Lecture Notes

Karl Marx
(A) Introduction:
 Karl Marx was a German philosopher, sociologist, economist and socialist
revolutionary.
 Although largely unheeded by scholars during his lifetime, the body of social and
political ideas, he elaborated gained increasingly rapid acceptance in the socialist
movement after his death in 1883.
 The sociological importance of Marx lies in the fact that his ideas have contributed to
the development of a new approach for the study of social phenomena.
 He gave the ‘conflict tradition” to sociology.
(B) Life History:
 He was born in 1881 in Germany and died in 1883 in London.
 His father was a prominent lawyer and mother was a Dutch. Both the parents
were from distinguished lines of rabbis, but converted to Christianity to protect
the occupation of his father.
 He was influenced by his father’s rationalism and also by the romanticism of his
father’s associate, the Baron von Westphalen, whose daughter Jenny he later
married.
 Educated at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin, Marx gained his Ph.D. in 1841.
 He was influenced by the works of Hegel, was also known as young Hegel.
 But later on questioned Hegel’s ideas of “Idealism” and developed a new theory
of Materialism.
 He moved to Paris and then to England, where he died.
 His friend Engels, a rich man helped him financially in England.
 Though his financial situation improved, Marx suffered from ill health and
appeared to lose much of his creative impulse.
 After his death, much of his works were brought to publication by others.

(C ) Major Works:
 “Paris Manuscripts”
 With Engels “The Holy Family” and “ The German Ideology”
 “The Poverty of Philosophy”
 With Engels” Communist Manifesto”
 “ Contributions to the Critique of Political Economy”
 “Gruindrisse”
 “Das Capital”
 Helped establish “ Workers International”
Materialistic Interpretation of History
 The philosophical theory according to which whatever exists is matter or at least
dependent on matter for its existence, contrasted with Idealism. For example,
Human Minds are seen as property of matter.
 It is materialistic as it emphasizes on the material relations of domination ,
economic exploitation etc.
 Matter is ultimate reality.
 Matter constantly evolves in a dialectical manner.
 First need is material, i.e., subsistence.
 Lower animals have fixed needs, i.e., what nature offers them. Only humans
perform labour. While performing labour man produces things and comes in
contact with other humans.
 So production is social.
 In the process of satisfying needs, humans create new needs. His thinking is also
transformed accordingly.
 Thus human thinking is shaped in the way. He participates in the transformation
of environment.
 Consciousness evolves from matter. Humans are the highly evolved form. Other
creatures also have consciousness, but the difference is only quantitative.
 Marxism is divided into two spheres- “Historical Materialism” and “Dialectical
Materialism”.
 Historical Materialism refers to the theory of history and society. Society
transforms to clearly differentiated epochs in history on the basis of class
struggle. Those are-
*Primitive Communism
* Slavery
* Feudalism
*Capitalism
* Socialism via Communism
 Dialectical Materialism refers to the theory of matter. It holds that the basic
processes governing the behaviour of matter are those of contradictions and the
reconciliation of contradiction.
 Marxism gave rise t0o the “conflict tradition” in sociology.
 Historical and Dialectical Materialism refer to the both perspective and
methodology and “Class Conflict” is the application of that methodology.
 There are two elements in the society-
* Infra -structure or Base or Foundation of society: The constituent parts are
Forces of Production and Relations of production. Where as Forces of
Production improves, Relations of Production lags behind. Thus,
contradiction is found in the society. The” Thesis” becomes “Anti Thesis”. But
by Revolution a new society emerges, which is called “Synthesis”. Again
“Synthesis” becomes “Thesis”. Infra-structure determines the Super-
structure. This is a continuous process for the perfection of the society.
 * Super-structure: The constituent parts are Ideas, Opinions and
Values of the society. It controls the Infra-structure.
 Thus the identifying elements of this are- Materialism, Class struggle, Revolution,
violent resolution of conflict.
Class and Class Struggle
What is a Class?
 Marxist interpretation of class refers to a group of people similarly related
to the means of production, more particularly to the way in which surplus
labour is extracted from the direct producers
 Accordingly in all the societies two classes are found, “Haves” and “Have
-Nots”. Haves own property and Have –Nots do not own property.
 “Haves” own the means of production and “Have-Not” sell their labour
for their existence.
 This polarization of the society is found at the time of Revolution.
 Class has got two elements- “Class –in- itself” and “Class-for-itself”
 Class-in-itself refers to the realization of position. It means all the people
of a particular class get associated with one class like “Haves” and “Have-
Nots”.
 Class-for –itself” refers to the Praxiological aspect of the class. It means
consciousness plus action.
 Both the classes are antagonistic to each other.
 Classes are found as per the types of society. For example, in
*Slavery- Master and Slave
*Feudalism- Feudal Lord and Serf
* Capitalism- Capitalist and Proletariat
*Primitive Communism and Communism are the Classless societies
Class Struggle:
 In the words of the “Communist Manifesto”, “The history of all hitherto
existing society is the history of class struggle”.
 The “Have-Nots” by revolution transform the societies.
 But the intensity of class struggle is more in Capitalism.
 Class struggle continues till the achievement of a class-less society, i.e.,
Communist Socialism. In other words, the dictatorship of the proletariat.
 The Russian, Chinese, Vietnam and Cuban Revolution were the best examples
of class struggle by which communism was established.

