concepts in sociology like social class, social class
conflict, social oppression, alienation, etc. Marx, like
Comte, argued that people should make active efforts to
bring about societal reforms. According to Marx,
economic forces are the keys to underestimating society
and social change. He believed that the history of
human society has been that of class conflict. He
dreamed of, and worked hard towards realizing, a
classless society, one in which there will be no
exploitation and oppression of one class by another, and
wherein all individuals will work according to their
abilities and receive according to their needs. Marx
introduced one of the major perspectives in sociology,
called social conflict theory (Macionis, 1997)
- Harriet Martineau, British Sociologist (1802-
1876)
At a time when women were greatly stereotyped and
denied access to influential socio-political and academic
arena, it is interesting to ha a female academic to be
numbered among the pioneering sociologists. Harriet
was interested in social issues and studied both in the
United States and England. She came across with the