 'symbolic interactionism' and which thinker is regarded as its intellectual founder?

Herbert Blumer coined the term; George Herbert Mead is regarded as the intellectual founder.

In symbolic interactionism, what is a 'symbol'?

Anything (a word, gesture, object) that meaningfully represents something else and whose shared meaning is the basis of communication and social interaction.

According to G. H. Mead, what is the difference between the 'I' and the 'Me'?

The 'I' is the spontaneous, unsocialized, creative response of the self; the 'Me' is the socialized self that reflects internalized attitudes of others (society).

What are Mead's three stages in the development of the self?

The preparatory stage (imitation), the play stage (taking the role of significant others), and the game stage (taking the role of the generalized other).

Define Mead's concept of the 'generalized other.'

The internalized attitudes, expectations and viewpoints of society or the wider community as a whole, against which individuals assess their own behaviour.

What is Charles Cooley's 'looking-glass self'?

The self develops from how we imagine others see us; it has three stages: (1) we imagine how we appear to others, (2) we imagine their judgment, and (3) we develop self-feeling based on that imagined judgment.

What is Erving Goffman's 'dramaturgical' approach?

Social interaction is like a theatrical performance: people are actors managing impressions, performing in a 'front stage' for an audience and relaxing 'back stage' (impression management).

Who was Ibn-i-Khaldun and why is he important to sociology?

A 14th-century Arab/North African scholar (1332–1406) considered a forerunner/founder of sociology; in the Muqaddimah he founded 'ilm al-umran' (the science of society/civilization).

Define Ibn-i-Khaldun's concept of 'asabiyyah.'

Group feeling, social solidarity or group cohesion/esprit de corps; it is strongest in tribal/nomadic life and is the driving force behind the rise of states and dynasties.

What is the cyclical theory of the rise and fall of dynasties in Ibn-i-Khaldun's thought?

Dynasties rise on strong asabiyyah; with sedentary luxury and civilization, group solidarity weakens, leading to decline and replacement by a new group with stronger asabiyyah — a roughly three-to-four generation cycle.

How does Ibn-i-Khaldun distinguish 'badawa' from 'hadara'?

Badawa is nomadic/rural/desert life marked by simplicity and strong solidarity; hadara is sedentary/urban civilized life marked by luxury, complexity and weakening solidarity.

Who coined the term 'sociology' and is known as the 'father of sociology'?

Auguste Comte (he first used 'social physics,' then coined 'sociology' in 1838).

What is Comte's 'Law of Three Stages'?

Human thought and society pass through three stages: the theological (religious/supernatural explanations), the metaphysical (abstract forces), and the positive/scientific (empirical, scientific explanations).

What is positivism according to Comte?

The doctrine that society should be studied using the methods of the natural sciences — observation, experiment and comparison — to discover law-like regularities, restricting knowledge to observable facts.

What is Comte's distinction between 'social statics' and 'social dynamics'?

Social statics studies order and the structures that hold society together at a given time; social dynamics studies social change, progress and evolution over time.

Which sociologist coined the phrase 'survival of the fittest' and applied evolutionary ideas to society?

Herbert Spencer, the leading figure of Social Darwinism / social evolution.

According to Herbert Spencer, in what direction does society evolve?

From simple, homogeneous, undifferentiated forms toward complex, heterogeneous, differentiated and integrated forms (the law of evolution), paralleling biological organisms.

What is Max Weber's definition of sociology and his core method 'verstehen'?

Sociology is the interpretive understanding of social action to arrive at causal explanation; verstehen means empathetic/interpretive understanding of the subjective meanings actors attach to their actions.

What is an 'ideal type' in Weber's methodology?

A pure analytical construct (mental model) that exaggerates essential features of a phenomenon (e.g., bureaucracy) to serve as a yardstick for comparing and measuring real cases; it does not exist in pure form in reality.

What are Weber's three types of legitimate authority?

Traditional authority (based on custom/heredity), charismatic authority (based on exceptional personal qualities), and rational-legal authority (based on rules, laws and offices).