Public sociology ·
Social research
Social theory ·
Sociological theory
Sociological practiceSociological theories draw on certain basic core assumptions, or basic metaphysical, epistemological and moral premises, about the nature of the social world. Basic assumptions include positivism and antipositivism, materialism and idealism, determinism and free will (related to the problem of structure and agency), and individualism and collectivism.
Some social theories, such as neo-marxist theory, feminist theory and variants of social constructionism, are often motivated by a strong sense of social justice and concerned with liberation from oppression and exploitation. Other social theories, such as structural functionalism and systems theory, may be motivated by a concern with scientific objectivity and seeming value neutrality (which may entail value commitments, sometimes masked, such as to conformity or acceptance of the status quo in a given society).
Another dimension of basic assumptions is about the nature of socio-historical development and the current state of development of various societies. Distinctions used about contemporary societies in sociological theory include broad historical trends such as industrialization, urbanization, underdevelopment, and globalization and stages of development such as modernity, postindustrial, underdevelopment, postmodernity, and the network society.
