Sociology
Sociology is a relatively modern academic discipline. Today, it’s a field that has expanded widely across the globe. Sociology first emerged around the 19th century, during a period of massive social transformation in Europe. The discipline was born out of a need to understand these social changes more logically and systematically.
One of the key driving forces behind the birth of sociology was the Industrial Revolution. Before this period, European society was predominantly traditional and feudal, structured around a system where common people worked on lands owned by aristocrats and received a share in return. This era was known as the feudal age.
However, with the Industrial Revolution, everything began to change. People started moving from villages to towns and cities in search of work. Urban areas developed rapidly, giving rise to large-scale urbanization. This, in turn, led to the transformation of European society as a whole.
New urban challenges emerged: poverty, unemployment, slums, child mortality, maternal mortality, and rising crime rates—issues that had not been prominent during the feudal era. As these social problems became more visible, there arose a need to reorganize society in a rational manner. This is where sociology came in—as a scientific effort to understand society in a more analytical, data-driven way.
This is also reflected in the word “-logy,” which implies logic and scientific reasoning. Sociology started applying mathematical and statistical approaches to measure and analyze issues such as poverty rates, unemployment percentages, child mortality rates, and more. Thus, in the 19th century, sociology emerged as a science focused on understanding society through logical and systematic methods.
Later in the 19th century and into the 20th century, sociology began to be taught in universities and schools, especially across the Western world. Eventually, it spread to Asia, Africa, and many other regions, becoming a widely studied academic subject.
So, who are the key thinkers who laid the foundation for sociology?
Auguste Comte is considered the “Father of Sociology.” He was not only a philosopher but also a mathematician, and he was the first to formalize the discipline as a science.
Karl Marx is another foundational thinker who focused on how society is structured economically. His work deeply influenced the development of sociology.
Max Weber, a philosopher and thinker, analyzed how rational thinking shaped modern society. His studies on the process of rationalization had a significant impact on the field.
Émile Durkheim, another key figure, emphasized how society functions as a system made up of interrelated parts. He explored how social order is maintained and how different components of society work together.
Bibliography
Comte, A. (1974). The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte. New York: AMS Press. (Original work published 1830–1842)
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1848). The Communist Manifesto. London: Penguin Classics.Marx, K. (1867). Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (Vol. 1). Moscow: Progress Publishers.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1922)
Weber, M. (2002). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Routledge. (Original work published 1905)
Dr. Darshana Ashoka Kumara,
Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences,
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University,
Sri Lanka.