- European Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution
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Explanation: Before this period, religion and faith were the primary ways of explaining the world, including social order. The Scientific Revolution (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton etc.) introduced the scientific method: basing knowledge on evidence, observation, experimentation, and measurement. This challenged faith-based explanations and suggested that the physical world operated according to discoverable laws. The Enlightenment applied this rational thinking to human affairs, questioning traditional authority (like monarchy and the Church) and emphasizing reason, human rights, and progress.
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Why it matters for Sociology: If the physical world could be understood through science, why not the social world? This period fostered the belief that society could be studied systematically and rationally to understand its structures, changes, and problems. It laid the groundwork for thinking about society as an object of scientific inquiry.
- European Exploration/Colonisation
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Explanation: As Europeans explored and colonized vast parts of the world, they encountered vastly different cultures and societies. This raised questions about human diversity, social organization, and cultural differences. Simultaneously, colonialism fueled the growth of capitalism in Europe by extracting immense wealth from the colonies (mercantilism).
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Why it matters for Sociology: Encountering the 'other' forced Europeans to think about their own society in comparison and sparked interest in understanding these 'different' societies. This laid the groundwork for Anthropology (often focused on studying non-Western, 'simpler' societies) and comparative Sociology. The economic changes driven by wealth transfer also created social dynamics within Europe that needed understanding.
- Industrial Revolution, Capitalism, and Urbanization
- Explanation: This was perhaps the most disruptive period. Key changes included:
- Economic Shift: Moving from agriculture (feudalism) to industry (capitalism).
- New Power Sources & Technology: Steam, coal, factories revolutionized production.
- Large-Scale Manufacturing: Replaced small-scale craft production.
- Rapid Urbanization: Masses migrated from rural areas to new, often overcrowded and unsanitary, cities seeking work. This created new social problems: poverty, crime, poor living conditions, breakdown of traditional communities.
- New Class Structures: Rise of industrial capitalists (bourgeoisie) and factory workers (proletariat), replacing feudal lords and peasants.
- Family Changes: The family shifted from a unit of production (on the farm) to primarily a unit of consumption.
- Why it matters for Sociology: These massive, rapid changes created immense social upheaval and new social problems. People needed to understand why these changes were happening, what their consequences were, and how society could cope or be reorganized. Early sociologists were directly responding to the chaos and potential of the industrial era.
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The Rise of Individualism
Explanation: The decline of the Catholic Church's absolute authority and the rise of Protestantism (emphasizing a more direct, individual relationship with God) contributed to a greater focus on the individual. Socially and economically, the shift from inherited status (born a peasant, die a peasant) to achieved status (potentially rising through effort, skill, or entrepreneurship in a capitalist system) meant individual choices and decisions became much more significant.
Why it matters for Sociology: Sociology needed to grapple with the relationship between the individual and society. How much freedom does an individual have? How are individual actions shaped by social structures (like class, family, religion)? This tension between agency (individual choice) and structure (social forces) is central to sociology.
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Revolutions and the Rise of Nation-States
Explanation: Political revolutions like the French and American Revolutions challenged the divine right of kings and promoted ideas of democracy, citizenship, and accountable government. Society/the 'people' were seen as having the right to shape their own political destiny. This led to the consolidation of nation-states – political entities with defined territories, populations, and sovereign governments. Key thinkers (Montesquieu, Rousseau, Locke, etc.) debated the best forms of government and the nature of the 'social contract'.
Why it matters for Sociology: These revolutions highlighted that society and government were not fixed or divinely ordained but could be changed through human action. This reinforced the idea that society could be studied to understand its dynamics and potentially improve it. Thinkers like Saint-Simon and finally Auguste Comte (who coined the term "Sociology" in 1838) explicitly called for a new "science of society" to guide this process. Comte ambitiously saw Sociology as the "queen of sciences," the most complex and important one.