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A Sociology Exhibit

Organizing Relationships

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Li... (by Durkheim, Emile)
The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to th... (by George Henry Napheys)
Towards the Great Peace (by Cram, Ralph Adams)
Manifesto of the Communist Party (by Marx, Karl)
Almost a Man (by Wood-Allen, Mary)
The Christian Faith and Human Relations ... (by Bitting, William Coleman)
Village Life in China; A Study in Sociol... (by Smith, Arthur Henderson)
The Sexual Life of the Child (by Moll, Albert)
Women in the Printing Trades: A Sociolog... (by Macdonald, James Ramsay Ed)
Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read ... Volume 2 (by Domesday Commemoration)
Theories of society; foundations of mode... (by Parsons, Talcott)
Human Nature and the Social Order (by Cooley, Charles Horton)
The Girl in Her Teens (by Slattery, Margaret)
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs : Thr... (by John Davenport)
The Theory of the Leisure Class (by Veblen, Thorstein)

Organizing Relationships: A Sociology Exhibit

Many disciplines beyond Sociology, such as Mathematics and Psychology and Economics, are utilized in the Social Sciences. In our Collections under these and other topics, contain hundreds of titles by writers and theorists who have dedicated to their lives to the study of human society. Featured books in the following collections include Herbert Spencer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Talcott Parsons and David Emile Durkheim.

Sociology of Past Power Structures

Throughout history, all sub-disciplines of Sociology, as well and religious and government groups have been studied and experimented with different methods of social organization of population. Sometimes, these attempts at social definitions and control have been tempered, but at other times, rigid – some men have use groups for their own gain. Ultimately, however, if social organization is to be implemented, it has to be understood.

From the beginning of time, both men and animals have used verbal and non-verbal cues and strategies to enforce hierarchy. With chimpanzees, it is the Alpha Male. With men: Domesday Books, mathematics and accounting, psychology and linguistics. The word “organization” is derived from the Greek word organon, which means "organ." Therefore, studies of how groups of people (with a common goal) structure themselves, is the study of mankind and its relationships as a collective.

The Domesday Book, created under the reign of William the Conqueror, has been studied to understand the role of documentation in asserting authority and also to facilitate taxation. According to Young Folks’ History of England, William the Conqueror was a Norman who conquered England. In 1086, he ordered the documentation of land, livestock and taxes under the administration of the previous rulers, to find out what would be transferred over to Norman rule. Whatever was recorded in the Domesday book could not be appealed. The data that William the Conqueror collected into the Domesday book revealed his tendency for control. In the book titled, William the Conqueror, it is said that “William would not set...over any part of his dominions before his time, and it was his policy to keep his children dependent on him. While he enriched his brothers, he did not give the smallest scrap of the spoils of England to his sons” (William the Conqueror, World Heritage Encyclopedia). Robert, his son, was angry about this and fought his father in a battle, but later asked for his pardon. Today, the Domesday Books is considered an artifact of sociological research. Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read at the Meetings of the Domesday Commemoration 1886 examines how this document changed the course of history in the United Kingdom (Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read at the Meetings of the Domesday Commemoration 1886, Edward P. Dove).

Debates in Defining Sociology

Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet was a 19th-Century Belgian mathematician, statistician and sociologist who introduced statistical methods into the social sciences. He assigned variables to the complexity of social phenomena, in order to measure the statistical laws underlying crime, marriage or suicide rates. Other scientists thought his ideas were controversial because it contradicted freedom of choice (“Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet,” World Heritage Encyclopedia).

The author of Adolphe Quetelet, A Statistician discusses Auguste Comte as another researcher of social physics and sociology, but that Quetelet invented the method of investigation for “social physics” (Adolphe Quetelet as Statistician, Frank Hamilton Hawkins). So Comte reinvented the term sociologie (sociology) to differentiate it from Quetelet’s collection of statistics (“Adolphe Quetelet,” World Heritage Encyclopedia). Comte believed that there was an order of nature, not of man, which could be scientifically understood by unifying history, psychology and economics. Social ills could be remedied through sociological positivism, or using a broader philosophy that methodologically orders scientific observations (Outlines of Sociology, Lester Frank Ward). In this book, Ward writes Comte’s use of the term “hierarchy” did not imply subordination. “There is genetic affiliation without subordination. The more complex and less exact sciences may be regarded as the children of the more simple and exact ones, but between parent and offspring there is no difference or rank.” Additionally, he wrote that Comte “laid the foundations for understanding the more complex sciences by acquainting himself with the simpler ones upon which the other sciences successively rest” (Outlines of Sociology, Lester Frank Ward). Other social scientists like Karl Marx also mixed scientific methods to measure social impacts of industrialization occurring in Europe, documented in his work Wage Labour and Capital ("Wage Labour and Capital," Karl Marx).

