A Brief Introduction for ESO-13 Students:
The word sociology is derived from both Latin and Greek origins. The Latin word: socius,
"companion"; -ology, "the study of", and in Greek lógos, "word", "knowledge".
Thus, sociology is the science of society and no other science endeavours to study it in its
entirety. Economics studies man as a wealth-getter and wealth-disposer; History deals with
the human past. Cultural Anthropology studies people, particularly the primitive and it
concentrates more on the primitive communities and cultures.
Sociology was later defined independently by the French philosopher of science, Auguste
Comte (1798–1857), in 1838. Comte used this term to describe a new way of looking at
society.
Formal academic sociology was established by Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who
developed positivism as a foundation to practical social research. While Durkheim rejected
much of the detail of Comte's philosophy, he retained and refined its method, Sociology
quickly evolved as an academic response to the perceived challenges of modernity, such
as industrialization, urbanization,secularization, and the process of "rationalization". The
field predominated in continental Europe,
Durkheim, Marx, and the German theorist Max Weber are typically cited as the three
principal architects of social science. Herbert Spencer, Georg Simmel, Vilfredo Pareto,
Thorstein Veblen, William Graham Sumner, Lester F. Ward, Alexis de Tocqueville, Werner
Sombart, Ferdinand Tönnies, and Karl Mannheim are occasionally included on academic
curricula as founding theorists
The first college course entitled "Sociology" was taught in the United States at Yale in 1875
by William Graham Sumner. The first sociology department to be established in the United
Kingdom was at the London School of Economics and Political Science (home of the British
Journal of Sociology) in 1904.
In India Prof. B.N Seal (Calcutta University) in 1917, was one of the first scholars to draw
attention to sociology. He was responsible for introducing sociology in Calcutta and later in
Mysore University.
In Bombay (now Mumbai), Patrick Gedds was key in introducing the department of
sociology and civics in 1919. This was the Landmark in the development of sociology in
India.
Some of the principal sociologist in India are: Radhakamal Mukerjee (1889-1968), Dhurjati
Prasad Mukerji (1894-1962), Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1893-1984)
Sociology and Anthropology:
Anthropology is a general science like sociology. The word Anthropology is derived from the two Greek wordsAnthropos = man and Logos= study. The etymological meaning of ‘Anthropology’ is the study of man. More
precisely, it is defined as “the science of man and his works and behaviour”( Kroeber). Thus it is the broadest
of all the social sciences. It studies the biological as well as the as the cultural developments of man.
ESO 13- Sociological Thought:
Unit one: EMERGENCE OF SOCIOLOGY IN EUROPE
This unit traces the relationship between the emergence of sociology and the
social/ intellectual conditions of 18th and 19th century Europe. A proper
understanding of this European linkage of sociology will help to better
appreciate the ideas of the founders of sociology.
Enlightenment Period:
The roots of the ideas developed by the early sociologists are grounded in the
social conditions that prevailed in Europe. In European history, tremendous
social, political and economic changes as embodied in the French Revolution
and the Industrial Revolution. These periods of change is known as the
Enlightenment Period as it embodies the spirit of new awakening in the French
philosophers of the 18th Century.
Background of European society in the 18th century.
 The Europe as most traditional societies was as traditional. There was
the presence of owners of Land, feudal lords and the peasants who
worked the Lands.
 Classes were distinct and demarcated.
 Religion and monarchy were firmly rooted.
However the new Europe ushered by the 2 revolutions (French/Industrial)
challenged the central feature of old Europe and Democracy replaced
Monarchy.
The commercial Revolution:

The Commercial Revolution was a period of European economic expansion, and
colonialism which lasted from (almost 1450-1800). It was succeeded in the mid-18th
century by the Industrial Revolution.

It was of such a large scale and organised manner that we call it a Revolution.

It received stimulus from the voyages of exploration undertaken by England, Spain,
and other nations to Africa, Asia, and the New World. Among the features associated
with it were a surge in overseas trade, the appearance of the chartered company,
acceptance of the principles of mercantilism, the creation of a money economy,
increased economic specialization, and the establishment of such new institutions as
the state bank, the bourse, and the futures market. The Commercial Revolution
helped set the stage for the Industrial Revolution.
Banking

Various legal and religious developments in the late Middle Ages allowed for
development of the modern banking system at the beginning of the 16th
century. Interest was allowed to be charged, and profits generated from holding
other people's money.

“Cheques’ were invented in the 18th century & paper money replaced gold and silver
coins.

