3. Emile Durkheim
knows as the "father of sociology" and is a
founding figure in the field of sociology. He is credited
with making sociology a science. One of his most
famous pieces of work includes Suicide: A Study In
Sociology.
4. Max Weber
A founding figure of the field of sociology and is
considered one of the most famous sociologists in
history. He is known for his thesis of the "Protestant
Ethic" as well as his ideas on bureaucracy.
5. Karl Marx
One of the most famous figures in the founding of
sociology. He is known for his socio-political theory of
Marxism, which contain theories about society,
economics and politics that argue that all society
progresses through the dialectic of class struggle.
6. Charles Horton Cooley
Best known for his theories of The Looking Glass Self
in which he declared that our self-concepts and identities
are a reflection of how other people perceive us. He is also
famous for developing the concepts of primary and
secondary relationships. He was a founding member and
eighth president of the American Sociological Association.
7. George Herbert Mead
Well-know for his theory of the social self, which
is based on the central argument that the self is a
social emergent. He pioneered the development of
symbolic interaction perspective and developed the
concept of the "I" and "Me." He is also one of the
founders of social psychology.
8. August Comte
known as the founder of positivism and is
credited with consigning the term sociology. Comte
helped shape and expand the field of sociology and
placed a great deal of emphasis in his work on
systematic observation and social order.
9. Herbert Spencer
was a British sociologist who was one of the first to
think of social life in terms of social systems. He saw
societies as organisms that progressed through a process of
evolution similar to that experienced by living species.
Spencer also played an important role in the development
of the functionalist perspective.
10. W.E.B. Du Bois
American sociologist best known for his role in the
civil rights movement. He was the first African American to
earn a doctorate degree from Harvard University and
served as the head of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910.
11. Alexis de Tocqueville
Biography of Alexis de Tocqueville, a sociologist
best known for his book 'Democracy in America.'
Tocqueville published many works in the areas of
comparative and historical sociology and was very
active in politics and the field of political science.
12. Georg Simmel
A sociologist best known for his neo-Kantian
approach to sociology, which laid the foundations for
sociological anti positivism, and his structuralist styles
of reasoning.
