hat social forces were at work that led to the emergence of sociology in the late 18th and 19th century?
Sociology is one of the social sciences that arose in the late 18th and 19th century and is centred around sociological change. It is considered to be a reasonably new, up and coming discipline which emerged due to a number of social forces. Throughout this essay, I will be addressing a range of social forces which led to sociology emerging. These social forces include The Industrial Revolution, The French Revolution and the Enlightenment period. It could be said that it was a combination of these social forces which led to sociology emerging in this period.
The term revolution is interesting because it is normally associated with political events but retrospectively, economic historians christened the economic transformation, that occurred in British society at the end of the 18th century, a revolution. This was due to the great impact it had, not only in Britain but all over the globe. Kumar and Karl Polanyi describe it as a "great transformation" which "transformed every aspect of human life and thought" . I agree with Kumar that the revolution was 'great' not only the huge scale of it but also that it transformed all aspects of human life as a result, political changes, the rise of urbanization and mass social change. This 'great transformation' as a result, gave birth to a new society in and a new way of living. Understanding and critiquing this new society could be considered the first step in identifying with the emergence of sociology. This is something that I will explore further.
The industrial revolution in 18th century England brought about a 'new way of living' through the development of different technologies which allowed society to change from a rural and agricultural way of life to an industrial way of life due. This was due to the development of a new production process, mass production of products. This new way to produce saw multiple factories began to appear across the country. As a result, where people had been largely employed in agriculture they were now moving into large urban factories. This is evident through the thoughts of social thinkers such as Kumar who saw the "mass movement from lands to cities and a massing of workers in new industrial towns" and how "peasants were wrenched from their roles as agricultural producers and formed a large class of landless labourers" . I view this as a depiction of man changing from a former Shepherd into a manipulator of machines and is an example of how a new social order and capitalist system was being created. The congregation of workers in cities led to the creation of the working class and a new social order. This new social order is an example of how a new way of thinking and new way of studying society was created and thus could point to the emergence of a sociological thought. The working class had a great role in field of sociology as it shaped the work of social thinkers such as Marx and Engels. Marx focused on the working class and the proletarian struggle against the Bourgeoisie and Engels gave us an insight into the awful conditions of the working class as a result of the move from agriculture to industrialism.
Engels wrote the first sociological book ever in 1845, 'The Condition of the Working Class in England' . This book shockingly reported the awful working conditions of labour inside the factories at the time. This was an example of the negative social change that the Industrial Revolution created and the brutalized and degraded condition of the working class. Durkheim also commented on the social process of industrialization, the "disturbing state of anomie produced by the transition to the industrial sector" . These accounts explain the fear of change that was brought about as sociology began to emerge and how as a result of the revolution a breakdown of society evolved. These critiques of the Industrial Revolution and the arguing case around surrounding the working class could be considered the start of sociological thinking and an example of how sociology was evolving.
Both the Industrial Revolution and The French Revolution, which erupted in 1789, had a major impact on the establishment of Sociology as a Social Science. The French Revolution was said to be more ideological as many in society began to question the system of ideas and ideals of those in authority, it was a political event which involved a change of political regime in France. It is important to first understand that the political and cultural backdrop which existed before the revolution was dominated by the church and monarchy. The change that was seen was the replacement in an allegiance to god to an allegiance to state, and as a result the class system changed dramatically.
Rousseau's the contrat social reflected upon this new order. Rousseau declared that in the new order "each individual should be absolutely independent of his fellow members and absolutely dependent upon the state" . The use of the adjective 'independent' suggests that Rousseau believed that there should be no partial society and that all social orders were to be broken up, there was greater emphasis on the state rather than an established monarchy and church system. This was true of French society at the time as aristocrats all of a sudden lost their money and as a result their power, while peasants, who had been placed at the bottom of the social ladder, rose to more powerful and influential positions. The study of this new perspective and the introduction of individual rights through independence marked the beginning of sociology as a discipline.
One key philopsher that we should consider when addressing the change in France at the time, is Auguste Comte the so called "father of Sociology" . Comte studied these changes and tried to make sense of them. Comte believed that the social sciences of the time couldn't come close to explaining the great change, chaos and upheaval he identified. As a result Comte brought it upon himself to decide that a brand new science was needed. This new science we now understand to be sociology. Comte explained how society had passed the 'theological' and 'metaphysical' stages. This was because society was no longer looked at in a theological way. This was because the monarchy and religious order had been abolished as a result of the revolution. The citizens of France were granted new legal rights, an education system and a new system of inheritance. Comte saw society as entering the 'scientific' stage which was also described as the positive stage. This was a stage where Kumar describes a "re-establishment of shared moral values, of order and hierarchy'" . This was seen as Science would replace theology and scientists would replace priests. This is an example of how thinkers began to realise the need to study society in its new and current form, following the change brought about by the French Revolution, rather than looking to the thoughts of past philiosphers and past authoritative regimes.
It could also be argued that the Enlightenment, the intellectual revolution, lay the ground for the French Revolution and brought about further social change.