Joint stock companies and stock exchanges emerged by the 17th century. Shares of
capital was distributed to a large number of visitors in this kind of set up.

Insurance companies were another way to mitigate risk. Insurance in one form or
another has been around as far back as there are records. What differed about
insurance going into the 16th and 17th centuries was that these informal
mechanisms became formalized. Lloyd's of London came into being in 1688 in English
coffee shops that catered to sailors, traders, and others involved in trade.

The British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company are some
examples.
“Europeanisation” of the World; and the cultural hegemony
flourished since then.
Scientific revolution

The scientific revolution began in Europe towards the end of the
Renaissance era(14th -16th Century) and continued through the late 18th century, the
later period known as The Enlightenment.

The replacement of the Earth as center of the universe known as the Heliocentrism
or ‘heliocentric theory’ was discovered by Dutch named Nicholas Copernicus.

Advancements and breakthrough in the visual arts (esp:Paintiings); Medicine (human
anatomy), chemistry, navigation and astronomy.
Vasco da Gama (Portuguese explorer), reached Indian shores in 1498. Columbus (Spanish)
discovered America in 1492 etc.
Thus old ideas were challenged and alternatives were suggested with the work of physists
and mathmaticans like Galileo, Newton and Kepler.
Biology and Evolution:

Discoveries like the human blood circulation; this had impact on the social thought
of Comte, Spencer, Durkheim and others.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882), published the Origin of Species in 1859. Descent of Man
(1863). Apart others Herbert Spencer applied some of these findings in the social
world.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution (1789–1799), was a period of radical social and political upheaval
in France that had a major impact on France and throughout the rest of Europe.

The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years.

French society underwent an epic transformation, as feudal, aristocratic and
religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from radical leftwing political groups, masses on the streets, and peasants in the countryside. Old
ideas about tradition and hierarchy – of monarchy, aristocracy, and religious
authority – were abruptly overthrown by new Enlightenment principles
of equality, citizenship and inalienable rights.
Basic Picture of the French Society:
The French society was divided into 3 feudal ‘Estates’ called: the clergy, the nobility, and
the rest of France.

The first estate consisting of the clergy= the stratified higher clergy eg: cardinal,
archbishops, bishops and the abbots. They live in luxury and mostly indulge in
politics than in religious activities.

The second estate consisting of the nobility= two kinds
 a)Nobels of sword: big Landlords; could be compared to the Zamindars of
India; who were ‘high born wastrels’.
 b) Nobels of Robe= the magistrates and Judges.
The third estate= the rest of society; including the peasants, artisan and others. Clearly
there was a tremendous difference in the three estates.
The king in order to maintain the good will of the other two estates, continued to exploit the
poor. (3rd estate).



On july 14th 1789 (today); one of the most important events of the French Revolution
took place. It was the storming of the ‘Bastille’= the ancient Royal prison that stood as
a symbol of oppression.
On 21st jan 1793 King Louis XVI was bublicly beheded. The Queen was also later
beheaded in the same year.
France was declared a Republic.

A period referred to as “Reign of Terror” took place in France. This lasted for 3yrs.
Until Napoleon Bonaparte appeared as directorate in 1799 A.D.
Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from 1750 to 1850

changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a
profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times.

It began in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spread throughout Western
Europe, North America, Japan, and eventually the rest of the world.
The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a number of
innovations, made in the second half of the 18th century:



Textiles –
Steam power – invented by James Watt and patented in 1775 This enabled rapid
development of efficient semi-automated factories on a previously unimaginable scale
in places where waterpower was not available. For over a hundred years the steam
engine was the king of the industries.
Iron making – In the Iron industry, coke was finally applied to all stages of iron smelting,
replacing charcoal.
In terms of social structure, the Industrial Revolution witnessed the triumph of
a middle class of industrialists and businessmen over a landed class of nobility
and gentry. Though under strict and long working conditions ordinary working
people found increased opportunities for employment in the new mills and
factories,
Social effects of Industrialisation:

Industrialisation led to the creation of the factory and urbanisation.

Child Labour

Housing, standard of living and population increase.

Publication and news print increased so did circulation due to steam engine.

rise of new great cities,
Intellectual Influences and the Emergence of Sociology:
The Industrial revolution paved way to a varied social though process; for
instance Carl Marx saw a form of enslavement in the machine and a
manifestation of the alienation of labour. Some social scientists felt that men and
women had grown mechanical at heart and hand due to the industrial system of
production.

Sociology emerged from enlightenment thought, shortly after the French
Revolution, as a positivist science of society.

