Editing Social theory (section)

==Schools of thought==

===Chicago school===
{{Main|Chicago School (sociology)}}
The [[Chicago school (sociology)|Chicago school]] developed in the 1920s, through the work of [[Albion Woodbury Small]], [[W. I. Thomas]], [[Ernest W. Burgess]], [[Robert E. Park]], [[Ellsworth Faris]], [[George Herbert Mead]], and other sociologists at the [[University of Chicago]].  The Chicago school focused on patterns and arrangement of social phenomenon across [[time]] and [[Location (geography)|place]], and within context of other social variables.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Abbott, Andrew|year=1997|title=Of Time and Space: The Contemporary Relevance of the Chicago School|journal=Social Forces|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|volume=75|issue=4|pages=1149–82|doi=10.2307/2580667|jstor=2580667}}</ref>

===Critical theory===
{{Main|Critical theory}}
[[Critical theory (Frankfurt School)|Critical theorists]] focus on reflective assessment and critique of society and culture in order to reveal and challenge [[power structure]]s and their relations and influences on social groups.

===Marxism===
{{Main|Marxism}}
[[Karl Marx]] wrote and theorized about the importance of [[political economy]] on society, and focused on the "material conditions" of life.<ref name="Callinicos" />{{rp|4}} His theories centered around capitalism and its effect on class-struggle between the  [[proletariat]] and [[bourgeoisie]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01b.htm|title=The German Ideology. Karl Marx 1845|last=Marx|first=Karl|website=marxists.org|access-date=2016-09-29}}</ref>

===Postmodernism===
{{Main|Postmodernism}}
Postmodernism was defined by [[Jean-François Lyotard]] as "incredulity towards [[metanarratives]]" and contrasted that with [[Modernism|modern]] which he described as "any science that legitimates itself with reference to a [[metadiscourse]]... making an explicit appeal to some grand narrative, such as the dialectics of Spirit the hermeneutics of meaning, the emancipation of the rational or working subject, or the creation of wealth."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Postmodern Condition|author=Lyotard, Jean-François|year=1979}}</ref>

===Other perspectives===
Other theories include:
* [[Social constructionist theory]]
* [[Rational choice theory]]
* [[Structural functionalism]] – influenced by Spencer and Durkheim
* [[Social action]] – influenced by Weber and Pareto
* [[Conflict theory]] – influenced by Marx, Simmel
* [[Symbolic interaction]] – influenced by [[George Herbert Mead]]
* [[False necessity]]
* [[Karen Barad|Agential realism]]