The Sociology Book

T

he modernity that emerged
from Enlightenment ideas
and the technological
innovations of the Industrial
Revolution offered the promise not
only of greater prosperity but also
of a more just society. In Europe,
at least, the absolute power of
monarchs, the aristocracy, and
the Church was challenged, and
old dogmas were discredited by
rational and scientific thought.
At the same time, advances in
technology brought mechanization
to many trades and gave birth to
new industries, increasing wealth
and bringing hope of improvement
to people’s working lives.

Class consciousness
As the modern industrialized
society became established,
however, it became apparent that

it was not the utopian dream that

had been expected. By the 19th

century, many thinkers had begun

to realize that this progress came

at a cost, and that some of the

promises had yet to be kept.

Instead of becoming more just,

modern industrial society had

created new inequalities.

Among the first to study the

new social order was Friedrich

Engels, who saw the emergence

of a working class exploited by the

owners of the mills and factories.

With Karl Marx, he identified

oppression of this class as the

result of capitalism, which in turn

fueled and fed off industrialization.

Marx and Engels considered the

social problems of industrial society

in material, economic terms,

and saw inequality as a division

between the working class (the

proletariat) and the capitalist class

(the bourgeoisie). Later sociologists

also recognized that social

inequality is manifested in a class

system, but suggested that the

stratification was more complex.

Max Weber, for example, proposed

that as well as economic situation,

status and political standing also

play a part. Perceptions of class and

the issue of class consciousness

became focuses for sustained

sociological study of inequality,

including the concept of “habitus,”

as explained by Pierre Bourdieu.

Racial oppression

While Engels and Marx

concentrated on the economic

disparity between the classes,

others realized that it was not only

the working classes that suffered

social injustice. Harriet Martineau

INTRODUCTION

1830 S AND 40 S

1845

1906 1948 1972

1920 1964

1848

1903

Max Weber argues

that ethnic groups

are distinguished by

socially specific

world views rather

than by biological

differences.

The Universal

Declaration of

Human Rights is

adopted by the

United Nations

General Assembly.

Richard Sennett,

with Jonathan Cobb,

examines the

negative effects of

class consciousness

in The Hidden

Injuries of Class.

Friedrich Engels describes

the oppression and

exploitation of working

people in The Condition of

the Working Class in

England in 1844.

Karl Marx and

Friedrich Engels

call for a socialist

revolution in

The Communist

Manifesto.

W.E.B. Du Bois

describes socially

constructed racial

prejudice against

African Americans in

The Souls of Black Folk.

Harriet Martineau

highlights the

unjust treatment

of women, the

working class, and

black people in the

US and Britain.

The US Civil Rights

Act outlaws

discrimination

based on race, color,

religion, sex, or

national origin.

Max Weber outlines his

Three Class System

theory of social

stratification, based on

wealth, social status,

and political power.

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