Essential Concepts in Sociology. Anthony Giddens

Concept Development in Sociology

      Some sociological concepts are part of the very tissue of the discipline, having weathered the shifting terrain of society pretty well. Social class, status, capitalism, gender, poverty, family and power remain fundamental to anyone interested in ‘doing’ sociology. Yet others are more recently developed and are still debated and argued over. Globalization, postmodernity, reflexivity, postcolonialism, environment, and the social model of disability are part of the conceptual lexicon, representing some of the major social changes of recent decades. The book provides a map of sociology’s conceptual development and current condition by introducing the essential concepts, many of which are effective signposts for particular theoretical developments since the late nineteenth century. Familiarizing themselves with these concepts, their origins and contemporary usage will help readers to see how the subject matter of sociology has developed over time.

Concept development in sociology is usually linked to theories and empirical studies, both of which often demand new concepts to make sense of their findings. Some concepts, such as status, class and risk, are already in circulation in society, but when lifted out of that context into sociology they are debated and refined, becoming more precise and useful in the process. Others, including alienation, moral panic and globalization, have been created by sociologists to orientate and help them to study social phenomena, after which they can ‘slip’ into everyday life, where they may influence or change people’s perceptions of the world in which they live. This is quite unlike the situation in the natural sciences. Regardless of how many concepts from the natural sciences are created, those concepts do not have the potential to change the behaviour of animals and plants. As Giddens has argued, this is an example of a ‘one-way’ process. In sociology, concepts, research findings and theories do make their way back into society and people may alter their ideas and behaviour as a result. This means that sociological research is part of a continuous ‘two-way’ process between sociologists and the subjects they study.

      This two-way process means that our concepts are inherently unstable and open to modification and change, not just within professional sociological discourse but in the social world itself. It also means that some concepts – perhaps even a majority – are ‘essentially contested’. That is, they are used in a variety of theories in different ways. This perhaps overstates the level of variation and disagreement, though because, in practice, competing theories in sociology are relatively few and there is more consistency and integration between them than might first appear.

      Concepts developed within one theoretical perspective are very often used in others. The concept of alienation, for instance, was devised by Karl Marx, enabling him to understand better the nature of work in capitalist societies. Yet it was revived more than a century later, lifted out of its original Marxist theoretical frame and given a new lease of life by industrial sociologists trying to understand how employees in different sectors felt about work and their working environment. In the process, the concept was modified and, though some Marxists may object, the revised version gave us some worthwhile insights into how different workplaces and management systems impact on the lives of workers.

The Essential Concepts

For this new edition we have updated all of the entries and added two more: postcolonialism and the digital revolution. These latter two have become very widely used across numerous fields of study and look set to become firmly established in sociology, hence they deserve a place in the book. A reminder at the outset that this is not, and is not intended to be, a comprehensive compendium of all sociological concepts. We have selected concepts that have helped to shape, or are currently shaping, the varied fields that make up sociology. The concepts can be roughly divided into three types. First, those very longstanding concepts – power, ideology, society, culture – that have been in use for most or much of the history of sociology, but that still stimulate debate and guide research projects. Second are those – gender, consumerism, identity – that do not have such a long history but have made a significant impact on the discipline, stimulating large bodies of research and reframing older debates, forcing sociologists to reassess their earlier ideas. Third, we have included some more recent concepts – intersectionality, globalization, digital revolution – as these have already generated many innovative and important research studies which have led sociologists in new directions.

      The entries are more substantial than usual for a typical ‘key concepts’ book, most of which aim to be comprehensive in coverage, but with brief entries. Our aim instead is to provide an extended discussion of each concept, setting each one into its historical and theoretical context, exploring its main meanings in use and introducing relevant criticisms, before pointing readers to contemporary pieces of research and theorizing which they can follow up themselves. This structure enables readers to link the history of sociology with its contemporary form through the development of its key concepts. Readers are advised to use the Index as a guide for locating the many other concepts embedded within the text that do not appear in the Contents list.

      As with all scientific disciplines, disagreement is both inevitable and necessary, so some of the concepts we have selected will, no doubt, be queried. Some will consider that we have missed a crucial concept or included others that have, in fact, become quite irrelevant. This is normal, even though it might strike some readers as odd that we quibble about such fundamental things as ‘essential’ concepts. However, sociology’s theoretical diversity means that there are varied theoretical commitments and perspectives which prioritize some concepts over others. Remember though, that, even if we do disagree, we still actually speak to and understand each other. And one reason why we are able to do that is because of our shared conceptual heritage, derived from the many theories and explanatory frameworks that have waxed and waned over the years.

Using this Book

The book’s entries are in ten major themes, internally listed alphabetically. As a quick reference guide, this helps readers to find what they are looking for. The book is also a stand-alone text that can be used by anyone looking to understand sociology’s essential concepts. Readers who also use our Sociology: Introductory Readings (2010) will appreciate that there is a matching structure across both books, facilitating cross-referencing of concepts with the associated readings by theme. Concepts are cross-referenced within the present text by highlighting in bold the first use of other concepts within the individual entries. We have also taken a few liberties. For instance, race and ethnicity are covered in one rather than two entries because the two are generally discussed together, though their key differences are made clear in the discussion. We decided to do something similar with structure/agency and qualitative/quantitative methods. Some entries may also be thought of as really theories or general perspectives rather than concepts. Globalization, for example, is both a concept and a theory of social change, while the social model of disability is a particular approach to studying disability in society. These are included so that the book will fulfil its purpose, namely, to provide an accurate and up-to-date conceptual map of contemporary sociology.

THEME 1Thinking Sociologically

       Digital Revolution

       Working Definition

      From the mid-twentieth century, the shift away from analogue and mechanical technologies to digital electronics and computerized systems. In sociology, the concept covers all of the social, economic and cultural consequences of this expansive process of socio-technological change.

       Origins of the Concept

      Theories of a digital revolution are still contested, but the origins of digitization are well established. A crucial turning point was the creation of ARPANET, forerunner