Sociological Perspective on Unemployment

There are many sociologists over the last centuries who have great roles and contributions in the way society has changed the way people live in today's society. Karl Marx is famous for developing the socio-politcal theory of Marxism in the 1840's to 1880's. He is said to be a founding father of sociology. This theroy has been important in social science and the socialist political movement. The power of his ideas have changed the way we look at the world today. He was very concerned with a person's role in one's relationship between consciousness and existence. He is most famous for his idea of the class struggle. The people who own land and factories are called capitalists and the proletarists are the population who do the hard labor. These two classes are natural enemies but will eventually come together are create a society without any particular classes. Each person will work to his or her potential. Geroge Herbert Mead is also a well known sociologist who along with others used the idea of symbolic interactionism in the early 1900's. He felt that body language and speech were the two ways in which we communicate among each other in society. He is best known for his work on the nature of the self and intersubjectivity. He developed an idea of action and a metaphysics which emphasis emergence and temporality. He is one of the founders of pragmation. He continued this program and developed his own distinctive philosophical outlook. He is known has one of the founders of socialpsychology. He was also concerned with studying how human beings are unique and that we use symbols to reflect relationships and experiences. Jane Addams was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. She is best known for founding the Hull House in Chicago. She helped people realize the struggling issues of mothers such as children's need, public health, and world peace. She was able to bring a different point of view the the society. She wanted women to be more of a part of society and vote and help clean up their communities. She worked with labor reform to help create the first juvenile court law, eight hour work days, factory inspections, and the start of workers compensation. She was concerned with the causes of poverty and crime. She later became a member of the NAACP. William Edward Burghardt Du Bosis studied society in the early 1900's to the 1960's. He was a famous African-American sociologist who studied how whites and African-Americans related to each other. He fought against Booker T. Washington and wanted to increase the political represenataion for blacks to guarantee civil rights. Although he is well known now, he was not treated like the white sociologists. This racism is shown by the fact he was not allowed to eat in the same resturants or sleep in the same hotels as the white sociologist when attending a meeting. Herbert Spencer is known as the second founder of sociology in the late 1800's. He felt that we chould let the social reform evolve by itself and not force and change. He developed two types of society, the militant and the industrial. The militant dealt with relationships of obedience and was more simple. The industrial society was more complex which was based on voluntary views. He is known to have ideas called social Darwinism because he called this principles "the survival of the fittest". He didn't feel it was important help the poor survive society and that one should fend for him or herselves.
Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist who studied suicide rate in the late 1800's to the early 1900's. He is known for his studies on Catholic and Protestant suicide rates. He showed that sociology was about academic discipline as well as part of history and ecomonics. He wanted to show how social forces affect people's behavior by performing many studies in his research. He helped define social integration which is how people are accepted into a social group. He was also concerned with practical implications of scientific knowledge. Max Weber was a German sociologist the same time of Durkheim. He too followed the ideas of academic disipline. He was concerned how capitalism started and how changes in religion brought about the origin of capitalism. His studies showed us that when there is a change in religious beliefs there will be a change in the economy. He concluded that religion and economy are tied together more than people had thought in previous years. He said there are three types of authority in society which are traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal. His work showed that social institutions depend on each other to change or stay the same throughout time. Talbot Parsons in a well known American sociologist who studied in the mid 1900's. He is best known for developing the action theory. It created a balance between two methodological traditions. He introduced Max Weber's ideas to the American public. He was known as a fuctionalist and was influenced by Durkheim at times of his studies and research. C. Wright Mills lived a short live but influenenced U. S. society up to the early 1960's. He didn't like how most sociologists were researching society in the 1950's and 1960's. He disagreed with them because they didn't ask questions about the power struggles in society. He felt we should acknowledge that history affects the present. He wanted society to get back to social reform. As a working mother I decided that Jane Addams is my favorite sociologist of the group which was discussed. She had ideas to change many of the same issues I am interested in today. She influenced people's view on women and their rights. She was one of the first sociologist to join the NAACP. I feel she made a very important contribution to the way we feel about children's rights because they are the future of the country. She helped make people realize children, women, and African-Americans play a very vital role in society.