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    CAPE Sociology Unit 1 .2

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    Drip Boss
    Sociology developed in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in response to major social changes from industrialization. Several key historical factors influenced its emergence, most notably the Renaissance's shift from theology to human-centered thinking, the Enlightenment application of scientific rationalism, and the French Revolution's challenges to traditional authority. However, the greatest influence was the Industrial Revolution, which profoundly transformed social, economic, and political life through urbanization, new technologies, and unequal wealth distribution. In response, early sociologists sought to systematically study and understand society and propose solutions to issues arising from these rapid changes, contributing to the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline.

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    CAPE Sociology Unit 1 .2

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    Drip Boss
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    Sociology developed in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in response to major social changes from industrialization. Several key historical factors influenced its emergence, most notably the Renaissance's shift from theology to human-centered thinking, the Enlightenment application of scientific rationalism, and the French Revolution's challenges to traditional authority. However, the greatest influence was the Industrial Revolution, which profoundly transformed social, economic, and political life through urbanization, new technologies, and unequal wealth distribution. In response, early sociologists sought to systematically study and understand society and propose solutions to issues arising from these rapid changes, contributing to the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline.

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    Sociology developed in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in response to major social changes from industrialization. Several key historical factors influenced its emergence, most notably the Renaissance's shift from theology to human-centered thinking, the Enlightenment application of scientific rationalism, and the French Revolution's challenges to traditional authority. However, the greatest influence was the Industrial Revolution, which profoundly transformed social, economic, and political life through urbanization, new technologies, and unequal wealth distribution. In response, early sociologists sought to systematically study and understand society and propose solutions to issues arising from these rapid changes, contributing to the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    151 views2 pages

    CAPE Sociology Unit 1 .2

    Uploaded by

    Drip Boss
    Sociology developed in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in response to major social changes from industrialization. Several key historical factors influenced its emergence, most notably the Renaissance's shift from theology to human-centered thinking, the Enlightenment application of scientific rationalism, and the French Revolution's challenges to traditional authority. However, the greatest influence was the Industrial Revolution, which profoundly transformed social, economic, and political life through urbanization, new technologies, and unequal wealth distribution. In response, early sociologists sought to systematically study and understand society and propose solutions to issues arising from these rapid changes, contributing to the establishment of sociology as an academic discipline.

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    CAPE Sociology Unit 1

    Development of Sociology as a Discipline


    ● Sociology is considered one of the main social disciplines
    ● A social discipline is a branch of social science that deals with human behaviour Examples of
    other social disciplines are anthropology, psychology, political science economics and history
    ● Sociology tends to overlap with these social disciplines because they all deal, in some way
    with human actions, behaviours and interactions. Additionally they all want to explain why
    society operates the way it does.

    Historical factors that led to the development of sociology as Discipline in Europe


    A number of historical factors influence the development of sociology as a discipline
    1. Renaissance (1300s to 1600s
    ● Rebirth of knowledge
    ● Revival of learning
    ● focus no longer solely on theology but scholars started studying literature and philosophy to
    help understand problems of humanity
    ● Influence of the church started to decline

    2. Enlightenment /Age of Rationalism (late 1600s to late 1700s)


    ● Rational thinking ; emphasis on science,
    ● reasoning and observation was best way to find truth
    ● Positivist link –Adopting scientific methods and explanation
    ● Secularization in Europe – religion lost its value as people challenged religious beliefs and
    how they are governed ( led to new ideas of government and constitutions and the removal
    of the monarchies

    3. Romantic movement (late 1700s)

    ● response to ideas put forward during the age of reason


    ● People now value emotion, passion, and individuality .

    4. The French Revolution (1789 to 1799)

    ● Was fuelled by inequality that existed among the three stratified group- the clergy, nobles
    and the others
    ● Resulted in less inequality and more democratic governance
    ● King no longer thought to have the divine right to rule
    ● roman catholic church and court system was reorganized and all citizens were guaranteed the
    same basic rights especial these of liberty and equality.

    5. The Industrial Revolution (1780s in Britain ; early 1800s in Europe and north
    America )
    ● Major impact on social, economic and political life
    ● Had the greatest effect on the development of sociology
    ● Led to massive relocation of people from countryside to cities (negative impact of
    urbanization)
    ● Led to changes in the consumption patterns of European people
    ● Led to the development of factories, banks .ports etc.
    ● Led to new social problems - unemployment , migration , poverty, overcrowding , unsanitary
    housing etc, .
    ● Increasing mobility and technological advances resulted in the increasing exposure of people
    to cultures and societies different from their own.
    ● Traditional structures, norms, values, customs and institutions were being broken down and
    were replaced by new ones.
    ● Changes in structure and size of family -Family size became smaller –(reduced from
    extended to nuclear)
    ● Unequal distribution of wealth- wealthy capitalist in control exploiting the lower class
    ● Flourishing of the middle classes while working classes were suffering

    Summary

    Sociology developed in response to the social changes occurring in Europe in the late eighteen and
    early nineteenth century in response to the challenges of modernization and industrialization.
    Industrialization was the most profound change that affected sociology as a new discipline. It
    brought a whole new way in which peoples’ social, economic and political life was organized . As a
    result of the rapid changes , social thinkers at the time ( Founding fathers of sociology –specifically
    Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, and Carl Marx ) wanted to understand these
    major changes that were occurring in Europe during their time . Thus they attempted to examine
    society in a systematic way - by trying to understand what holds social groups together, and they also
    tried to explore possible solutions to the breakdown of social solidarity and to find explanations for
    the phenomenon. This contributed to the birth of the new discipline of Sociology

    Activity 1

    List chronologically and explain the historical events that have influenced the development of
    sociology in Europe

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