Relate some of the key concepts of the classical perspectives - Essay Example

This focus on the social world created new questions about human history, the political and economic activity and social interaction. These questions were asked in a familiar paradigm. On page 4 of A Short History of Sociological Thought, Swingewood argues that ‘the emphasis on human nature as the basis of human society and social order led to the view of the social as the expression of an imminent trans historical processes. It is this idea that brought about Enlightenment and the notion that a change was required in society- a change that will bring about progress.

Progress is the key idea of ??the Enlightenment. Here, it was believed that people could improve the natural and social conditions in the application of reason and science. The result would still be the levels of happiness and prosperity. Therefore, awareness helped advance the fortune. The Stages of History and Revolution Karl Marx believed that history has gone through the steps that have been called "historical materialism" by Friedrich Engels. He saw these operations such as higher-yielding assets to remove those who have less.

Where would be called capitalism. Marx focuses most of his work on capitalism. Marx saw capitalism's contradictory, because it brought the two main classes, the capitalists, or those who own the means of production and the proletariat, the modern wage laborers who were forced to sell their labor to survive. Understanding the conflicts between classes and their role in society led to Marx's theory of class struggle. These two categories are necessarily incompatible, and the proletariat in the course of the production facilities to those who decide at the end of communism.

Marx wrote extensively on capitalism, but to see if his predictions come to life, we must take into account its views on the contemporary context of globalization. The story goes through the stages of dealing with the means of production and productive capacity of society. As the story progresses, our productive forces to enhance and expand production, the old and new, everyone is breaking the previous orders and hostility to be replaced by new orders and controversy. It is necessary first to see if today's society has taken a path laid down by Marx.

Marx summarized the key elements of this materialist view of history as follows: In the social production of their existence, men inevitably enter into definite relations, which are independent of their will, namely relations of production appropriate to a given stage in the development of their material forces of production. The totality of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness.

The mode of production of material life conditions the general process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness (Marx 1971:20). Rationalization and Bureaucracy The rationalization process is the practical application of knowledge to achieve a desired end. It leads to efficiency, coordination, and control over both the physical and the social environment. It is the guiding principle behind bureaucracy and the increasing division of labor.