History of Social Theory

My name is Sarah and I am a sociology major in my senior year at UMW. This is my first blog page and it has been a trial and error learning experience for me. I have enjoyed reading over my fellow class-mates blogs during this last week of classes and hope mine is of interest to some others. 

I chose this picture because contrary to popular belief feminists can be hetrosexual, feminine and have a sense of humor!  Although the caption on this T. Shirt made me laugh –it is ironic because I have encountered many people throughout my life who have rolled their eyes and smirked at the mention of “feminism”,  and  go on to say things like “Oh you girls will be girls!”  Or “Silly girls!  Of course we are all equal!”    The caption on the T. Shirt is a tongue in cheek remark (I am sure) but emphasises the extent of sexism which undermines the serious cause of feminism! 

The class that this blog is developed for is Classical Social Theory, a theory class is a major requirement. I have found this class particularly rewarding and interesting, and only wish that I had taken it much earlier on in my major –say immediately after Principals of Sociology or Intro to Sociology!

Classical theory has helped me make sense of much of the contemporary work I have studied and read. Marx’s identification of class conflict, Simmel’s observation of exchange as the most basic human interaction, Durkhiems’ work on lack of moral regulation and its relationship to suicide, Du Bois concepts pertaining to race inequality, Gilmans feminist perspective of inequality, Meads work in social psychology, and Weber’s concept of the protestant ethic as the engine behind capitalism to name just a few of their contributions –each offer the student valuable tools with which to try to unravel the mystery that is society.