Thus, firstly the scientific approach to the study of society dates back to
the tradition of Enlightenment. The 18th century thinkers began more
consistently than any of their predecessors to study the human
conditions in a scientific manner.

Secondly, according to the 18th century thinkers human beings, are
essentially rational and this rationality can lead them to freedom of
thought and action.

Thirdly, the 18th century thinkers believed that human beings are capable
of attaining perfection. By the ability to scrutinize, criticise and chance
social institutions for themselves and create for themselves even greater
degrees of freedom.
Apart these 3 intellectual influences current in the post Enlightenment
period influenced the emergence of sociology in Europe; they are:
I)
II)
III)
the philosophy of history
the biological theories of evolution &
The surveys of social conditions.
Founding Fathers of Sociology:
Auguste Comte
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857), better
known as Auguste Comte, was a French philosopher. He was a founder of the discipline
of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism.
He is commonly regarded as the founder of Sociology.
Comte was born a Catholic, but somewhere around the age of fourteen, he apparently
stopped believing in God. At the same time, he left the ideals of his royalist family behind
and became a republican.
Comte attended the Ecole Polytechnique which was a leading scientific institution in France
at the time. He was kicked out of school for leading a student protest.

The young Comte was thus initiated into politics and was able to publish a great
number of articles, which placed him very much in the public eye.
Comte's most important works are

(1) the Course on Positive Philosophy (1830-1842, six volumes,

(2) the System of Positive Polity, or Treatise on Sociology, Instituting the Religion of
Humanity, (1851-1854, four volumes); and

(3) the Early Writings (1820-1829), where one can see the influence of Saint-Simon,
for whom Comte served as secretary from 1817 to 1824.
Saint Simon:
was a French aristocrat, but in his ideas he was one of the first utopian socialist (ie: one who
believes in an ideal society where everyone gets an equal share of opportunities and
resources.

As said earlier, the Course on positive philosophy pursues two goals.
*The first, a specific one, is a foundation for sociology, then called ‘social physics’.
*The second, a general goal, is the coordination of the whole of positive knowledge.
Law of three stages

The law states that, in its development, humanity passes through three successive
stages: the theological, the metaphysical, and the positive.
I. The Theological stage
is the necessary starting point for the human mind. In this stage human beings
attempts to discover the first and the final causes of all effects. In this stage the
perception that all phenomena are produced by the immediate action of
Supernatural beings.
Eg: tribal belief that diseases like Small Pox, Cholera were the expression of God’s
Anger.
II. The Metaphysical Stage
The second is but a transitory stage that makes possible the passage from
the first to the last. The second stage is only a simple modification of the
first: the questions remain the same, but in the answers supernatural
agents are replaced by abstract entities, like God.
III. The Positive Stage:
In the positive state, the mind stops looking for causes of phenomena, and limits
itself strictly to laws governing them; thus he believed that Human beings seek to
establish laws which link facts and which govern social life.
This relativism of the third stage is the most characteristic property of positivism.
The limits of Comte's philosophy of science are easily seen, but this does not diminish their
value, which remains considerable.
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was born in Derby, England, on 27 April 1820, into a middle class family.
Spencer developed an all-embracing conception of evolution as the progressive
development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human
culture and societies. He was "an enthusiastic exponent of evolution" and even "wrote about
evolution before Darwin did.

Spencer is best known for coining the concept "survival of the fittest", which he
applied to his studies of society in Principles of Biology (1864), after reading Charles
Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

As both an adolescent and a young man Spencer found it difficult to settle to any
intellectual or professional discipline. He worked as a civil engineer during the
railway boom of the late 1830s, after which he became a journalist and worked as a
sub-editor on the free-trade journal The Economist From 1848 to 1853.

He published his first book, Social Statics (1851), which predicted that humanity
would eventually become completely adapted to the requirements of living in
society with the consequential withering away of the state.
Thus, unlike Comte, who is the founding father of sociology, Spencer, known as the second
father of sociology, had very different expectations from sociology. Comte wanted to guide
human beings in the construction of a better society.
Spencer, instead told people through sociology that human beings should not interfere with
the natural process in societies.
Georg Simmel (March 1, 1858 – September 28, 1918)
Was a major German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Georg Simmel was born
in Berlin, Germany, as the youngest of seven children. His father founded a successful
chocolate factory and died in 1874, leaving a sizable inheritance.

Simmel's approach to sociology can best be understood as a self-conscious attempt
to reject the organicist theories of Comte and Spencer.

