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Auguste Comte (1798-1857) Harriet Martineau (1802 –1876) Karl Marx (1818-1883) Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) Max Weber (1864-1920) Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963)
Classical Sociologists’ Timeline
Before Durkheim, Engels, Marx,
or Weber…Martineau examined social class,
religion, suicide, national character, domestic relations, women’s status, criminology, and interrelations between institutions and individuals.
IMPORTANT !!!
Martineau’s life Born June
12,1802 Daughter of
textile worker Middle class 6th of 8 children Before age 16,
lost her sense of smell, taste, and hearing
Harriet Martineau Single female in a very male-
dominated economic world
Father: Died during 1820s
Fiancé: Mental & physical collapse
Remained single & independent
By 1829, committed to writing profession
5
Work includes over 1,500 columns
and about 61 books
An advocate for freedom and emancipation of women and slaves.
“… Is it to be understood that the principles of the Declaration of Independence bear no relation to half of the human race?”
Society in America
Harriet’s Work
8
Harriet Martineau
First “methodological essay” ever published, How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838)
Translated and abbreviated Comte’s Positive Philosophy
Spread Comte’s word far and wide
Comte had it retranslated into French
Strong believer in feminism
First to speak on women being viewed as secondary partner in a relationship (marriage)
Beliefs
Women could contribute more to society than just as a house wife
Talks of abuse that women endure
Revolutionary in helping women learn to fight back
Few followers: Unlike women to disobey husbands
Beliefs
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Activism
In 1869, supported the Ladies’ National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act. In 1886, the Acts were repealed
Call for repeal of laws that gave authority to police to detain and examine women on suspicion of prostitution as means to control the spread of syphilis and gonorrhea
Believed society had to be changed through social reforms
Belief in social reform: Component of Necessarianism
Also reflects Unitarian background
Society
Theory that every event
Including action of human will
Is necessary result of a sequence of causes
Determinism
Necessarianism
Denies Trinity, God is one
Rejects doctrine of “original sin”
Unlimited nature of the Redemption by Christ All souls will be saved No hell
Unitarianism
Unitarian background
encouraged her to see the quest for knowledge and the betterment of society as being
For the growth of the individual member of society
The Individual
Social interaction and human
association existed for the happiness of the individual
Purpose of society: Serve social needs of individuals
To empower individuals to make their lives better
Concept of society
Autonomy essential to individual happiness and
Progress of society
The subjugation of women and the enslavement of other humans
Denied society assets that would be much more valuable if they were allowed autonomy
Society
Harriet Martineau: Sociology of Slavery
Between 1834 and 1836, Martineau travelled through the United States
Indentured servitude of white immigrants had been abolished
Introducing any form of servitude prohibited in Northern and Western regions of U.S.
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Slavery confined to 13 Southern states that grew tobacco, rice, cotton, and sugar
Slave population 2.5 million
Harriet Martineau: Sociology of Slavery
Through autonomy individuals:
Explore boundaries of intellectual capacity
Contribute to social progress
Selfhood
Autonomy =Selfhood
Without autonomy, women were only an extension of the “self” of the men in society
Selfhood
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