preview

Sociological Inquiry Essay

Decent Essays
The sociological inquiry is the methodical analysis of the inspirations and behaviour of individuals within a group. It is the study of the social world as a whole and focusing on how elements such as the family, religion, school, community and government effect it. Sociological inquires most standard goal is to simply obtain a more clear understanding of the observable social world that we live in. In this essay I will be looking into the sociological theories of Marx, Weber and Durkheim, and recognising if their approaches are still relevant today.

Although Marx, Weber and Durkheim all agree that the economy is a fundamental part of our society all three differ as to why. Marx strongly believed that the economy was a base that determined
…show more content…
Marx theories were in the time of the industrial revolution, where dramatic changes were happening such as the government passing enclosure acts in 1700’s and 1800’s, meaning that ordinary people no longer had the rights to live on some lands as the rich could now afford to buy them. This forced a growth in population in cities and towns and resulted in poorer families not being able to grow their own food but wold now must purchase it. Forcing men to go out and look for work. Few people owned factories, shops and businesses, and the employees would have no choice but to work very hard for minimal pay, something Marx was very much against. He believed that the industrial revolution promoted capitalist’s way of thinking and was a good way of keeping the rich rich, and the poor poor. Marx did also believe that one day the proletariat would rise and realise that they had the power to change this and overthrow those who treated them unfairly. Vladimer Lenin in The three sources and three component parts of Marxism (1913) also believed this was a possibility and hoped for this outcome. Engels in The origins of the family, private property and the state (1884), criticized Marx and said that the shift to private ownership had a huge effect on the status of the woman. Something Marx had not acknowledged. he states that because of the separation in class, women were now more controlled by men of the ruling class, giving a divide and gender oppression between the sexes as well as between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The men would be paid to go out to work but yet the women had to do domestic labour that was unpaid. The working man is also not treated fairly as his whole value is based upon his labour, Marx and Weber both agree on this, as In both theories man is never valued on his self-worth only on
Get Access