Sociological Foundation
Final Assessment Topic Decide which classical theorist impresses you the most and which theorist impresses you the least. Write a detailed essay in which you explain: ● Each theorist’s basic assumptions, concepts, and principles ● The reasons for your choices Your reasons should be based on your critical analysis of how well each theory advances our understanding of the social world. Please, Use section headings for organization.
Instructions sociological Foundations
Final Assessment Topic
Decide which classical theorist impresses you the most and which theorist impresses you the least. Write a detailed essay in which you explain:
Each theorist’s basic assumptions, concepts, and principles
The reasons for your choices
Your reasons should be based on your critical analysis of how well each theory advances our understanding of the social world.
Please, Use section headings for organization.
Note 2 : Ritzer Sociological Theory was the text book. You can use it or any resources that you believe it would be better to do this paper.
Note 3: Theorist that most impressed me was Karl Mark and less impressed me was Emile Durkheim.
Note 1: Hi, I have four classical theorists in this class.
Karl Marx
Concepts
● alienation in the workplace
● fetishism of commodities
● exploitation of workers
● ideologies (according to Marx, ideas that support the capitalist economic system and benefit the ruling class)
● human potential and alienation
● the labor theory of value and exploitation
● ideology and false consciousness
•You can find this information in Ritzer, Sociological Theory: Chapter 2: "Karl Marx" and sections of Chapter 8 titled "Economic Determinism" and "Hegelian Marxism." (Attached ).
Emile Durkheim
Concepts
- Durkheim causes and solutions for social disintegration.
- Durkheim's contribution to the field of sociology.
- how Durkheim's study of suicide demonstrated the explanatory usefulness of sociology.
- Durkheim's concept of social facts.
- Distinguish between mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity
• You can find this information in Ritzer, Sociological Theory: Chapter 3: "Émile Durkheim." (Attached )
Max Weber
Concepts
● Weber's concept of ideal types.
- Weber's views about modern society including his theories of bureaucracy and rationality.
● Distinguish between the four types of rationality.
● Weber's concept of "verstehen."
● You can find about this information in Ritzer, Sociological Theory: Chapter 4: "Max Weber." (Attached).
Talcott Parsons and Structural Functionalism
Talcott Parsons' structural functionalism attempts to solve the problem of social order.
Concepts
●Parsons' concept of consensus and the ways in which consensus is maintained in a diverse society.
● Parsons' conceptualization of the action system.
● Parsons' action system scheme as an explanation of social order.
You can find about this information in Ritzer, Sociological Theory: Read Chapter 7 up to (but not including) the section titled "Robert Merton's Structural Functionalism." (Attached)
Note 2: Ritzer Sociological Theory was the text book. You can use it or any resources that you believe it would be better to do this paper.
Note 3: Theorist that most impressed me was Karl Mark and less impressed me was Emile Durkheim.
Sociological Foundation
Name:
Institution
Karl Marx
Alienation in the Work Place
In his views, Karl Mark strongly believed that one of the worst things to happen to human nature and its relation to labor was capitalism. To him, it was more purposeful and progressive to have a good relation between human nature and labor because it made one productive and satisfied in whatever a person was doing (Arthur, 1972). However, with capitalism this relation seized to exist. The capitalist owned the labor and paid workers for their services in doing whatever they wanted. Thus, workers ended up doing what was asked of them and not what they really had passion and desire in doing. According to Mark, this prohibitive and routine type of work inhibited a person’s creativity and offered no chance for a person to transform as is supposed to when it comes to work.
Mark argued that, employees working for capitalists were alienated and as a result, they never produced products according to their understanding and ideas that satisfied their needs (Ritzer, 2011). Thus, such workers became unhappy and unsatisfied in the workplace. They only became satisfied at other settings like when away from work where they were more of themselves. It became a sad reality that people had “no-lives” at their workplace but were so eager to get out of such places just to feel the satisfaction of life. He also stated that alienated workers were more likely to appreciate products made by others than those made by them because just like consumers, the product was not theirs, but belonged to the capitalists. That is, if these workers wanted to possess the product, they were required to buy just like any other third party. A perfect example was one where a worker assigned a restaurant had no right to eat the food he/ she was preparing even when they were hungry. To the capitalists, these would “eat” into the profit and hence, if an employee wanted to take eat the food, they needed to pay like any other customer.
Fetishism of commodities
Fetishism of commodities is the separation that has developed where the products made by workers take on an independent route from their own. This, according to Mark was because of capitalism that had seen the production of commodities satisfy a certain demand in the market and not for enhancement and development of the workers who made them. Hence, fetishism of commodities dented the true purpose of human nature i.e. to make products because someone wanted to and not because he was forced to (Arthur, 1972). This practice had emerged because of monetization of each and every product that the capitalist made. To them, a product was just another entity that had an assigned monetary value that translated into more cash and profit.
Exploitation of Workers
Marx saw dishonesty in the manner in which capitalists’ availed offers to workers. The workers were viewed as robots that were required to ...
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