He advanced, instead, the conception that society consists of a web of patterned
interactions, and that it is the task of sociology to study the forms of these
interactions as they occur and reoccur in diverse historical periods and cultural
settings.

In his view, society consists of an intricate web of multiple relations between
individuals who are in constant interaction with one another: "Society is merely the
name for a number of individuals, connected by interaction."
Simmel’s view of modern Culture
The trend of modern history appears to Simmel as a progressive liberation of the
individual from the bonds of exclusive attachment and personal dependencies in spite of
the increasing domination of man by cultural products of his own creation.
In premodern societies, Simmel argued, man typically lived in a very limited number of
relatively small social circles. Such circles, whether kinship groups or guilds, towns or
villages, tightly surrounded the individual and held him firmly in their grip.
In terms of schoraly significane Georg Simmel’s sociological method and study can be
compared with that of Emile Durkheim. Durkheim focussed his attention on the styudy
of social structure- within which he studied larger institutional structures, religious and
education systems. Simmel focused more on the forms of interaction which is quite
similar to social structure.
Thus, though Simmels sociology may lack systematic foundations yet we cannot ignore his
contributions.
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923)
Pareto was born of an exiled noble Genoese family in 1848 in Paris, was an
Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist and philosopher. Pareto was made
a senator of the Kingdom of Italy by the fascist Mussolini.
Central Ideas of Pareto

He believed that society is a system in equilibrium and that any disturbance in one
part of the system leads to adjustive changes in other parts of that system. Like the
‘molecules’ in physical matter, the individuals in social system have interests, drives
and sentiments.

He believed in a system of logical and Non-logical Action. His sociology holds that
much social action is nonlogical and that much personal action is designed to give
nonrational (non-logical) actions to spurious logicality.

It is the non-logical actions which are related to his theory of residuals and
derivatives.

Residues and derivatives are both manifestations of sentiments which are according
to Pareto instincts or innate human tendencies.
The study of these residues and derivatives can be used to unmask non-scientific
theories and belief systems.
Derivatives= the changing elements or variables accounting for these theories
Residues= are the relatively permanent (constant) elements.
Theory of Elites and Circulation of Elites
It is a basic axiom for Pareto that people are unequal physically, as well as intellectually and
morally. In society as a whole, and in any of its particular strata and groupings, some people
are more gifted than others. Those who are most capable in any particular grouping are the
elite.
Pareto distinguishes between the governing elites and the non governing elites as such,
when governing or non- governing elites attempt to close themselves to the influx of newer
and more capable elements from the underlying population, when the circulation of elites is
impeded, social equilibrium is upset and the social order will decay.

Pareto argued that if the governing elite does not "find ways to assimilate the
exceptional individuals who come to the front in the subject classes," an imbalance
is created in the body politic and the body social until this condition is rectified,
either through a new opening of channels of mobility or through violent overthrow
of an old ineffectual governing elite by a new one that is capable of governing.
Impact of Pareto’s ideas can be seen in the works of political scientist like Harold Lasswell
and others like Mills.
Thorstein Veblen, (July 30, 1857, Wisconsin, U.S.—Aug. 3, 1929, California)
Veblen , American economist and social scientist who sought to apply an evolutionary,
dynamic approach to the study of economic institutions. Veblen was of Norwegian descent.
He did not learn English until he went to school, and all of his life he spoke it with an accent.

His first book, The Theory of the Leisure Class, subtitled An Economic Study of
Institutions, was published in 1899. Still read today, it represents the essence of
most of his thinking.

The industrial system, he wrote, required men to be diligent, efficient, and
cooperative, while those who ruled the business world were concerned with making
money and displaying their wealth; their outlook was survivalist, a remnant of a
predatory, barbarian past.

According to Veblen, the self- esteem of people depends on the esteem accorded to
them by others in the society.
In Leisure class Veblen writes “As fast as a person makes new acquisitions and
becomes accustomed to the new standard of wealth, the new standard forthwith
ceases to afford appreciably greater satisfaction than the earlier standard did….”
By conspicuous consumption Veblen means that behaviour of social actors in which
they utilise goods and services not just for the sake of utilising the goods and services
but for the sake of showing off to others and maintaining a distance between
themselves and their neighbours.
History and development of Sociology in India
India has a rich and vast history extending more than four millennia. The Indian social
thought in the pre modern times was the articulation of a multi- ethnic society. Like the
impact of the Buddhist, Jains, Hindusim, Sikhism etc.
Impact of the British
the age old traditions began to decline due to new social and economic forces. English
begun to become the official language instead of the Sanskrit and Persian languages.
The British brought important changes in India by the introduction of railways, posts
and telegraphs which facilitated communication between groups. Thus, India entered
the modern stage.