Alienation:
 Alienation is a socio-psychological condition which denotes a state of
“estrangement” of individuals from themselves or from the society or from
control over social and economic processes.
 Though the use of the term is found in the writings of Hegel, it was Marx who
used it as a descriptive and critical account of labour in Capitalist society.
 In the “Paris Manuscripts” written in 1844, Marx argued that under
Capitalism labour is alienated in four distinct ways.
1. Alienation from the product of labour, which is appropriated by
others.
 2. Alienation from the work itself , instead of an area of fulfillment,
loabour in Capitalism becomes forced labour
3. Alienation from other people, for the essence of social
relationships under Capitalism is that they are competitive.
4. Alienation from the “species Being”, that is basic human nature.
 What distinguishes the human species from animals is that where as animals
merely adapt to their environment, human beings consciously master theirs.
 Under Capitalism, this element of conscious mastery is lost and the worker is
reduced to the status of an animal.
 According to Marx, happiness results from the liberation of individual human
nature, not from regulation as explained by Durkheim.
 Since then Alienation has been a powerful concept to understand the society.
 In 1950s and 1960s Alienation was incorporated in mainstream Sociology
with a more operational and empirical form. American Sociologist Seeman
identified the following characteristics of it
1. Powerlessness
2. Meaninglessness
3. Normlessness
4. Isolation
5. Self-estrangement
 Different types of production technology gives rise to different types of
alienation.
Emile Durkheim:
Introduction:
 Durkheim was a French sociologist, one of the great names in modern
sociology.
 He is considered to be founder of modern sociology.
 If Comte is called as the father of Sociology, it was Durkheim who shaped
Sociology.
 He is known as “Uneasy Comtean”.
 His perspective is known as “Social Realism”.
 He assigns reality to groups rather than to individual.
 He rejected liberalism and saw society as a unified whole.
 He argued that causes and consequences of the social phenomena can be
understood at social level
 According to him the subject matter of Sociology is the study of “Social
Facts”, which are external to human beings and at the same time put
constraints on the human beings. It has also shared meaning, i.e., Generality.
 All his works moved around social solidarity.
 Worked for the direct application of sociological knowledge for social reform.
Life History:
 Son of a rabbi.
 Born in 1858 and died in 1917.
 The national trauma of defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war and the
consequent political and social instability influenced him to work for social
solidarity
 Major Works:
 The Division of Labour in Society
 The Rules of Sociological Methods
 Suicide
 Elementary Forms of Religious Life

Division of Labour:
 The book “The Division of Labour in Society” was the first book of Durkheim
published in 1893
 Here he introduced the notion of “Mechanical Solidarity”, found in small-scale
societies with a low division of labour. The other, “Organic Solidarity”, found in
large-scale societies with a complex division of labour.
 Gradually the societies became larger in size and complex. So the tasks no
longer remained same. Thus division of labour came. An advanced division of
labour bind people together organically through their interdependent
specializations. The solidity became “Organic”. Organic concept came from
Biology.
 In smaller-scale societies people follow very similar ways of life and develop a
“collective conscience”. Early societies were small and homogeneous. People
had similar tasks and thus possessed similar values and emotions. Those who
who attempted to express individualism and broke social rules were severely
punished by repressive laws. This was not because for correction but anti-social
behaviour threatened the solidity without which the primitive societies could
not persist.
 He also introduced the concept of “Anomie” in the book. It means
normlessness. In an anomic division of labour people’s specialist activities are
ill-coordinated.
 He also talked it as a “pathological” form of division of labour. This is also called
“Forced” division of labour. This is explained as “Alienation” by Marxists in
Capitalist societies.
 Increased division of labour is the hallmark of development. The more the
society is developed, the more the division of labour.
Theory of Suicide:
 Using official statistics in an original and sophisticated way , Durkheim shows
that suicide rates vary from country to country. And from one social category
to another category in a relatively stable manner.
 This variation, according to him can not be explained by any individualistic
psychology.
 He gave the sociological explanation of suicide and rejected all the non-
sociological explanations.
 He identified three principal kinds of suicide. Each one was related to existing
degrees of Mechanical and Organic solidarity in specific societies.
1. Altruistic Suicide: It is related to Mechanical Solidarity. It occurred in
excessive attachment to the society. Ex- Satee in India
 2. Egoistic Suicide: It is found in transient type of society, where
Mechanical solidarity is on wane and Organic solidarity is fully in
force. People who develop strong individualism and thus not
integrated with social group commit suicide most often in such
circumstances.
3. Anomic Suicide: It is found predominantly in societies with Organic
solidarity and it increased at times of stress and unrest. It is related
with strong individualism, which gave rise to social expectations that
could not be realized. This is mainly lack of integration with the
society. He felt that only “professional organizations” could integrate
the individual with the society.

