The Currents Sociological Are ways of thinking that seek to give answers to the questions that may arise around the human being organized in societies that are governed by socio-political, economic and social conventions, which is the object of study of the sociology .
With the birth of sociology as a science in the nineteenth century, various sociological currents emerged that sought to account for the social facts of the moment: the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution , he capitalism Vs. Communism, among other problems.
This is the first stage of the development of sociological currents and its maximum representative is Karl Marx .
This second stage was followed by the second, which was inspired by the studies of the first sociological currents but was different from these by the fact of looking for which was the essential element of the society. The representative of this stage is Max Weber.
Each of these currents presented a different approach to explain changes in society and sought to interpret and analyze the behavior of human beings as a social entity throughout history. Since then, diverse currents have appeared, with diverse approaches.
What are the main sociological trends?
The three main sociological currents are historical materialism, comprehensive sociology, and structural-functionalism.
1 - Historical materialism
Historical materialism is the basis of Marxism (set of ideologies proposed by Karl Marx). On many occasions, it is wrongly considered that Marxism is simply a economy . However, it is much more than that, it constitutes a political and social current.
Karl Marx
In addition to this, Marxism offers a way of understanding the human being and his relationship with the world. It is a model of analysis for the study of society. To this conception, it is called"historical materialism"or materialistic interpretation of history.
Before Marx posed the theory of historical materialism, the idealist interpretation of history prevailed, according to which revolution is not necessary because the changes arrive by themselves.
However, with Marx's studies, idealism is left behind and materialism dominates. In general terms, historical materialism is comparable to the theory of the evolution of Darwin ; That is, the materialist interpretation of history constitutes the law of the evolution of human history.
Materialism argues that in order for changes to occur, the human being needs to first satisfy his material needs: drinking, feeding, dressing and having a home. Once humans have fulfilled these needs they can develop social, political, economic and cultural relations.
In addition, historical materialism indicates that, in order to produce the elements necessary to satisfy basic needs, the State must develop the means of production, which are the basis of social life.
Thus, according to historical materialism, the relationship between the human being, material goods and the means of production is as follows:
Without means of production, there is no material goods; Without material goods, there is no satisfaction of needs; Without satisfaction of needs, there is no social life.
The evolution in the means of production and the perfection of these are what determines the progress and success of societies.
This evolution is studied by historical materialism. In this sense, the materialist interpretation of history comprises the existence of six modes of production, which are presented below.
Primitive community
There are no social classes and ownership of the means of production is collective. For example, social groups that developed during the Stone Age.
Slavery
There are two social classes: slavers and slaves. The ownership of the means of production is private. For example, the regimes that proliferated in the colonies in America during the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.
Feudal regime
There are three social classes: Feudal lord , The vassals and the servants of the land. The ownership of the means of production is private. For example, the system that was developed in America from the nineteenth century.
Capitalism
It has two social classes: bourgeois and proletariat. The ownership of the means of production is private. For example, most of today's societies follow the capitalist model.
Socialism
It is a model of transition that aims to lead to communism. Copy social classes from the model that precedes you.
The ownership of the means of production is private. For example, China, Ecuador, Venezuela and North Korea follow the socialist model.
Communism
There are no social classes and ownership of the means of production is collective. According to Marx, this is the model of ideal production and is achieved only through the dictatorship of the proletariat.
2- Comprehensive sociology
This current of sociology arises from the works of Max Weber (1864-1920), German theorist. Weber begins with the work of Marx and the labor movement that he unleashed.
He defended the limitation of capitalism And the modernization of the structures that constituted the State but without radical transformations like those that had occurred in the Russian Revolution, because these led to the dictatorship.
Weber's comprehensive sociology states that, when studying society, two elements must be taken into account: valuation and rationalization.
The assessment is the subjective aspect, which allows to determine what will be the subject to study. For its part, rationalization is the objective aspect, which aims to explain the topic that has been selected.
In this sense, comprehensive sociology seeks to understand the meaning of social interactions through objective analysis.
3. The structural-functionalism
Structural-functionalism finds its greatest exponent in Parsons (1902-1979), American thinker. This current considers that the center of the society is the action, understanding by action any act executed by the human being in a conscious or unconscious way.
The actions of human beings are located in four planes: the biological, the psychic, the social and the cultural. The study of social actions (interactions between individuals or groups taking into account a set of cultural norms established and shared by the collective) is the object of the structural-functionalist model.
References
- What is sociology? Retrieved on July 5, 2017, from sociology.unc.edu
- What is sociology? Retrieved on July 5, 2017, from hasanet.org
- Sociology. Retrieved July 5, 2017, from dictionary.com
- Historical Materialism. Retrieved July 5, 2017, from dictionary.com
- Historical Materialism. Retrieved on July 5, 2017, from marxist.com
- Max Weber. Retrieved on July 5, 2017, from cardiff.ac.uk
- Notes on Structural Functionalism and Parsons. Retrieved on July 5, 2017, from uregina.ca