The feudal classes were no longer the center stage in India; instead an enormous
middle class emerged during the British period.
The Reformist Movement

The reformist movement: Raja Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833); founded the
Brahmo Samaj and believed that if Indians shed the superstitions and evil
practices such as Sati, Infanticide etc they could become progressive.

The Revivalist Movement: Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883): The Arya Samaj
was based on an appeal to people to shed the unhealthy features of Hinduism
(such as case, superstition, ritualism etc).

Social process have been seen with the Gandhian political style in the freedom
struggle in India.
Dilemma between the traditional and modernity in the Indian society still prevail.
Benoy Kumar Sarkar & Ananda Coomarasyamy
Benoy Kumar Sarkar was a rationalist. He did not agree with the view that the West was
materialistic, while the east was spiritualistic.
He published 4 vols. of Positive Background of Hindu sociology (1914). And the political
institutions and theories of Hindus (1922). He taught economics in Caluctta University.
Ananda Coomarasyamy, was an early Indian social thinker whose works helped in the
development of sociology in India. He was an Idealist (person believing in the abstract
values of like God, values of goodness, etc). However in comparing East and west he did not
try to uphold India’s superiority over the rest in spirituality and human values.
Irawati Karve
she was a student of G.S Ghurye in Bombay. She came to heads the combined department
of sociology and anthropology which started in the late 1930’s in Pune. She has been hailed
as the first feminist sociologist of India. Her publications include the Kinship Organisation
on India (1952/53 versions.)
Modern Education Structure
Sociology developed as a discipline primarily due to the need felt by the British rulers during
the colonial period to understand the customs, manners and the social institution of the
Indian people. In the three British Presidencies, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras universities
were established.

Sociology was introduced in 1914 in Bombay University, In 1917 in Calcutta
University.
Pioneers of Indian Sociology
RadhaKamal Mukerje, D.P Mukerji, and G.S Ghurye have made paramount contributions to
Indian sociology.
Radhakamal Mukerje (1889–1968),
Was born in a large Bengali Brahmin family in West Bengal, India.
A leading thinker and social scientist of modern India,

Was Professor of Economics and Sociology and Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Lucknow. Mukerje played an important and constructive role in the Indian
independence movement. He was a highly original philosopher of history and a
discerning interpreter of culture and civilization.

Mukerjee works included that of social ecology, for him social ecology was a
complex formulation in which a number of social sciences interacted. And that the
geological, geographical and biological factors worked together to produce and
ecological zone. And that ecology is conditioned by social, economic and political
factors.

According to him social ecology was the better alternative to the havoc caused by
rapid industrialisation.

Mukerjee wrote extensively on the danger of deforestation.

Mukerjee underlined two basic points in relation to values; firstly, values are not
limited only to religion or ethics. Economics politics and law also give rise to values.
Thus Human needs are transformed into social values and are internalised in the
minds of members of society.
RadhaKamal Mukerje proposed that human civilisation should be studied on three inter
related levels: biological evolution, Psycho-social dimension, Spiritual dimension.
Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji (1894-1962)
Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji was a Marxist who analysed Indian history in terms of a dialectical
process.

Mukeji held that tradition was the mainspring of culture.

D.P Mukerji was involved in depicting Hindu-Muslim relations. His search for truth led
him to discover humanistic and spiritual unity in the diversities of Indian culture.
D.P Mukerji’s publications include
I) Basic concepts in Sociology (1932)
II ) Personality and the social Sciences (1924)
III ) Modern Indian Culture (1942)
IV)
V)
Problems of Indian youth (1946)
Diversities (1958)
Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1893-1984)
G.S Ghurye was born on 12 December 1893, at Malwan, near Mumbai in Maharashtra. He
belonged to a fairly prosperous Brahmin family. In 1924, he became the second person to
head the Department of Sociology in the University of Mumbai.

Ghurye received scholarship to study in England through the Bombay University.

He was awarded a Ph.D from Cambridge University.

Of his several publications In the early 1930’s Ghurye published a book, Caste and
Race in India, which is still an important source book on Indian castes.
Ghurey’s contribution to Indian sociology were mainly in the areas of ethnography of
castes and tribes, rural-urbanisation. Religious phenomena, social tensions and Indian art.
Compiled by Suman Pudasaini, for Eso 13, IGNOU. ICA, Gyaneshwor- 14th July 2012