Sociological Theories & Concepts

Explore the foundational frameworks that sociologists use to understand complex social phenomena and human behavior. These theories and concepts are essential tools for analyzing societal structures, interactions, and changes, impacting policy-making and everyday life.

Sociological Theories & Concepts

1 Social Theory and its Context

  1. Prominence of Socialism
  2. Individual vs Collectivity
  3. Comte and The Enlightenment
  4. Durkheim and The Enlightenment
  5. The Marxian Ideology
  6. Weberian Ideology
  7. The British Sociologists
  8. Spencer’s Evolutionism

2 Concept and Theory

  1. Words and Language
  2. The Nature of Concepts
  3. Concepts in Sociology: Some Illustrations
  4. Concepts to Theorems: Natural Sciences
  5. Towards Social Science: Durkheim Weber and Beyond
  6. Conclusion

3 Theory and Paradigm

  1. Sociological Theories
  2. Classical Sociological Theories
  3. Law of Three Stages
  4. Marxian Ideology
  5. Weberian Ideology
  6. Parson’s Action Theory
  7. Recent Advances in Sociological Theories
  8. The Concept of Paradigm

4 Social Construction of Reality

  1. Construction of Reality
  2. Phenomena of Social Reality
  3. Everyday Social Reality
  4. Language and Social Reality
  5. The Objective Reality of Society
  6. Legitimation and Social Reality
  7. Socialisation and Legitimation
  8. Social Reality and The Symbolic Universe
  9. Maintaining Social Reality and Language

5 Concept and Theories of Structure

  1. Organic Analogy and Structure
  2. Social Structure is a Reality: A.R. Radcliffe-Brown’s Contribution
  3. Social Structure Refers to Relations between Groups: The Contribution of E.E. Evans-Pritchard
  4. Social Structure is a Model: Contributions of Claude Lévi-Strauss and Edmund Leach

6 Structure and Function

  1. From Positivism to Functionalism
  2. The Premises of Functionalism
  3. Functionalism in Social Anthropology: Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski
  4. Functionalism of Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton
  5. Conclusion

7 Structure, Function and Neo-Functionalism

  1. Criticism of Functionalism
  2. The Thesis of Neo-Functionalism
  3. Merits and Demerits of Neo-Functionalism: Conclusion

8 The Conceptual and Theoretical Issues of Power

  1. Concept of Power
  2. Theoretical Considerations
  3. The Concept of Elite
  4. Power Elite and Veto Groups
  5. Power in Local Communities

9 Class and Legitimacy

  1. Capitalism, Class Relations, and Development
  2. Concept of Legitimacy
  3. Why Legitimacy?
  4. Bases of Legitimacy: Traditional, Legal-Rational, and Charismatic
  5. Legitimacy and Social Changes

10 Power- Functional Perspective

  1. Early Writers: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau
  2. Nineteenth Century
  3. Twentieth Century Writers
  4. Max Weber and Talcott Parsons
  5. Polity as a Subsystem
  6. Conclusion

11 Power and Institutions

  1. Instruments of Power
  2. Sources of Power
  3. Contexts of Power

12 Power/Knowledge

  1. Introduction
  2. Definition of Power
  3. Power Knowledge and Discourse
  4. Foucault’s Archeological Writings
  5. Foucault’s Genealogical Writings
  6. Conclusion

13 Evolution, Development and Function of Capitalism

  1. Historical Interpretations of Capitalism
  2. Development and Function of Capitalism
  3. Commodity Production and Capitalist Production
  4. Expansion of Markets and Production
  5. Monopoly Capitalism and Imperialism

14 Rationality, Work and Organisation

  1. Introduction
  2. Rationality
  3. Organisation Theory and Sociology of Organisations
  4. Work and Organisation
  5. Conclusion

15 Entrepreneurship and Capitalism

  1. Meaning of Entrepreneurship
  2. Theoretical Background of Entrepreneurship with Special Reference to Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter
  3. Contribution of Max Weber
  4. Contribution of Schumpeter
  5. Studies on Entrepreneur other than Weber