Theory of Religion:
 The “Elementary Forms of Religious Life”, published in 1912 is a study of the
beliefs of Australian aborigines.
 He defines religion as the sacred, “things set apart” from material interests.
 It is created by society as kind of metaphor for the necessity and sacredness of its
own normative solidarity.
 Religion is not an illusion , not an idle fantasy, but an identifiable social fact with
important social meanings and functions.
 He distinguished between “sacred” and “profane”.
 Sacred is a set of rituals and objects set apart from the profane by special
prohibitions, prescriptions that do not pertain to every day life.
 The “world of sacred things” came into existence through the unification of clans.
 The clan was symbolized and made visible through the “Totemic” emblems
during festival meetings and it became the sacred entity.
 Religion was thus nothing other than the collective power of the clan and the
“Totem” representing it became the god of the society.
 It was this impersonal power that worship was directed.
 Since Totem is external to men and superior to men, it maintained the morals of
the society and thus obeyed.

Max Weber-Methodology
Introduction:
Max Weber, the German sociologist has influenced sociologists all over the world. His
famous contributions are-
 1.Study of Religion and how the liberalization of religion help in economic
development.
2.Role of values in social science research
3. Rules of sociological methods
4. Social Action
He criticized Karl Marx through out his life time and for this he is identified as the ghost of
Marx.

Contributions on the Methodology of Sociology:

Weber played a prominent role in the debate on the philosophy of social science. This
debate was a hot one during that time. In Germany there was a strong opposition to
Positivism. The general principle of following Natural Science in social science research was
opposed in Germany. Sociologists were opposing the idea of discovering general laws in
social science.
Rather he argued that social science should aim at “Interpretative Understanding’
( Verstehen) of unique sequence of events.
Weber rejected the idea that the procedures of research in social science and natural sciences
are not identical.
He introduced the concept of “Ideal Types” as a methodological tool to understand the social
phenomena.
Weber also debated on “Objectivity’ in social science research by detachment and
“Value-freedom”. While he advocated scientific detachment in the process of research, he
admitted that in the selection of problem of study, values play a very important role.
Conclusion:
Though, the debate continues on value neutrality in sociological research, the
ideological and theoretical inclination of the researcher has made it lively in the
contemporary research tradition.

Max Weber-Methodology
Introduction:
Max Weber, the German sociologist has influenced sociologists all over the world. His
famous contributions are-
1.Study of Religion and how the liberalization of religion help in economic
development.
2.Role of values in social science research
3. Rules of sociological methods
4. Social Action
He criticized Karl Marx through out his life time and for this he is identified as the ghost of
Marx.

Contributions on the Methodology of Sociology:

Weber played a prominent role in the debate on the philosophy of social science.
This debate was a hot one during that time. In Germany there was a strong opposition to
Positivism. The general principle of following Natural Science in social science research was
opposed in Germany. Sociologists were opposing the idea of discovering general laws in
social science.
Rather he argued that social science should aim at “Interpretative Understanding’
( Verstehen) of unique sequence of events.
Weber rejected the idea that the procedures of research in social science and natural
sciences are not identical.
He introduced the concept of “Ideal Types” as a methodological tool to understand the
social phenomena.
Weber also debated on “Objectivity’ in social science research by detachment and
“Value-freedom”. While he advocated scientific detachment in the process of research, he
admitted that in the selection of problem of study, values play a very important role.
Conclusion:
Though, the debate continues on value neutrality in sociological research, the
ideological and theoretical inclination of the researcher has made it lively in the
contemporary research tradition.

___________________________________________________________________________