Studying Social Life

David Émile Durkheim was a 19th century French sociologist who believed that sociology should study phenomena attributed to society at large, rather than being limited to the specific actions of individuals. Barbara Anne Mendheim however, applied sociology differently in The Sociology of Gender in a Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom. She writes that people gain knowledge of the social world by identifying typicality and finding language to order their social experience. For example, girls understand that being a girl means being personally relevant and intimate with other people. Boys understand being a boy through being powerful and competent in the world (The Sociology of Gender in a Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom, Barbara Anne Mendheim). However, in Woman: Her Charm and Power, Robert Downes uses sociological methods to explore how women in Egyptian and Iranian society were given opportunity for education and in leadership. But in Roman culture, women’s roles were to birth children. Women’s positions in society are influenced by the dominant culture’s definition of their functions and role in society (Woman: Her Charm and Power, Robert Downes).

Sociology has also been used to study group relations. Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism discusses how entrepreneurs used religion to spread the system of capitalism. By tapping into religious belief systems, he proffered, people could work toward their profit making motive.

Works Cited

"August Compte." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

“David Émile Durkheim.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Domesday Book." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Dove, P. Edward. "Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read at the Meetings of the Domesday Commemoration 1886." London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1886.

Downes, Robert. Woman: Her Charm and Power. London: The Epworth Press, 1900.

Hawkins, Frank Hamilton. Adolphe Quetelet as Statistician. New York: Columbia University Press, 1877.

“Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Marx, Karl. "Wage Labour and Capital." Neue Rheinische Zeitung, April 1849. Reproduced: World Public Library, 2002. Web.

Mendheim, Barbara Anne. The Sociology of Gender in a Kindergarten-First Grade Classroom. Diss. University of Florida, 1979.

“Norman People.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Sociology." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Ward, Lester Frank. Outlines of Sociology. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1921.

Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner, 1930

“William the Conqueror.” World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Yonge, Charlotte Mary. Young Folks’ History of England. Boston: Estes and Lauriet, 1879.

Sociology Collections

"Organizing Relationships: A Sociology Exhibit" demonstrates how sociological methods have been used to study the configuration of power, through documentation, analysis of order, and social effects. Sociology brings together different methods of thinking, to understand the complexity of society more accurately, and why we should always be vigilant of power.

Learn more about how the discipline of sociology is used, in these collections:

Top 100 books on Sociology

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Li... (by Durkheim, Emile)
The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to th... (by George Henry Napheys)
Towards the Great Peace (by Cram, Ralph Adams)
Manifesto of the Communist Party (by Marx, Karl)
Almost a Man (by Wood-Allen, Mary)
The Christian Faith and Human Relations ... (by Bitting, William Coleman)
Village Life in China; A Study in Sociol... (by Smith, Arthur Henderson)
The Sexual Life of the Child (by Moll, Albert)
Women in the Printing Trades: A Sociolog... (by Macdonald, James Ramsay Ed)
Domesday Studies, Being the Papers Read ... Volume 2 (by Domesday Commemoration)
Theories of society; foundations of mode... (by Parsons, Talcott)
Human Nature and the Social Order (by Cooley, Charles Horton)
The Girl in Her Teens (by Slattery, Margaret)
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs : Thr... (by John Davenport)
The Theory of the Leisure Class (by Veblen, Thorstein)

Top 100 books on Psychology

How to Use Your Mind (by Kitson, Harry D.)
An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision (by Berkeley, George)
Pathological Lying, Accusation, And Swin... (by Healy, William)
Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing (by Cutten, George Barton)
Three Contributions to the Sexual Theory (by Freud, Sigmund)
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis (by Freud, Sigmund)
Malignant Self Love (by Vaknin, Sam)
Essays in Radical Empiricism (by James, William)
Diary Written in the Provincial Lunatic ... (by Pengilly, Mary Huestis)
Nerves and Common Sense (by Call, Annie Payson)
History of Psychology; A Sketch and an I... (by Baldwin, James Mark)
The Origin and Nature of the Emotions (by Crile, George W.)
Freud and the Scientific Method (by Rosenfels, Paul)
Malignant Self Love (by Vaknin, Sam)
Supreme Personality (by Croft, Delmer Eugene)