16 Freedom and Liberty

  1. Introduction
  2. Berlin’s and The Republican Theory
  3. The Value of Freedom
  4. Free States and Free Citizens
  5. Conclusion

17 Alienation

  1. De-humanisation of Labour
  2. Alienation as a Process
  3. Division of Labour

18 Sovereignty

  1. Introduction
  2. The Rise of Sovereign States
  3. Conceptions of Sovereignty
  4. Legal and Political Sovereignty
  5. Internal Sovereignty
  6. External Sovereignty
  7. Conclusion

19 State; Power as Elaborated by Marx, Weber, Parsons and Others

  1. The Concept of State
  2. Marx on State
  3. Weber on State
  4. Durkheim on State
  5. The Concept of Power
  6. Marx on Power
  7. Weber on Power
  8. Parsons on Power
  9. Other Theoretical Models on State and Power

20 Citizenship

  1. Introduction
  2. Historical Perspective
  3. Definition
  4. Global Citizenship
  5. Dual Citizenship
  6. State and the Citizen
  7. Nation-State and the Citizenship
  8. Rights and Duties of the Citizenship
  9. Civil Society
  10. Multiculturalism and the Citizenship
  11. Conclusion

21 Civil Society and Democracy

  1. Civil Society: A Retrospection
  2. Democracy: A Universal Appeal
  3. The Scope of Civil Society
  4. Relationship between Civil Society and Democracy
  5. Functions of Civil Society in a Democratic Order
  6. Civil Society as a Promoter of Democracy
  7. The Democratic Dangers of Civil Society

22 Conceptualising Ethnicity

  1. Introduction
  2. Class and Ethnicity
  3. Construction of Ethnicity
  4. Primordialist Approach
  5. Instrumentalist Approach
  6. Constructivist Model of Ethnicity
  7. Jenkin’s Model of Ethnicity
  8. Race and Ethnicity
  9. Conclusion

23 Construction of Identities

  1. The Search for Identity
  2. Erikson’s Contributions to Identity Construction
  3. Identity and Identification
  4. Identity in Sociological Theory
  5. Multiple Identities
  6. National Character and Identity Studies

24 Boundaries and Boundary Maintenance

  1. Definitions of Ethnic Group
  2. Frederik Barth—Ethnic Group and Boundaries
  3. Ascription as the Critical Factor
  4. Poly-ethnic Societies
  5. Melting Pot and Beyond
  6. Critique of Barth’s Model

25 Concepts of Difference and Inequality

  1. Difference and Inequality: Conceptual Understanding
  2. Natural and Social Inequality
  3. Major Theoretical Perspectives
  4. The Debate
  5. The Rise of Meritocracy

26 Class

  1. The Concept of Class
  2. Theories of Class Structure
  3. Class Struggle
  4. Social Mobility
  5. Classlessness

27 Gender and Social Stratification

  1. Weber Marx and Stratification
  2. Gender and Social Stratification in Cross-Cultural Perspective
  3. Status of Women
  4. The Indian Context
  5. Caste and Gender
  6. Tribe Gender Stratification and Change

28 Theories of Origin of Caste System

  1. Definition of Caste
  2. Theories of Origin of Caste System
  3. Caste System Through Ages
  4. Caste: Not an Isolated Phenomenon

29 Theories of Modernisation and Modernity

  1. Approaches to Modernisation
  2. Implication of Modernisation Theories
  3. Phases in Modernisation Processes
  4. Modernisation: The Asian Syndrome
  5. The Phenomena of Modernity
  6. Approaches to Modernity

30 Tradition and Modernity

  1. Tradition Society and Culture
  2. Tradition and Modernity
  3. Modernity as a Juggernaut
  4. Ontological Insecurity and Modernity
  5. Modernity Rationality and Norms

31 Post Structuralism and Post Modernism

  1. Critique of Structuralism
  2. Post Structural Theories
  3. Discourse Knowledge and Experience
  4. Derrida and Deconstruction
  5. Foucault and the Archaeology of Knowledge
  6. Jameson and Late Capitalism
  7. Baudrillard and Post Modernism
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