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Dept. Webpage: http://soci.ubc.ca/persons/seth-abrutyn/
Email: seth.abrutyn@ubc.ca-
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Tag Archives: Sociological Theory
Teaching Sociological Theory Practically
As I’ve written on the topic of teaching classical theory several times previously (here, here, and here – and spoken a bit here and here), this post is devoted to thinking about teaching theory differently. Moving forward, if you will. … Continue reading
So, You Are Assigned Classical Sociological Theory in the Fall…
My best advice: RUN! Of course, this is tongue-in-cheek. This is the first of two essays I am writing on teaching theory. It’s been some time since I put words to paper on this (here, here, and here), and my … Continue reading
Posted in Musings on Sociological Theory, Teaching
Tagged classical sociology, Sociological Theory, sociology, Teaching, theory
2 Comments
Making Sense of Affective Action, Part 1
Besides Charles Cooley and Emile Durkheim, most classical sociological theorists looked askance at emotions. The Cartesian duality that sees rationality, reason, and logic as masculine and emotion and feeling as feminine was alive and well. I’ve tackled the idea that … Continue reading
Posted in Emotion, Musings on Sociological Theory, Uncategorized
Tagged cognitive, psychology, Sociological Theory, sociology
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The Nuts and Bolts of Evolution, IV: General Evolution
Having laid out some key aspects of evolution in previous posts (here, here, and here), I want to turn to the two strategies sociologists may follow that biological evolution takes: general and specific evolution. Specific evolution is phylogenetic, or the comparative study … Continue reading
Sociocultural Evolution: Universal Human Concerns
When I first began writing about institutional evolution (Abrutyn 2009), I was continually confronted with the same problem functionalists had – e.g., why does every society have a “polity” or a “kinship” system? That is, there is something seemingly biological … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution, Musings on Sociological Theory
Tagged Evolution, Sociological Theory, universals
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Does Sociology Have Laws? (Spoiler Alert, Yes it Does!)
Yesterday, I was sitting in a faculty retreat and we were discussing whether we needed to restructure the department given the continuous growth of faculty and the increasing number and complexity of exigencies the Head must deal with; exigencies which … Continue reading
Posted in Musings on Sociological Theory
Tagged Differentiation, Social Science, Sociological Theory
2 Comments
The Nuts and Bolts of Evolution, III: Sociology’s Greatest Sin, the Stage Model
If you asked a biologist, “are there stages of hominid evolution?”, they’d look at you like you were crazy. Of course, biological evolution is, from a teleological standpoint, directionless. So, why has sociology been so preoccupied with classificatory stage models? Indeed, … Continue reading
The Nuts and Bolts of Evolution, II: The Limits of Darwinian Explanations
Having discussed some of the basic aspects of Darwinian (biological) evolution, I want to talk about why Darwinian processes do not work in explaining sociocultural evolution; at least not the vast majority of evolution today. Undoubtedly, human societies and numerous propensities like a tendency towards … Continue reading
Multi-Level Neo-Darwinism: The Good and Bad
I realized as I wrote this entry that a follow up that should have preceded this is in order. The follow up, or probably two-part entry, would need to provide for the uninitiated, first, the basics of biological evolution and … Continue reading
Toward a Prolegomena of Evolutionary Sociology
Since my second year in grad school, I have been enamored with evolution as an explanatory framework for some types of historical, social, and cultural change. I realize there is deserved and undeserved skepticism surrounding evolutionary theory and evolutionary sociology, … Continue reading
Seth Abrutyn, PhD 