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In this lecture, Dr. Tom Rudel overviews three classical sociological theorists: Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. He notes that all three are structuralists, but that each identifies a different force that structures economic activity and outcomes. He describes Marx’s focus on the factory as the site of consumption and production, and he notes the contemporary theories of the treadmill of production and world systems as deriving from Marx’s theories. He then summarizes the theories of Weber, who sees the rationalized state as structuring production and consumption, and he highlights ecological modernization and notions of a world society as updates of Weber’s theories. Finally, he discusses Durkheim’s ideas about occupations and the division of labor as structuring economic activity, and notes the theoretical assumption that stability and technological developments are generated by economic specialization.
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About the Presenters
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Tom Rudel
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Departments of Human Ecology and SociologyDr. Tom Rudel conducts research on land-use change. He has researched the driving forces behind tropical deforestation both through case studies in the Ecuadorian Amazon and through quantitative analyses at the global scale. The latter set of studies has included work on "the forest transition." He has also done research on the forces that have driven suburban sprawl, primarily through field studies in the northeastern United States. He just finished a book, entitled Defensive Environmentalists and the Paths to Global Environmental Reform, to be published by Cambridge University Press.
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Tom Rudel
Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Departments of Human Ecology and SociologyDr. Tom Rudel conducts research on land-use change. He has researched the driving forces behind tropical deforestation both through case studies in the Ecuadorian Amazon and through quantitative analyses at the global scale. The latter set of studies has included work on "the forest transition." He has also done research on the forces that have driven suburban sprawl, primarily through field studies in the northeastern United States. He just finished a book, entitled Defensive Environmentalists and the Paths to Global Environmental Reform, to be published by Cambridge University Press.
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Supporting Materials
Presentation slides:
DocumentRudel_Classical Sociological Theory.pdf (147.08 KB)
Reading list:
Rudel, T.K., Roberts, J.T., and Carmin, J. (2011). Political economy of the environment. Annual Review of Sociology 3, 221–238.
Presenters
Tom Rudel, Rutgers University
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