Download Foundation of Sociology • August Comte, a French philosopher

Foundation of Sociology
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August Comte, a French philosopher, coined the term
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He envisioned 3 phases of social thought/ 3 phases of social development;
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Theological; societies have rules that are given by gods and set in stone
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Metaphysical; societies have rules that are based on universally agreed principles
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Positive; societies have rules that are based on scientific understanding
Emilie Durkheim (1858-1917)
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Key figure in the development of sociology
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Established;
o The worlds first course in sociology
o Department of sociology
o Academic sociology journal
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Constructed the basic model for how sociologists understand society today
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Wrote 3 major works;
o ‚Problems; divisions of labour in society’
o ‚Methods; Rules of Sociological
Method’
o ‚Approaches; suicide’
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Key ideas;
o Human reality is socially constructed
o Social facts are real and have real effects
o Sociologists live in societies and are subject to social influences (consciously or
unconsciously)
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Conscience Collective
o Key concept developed was conscience collective; ‘the set of beliefs and
sentiments common to the average members of a single society [which] forms
a determinate system that has it’s own life.’
o The strength of a nations conscience collective is defined by;
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Number and extent; how many people are enveloped by conscience
collective
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Intensity; degree of attachment they have to the conscience collective
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Rigidity; how clearly its defined
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Content; its basic ingredients, e.g. religious doctrines, moral individualism.
o A conscience collective doesn’t have to encompass all of society, increasingly; it
refers to a substrata e.g. collective such as a family or a subculture (intense
conscience collective).
Problem;)what)
keeps)society)
together?)
Method;)how)
should)society)be)
studied?)
Approach;)what)do)
sociologists)do?)
Max Weber
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1864-1920
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Weberian class theory considered v. relevant to particularly western/developed nations.
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Had a three sided class view: econ, status group and party – considered equal importance,
hence difference from Marx focus on the econ – ownership of the means to production
Key Subjects
Class
Def; is divided into 2, economic and social;
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Economic; refers to ‘classification’ of populations according to wealth and income, or to a
generative power relationship, of one class producing the wealth which rules over it
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Social; Weber’s analysis refers to the distribution of non-economic markers like honour and
prestige.
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The idea of Aus. being a class society is denied vehemently by right-wing nationalistic
personalities/political parties/media. Aus. mythology includes an egalitarian society,
characterised by mateship and a ‚fair go.’
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Class is oft. divided by wealth differentials (e.g. material ownership e.g. property/s, car/s)
and income. Wealth differential in Aus. isn’t as extreme as US, poorest have income in Aus.
due to super accounts, in US it’s close to $0. Equalivialised distribution income rating
accounts for household size. Top 20% income earners receive almost 40% of Aus. income.
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Scandinavia best wealth distribution/social welfare programs. In order from best income
distribution; Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands.
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Serious differences between Aus. and US. lower income bracket, consider;
AUS
US)
Fast food casual adult min. wage = $21.28/hr
Almost everyone has;
$7.50/hr)
Only)the)wellDoff)have;)
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Health Insurance
Health)insurance)
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Paid sick days
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Paid holidays
Paid)sick)days)(only)about)50%)pop.)
has)them))
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Paid vacations
Paid)holidays)
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Superannuation Funds
Paid)vacations)
Superannuation)Funds)
)
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AUS SOCIAL CLASS
o Aus. 1916 elite 5% owned 66% of the wealth, top 1% owned 30% of the national
wealth. Wealth disparity narrowed between 1915 and 1960, however it began to
increase post 1960. NATSEM stats show that top 10% of income earners owned 44%
of Aus. wealth, while the bottom 50% owned only 6.6% of the nations’ wealth; there
has been a steady polarisation of wealth.
o Aus was recently ranked 6th globally in terms of wealth inequalities, US is worst,
pattern is nations with large pop. high collective prosperity have widest income
differentials, poorest nations typically exhibit relatively slight income differentials.
o The GST has conributed further to the ‚hollowing out of the middle’ that has been a
trend since 1982; middle class has been pushed upper middle class.
o 1980’s Aus. approx. 30,000 Aus millionaries, 2 million lived below the poverty line; the
line marking an individual’s capacity to sustain her/his subsistence.
o Upper class in Aus. has amassed fortunes from gov. influence, not innovation e.g.
Steve Jobs- Aus. come from sectors dependant on gov. policy e.g. property,
resources- Aus wealthy elite are; Rhinehart (mining-total ownership of company10billion worth), Lowy (property/retail-Westfield), Stokes (media and property-Seven
network), Pratt family (packaging-deceased), Packer family (media-nine, telegraph,
magazines.) = biggest is Rupert Murdoch, however not counted as Australian
o 1907-1996 Aus. had a semi-official living wage- basic requirements; was overseen by
the Arbitration Court (now Fair Work Aus.)- estim. 15% of Aus. workers receive the
wages set by Fair Work. 1997 conflict between Trade Unions and Employers CouncilEmployers won- since 97’ wage has been set without reference to basic human
needs- arguments over whether absolute poverty exists in Aus.- pro bus. think tanks
(Centre for Bus. studies) and publications (Bus. Review Weekly) says no, NATSEM
2001 report said relative poverty is on the rise. Issue of poverty not debated/focused
on in major gov. public policy and discourse- not on the agenda.
o 60% of Aus. say they’re middle class- common percentage (roughly) amongst EN
speaking western nations=> incomes have risen, increasingly defining as middle
class
o The lumpenproletariat in Aus.
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Working class; the class that has nothing to sell but it’s labour power. Marx argues that in
producing values greater than the value of their own labour, the working classes generate
the wealth that rules over them.
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Gini coefficient most used serious analysis tool for measuring inequalities/class divisions.
Sweden, Denmark, Norway best rating. Detroit has one of the worst wealth inequality
rankings in the world; equal to Brazil, Russia.