Sociological theory

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Sociological theories develop concepts within which social processes and phenomena can be understood, interpreted and explained. In contrast to the natural sciences, there is (still) no consensus on a single basic theory for the subject of sociological theories . The field of sociological theory is thus characterized by a multi- paradigmatic nature .

definition

Sociological theories represent the scientific basis for recording social coexistence and are usually assigned to the discipline of sociology . Sociological theories do not try to capture a specific aspect of social communities, actions and phenomena, but rather to work out an overall picture of the social order; they are therefore assigned to the field of general sociology. Human behavior and social structures are explained from a complex of diverse, social dimensions (such as culture, gender relationships, economic or political relationships, power structures, etc.).

Émile Durkheim 1858-1917

Human associations, social phenomena and practices are not attributed to purely individual behavior. Above all, structures , networks of relationships ( figuration or relation ) and historical connections are included to explain social processes. In this sense, sociological theories interpret society and human actions differently than psychological interpretations. Instead, social backgrounds and contexts are worked out and shown.

A classic example of this sociological approach is the suicide study by Émile Durkheim. While suicide seemed to be a purely individual phenomenon in everyday life, Durkheim showed, in one of the first sociological studies as early as 1897, that the background to the actual individual suicides can be largely explained by means of social factors. He investigated suicides within different professional and income levels and denominational groups. In his analyzes he included macroeconomic and seasonal conditions. According to his conclusions, it is the societal conditions of social control and integration that shed light on suicide rates and why certain social groups are more prone to it than others.

Max Weber 1864-1920

In contrast to socio-philosophical approaches, sociological theories try to go beyond a purely moral consideration of social phenomena to make the subject analytically and methodically (with the help of empirical methods) comprehensible. The relationship between society and the individual , social integration and interaction between members of society, processes of social differentiation , change and static social phenomena and patterns of action are fundamentally conceptualized in sociological theories. Not all sociological theories deal with these topics in the same depth. Most sociological theories open up the social from a sub-area of ​​social reality and are often divided by means of this explanatory focus. For example, some theories start their explanations from gender-specific dynamics, others explain social processes more from historically grown processes, while other sociological theories focus on explanatory approaches from the socio-economic sphere. Depending on the analytical interpretation and explanatory approach, sociological theories can be differentiated according to their view of social reality. Key terms in sociological theories are social meaning , actors , social structure , function , social movement , social group , interaction, social relationships , social differentiation, communication , social action , social order and social systems . The terms serve to capture sociological objects and often also represent the perspective of a sociological theory.

However, ongoing discussions continue to take place about the basic direction and objective of sociological theories in general, their limitation and possible classification. Because the strong overlap with other disciplines is often perceived as problematic for theoretical basics and the delimitation from other subjects.

History of origin

Sociological theories began systematically with the formation of sociology, primarily in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. The preoccupation with (contemporary, current) social phenomena and their theoretical-scientific analysis thus falls within the temporal context of industrialization , secularization , urbanization , rationalization processes of political rule including the emergence of nation states and the spirit of the Enlightenment . The first sociological theories focused on precisely these current upheavals: social differentiations , political economy , urbanization, division of labor , democratization processes and new socio-political orders. The historical period of modernity is thus an essential part of the scientific theming of society in sociological theories. It was around this time that the first questions about society were raised due to social change.

Even before the emergence of sociology as a science, other disciplines that dealt early on with the social world paved the way for the formation of sociological theories. The subjects of political philosophy , historical science , economics , law and political science can be read as early theoretical pursuits with the company. Plato , Aristotle , Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , Immanuel Kant , Alexis de Tocqueville , Karl Marx , Lorenz von Stein , Henri de Saint-Simon , John Stuart Mill , Herbert Spencer , Auguste Comte are among the pioneers of the Science of the Social. References to the very first sociological considerations go back to Ibn Chaldūn in the 14th century . Chaldūn's philosophical reflections on social order and social conflict are considered to be one of the very first specific debates on sociological issues.

