L4: Introduction to Social Theory
(Part Two: Social Theory)
Agenda
Homework
Objective:
1. To develop an understanding of 1. Work on
what social theory is and the
Presentations.
questions it attempts to answer.
Presentations
2. To familiarize ourselves with
will begin
the “classic” social theorists
Monday
we will be studying.
February 13
Schedule:
1. Social theory activity
2. Social Theory
2. Social theory discussion
Paper
3. Go over assignments for this
Due Tuesday
part of the course
March 6
What is Social Theory?: Activity
• Put simply: Social theories are ideas about
society, social functioning, and social change.
• To better understand what social theory, we will
do the following:
– We will break up into small groups
– Each group will be given a large sheet of paper
containing one fact about the social world in which we
live.
– With your group, try to develop an explanation for why
that fact is true and write it on the bottom of your sheet
of paper.
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What is Social Theory?
• Now let’s develop a more precise
definition…
• Social theory is a system of
generalized statements or
propositions about social
phenomena.
• Social theories do two things:
– Explain and predict the phenomena
in question
– Produce testable hypotheses
• Thus where formal social theory
departs from the type of theorizing
exercise we just did is that formal
social theories put forth
propositions that extend across
societies and across time periods.
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What is Social Theory?
• For example, a long standing
social theory predicts that as
society becomes more
modern, the importance of
religion will decline.
• This theory is not restricted
in its scope to any one time
period or population.
• Instead it is a general
proposition that can be
tested in any society
undergoing modernization at
any time.
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What is “Classic” Social Theory
• Classic Social Theory refers to the work of a
variety of theorists who crafted pivotal theories in
sociology that went on to…
– Form important
frameworks that
sociologists today
still use to understand
the world
– Inspire and develop
important subfields in
contemporary sociology
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Why Study “Classic” Social Theory?
• Many students find it difficult to understand and
interpret what classic theorists have to say.
• There are two reasons why studying the works of
classical social theorists are important:
– The ideas articulated by classical theorists lay the
foundation of sociology as a discipline.
– The theories they put forth still guide contemporary theory
and research.
• The concepts and ideas introduced by classical
theorists thus help us to better understand our world
today.
Plan for Our Study of the Classical
Theorists
• We will study 6 classic social theorists:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Classical Social Theorist: Marx
Classical Social Theorist: Weber
Classical Social Theorist: Durkheim
Symbolic Interactionism: Goffman
Conflict Theory: Dahrendorf
Black Feminist Thought: Hill Collins
• You will be divided into 6 groups, each group will
be charged with presenting the work of their
social theorist.
• For more specifics, let’s look at the assignment
sheet…
Groups
– Classical Social Theorist: Marx
• Tyler, James, Davyona, Caroline B.
– Classical Social Theorist: Weber
• Nathan, Nora, Katie, Mike
– Classical Social Theorist: Durkheim
• Lauren, Michael, Julia D., Kelly
– Symbolic Interactionism: Goffman
• Delali, Carter, Myles, Jonathan
– Conflict Theory: Dahrendorf
• Melissa, Sara, Anna, Maura
– Black Feminist Thought: Hill Collins
• Julia R., Brandon, Yina,