Theory

Neofunctionalism: New Addition in Functionalism or against it?

What is Neofunctionalism? Neofunctionalism is a recent theoretical development that emerged in the mid-1980s, both in the United States and in Germany. In 1984, the American Sociological Association devoted two sessions to a conference on neofunctionalism at its annual meeting, where most of the papers presented were reappraisals and reconsiderations of the empirical implications of […]

Chicago School of Thought – Urban Sociology

Chicago school has been contributing to the development of the sociology field for years. The principal focus of specialists has lied in thorough research of cultural and population diversity making the city a kind of search laboratory. It should be noted that the area of urban sociology was developed and widened due to the number

Society

Discipline and Punish (Summary) by Foucault

Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975) is a profound and transformative work that interrogates the evolution of punishment and the mechanisms of power in modern societies. Foucault, a French philosopher and historian, explores the transition from public spectacles of punishment in pre-modern times to the more insidious and pervasive systems

Types of Authority and Legitimacy – Weber

Authority implies legitimacy or legitimate use of power. According to Weber, there are three systems of legitimation, each with its corresponding norms, which justify the power to command. It is these systems of legitimation which are designated as the followingtypes of authority. (i) Traditional authority This system of legitimation flows from traditional action. In other

Herbert Marcuse: One-Dimensional Man (1964) and Advanced Industrial Society

Introduction to Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse was a German philosopher closely associated with the Frankfurt school (Radical intellectuals) Marcuse was more of a Marxist wing of the school. First published in 1964, the book was one of the most important works of that time and was recognized as a significant critical diagnosis of the present

Social System

Talcott Parsons: The Social System, and General Action Theory (1952)

Introduction Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) was a prominent American Sociologist of twentieth century. He served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1921 to 1973. Parsons made a rapid academic progress. He was made chairman of the Harvard Sociology department in 1944; in 1946, he set up and chaired the innovative department of Social relations; in

Discourse, Power and Knowledge – Michel Foucault

The Introduction (The Archaeology of Knowledge) In France, a country that awards its intellectuals the status other countries give to their rockstars, Michel Foucault (1926–1984) was part of a glittering generation of thinkers. One of the great intellectual heroes of twentieth century, Foucault was a man whose passion and reason were at the service of