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Society: A group of people with some uniting factor
Sociology: The study of the development, structure and functions of human society

Ibn Khaldun (14th century)

  • Father of sociology
  • created the concept of social cohesion: (How societies support itself)

John Locke

  • created Tabula Rasa - “A blank stake”
    • The mind is blank then formed by society
  • Humans are Fully built by nurture

Auguste Comte

Developed Positivism: all rational assertions can be proven using scientific research

Talcott Parsons

  • Found that all successful societies must focus on 4 major issues
    1. Economic
    2. Political
    3. Family
    4. Cultural

Emile Durkheim and social control

Thought that society functions to protect it’s member

  • Found that society is a system of hidden forces that control the individual

Structural Functionalism

society is functional because of it’s structure

Institutions
Roles
Norms

Karl Marx and Conflict theory

Wealth is not equal and some groups of people hold power over others
Thus, order in society is maintained by force or self-oppression

Symbolic Interactionism

We act based on the meanings we give things.
These meanings are derived from social ineractions

Macro: How cultures change and develop
Micro: How our individual person is changed

Intersectional theory

intersection of multiple identities