Foundational sociological theory from Durkheim, Marx, and Weber, including their core concepts and disagreements.
40 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- What is Durkheim's concept of mechanical solidarity?
Show answer
Social bonds based on shared beliefs, values, and traditions in pre-industrial societies.- What is organic solidarity in Durkheim's theory?
Show answer
Social bonds based on interdependence and specialized roles in complex, industrial societies.- Define anomie according to Durkheim.
Show answer
A state of normlessness where social ties weaken and individuals lack clear moral guidance.- What is a social fact in Durkheim's definition?
Show answer
Patterns of behavior, beliefs, or values that exist outside individuals and constrain their actions.- What is the collective consciousness according to Durkheim?
Show answer
The shared beliefs, values, and moral codes that bind members of a society together.- Name the four types of suicide Durkheim identified.
Show answer
Egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic.- What is egoistic suicide in Durkheim's typology?
Show answer
Suicide resulting from insufficient social integration, leaving individuals isolated and despondent.- What is altruistic suicide in Durkheim's typology?
Show answer
Suicide resulting from excessive social integration, where the individual sacrifices self for the group.- How does Durkheim view religion sociologically?
Show answer
As a social institution that creates solidarity and reinforces collective consciousness through shared rituals.- What role does the division of labor play in Durkheim's theory?
Show answer
It creates interdependence in modern societies, replacing shared beliefs as the primary source of social cohesion.- What is Marx's concept of class struggle?
Show answer
The central conflict between the bourgeoisie (owners of production) and the proletariat (workers).- Define alienation in Marx's theory.
Show answer
Workers' estrangement from the products they make, the labor process, their own nature, and each other.- What is historical materialism according to Marx?
Show answer
The theory that material conditions of production, not ideas or culture, determine social and historical development.- What is the base-superstructure model in Marx's theory?
Show answer
The economic base (means and relations of production) determines the superstructure (law, politics, culture, ideology).- Define surplus value in Marx's economics.
Show answer
The value produced by workers beyond their wages, which capitalists appropriate as profit.
FlashKeepers