Must Know Max Weber's Concepts on Social Stratification

(Max Weber)

Max Weber was a German sociologist who was interested in the areas of economics and politics. He attended the University of Heidelberg, but after three terms, he left for military service. Two years later, he returned home and attended the University of Berlin, where he completed his studies (Ph. D) and became a lawyer. He also received a teaching position at this institution upon graduation.

Growing up, Weber was conflicted to find an identity as his father was a bureaucrat who enjoyed the earthly pleasures, and his mother was a Calvinist who lived an ascetic life. Because of having to deal with these dueling ideologies most of his life, Weber was able to fuse both religion and politics into his works.

When it came to stratification, Weber saw it as multidimensional and refused to boil it down to just economics, as he felt that economics, status, and power were all factors for stratification. He said that some people may rank high on one or two of these, but low on the others.

Need to Know Approaches to Sociology

Micro-Macro Integration:

In micro-sociology, the sociologist focuses on the nature of everyday human life and its social interactions. So when they are conducting research at work, the researcher will use interpretive analysis instead of statistics or empirical observation, as the roots of this approach are symbolic interactionism and ethnography.

Examples of what micro-sociologists might look at would be stereotypical roles of women in a workplace or a race issue in a high school.

Reflections on Karl Marx's Concept of Alienation

(Karl Marx)

In the theory of alienation, Karl Marx believed that the working class was losing their sense of self because they had to become robots for capitalists; they are forced to manufacture products for a wage... a wage which is used to buy the very products that they produce at their job. He believed that the jobs were not for self-gratification or need, but rather for money and for employers, and thus creates an environment which is unnatural.

Reflections on W.E.B Du Bois' thoughts on materialism

W.E.B Du Bois believed that Americans (or people from Capitalist societies) were too obsessed with money and its ability to get material things. He saw more to life than economic and material success and wanted people (mainly the black community because they hadn't fallen into this trap yet) to realize this.

I feel this same way, however, the majority of my community (the Asian community) has already fallen ill with this disease and I want them (well, all people) to revert back to seeing life as a lesson about self-knowledge and growth, rather than zeroes in the bank account and possession of fancy things.

Must Know W.E.B. Du Bois Concepts on Social Stratification

(W.E.B. Du Bois )

W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist who examined race issues and was a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which was founded in 1910. And though he discussed the oppression against all non-white people, most of his works are rooted in the African-American experience.

Must Know Karl Marx Theories on Social Stratification

(Karl Marx)

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who focused much of his time conceptualizing his findings for economics and sociology. His work draws from liberal, humanistic, and democratic principles while rejecting the abstractness of Hegelian philosophy.