Top 100 books on Economics

Walden (by Thoreau, Henry David)
Letters of David Ricardo to Thomas Rober... (by Ricardo, David)
Das Kapital (by Karl Marx)
The Prince (by Machiavelli, Niccolò)
The Art of War (by Tzu, Sun)
A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foun... (by Rousseau, Jean Jacques)
Poverty and Its Vicious Circles (by Hurry, Jamieson Boyd)
Leviathan (Books I and II) (by Hobbes, Thomas)
A Treatise on Probability (by Keynes, John Maynard)
1984 (by Orwell, George)
A synopsis of the first three books of J... (by Mill, John Stuart)
The Conquest of Bread (by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, Kniaz)
The Trade Unions : An Appeal to the Work... (by Robert Somers)
The Acquisitive Society (by Tawney, Richard Henry)
Women and Economics: A Study of the Econ... (by Charlotte Perkins Gilman)

Top 100 books on Government

A Treatise on Political Economy : Or the... (by Jean Baptiste Say)
Virginia Declaration of Rights and Cardi... (by Mason, George)
History of the Greek Revolution : Compil... (by John Lee Comstock)
Utopia (by More, Thomas)
Select Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero (by Marcus Tullius Cicero)
Das Kapital (by Karl Marx)
The Magna Carta (by Hutchinson, Joshua)
Britton (by Francis Morgan Nichols)
A Discourse of Government with Relation ... (by Fletcher, Andrew)
Observations on the Importance of the Am... (by Richard Price)
Machiavelli (by Machiavelli, Niccolò)
Communist Manifesto (by Marx, Karl)
The Politics of Obedience : The Discours... (by De La Boetie, Étienne)
Declaration of Taking up Arms (by Second Continental Congress)
Excerpts from Frame of Government of Pen... (by Penn, William)

Top 100 books on Law

The Magna Carta (by Hutchinson, Joshua)
Bartleby the Scrivener, A Story of Wall ... (by Melville, Herman)
The Idea of a League of Nations; Prolego... (by League of Nations Union)
Constitution of the New-England Anti-Sla... (by Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society)
The Summa Theologica Volume I (by Thomas Aquinas)
Ancient Law (by Maine, Henry Sumner, Sir)
The Social Contract, Or Principles of Po... (by Rousseau, Jean Jacques)
Nuclear proliferation : future U.S. fore... (by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Inter...)
Sacred Text : the Age of Reason Volume IV (by Paine, Thomas)
No Treason : The Constitution of No Auth... (by Spooner, Lysander)
Oliver Twist (by Dickens, Charles)
William Caxton (by Edward Gordon Duff)
Treatise on Law Summa Theologica Questio... (by Thomas Aquinas)
Terrorism, Asylum Issues, And U.S. Immig... (by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee On the ...)
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)

Top 100 books on Politics

The Twelve Caesars (by Tranquillus, Gaius, Suetonius)
Revolutionary Socialism, A Study in Soci... (by Corey, Lewis)
Declaration of Independence of the Unite... (by United States, Founding Fathers of the)
The Iron Heel (by London, Jack)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dougl...
Discourse Upon the Origin and the Founda... (by Rousseau, Jean-Jacques)
Ten Days that Shook the World (by Reed, John)
The Origin of the Family, Private Proper... (by Engels, Friedrich)
Conquest of bread, The (by Kropotkin, Peter)
The Gettysburg Address (by Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865)
Heart of Darkness (by Conrad, Joseph)
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonapar... (by Marx, Karl)
Communist Manifesto (by Marx, Karl)
The Origin and Growth of the Common Law ... (by Hamilton, Peter Joseph)
The Wealth Of Nations (by Adam_Smith)

Top 100 books on Anthropology

Anthropology and Modern Life (by Boas, Franz)
Systematic Theology : Index Volume index (by Hodge, Charles)
Man from the Farthest Past : Volume 7 (by Bishop, Carl Whiting)
On the Functions of the Brain and of Eac... (by Gall, F. J., Franz Joséf)
The Living World : Containing Descriptio... Volume v 1 (by Arnold, Augustus C. L.)
American Anthropologist : Vol. 3 Volume Vol. 3 (by American Anthropological Association)
The History of Mankind Volume: v.3 (by Ratzel, Friedrich, 1844-1904)
Anthropology : Race, Language, Culture, ... (by Kroeber, Alfred Louis)
The Female Offender (by Cesare Lombroso, Guglielmo Ferrero)
Public Health Publication : World Health... (by Margaret Mead)
American Anthropologist : Vol. 06 Part 0... Volume Vol. 06 Part 04 (by American Anthropological Association)
American Anthropologist (by American Anthropological Association)
Story of Man: from the First Human to Pr... (by Coon, Carleton Stevens)
American Anthropologist (by The American Anthropological Association)
Nayars of Malabar Volume Iii (by Fawcett, F.)