Complete History of Sociology [Beginning-Late]

Sociology is essentially a social science derived from the words  socius  (Latin) and  logos  (Greek). Socius  has the meaning of friends/with other people.

Meanwhile,  logos  means the study of science. Thus, in short the notion of sociology is the science that examines human interactions with other humans in groups and the products that arise from these interactions. Such as values, norms, and habits that exist in society.

Sociology as a science was not born out of nowhere, but there is history that started the birth of sociology. And here is an explanation of the history of sociology.

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History of Sociology

The birth of sociology as a science provides its own reasons for the development of science. The birth of sociology is inseparable from philosophical figures, such as Aristotle and Plato.

Before sociology was born as a science, sociological theorists and their figures had designed how science was able to contribute to society so that they could live happily, happiness was the historical background for sociology to be born.

As for the term sociology, it was first introduced by Auguste Comte who until now is known as the Father of World Sociology. Auguste Comte made a statement that  the object of study of sociology  is human or society, which are seen as interrelated as a whole.

Long before Auguste Comte gave a view on this knowledge, in the development in the Arab (Islamic) world, the study of society was introduced by Ibn Khaldun in the year 1332 to 1406.

In the book Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun, there is a more detailed and very sociological thought advanced so that it is often referred to as the first stone-laying in the history of the study of sociology as a science.

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Early History of the Development of Sociology

Sociology grew out of social turmoil since the industrial revolution and the French revolution. This revolution led to urbanization, exploitation of child workers, democratization and so on. The old tradition is no longer able to respond to this change.

At the same time developing the scientific method in the fields of chemistry and physics. Many secrets of nature are revealed. Because tradition is no longer able to answer the problem of changes in the life of social beings, a scientific method (such as the scientific method in natural sciences) is sought to provide an answer to this problem. It was from there that the early stages of the development of Sociology as a science were born.

History of Sociology of the 19th Century

Regarding  the dynamics of social groups  that occurred in the French State, Auguste Comte as a scholar who was born in 1798 felt deep concern for the state of his country, the peak of his worries when the French Revolution occurred.

What has caused or created a lot of  negative impacts on social change , one of which is the occurrence of inter-class conflicts in society which seem to give direction to the attitude of anarchism in people’s lives.

This conflict  is motivated by the ignorance of the community in dealing with changes or laws such as those that can be used to regulate the stability of society.

On this basis, Comte in the 19th century conducted social research instruments on society that needed to be upgraded to become a science that stood on its own, with social research based on this scientific method that sociology was born as a science in the 19th century, with the founder and creator of his name being Auguste Comte, as this is stated in a book entitled  Cours de Philosophie Positive.

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Sociology in Indonesia

Prior to the turmoil in World War II, the development of sociology in scientific studies was only considered as an assistant to the needs of other sciences, especially this incident occurred in Indonesia.

However, after Indonesia’s independence, to be precise at the time of the Proclamation of Independence on August 17, 1945, Sociology underwent quite significant developments.

This development became the forerunner of the history of Sociology as a Science in Indonesia. For the implementation of the material for the delivery of Sociology, the first time the Sociology lecture system was carried out, which was given by Soenario Kolopaking in 1948.

The first sociology course in Indonesia was held at the Yogyakarta Political Science Academy, which at this time the Political Academy changed its name to the UGM Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Gajah Madah University).

So it is not surprising that the first and oldest department of sociology in Indonesia is the Department of Sociology at UGM.

Late History of the Development of Sociology

The final history of the development of Sociology as a Science is the emergence of the paradigm that development in the development of a country is not only measured in infrastructure development, or natural resource development, but what is far more important is the development of human resources (human resources).

With this position, sociology as a science ultimately provides solutions to the problems that occur. One of them is by providing various branches in Sociology.

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Branch of Sociology as Late History

After sociology was born and it was important to be given its own concept, finally there are many branches in Sociology. Among these branches are as follows;

  • Political Sociology, a branch of sociology that provides the concept of a human picture in politics.
  • Sociology of Education, broadens the view that sociology is a science with an educational scope.
  • Cultural Sociology, this study is conducted to create prosperity in society, especially in forming views about culture.
  • Sociology of Religion, born on the basis that religion plays an important role in every human behavior.
  • Industrial Sociology, the discussion on industrial sociology is about changes in people’s behavior towards the industrial sector.
  • Economic Sociology, linkages in the field of economics as a result of relationships that occur in society.
  • Sociology of Health, a view of sociology as an important part of human survival without disease (health).
  • Military Sociology, briefly this branch of study provides an overview between humans and the world of the military or resilience in the state.
  • Urban Sociology, a branch of sociology that provides an explanation of the study and study of social change in urban communities.
  • Rural Sociology, a sociological study that provides an explanation of human relations with the rural community sector.
  • Sociology of Law, a branch of sociological study that provides a discussion of society and law which must be balanced.
  • Agricultural Sociology, study of the structure and organization of agriculture in the development of society.
  • Sociology of Literature, discussion of the results of people’s work in fulfilling human satisfaction or desire to be creative
  • Sports Sociology, an explanation of the study of sociology with the sports system in society. Which provides an explanation of the community in its health environment.

As a history of the birth of Sociology as an independent science, of course, it has scientific criteria, which are attached to sociology. These criteria include empirical, theoretical, cumulative, non-ethical, all of which are carried out to be able to explain them analytically in sociological studies.

Thus the discussion of a brief summary  of the history of sociology . Hopefully, this social history framework can provide insight and knowledge for every reader who is looking for references to “Material History of Sociology”. Thanks,