In the transition from the 18th to the 19th century and into the 20th century, the special European conditions helped sociological issues and theories to break through. Motivated by Enlightenment and Romanticism, sociology succeeded in emancipating itself as an independent discipline from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. The preoccupation with sociological subjects and the increasing institutionalization of the young discipline was always accompanied by intensive theoretical work. Representatives from the end of the 19th century to the 20th century include Émile Durkheim , Max Weber , Georg Simmel , Ferdinand Tönnies , George Herbert Mead and Karl Mannheim . From the middle of the 20th century, Alfred Schütz , Norbert Elias , Raymond Aron , Claude Lévi-Strauss , Arnold Gehlen , Helmuth Plessner , Ralf Dahrendorf , Talcott Parsons , Robert K. Merton , Michel Foucault , Niklas Luhmann , Jürgen Habermas , Jean -François Lyotard and much more. whose sociological theories dealt with the social structures and the (critical) descriptions of their present.

Plurality of sociological paradigms

Between the positions of sociological theories, the respective orientation is always discussed. The associated specialist discipline Sociology reflects this disagreement in the theoretical foundations:

“So 'sociology' derives its identity neither from a uniform question nor from a common paradigm, nor from the successive sequence of paradigms that replace one another. Nor would it be correct to say that sociology breaks down into an unrelated juxtaposition of divergent approaches, conceptions and schools. Rather, there are various links and connecting lines between the various theoretical positions and methodological approaches. "

The ongoing attempts to capture social conditions in a single sociological theory (overall theory) are controversial within the subject itself. In addition to attempts to formulate an overall theory, there are also views in the social sciences that accept the state of multiple, sociological approaches. With this latter view of multiparadigmaticity, different social phenomena can only be explained with specific theories. Following this approach, a sociological theory only covers certain dimensions of social interrelationships. It is therefore assumed that the complex, social reality cannot be explained by a single theory.

The causes for this are diverse and controversial: for example, the relatively late appearance of sociology as a subject in the history of science or the extremely complex subject of society and human behavior to one another are cited.

The inconsistency of sociology described by Kneer and Moebius is largely due to fundamental differences in sociological theories. These theories are in part in competition with one another in the interpretation of the social world - no individual theory can in fact claim a complete coverage of society as a whole. Not least because of this, one can speak of a multiparadigmaticity of sociological theories. In contrast to the laws of nature, no statements can (to date) be made from sociological theories which are applicable to all social systems at all times and which provide reliable predictions. Society - its modes of operation and social action - is too complex for that.

As an open, multi-paradigmatic canon, at least the following sociological theories can be cited: cultural studies , symbolic interactionism , philosophical anthropology , action theory , cultural studies, network theory , theory of communicative action , structuralism , systems theory , feminist theory , figuration and civilization theory , phenomenology , post-structuralism , Actor Network Theory , Materialistic Social Theory , Rational Choice Theory , Social Anthropology , Critical Theory .

Classification options

The common denominator of all sociological theories is the investigation of the social, but they show very different approaches and orientations. There are also many ways in which the various theories can be classified and are already the subject of internal reflection.

A differentiation within sociological theories can be made between social theories, which are interested in the fundamental functioning of the social, and social theories, the aim of which is the analysis of the social in modern times. Another distinction concerns the focus of sociological theories: the social can be explained from the micro or macro level. The micro-level explains the social phenomena from the perspective of the lifeworld , which is made up of references such as families, gender identities, roles, socialization processes and is rather actor-centered. While sociological theories at the macro level are based on systems that give structure, which are based on the social, such as politics, economics, religion, law. Usually they can also be divided according to their requirements: observational, neutrally designed approaches can be distinguished from critical, normative approaches of sociological theory.

Another prominent way of differentiating sociological theories is that between structure-theoretical and action-theoretical approaches - represented by the respective forefathers of sociology: Emile Durkheim and Max Weber . While the former asks about social structures and structures, the latter sheds light on the actions of social actors. Both strands of theory understand social phenomena such as B. the implementation of capitalism Weber's Protestant Ethics or Durkheim's suicide study far removed from psychology as social phenomena.

