10 Sociologist and their theories

1. Auguste Comte - French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–1857) is known as the founder
of positivism and is credited with coining the term sociology. Comte helped shape and
expand the field of sociology and placed a great deal of emphasis on his work on systematic
observation and social order. 
2. Karl Marx - German political economist Karl Marx (1818–1883) is one of the most famous
figures in the founding of sociology. He is known for his theory of historical materialism,
which focuses on the way social order, like class structure and hierarchy, emerges out of the
economic system of a society. He theorized this relationship as a dialectic between the base
and superstructure of society. Some of his notable works, like "The Manifesto of the
Communist Party," were co-written with German philosopher Friedrich Engels (1820–1895).
Much of his theory is contained in the series of volumes titled Capital. Marx has been
described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and in a 1999 BBC poll he
was voted the "thinker of the millennium" by people from around the world.
3. Emile Durkheim - French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) is known as the "father
of sociology" and is a founding figure in the field. He is credited with making sociology a
science. One of his most famous pieces of work is "Suicide: A Study In Sociology," which
described the common characteristics of people who commit suicide. Another important
work of his that focuses on how society functions and regulates itself is "The Division of
Labor in Society.”
4. Max Weber - German economics professor Max Weber (1864–1920) was a founding figure
of the field of sociology and is considered one of the most famous sociologists in history. He
is known for his thesis of the Protestant Ethic, described in The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism published in 1904 and elaborated in 1922's "Sociology of Religion," as
well as his ideas on bureaucracy.
5. Harriet Martineau - Though wrongfully neglected in most sociology classes today, Harriet
Martineau (1802–1876) was a prominent British writer and political activist, and one of the
earliest Western sociologists and founders of the discipline. Her scholarship focused on the
intersections of politics, morals, and society, and she wrote prolifically about sexism and
gender roles.
6. W.E.B. Du Bois - W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist best known for his
scholarship on race and racism in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War. He was the first
African-American to earn a doctorate degree from Harvard University and served as the head
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910. His
most notable works include "The Souls of Black Folk," in which he advanced his theory of
"double consciousness," and his massive tome on the social structure of U.S. society, "Black
Reconstruction.”
7. Alexis de Tocqueville - Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) was a French sociologist best
known for his book "Democracy in America." Tocqueville published many works in the
areas of comparative and historical sociology and was very active in politics and the field of
political science.
8. Antonio Gramsci - Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) was an Italian political activist and
journalist who wrote prolific social theory while imprisoned by Mussolini's fascist
 government from 1926–1934. He advanced Marx's theory by focusing on the role of
intellectuals, politics, and media in maintaining the dominance of the bourgeois class in a
capitalist system. The concept of cultural hegemony is one of his key contributions.
9. Michel Foucault - (1926–1984) was a French social theorist, philosopher, historian, public
intellectual, and activist best known for revealing through his method of "archaeology" how
institutions wield power by creating discourses that are used to control people. Today, he is
one of the most widely read and cited social theorists, and his theoretical contributions are
still important and relevant in the 21st century.
10. C. Wright Mills - U.S. sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) is known for his
controversial critiques of both contemporary society and sociological practice, particularly in
his book "The Sociological Imagination" (1959). He also studied power and class in the
United States, as displayed in his book "The Power Elite" (1956).
ROLEA, TRISHA NICOLE A. SOCSCI1

10 Sociologist and their theories

1. Patricia Hill Collins - U.S. sociologist (born 1948) is one of the most revered practitioners of
the field alive today. She is a ground-breaking theorist and research in the areas of feminism
and race and is most well known for popularizing the theoretical concept of intersectionality,
which emphasizes the intersecting nature of race, class, gender, and sexuality as systems of
oppression. She has written numerous books and scholarly articles. Some of the most widely
read are "Black Feminist Thought," and the article "Learning from the Outsider Within: The
Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought," published in 1986.
11. Pierre Bourdieu - (1930–2002) was a French sociologist and philosopher who contributed a
great deal in the areas of general sociological theory and the link between education and
culture. He pioneering terminologies such include habitus, symbolic violence, and cultural
capital, and he is known for his work titled "Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment
of Taste.”
12. Robert K. Merton - U.S. sociologist (1910–2003) is considered one of America's most
influential social scientists. He is famous for his theories of deviance as well as for
developing the concepts of "self-fulfilling prophecy" and "role model.”
13. Herbert Spencer - (1820–1903) was a British sociologist who was one of the first to think of
social life in terms of social systems. He saw societies as organisms that progressed through
a process of evolution similar to that experienced by living species. Spencer also played an
important role in the development of the functionalist perspective.
14. Charles Horton Cooley - U.S. sociologist (1864–1929) is best known for his theories of "The
Looking Glass Self" in which he declared that our self-concepts and identities are a
reflection of how other people perceive us. He is also famous for developing the concepts of
primary and secondary relationships. He was a founding member and the eighth president of
the American Sociological Association.
15. George Herbert Mead - U.S. psychologist/sociologist (1863–1931) is well-known for his
theory of the social self, which is based on the central argument that the self is a social
emergent. He pioneered the development of symbolic interaction perspective and developed
the concept of the "I" and "Me." He is also one of the founders of social psychology.
16. Erving Goffman - Canadian sociologist (1922–1982) was a significant thinker in the field of
sociology and in particular the symbolic interaction perspective. He is known for his writings
on the dramaturgical perspective and pioneered the study of face-to-face interaction. His
notable books include "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life", and "Stigma: Notes on
the Management of Spoiled Identity." He served as the 73rd president of the American
Sociological Association and is listed as the 6th most-cited intellectual in the humanities and
social sciences by The Times Higher Education Guide.
17. Georg Simmel - (1858–1918) was a German sociologist best known for his neo-Kantian
approach to sociology, which laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism, and his
structuralist styles of reasoning.
18. Jurgen Habermas - (born 1929) is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition
of critical theory and pragmatism. He is known for his theory of rationality and for his
concept of modernity. He is currently ranked as one of the most influential philosophers in
the world and is a prominent figure in Germany as a public intellectual. In 2007, Habermas
 was listed as the 7th most-cited author in the humanities by The Higher Times Education
Guide.
19. Anthony Giddens - (born 1938) is a British sociologist best known for his theory of
structuration, his holistic view of modern societies, and his political philosophy called the
"Third Way." Giddens is a prominent contributor to the field of sociology with 34 published
books in at least 29 languages.