A Primary Definition of Sociology

The primary definition of sociology is "the scientific study of human social life, groups, and societies" (Giddens 3). It is the human factor of this science that makes the science so complex. The societies and social groups that humans form are, at some level, connected in accordance with our behavior as human beings and our methods of running our societies and social groups. It is not just our behaviors and actions on the surface however, that is the study of sociologists. Rather, it is the social context under which we behave and perform our actions that is the focus of this science. In addition to explaining human behavior, sociology enables us to predict human actions and behaviors under certain social influences (Giddens 5). In a historical and cultural sense, sociology gives a background and blueprint for the ways that societies functioned, currently function, and continue to function. This includes the sociology of culture, politics and thought.

A broad term, culture and its aspects-values, norms, material goods-are "the most distinctive properties of human social association" and therefore an integral component of sociology (Giddens 56). The collision of cultures often results in war, and sociologists are sometimes able to analyze these collisions and see what causes them. Military blunders and coups, from Napoleon to George W. Bush, can be explained through such theorists as Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber.

Durkheim gave sociology scientific credibility when he insisted that sociology must study social facts, tangible and definable actions of society such as economic states or the influence of religion on a society (Giddens 14). In regions of social turmoil such as Iran and Iraq, the latter is especially true as many of the flaws in these social systems stem from the flaws of a theocracy, particularly theocracies attempting to work in conjunction with other forms of government. It is not a one-way street, however. In a democracy such as the United States, much of culture is influenced by economics. As Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner wrote in their book

Freakonomics, "economics is, at the root, a study of incentives: how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want the same thing" (Levitt and Dubner 16). On this level, sociology can be interpreted as an amalgamation of sorts of numerous social sciences, including theology and economics.

The mutual influence of economics on culture (and vice versa) extends into the greater social realm, including the 20^th Century phenomenon of globalization. The development of economics leads to the development of technology leads to a greater cultural dialogue. These advancements provide an opportunity to either close the gap between the haves and have-nots, or expand it further. During the period between the end of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, the former was the case as the middle class was established, thereby bridging the divide between upper and lower classes and creating new job levels in response to the economic expansion of the Western World. The refinement of economics also led to the ability and leisure to develop cultural refinement. The Digital Revolution of the late 20^th Century, however, further created a divide between international classes, such as the remaining agrarian societies (the Middle East, Southeast Asia, sections of Africa) and the first world countries such as the United States. While many developing countries are reaching these same end goals, it is as much in spite of the technical revolution as it is due to the technical revolution. These differences in economics and technology are accentuated by other societal elements, such as religion.

The clash of theology and economics also carries over into various other forms of cultural study and conflict. Depending on which side of the divide one stands on, one is easily able to find fault with its opposing side. For many in the Middle East, the United States is best represented as Ronald McDonald dressed in a Britney Spears-bikini sipping a Starbucks and watching the Sopranos. And for many Americans, Middle Easterners are towel-wearing, AK-47-toting fundamentalists who beat their multiple wives. Sociologists are often able to deconstruct actions made on either side of this divide; moreover they are often able to deconstruct the feelings behind such actions. These social actions feed into political actions, which again tie into military actions. As political systems are generally run with religion or economics primarily in mind, politics and culture are not mutually exclusive. What is important to remember in the study of sociology, however, is that it is not the study of political institutions and cultural actions. It is the study of the people who make up these institutions and actions. Sociologists are able to explain the roots of the U.S. invasion of Iraq or Napoleon's invasions of Austria and Russia insofar as they are able to explain the motivations behind such actions. They seek to explain the ethnocentrism that many in both society and government hold affecting their actions on an international and diplomatic level. Humans have been the foundations of governments, and their decisions make up for actions based on and based in "power, collective action, violence, domination, influence, administration, law, legitimacy, association, representation, party, and organizations." (New School)

Political theory comes from the broader range of sociological philosophy and theory. The period of the Enlightenment in Western Europe, particularly France and Germany during structural and societal revolutions, gave rise to the earliest forms of sociology. As societies shifted and re-shaped, theorists began to find a means of explaining and predicting-scientifically-the workings of social groups, beginning with Auguste Comte. Comte's raw materials were finessed and shaped by Emile Durkheim, who began to apply terminology to social phenomena such as social constraint and division of labor, in the late 19^th Century. Around the same time, Karl Marx was also studying and applying his social theories-a sharp contrast to that of Durkheim and Comte. While his French counterparts applied theoretical and philosophical attributes to human behavior, Marx found that-as a response to the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution-ownership of the means of production continued to play a major role in class conflict. Marx's influence spread past sociology and into many of the other aspects surrounding human behavior and social actions. This includes the birth of Communism and Marxism, social and political theories that have-and continue-to define societies and interactions to date. Sociology was, for early sociological thinkers, not completely rooted in economics and class conflict, however. Max Weber placed importance on the difference in values and ideas and this difference's effect on sociology, particularly in the divide between Eastern and Western cultures (Giddens 13-15).

The results of social theorists and scientists are not just means of explaining societies, they can provide methods of building societies and creating or defining greater social structures. Identifying social factors, such as Marxism as well as feminism and rational choice, has given cultures identities to embrace or reject. While sociology at its worst restates the obvious and nothing more, sociology at its best "sharpens our sense of the obvious or completely transforms our common sense" (Giddens 25). Sociology at its best de-objectifies humans while allowing them to be as much of an environment as physical settings. Unlike the rest of their environment, however, humans are malleable and mutable. They are able to change and perform contradictory actions, which is, at its core, the main study of sociology. Whereas psychology focuses entirely on the internal, sociology takes into consideration the external and examines the mutual relationship between these two elements (Walters 2007). Sociology is a study of interdependence and interactions, among both humans and their settings and humans and their societies.

References

Giddens, Anthony (2007).

Introduction to Sociology. London: WW Norton and Company.

Levitt, Steven (2005).

Freakonomics. New York: William Morrw.

New School for Social Research (2007). "Department of Sociology," http://www.newschool.edu/GF/soc/courses-bulletin.htm.

Walters, Barbara (2007).

What is Sociology? Paraphrased from Norbert Elias (1978) What is Sociology? New York: The City University of New York.