Comparison of comparisons

In view of the multiparadigmatic nature, a discussion about the possibilities for comparing sociological theories has developed. Since even the comparison of sociological theories with one another does not turn out to be uniform, it is possible to find your own (meta) theoretical considerations in this regard. For example, Kneer & Schroer (2009) and Joachim Fischer (2014) have proposed ways of classifying the comparisons of sociological theories in order to bring clarity to the complex field of sociological theories and their multiparadigmaticity.

Different approaches to comparing theories can be categorized even further (list based on Fischer (2014)):

Eliminatory comparison of theories : Here theories are critically opposed to one another. Partly with the tendency to defend an approach and to present a theory as the winner from the comparison; the inferior theory is ruled out.
Hermeneutical comparison of theories : An attempt is made to find the common denominators of the theories in order to achieve a dialogue within the theory canon.
Integrative comparison of theories : Parts of an original theory are incorporated into a new theory. Examples of this are Parson's theory construction of the classics or Habermas' theory of communicative action , which connects the economics and politics of Luhmann's systems theory with critical theory .
Comparison of theories on a case : Different sociological theories are applied to a social phenomenon in order to express the different perspectives on the basis of a concrete, social example. A distinction is made between this approach to the topic-related or problem-related comparison of theories of Hondrich and Matthes, which forces the theories to be compared with regard to concrete questions, their respective theoretical approaches, such as the theoretical conception of state, market and politics.

