What is Political sociology?
States & societies
Bureaucracy and rational action
Identities and difference
Globalisation?
The study of state-society relationships is perhaps the principal focus and strength of political sociology.
It is a commonplace these days to point to the manner in which
modernity is based upon bureaucratic structures. All the founding
fathers of sociology recognised the central place of the bureaucracy in
modern life. But perhaps it is Max Weber who is most famous for his
writings on the subject. Bureaucratisation was the outcome for Weber of
the modern 'rationalisation of social action'. This 'rationalisation'
led to the dominance of 'instrumental-rational' action and the
diminution of 'emotional life'. The subsequent complex of bureaucratic
structures would, argued Weber, form an 'iron cage' in which
individuals were 'locked'. All this was necessary argued Weber for a
modern, mass, society.
It is incumbent on a contemporary political sociology to adopt an
approach to politics and political life which can address the question
of the individual in holistic terms. In so doing it recognises the
importance of culture to the construction of the individual as both a social
being and most especially for our discussion here as a 'political
being'. Here questions of social identity will be a central aspect of
such a political sociology.
We've noted that modern states are founded on nations and nationalism.
In this sense we refer to them as nation-states.
However it is also the case that ever since the birth of modernity,
states have had to perceive themselves as part of a 'global'
configuration. They have had to adapt to, and integrate into, an
international system of states.
