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A Sociology Exhibit

Organizing Relationships

The Threefold State, The True Aspect of ... (by Steiner, Rudolf)
White Collar; The American Middle Classe... (by Mills, C. Wright (Charles Wright))
Young Folks, History of England (by Yonge, Charlotte Mary)
Democratic Ideals and Reality : A Study ... (by Halford John Mackinder)
A Story of the Red Cross : Glimpses of F... (by Clara Barton)
Catholic and Protestant Countries Compar... (by Young, Alfred)
The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to th... (by George Henry Napheys)
The Fundamental Principles of Old and Ne... (by Zelia Nuttall)
Professional ethics and civic morals (by Durkheim, Emile)
Theories of society; foundations of mode... (by Parsons, Talcott)
Towards the Great Peace (by Cram, Ralph Adams)
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs : Thr... (by John Davenport)
Almost a Woman (by Wood-Allen, Mary)
The History and Meaning of the Term Soci... (by Shields, Leo William)
Theories of Social Progress, A Critical ... (by Todd, Arthur James)

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 Threefold State, The True Aspect of ... (by Steiner, Rudolf)
White Collar; The American Middle Classe... (by Mills, C. Wright (Charles Wright))
Young Folks, History of England (by Yonge, Charlotte Mary)
Democratic Ideals and Reality : A Study ... (by Halford John Mackinder)
A Story of the Red Cross : Glimpses of F... (by Clara Barton)
Catholic and Protestant Countries Compar... (by Young, Alfred)
The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to th... (by George Henry Napheys)
The Fundamental Principles of Old and Ne... (by Zelia Nuttall)
Professional ethics and civic morals (by Durkheim, Emile)
Theories of society; foundations of mode... (by Parsons, Talcott)
Towards the Great Peace (by Cram, Ralph Adams)
Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs : Thr... (by John Davenport)
Almost a Woman (by Wood-Allen, Mary)
The History and Meaning of the Term Soci... (by Shields, Leo William)
Theories of Social Progress, A Critical ... (by Todd, Arthur James)

Top 100 books on Psychology

The Crowd : A Study of the Popular Mind (by Gustave Le Bon)
Dream Psychology : Psychoanalysis for Be... (by Sigmund Freud)
Behavior an Introduction to Comparative ... (by John B. Watson)
Dreams (by Henri Bergson)
Fantasia of the Unconscious (by Lawrence, David Herbert)
Des Homicides Commis Par Les Aliénés (by Blanche, E. (Émile), B. 1820)
Self Mastery through Conscious Autosugge... (by Coue, Emile)
Problems of Mysticism and Its Symbolism (by Silberer, Herbert)
Pathological Lying, Accusation, And Swin... (by Healy, William)
The Expression of Emotion in Man and Ani... (by Darwin, Charles)
A Mind That Found Itself (by Beers, Clifford Whittingham)
Applied Psychology : A Series of Twelve ... (by Warren Hilton)
Malignant Self Love (by Vaknin, Sam)
The Art of War (by Tzu, Sun)
Ten Days in a Madhouse (by Bly, Nellie)

Top 100 books on Economics

Oeconomicus (by Xenophon, of Athens)
Prince, The (Version 2) (by Machiavelli, Niccolo)
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusio... (by Mackay, Charles)
The Decline of American Capitalism (by Corey, Lewis)
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)
The Abolition of Poverty (by Hollander, Jacob Harry)
Leviathan (by Hobbes, Thomas)
Classless Capitalism (by Stern, Frederick Martin.)
The Conquest of Bread (by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, Kniaz)
Socialism, Utopian and Scientific (by Engels, Friedrich)
The Story of Utopias (by Mumford, Lewis)
A synopsis of the first three books of J... (by Mill, John Stuart)
Anthem (by Rand, Ayn)
Nature and Progress of Rent (by Malthus, Thomas)
Utopia (by More, Thomas, Sir, Saint)

Top 100 books on Government

1581 : The Dutch Declaration of Independ... (by Hutchinson, Joshua)
The Code of Hammurabi (by King, Leonard W.)
The Historical, Political, And Diplomati... (by Niccolò Machiavelli)
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (by Wollstonecraft, Mary)
Communist Manifesto, The (by Marx, Karl)
De Republica Anglorum; A Discourse on th... (by Smith, Thomas, Sir)
Robert's Rules of Order Pocket Manual of... (by Robert, Henry M. (Henry Martyn))
Between Past and Future : Six Exercises ... (by Hannah Arendt)
Institutes of Natural Law : Being the Su... Volume Vol. 1 (by Rutherforth, T., Thomas)
Communist Manifesto (by Marx, Karl)
The Histories of Polybius. Translated fr... (by Polybius)
Utopia (by More, Thomas)
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (by Thoreau, Henry David)
The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts : Rep... (by Massachusetts)
Leviathan (by Hobbes, Thomas)

