Sociology as we know it today draws upon the firm foundation developed by Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Karl Marx. The trio has been seen by some sociologists as epitomising modern Sociology. However, the discipline has not remained stagnant over the last century. Sociologists have gained new insights which have helped them to better understand the workings of society. Contemporary Sociology reflects the diverse contributions of earlier theorists like G.H.Mead, C.H.Cooley, Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton and many others speaking through the pages of current research.
Sociologists expect the 21st century too be perhaps the most exciting and critical period in the history of the discipline because of a growing recognition that social problems must be addressed because of a growing recognition that social problems must be addressed in the near future. The far going long description and analysis about the nature, perspective, scope, and subject matter will be incomplete if we do not reflect on the modern trends in Sociology.
It is a fact that during the last quarter of the 20th century, many new thinkers who were not trained as sociologists, have entered into the arena of Sociology, notable among them are Michel Foucault, Jurgen Habermas, Pierre Bourdieu, Jacques Derrida and Anthony Giddens. They have in some way or other influenced the course of Sociology, especially the methods of investigation. This new generation of sociologists has invented or used many concepts as tools odd sociological research such as Habitus, Deconstruction, Structuration, etc. With their efforts new perspectives have developed such as post-industrialism, post-structuralism, post-modernism, neo-functionalism, neo-Marxism, etc.
The types of questions as the classical thinkers – Comte, Durkheim, Marx, Weber sought to answer – what is human nature? Why is society so structured? Why and how do societies change? What directions will change take in the future?- are the same questions modem thinkers try to answer today but their approaches are different. Our modern world is radically different from the past and this has an impact on the development of Sociology also. Now, it is the task of sociology to help us understand the rapidly changing world in which we live and reflect about the nature of the future world.
