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Sociocultural Systems: Principles of Structure and Change

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A preface generally tells the story of how a book came into being. This particular book is rooted in my previous work in macrosociology: notably, two earlier books in which I summarize the work of the big four in nineteenth-century sociology—Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber—and of contemporary theorists who write
in the tradition of these founders. In writing these books, I not only learned much about macrosociological theory, but I also began to appreciate the common ground among theorists. In the final chapter of the second book, Macrosociology: The Study of Sociocultural Systems, I attempted to briefly sketch this common ground. This work represents a more systematic and fully developed synthesis.
Always taught at small universities, where teachers and generalists are still valued, rather than empirical research and ever more detailed specialization, so the type of sociology I practice has largely fallen out of fashion. Consistent with other trends in the sociocultural system, the field of sociology has evolved into a broad collection of specialties with little common bond or shared vision. In graduate school, we learn a little about the founders (all of them macrosociologists, by the way) and a few broad theories (functionalism, conflict theory, exchange, symbolic interactionism—all seemingly contradicting each other), but we have little to do with macro theories throughout our subsequent careers, unless we specialize in social theory itself, in which case we often teach it as the history of the discipline rather than as its heart. What distinguishes a sociological study from other fields is the fact that almost all sociologists study some aspect of sociocultural systems and its impact on human behaviour. But in so doing, we usually do not root our studies in the broader sociocultural system or develop systematic connections to the other specialties within the disciplines. Sociologists who specialize in criminology, for example, do not often read studies in medical sociology; even if they do, they will struggle to find common terminology, literature, or theory.
Imperative that sociologists return to our roots. Macro social theory is rooted in a shared world view. If you were originally drawn to sociology because you were interested in the origins of sociocultural systems, in how they maintain themselves through time and how and why they change, in what impact such systems have on human behaviour and beliefs, I believe you will find this book of value. As evolution does for biology, an explicit and shared world view offers an overall framework for understanding a discipline; it serves to define and organize a field, providing an initial guide to a new subject and informing us about what to look for, what is likely to be significant. Used as a program to guide social research, a paradigm can be systematically tested and developed, offering an agreed-upon and empirically based alternative vision to those offered by religion, ideology, or folk wisdom. Such a holistic world view or paradigm offers identity to its practitioners and order to its students; it could well be the most important gift we can give to our students.

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

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Penerbit

Canada : AU Press, Athabasca University., 2013

Deskripsi Fisik

HM490.E48, 385 hlm.

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

978-1-927356-20-3

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

ILMU SOSIAL
SOSIOLOGI

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

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