Top 100 books on Law

The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy in Asi... (by United States. Congress. House. Committee On Inter...)
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary : Comprisi... (by Shumaker, Walter A)
The Development of the Associative Princ... (by Christopher Barker)
League of Nations : Vol. 1 Volume Vol. 1
The Wealth of Nations (by Adam Smith)
The Relations between the Laws of Babylo... (by Johns, Claude Hermann Walter)
Crs Report for Congress Received through... (by Doyle, Charles)
The Foreign Relation of China: A History... (by Pao, Ming-Chien)
The Case of the Cherokee Nation against ... (by Cherokee Nation)
Leviathan (Books I and II) (by Hobbes, Thomas)
Crime and Punishment (by Dostoyevsky, Fyodor)
Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy, ... (by Department of Defense)
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)
The Republic, Score Plato Rep (by Plato)
Americans in Eastern Asia; A Critical St... (by Dennett, Tyler)

Top 100 books on Politics

Utopia (by More, Thomas, Sir)
Politics (by Aristotle)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawy... (by Twain, Mark)
The Trial (by Kafka, Franz)
The Conquest of Bread (by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, Kniaz)
Areopagitica (by John Milton)
The Human Condition : Volume 5 (by Arendt, Hannah)
A Modest Proposal (by Swift, Jonathan)
The Elements of Law Natural and Politic (by Hobbes, Thomas)
Wealth of Nations, Book 1, The (by Smith, Adam)
Reflections on the Revolution in France (by Burke, Edmund)
The Prince (by Machiavelli, Niccolò)
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonapar... (by Marx, Karl)
God and the State (by Bakunin, Michael)
The Philosophical Works of John Locke : ... (by John Locke)

Top 100 books on Anthropology

Sex and Repression in Savage Society (by Malinowski, Bronislaw)
Current Anthropological Literature Volume 1 (by American Anthropological Association)
On the Functions of the Brain and of Eac... (by Gall, F. J., Franz Joséf)
Crime, Its Causes and Remedies (by Lombroso, Cesare)
The Study of Man: An Introduction (by Linton, Ralph)
Ethnography of Ancient India (by Shafer, Robert)
Notes and Queries on Anthropology (by Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain a...)
The Dolmens of Ireland, Their Distributi... Volume 1 (by Borlase, William Copeland)
American Anthropologist : Vol. 06 Part 0... Volume Vol. 06 Part 01-02 (by American Anthropological Association)
The History of Mankind Volume: v.2 (by Ratzel, Friedrich, 1844-1904)
Cesare Lombroso, A Modern Man of Science (by Kurella, Hans)
Man from the Farthest Past : Volume 7 (by Bishop, Carl Whiting)
Anthropology : Race, Language, Culture, ... (by Kroeber, Alfred Louis)
Handbook of American Indian Languages (by Franz Boas)
American Anthropologist : Vol. 21 Volume Vol. 21 (by American Anthropological Association)

Top 100 books on Mathematics

Mecanique Analytique (by Lagrange, J. L. (Joseph Louis))
Elements of Algebra (by Euler, Leonhard)
Symbolic Logic (by John Venn)
Vorlesungen über Zahlentheorie (by Peter Gustav Lejeune-Dirichlet)
A treatise on differential equations (by Boole, George)
An Investigation of the Laws of Thought ... (by Boole, George)
The Elements of the Theory of Algebraic ... (by Reid, Legh Wilber)
Researches on curves of the second order... (by Hearn, George Whitehead)
A Treatise of Celestial Mechanics : Pt. ... Volume Pt. 1-2 (by Laplace, Pierre Simon, Marquis De)
Problems in Differential Calculus. Suppl... (by Byerly, William Elwood)
A Course of Pure Mathematics (by Hardy, Godfrey Harold)
Symbolic logic (by Carroll, Lewis)
Deductive Logic (by Stock, St. George)
The Aryabhatiya; With the Commentary Bha... (by Aryabhata)
A Short Account of the History of Mathem... (by Ball, Walter William Rouse)

Top 100 books on Economics

Oeconomicus (by Xenophon, of Athens)
Prince, The (Version 2) (by Machiavelli, Niccolo)
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusio... (by Mackay, Charles)
The Decline of American Capitalism (by Corey, Lewis)
Common Sense (by Paine, Thomas)
The Abolition of Poverty (by Hollander, Jacob Harry)
Leviathan (by Hobbes, Thomas)
Classless Capitalism (by Stern, Frederick Martin.)
The Conquest of Bread (by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, Kniaz)
Socialism, Utopian and Scientific (by Engels, Friedrich)
The Story of Utopias (by Mumford, Lewis)
A synopsis of the first three books of J... (by Mill, John Stuart)
Anthem (by Rand, Ayn)
Nature and Progress of Rent (by Malthus, Thomas)
Utopia (by More, Thomas, Sir, Saint)