Sociological Theory: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives
Classical foundations
Know the three pillars. Marx: historical materialism, mode of production, base and superstructure, class struggle, alienation, surplus value. Durkheim: social facts as external and constraining, mechanical versus organic solidarity, the study of suicide (egoistic, altruistic, anomic, fatalistic), and collective conscience. Weber: interpretative understanding (Verstehen), ideal types, rationalisation, the Protestant ethic, and authority types - traditional, charismatic and legal-rational.
Functionalism and conflict
Functionalism (Parsons, Merton) emphasises integration and equilibrium; Merton's manifest and latent functions and dysfunctions are frequently examined. Conflict theory (Dahrendorf, Coser) emphasises power, coercion and change.
Interpretive and interactionist perspectives
Symbolic interactionism (Mead, Blumer, Goffman) studies meaning, the self and everyday interaction; Goffman's dramaturgy and the "presentation of self" are core. Phenomenology (Schutz) and ethnomethodology (Garfinkel) examine the taken-for-granted construction of reality.
Contemporary perspectives
Know feminist theory (liberal, radical, socialist, intersectional), postmodernism (Foucault on power and knowledge, Baudrillard on simulacra) and globalisation theory (Giddens, Beck on risk society, Castells on networks).
Traps
Do not attribute "survival of the fittest" to Marx, nor the "iron cage" to Durkheim. Do not confuse Merton's manifest and latent functions. Do not reduce Weber to a simple idealist, or Marx to a simplistic economic determinist.
Rule of thumb
When reading a passage, ask: does it emphasise structure or agency, consensus or conflict, and material or meaning? These three axes locate almost any theorist.