Socioloy, Theorists like - Comte, Marx, Dukheim, Weber; youtube explanation on my slide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyfpFDLslk8

1. Introduction to
Sociology And Main
Protagonists
BY SRIJA CHAKRABORTY

2. Introducing Sociology
Sociology is not only a study of society;
• It is a scientific study of society that deals with understanding of relationship
between individual mindfully reciprocating with social norms.
• It enhances the process through the former term of “Social Physics” and into
coining the term “Sociology” by the founding figure Auguste Comte.
• We need to gauge the understanding that conclusion of any social science is not
universal like natural science. It has interpretative understanding.

3. The Basic Facets of Sociology
1. Sociology enables the primary institutional like family and educational
occupational even marriage and kinship, including the mentality of the
people who is governing us.
2. It has different school of thoughts; like Conflict, Functionalist, Critical,
Symbolic Interactionist, Exchange theory, Post-Modernism and Post
structuralism, Feminist and many other interpretative forms.
3. It roots us out from social gamut that imbued in us as a compulsion for
adaptation thereby, we could get to choose while learning these basic
protagonist in near chapters.

4. The Founder of Coining the Term “Sociology”- Auguste
Comte
 The main Contributions:
Father of Sociology who coined the term; given
basic methodology of 3 stages of Positivism;
1. Theological
2. Metaphysical
3. Positive or Scientific or Empirical stage

5. Main Protagonists and Their Key
Methodologies
Karl Marx
Emile Durkheim
Max Weber

6. Karl Marx: Conflict Theorist
 Was young Hegelian a rebel.
 His main concepts reverberated around Class and Class Struggle
 His contribution over term Bourgeoise(upper class) and
Proletariat (lower class) as a main source of their conflict lies in
manifestation of conflict of interest.
 He negated on Division of labour which he called created
Alienation in Modes of Production
 Further coined Base and Superstructure as a source of
economical rationalism
 Dialectical and Historical Materialism
 Lastly, Utopia of Socialism – being critiqued

7. Emile Durkheim: Functionalist
 Social facts an- Anomie- Organic Solidarity
Mechanical Solidarity
Organic Solidarity
 Influenced from Organismic Solidarity of Herbert Spencer
 Religion- “The Elementary Forms of religious life”- Totemism –Sacred and
Profane
 Theory of Suicide- Egoistic, Altruistic, Anomic and Fatalistic.
Influenced from Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills

8. Max Weber: Functionalist
 Ideal types- Verstehen
 Social Action Theory
 Authority; Traditional, Legal-rational and
Charismatic
 Bureaucracy
 Religion- “Protestant Ethics and Spirit of
Capitalism” - Adaptation

9. Overall Summary
 We need to vocaburarily imbued with theoretical inter
changes while writing answers further Protagonist during
origin of Sociology like Montesquieu and Simon needs to be
brushed along others like Robert K. Merton, Vilfredo Pareto
and many others like Garfinkel, Goffman and so many…
 Thus all explain that social science is different from natural
science as it … doesn’t provide universal conclusion and
gets prepared for critic and critique through various
interpretative understanding.