literature

  • Oliver Dimbath: Introduction to Sociology. (= UTB Sociology. 3463). 1st edition. Fink, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-8252-3463-8 . (on-line)
  • Joachim Fischer : Multiparadigmatic Sociology Overviews, Distinctions, Causes and Manners. In: The multiparadigmatic structure of the sciences. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden 2014, ISBN 978-3-658-00672-3 , pp. 337-370. doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-658-00672-3_10 .
  • Joachim Fischer, Stephan Moebius (Hrsg.): Sociological schools of thought in the Federal Republic of Germany. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2019, ISBN 978-3-658-22222-2 .
  • R. Greshoff, G. Kneer (Ed.): Structure and event in a comparative theory perspective. A discursive book project. West German Verlag, Opladen u. a. 1999, ISBN 3-531-13501-5 .
  • Karl Otto Hondrich : Lines of development and possibilities of the theory comparison. In: Negotiations of the German Sociological Congress: Lectures a. Discussions. Volume 17, 1976, pp. 14-36.
  • Karl Otto Hondrich, Joachim Matthes : Comparison of theories in the social sciences. (= Sociological texts, new version, vol. 108). Luchterhand, Darmstadt / Neuwied 1978, ISBN 3-472-75108-8 .
  • G. Kneer, M. Schroer: Handbook of sociological theories. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-91600-2 . doi: 10.1007 / 978-3-531-91600-2 .
  • J. Morel, E. Bauer, T. Meleghy, H.-J. Niedenzu, M. Preglau, H. Staubmann (Ed.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th, updated and exp. Edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015.
  • Hartmut Rosa , Andrea Kottmann, David Strecker: Sociological Theories. (= UTB; UTB basics. 2836). 2., revised. Edition. UTB, Konstanz 2013, ISBN 978-3-8252-3832-2 .
  • Hartmut Rosa, Jörg Oberthür u. a .: social theory . UVK, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-8252-5244-1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Norbert Elias: What is sociology. (= Basic questions of sociology ). 11th edition. Juventa-Verlag, Weinheim et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-7799-0102-0 , pp. 9-31.
  2. ↑ J. Morel, E. Bauer, T. Meleghy, H.-J. Niedenzu, M. Preglau, H. Staubmann (Ed.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th, updated and exp. Edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015, p. 1f.
  3. ↑ Hartmut Rosa, Andrea Kottmann, David Strecker: Sociological Theories. (= UTB; UTB basics. 2836). 2., revised. Edition. UTB, Konstanz 2013, pp. 14-17.
  4. ↑ Émile Durkheim: The suicide. 1st edition. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1983.
  5. ↑ Kenneth Allan: Contemporary social and sociological theory. Visualizing social worlds. 1st edition. Pine Forge, Thousand Oaks Calif. u. a. 2006, p. 10ff.
  6. ^ Eva Bauer: On the emergence of sociological theory: Beginnings of sociological thinking. In: Julius Morel, Eva Bauer, Tamás Meleghy, Heinz-Jürgen Niedenzu, Max Preglau, Helmut Staubmann (eds.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015, pp. 1–31.
  7. ^ Georg Kneer, Stephan Moebius (Ed.): Sociological controversies. Contributions to Another History of the Science of the Social. (= Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft. 1948). 1st edition. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2010.
  8. ↑ Oliver Dimbath: Introduction to Sociology. (= UTB Sociology. 3463). 1st edition. Fink, Munich, pp. 51-70.
  9. ↑ Friedrich Jonas: History of Sociology. Volume II: Socialism, Positivism. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1969, pp. 7-10.
  10. ↑ J. Morel, E. Bauer, T. Meleghy, H.-J. Niedenzu, M. Preglau, H. Staubmann (Ed.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th, updated and exp. Edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015, pp. 1–7.
  11. ↑ Hartmut Rosa, Jörg Oberthür u. a .: social theory . UVK, Munich 2020, ISBN 978-3-8385-5244-6 , p. 269 .
  12. ↑ Hartmut Rosa, Andrea Kottmann, David Strecker: Sociological Theories. (= UTB; UTB basics. ). 2., revised. Edition. UTB, Konstanz 2013, pp. 25-27.
  13. ↑ Oliver Dimbath: Introduction to Sociology. (= UTB Sociology. 3463). 1st edition. Fink, Munich 2011, pp. 51–70.
  14. ↑ J. Morel, E. Bauer, T. Meleghy, H.-J. Niedenzu, M. Preglau, H. Staubmann (Ed.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th, updated and exp. Edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015, pp. 1–9.
  15. ^ Mehmet Soyer, Paul Gilbert: Debating the Origins of Sociology Ibn Khaldun as a Founding Father of Sociology. In: International Journal of Sociological Research. Volume 5, No. 1-2, 2012, pp. 13-30.
  16. ↑ a b Oliver Dimbath: Introduction to Sociology. (= UTB Sociology. 3463). 1st edition. Fink, Munich 2011, pp. 62–68.
  17. ↑ J. Morel, E. Bauer, T. Meleghy, H.-J. Niedenzu, M. Preglau, H. Staubmann (Ed.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th, updated and exp. Edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015, pp. 14–31.
  18. ↑ J. Morel, E. Bauer, T. Meleghy, H.-J. Niedenzu, M. Preglau H. Staubmann (Hrsg.): Sociological theory. Outline of the approaches of their main representatives. 9th, updated and exp. Edition. de Gruyter Oldenbourg, Munich 2015, pp. 14–31.
  19. ↑ Friedrich Jonas: History of Sociology. Volume II: Socialism, Positivism. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1969, pp. 132–141.
  20. ^ A b c d e Joachim Fischer: Multiparadigmatic Sociology Overviews, Distinctions, Causes and Manners. In: The multiparadigmatic structure of the sciences. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden 2014, pp. 337–370.
  21. ^ Joachim Fischer: Multiparadigmatic Sociology Overviews, Distinctions, Causes and Manners. In: The multiparadigmatic structure of the sciences. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden Wiesbaden 2014, pp. 337–370. 339f
  22. ^ R. Greshoff, G. Kneer (ed.): Structure and event in a comparative theory perspective. A discursive book project. West German Publishing house Hondrich, Opladen u. a. 1999.
  23. ↑ Karl Otto: Lines of Development and Possibilities of Theoretical Comparison. In: Negotiations of the German Sociological Congress: Lectures a. Discussions. Volume 17, 1976, pp. 14-36.
  24. ↑ Wolfgang Ludwig Schneider: Foundations of the sociological theory. Volume 3: Understanding of Meaning and Intersubjectivity - Hermeneutics, Functional Analysis, Conversational Analysis and Systems Theory. 2nd Edition. VS, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009.
  25. ^ Karl-Otto Hondrich, Joachim Matthes (ed.): Comparison of theories in the social sciences. Luchterhand, Darmstadt / Neuwied 1978.