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The field of theory in sociology is quite complex because some theories are described as ‘sociological theories’, others as ‘social theories’. Is this just splitting hairs? In blunt terms, sociological theories seek to explain empirical findings and try to avoid the sociologist’s personal beliefs and political commitments interfering with their work. Social theories do not necessarily originate within sociology, often contain normative critiques of social and political arrangements, and argue that a politically neutral sociology is not possible. Bear this division in mind as you read through the chapter. As we will see, this basic distinction is not hard and fast, as some scholars move between the two types, devising sociological theories to understand and explain aspects of social life but also criticizing what they see as pernicious inequalities.

Coming to terms with the array of theories and perspectives in sociology is challenging. It would be much easier if we had one central theory around which all sociologists could work, and for a time, in the 1950s and 1960s, the structural functionalist approach of Talcott Parsons did come close. But the present period is marked by a diversity of theoretical approaches and perspectives, which makes the task of evaluating competing theories more difficult than once it was. Yet theoretical pluralism also brings vitality to sociological theory, arguably deepening our overall understanding of social life. And, while sociology today includes numerous ‘middle-range’ theories that try to explain a very specific aspect of social life (Merton 1957), there is still room for grand theories that try to explain social structures or the long-term development of human societies (Skinner 1990).

This chapter rounds off a block of three at the start of the book which provides a firm foundation for students approaching sociology. In chapter 1 we explored what sociology adds to the sum total of scientific knowledge. Chapter 2 presented some of the main research methods and techniques used by sociologists – the ‘tools of the trade’, as it were. And in this chapter we provide a concise account of the history and development of sociological theorizing since the nineteenth century. Of course, we cannot cover all of the important theorists in this short chapter, so, for example, Pierre Bourdieu and Manuel Castells are not discussed here. Their work is found in later chapters where it has been especially influential: Bourdieu’s ideas are covered in detail in chapter 16, ‘Education’, while those of Castells can be found in chapter 12, ‘Social Interaction and Daily Life’, and chapter 17, ‘Work and Employment’.

Our presentation is generally chronological, but not slavishly so. When we introduce Marx, inevitably the discussion stretches from the mid-nineteenth century to Marxist ideas of the twentieth century and beyond. The outline of feminist theories covers a similarly long time period. Our judgement is that this method produces a more coherent narrative, allowing readers to see more easily how and why theoretical perspectives developed in the ways they did.

In the next two sections we trace the emergence of sociological theory and the establishment of sociology through the work of those who are seen to have founded the major European traditions of inquiry in the discipline. We then explore two recurring theoretical dilemmas around which major theoretical debates turn, before ending the chapter with a look at the way that rapid and wide-ranging social changes since the 1970s have forced sociologists to devise new theoretical perspectives. Outhwaite (2015) makes a distinction between the ‘formal theories’, produced by the classical theorists and those working within their broad perspectives, and the ‘less formal’ or even ‘informal’ theories devised by many sociological theorists since the 1970s and 1980s.

While classical sociology was marked by quite formal theoretical systems that looked rather like paradigms, less formal contemporary theories are much looser, rooted in representations of social reality through new concepts such as globalization, risk, postmodernism, reflexive modernization, habitus, liquid modernity, high modernity and even multiple modernities. Outhwaite (2015: 614) describes much of this work as ‘celebrity social theory’, in the sense that the theoretical perspectives are relatively weak (compared to older, formal theories) while the theorists themselves enjoy widespread recognition. For example, students today would easily recognize the names of Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck, Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu and Zygmunt Bauman.

Table 3.1 provides a simple chronological chart which illustrates the emergence and development of theories and perspectives through certain influential theorists and schools of thought. The place of individuals in the sequence is determined roughly by the date of their major publication(s) or the place of schools by their date of formation. This is of course merely a selection and is not meant to be exhaustive, but the table provides some signposts both for this chapter and for the book as a whole.

Table 3.1 Chronology of major sociological theorists and schools, 1750 to the present

1750	European Enlightenment philosophers (1750–1800)
1800	Auguste Comte (1798–1857) Harriet Martineau (1802–76)
1850	Karl Marx (1818–83) Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)
1900	Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)
	Max Weber (1864–1920)
	Georg Simmel (1858–1918) Edmund Husserl (1859–1938)
1930	George H. Mead (1863–1931) Alfred Schutz (1899–1959)
	Chicago School (1920s) Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)
	W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963)
1940	Talcott Parsons (1902–79)
	Frankfurt School (1923–1960s)
	Simone de Beauvoir (1908–86)
1950	Robert Merton (1910–2003)
1960	Erving Goffman (1922–82)
	Betty Friedan (1921–2006)
	Howard Becker (1928– )Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011) Norbert Elias (1897–1990)
1970	Jürgen Habermas (1929– )
	Michel Foucault (1926–84)
1980	Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019)
	Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007)
1990	Anthony Giddens (1938– ) Ulrich Beck (1944–2015) Judith Butler (1956– )
	Vandana Shiva (1952– ) Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017)
2000 onwards	Manuel Castells (1942– ) Slavoj Žižek (1949– )

Key: Selected theorists associated with or inspired by the different sociological perspectives are identified thus: ■ Philosophical thinkers ■ Functionalism ■ Marxism ■ Interactionism ■ Feminism ■ Postmodernism/poststructuralism ■ Theoretical syntheses