Sociological Thinkers and Perspectives
Sociological thinkers and perspectives
The exam tests correct attribution and comparison. Comte coined sociology and proposed positivism-social study by scientific method. Durkheim treated social facts as external and constraining, studied suicide and anomie, and distinguished mechanical from organic solidarity. Marx analyzed class conflict, alienation and capitalism; Weber used verstehen and ideal types, and wrote on bureaucracy, authority and the Protestant ethic. Parsons’ structural functionalism stressed interdependent institutions and pattern variables; Merton distinguished manifest and latent functions and noted dysfunctions. Mead and Cooley contributed symbolic interactionism and the social self.
Indian thinkers
Srinivas studied village society, Sanskritisation and dominant caste; Ambedkar analyzed caste, untouchability and democratic rights; Dumont’s purity-pollution model is influential but debated.
Worked example
Question: Compare Marx and Weber on inequality. A scoring answer says Marx prioritizes economic class and exploitation; Weber adds status and party, so inequality is multidimensional. It notes different views of class conflict and rationalization, then gives a relevant example such as professional status or caste honour.
Traps
Do not assign anomie to Marx. Do not confuse manifest with latent functions. Do not present functionalism as the only perspective; compare conflict and interactionism.