14 Apr 2012
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Week 3, September 25, 2009
MARX, DURKHEIM AND WEBER
CHRONOLOGY
l MARX
l DURKHEIM
l WEBER
KARL MARX
MARX‟S CONTRIBUTIONS
l Not a sociologist
l Still most widely cited
l Wrote Das Capital
l Influential in worker‟s movements
DIALECTICAL/HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
THE HISTORICAL MATERIALISM PYRAMID
Basic position of Marxist thought
l “Capitalism is an exploitative and alienating social order
l “State serves the interests
l The laws are a “mystifying” force
EMILE DURKHEIM
STRIKING A BLOW FOR SOCIOLOGY
l Founded sociology
l Wrote The Rules of Sociological Method
l Wrote “Sociology and Social Facts”

THE INFLUENCE OF SAINT-SIMON
l Saint-Simon
l Emphasized the “positive”
l One of first to view society as functional mechanism
EMILE DURKHEIM IN A NUTSHELL
l Durkheim
l Committed to preserving
l Regarded society
l Society as an entity
MAX WEBER
THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
l Weber was influenced by Karl Marx
l Weber witnessed a tremendous growth in the middle classes
STRIKING A BLOW FOR SOCIOLOGY (DEJA VU, ALL OVER AGAIN)
l Weber was the founder of academic sociology
l Wrote Economy and Society, The Methodology of the Social Sciences
l Economy and Society
WEBER ON HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
l Complex relationship between the economic system
l Ideology conditioned the economy
THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM
l Decline of Catholicism

l Protestantism emphasized work and striving
PUT „ER IN REVERSE
THE ROSY FUTURE OF CAPITALISM
l Cartelization
l Stability
Workers interests
THREE MAIN TYPES OF DOMINATION
TRADITIONAL DOMINATION
l Habit
l Belief in the legitimacy
l Power and authority
CHARISMATIC DOMINATION
l Linked with personal qualities
l Belief that leader
l Could include religious leaders
LEGAL DOMINATION
l Also referred to as rational legal authority
l Belief in legitimacy of the laws
EGAL DOMINATION cont.
l Those who create and enforce the laws