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List of sociologists
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This list of sociologists includes people who have made notable contributions to sociological theory or to research in one or more areas of sociology.
A
[edit]- Peter Abell, British sociologist
- Andrew Abbott, American sociologist
- Margaret Abraham, Indian-American sociologist
- Mark Abrams (1906–1994), British sociologist, political scientist and pollster
- Janet Abu-Lughod (1928–2013), American sociologist
- Jane Addams (1860–1935), American social worker, sociologist, public philosopher and reformer
- Theodor Adorno (1903–1969), German philosopher and cultural sociologist
- Richard Alba (1942–2025), American sociologist
- Francesco Alberoni, Italian sociologist
- Martin Albrow, British sociologist
- Jeffrey C. Alexander, American sociologist
- David Altheide, American sociologist
- Louis Althusser, French philosopher and sociologist
- Edwin Amenta, American sociologist
- Nancy Ammerman, American sociologist
- Elijah Anderson, American sociologist
- Eric Anderson, American-British sociologist
- Kevin B. Anderson, American sociologist
- Stanislav Andreski, Polish-British sociologist
- Robert Cooley Angell, American sociologist
- Aaron Antonovsky, Israeli sociologist
- Arjun Appadurai, Indian sociologist
- Andrew Arato, Hungarian-American sociologist
- Margaret Archer, British sociologist
- Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), German political theorist
- Alcira Argumedo (1940–2021), Argentine sociologist
- Aristoteles (384–322 BCE), Ancient Greek philosopher and sociologist
- Signe Arnfred, Danish sociologist
- Raymond Aron (1905–1983), French philosopher and sociologist
- Stanley Aronowitz, American sociologist
- Giovanni Arrighi, Italian sociologist
- Johan Asplund (1937–2018), Swedish sociologist
- Vilhelm Aubert (1922–1988), Norwegian sociologist
- Francisco Ayala, Spanish sociologist and novelist
B
[edit]- Élisabeth Badinter (born 1944), French philosopher and historian
- Patrick Baert, British sociologist
- Sergio Bagú, Argentinian sociologist
- Kenneth D. Bailey, American sociologist
- Georges Balandier, French sociologist
- Emily Greene Balch, American professor of sociology and Nobel Peace laureate
- Robert Balch, American sociologist
- Étienne Balibar, French philosopher and sociologist
- E. Digby Baltzell, American sociologist
- Jack Barbalet, Australian sociologist
- Teresita de Barbieri, Uruguayan-born Mexican feminist sociologist
- Eileen Barker (born 1938), British sociologist and professor
- Barry Barnes, British sociologist
- Liberty Barnes, American sociologist
- Roland Barthes (1915–1980), French literary critic, literary and social theorist, philosopher, and semiotician
- Robert Bartholomew (born 1958), American medical sociologist living in New Zealand
- Roger Bartra, Mexican sociologist
- Roger Bastide, French sociologist
- Georges Bataille, French philosopher and sociologist
- Gregory Bateson (1904–1980), English/American cybernetician
- Jean Baubérot (born 1941), French historian and sociologist
- Christian Baudelot, French sociologist
- Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007), French cultural theorist
- Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017), Polish/British sociologist
- Frank Bean, American sociologist
- Peter Bearman (born 1956), American sociologist
- Ulrich Beck (1944–2015), German sociologist
- Gary Becker, American economist
- Howard P. Becker, American sociologist
- Howard S. Becker (1928–2023), American sociologist
- Jens Beckert, German sociologist
- Richard F. Behrendt (1908–1973), German sociologist
- Daniel Bell (1919–2011), American sociologist
- Wendell Bell, American sociologist
- Robert N. Bellah, American sociologist
- Walden Bello, Filipino sociologist
- Edvard Beneš, Czechoslovak sociologist and politician
- Reinhard Bendix, German-American sociologist
- Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), German cultural writer and sociologist
- Albert Benschop (1949–2018), Dutch sociologist
- Joseph Berger, American sociologist
- Peter L. Berger (1929–2017), Austro-American sociologist
- Solveig Bergman (born 1955), Finnish sociologist active in gender studies
- Pierre L. van den Berghe, Belgian sociologist
- Henri Bergson (1859–1941), French philosopher
- Jessie Bernard, American feminist sociologist
- Basil Bernstein, British sociologist
- Eduard Bernstein, German politician and intellectual
- Jean-Michel Berthelot, French sociologist
- Joel Best, America sociologist
- Andre Beteille, Indian sociologist
- Gurminder K. Bhambra, British sociologist
- Krishna Bhattachan, Nepalese sociologist
- Robert Bierstedt, American sociologist
- Norman Birnbaum, American sociologist
- Margunn Bjørnholt (born 1958), Norwegian sociologist and economist
- Donald Black, American sociologist
- Peter Blau (1918–2002), American sociologist
- Kathleen M. Blee (born 1953), American sociologist
- Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg (1929–2025), German sociologist, ethnologist, and sexologist
- Danielle Bleitrach (born 1938), French sociologist and journalist
- Fred L. Block, American sociologist
- David Bloor, British sociologist
- Herbert Blumer (1900–1987), American sociologist
- Olivier Bobineau (born 1972), French sociologist
- Sophie Body-Gendrot (1942–2018), French sociologist
- Donald Bogue, American demographer and sociologist
- Luc Boltanski, French sociologist
- Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, American sociologist
- Scott Boorman (born 1949), American sociologist
- Charles Booth, British social researcher
- Ernst Borinski (1901–1983), German sociologist
- Atilio Borón, Argentinian sociologist
- Thomas Bottomore (1920–1992), British sociologist
- Raymond Boudon, French sociologist
- Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002), French sociologist
- Victor Branford (1863–1930), British sociologist
- Ronald Breiger, American sociologist
- John David Brewer (born 1951), British sociologist
- Carl Brinkmann (1885–1954), German sociologist
- David G. Bromley, American sociologist
- Rogers Brubaker, American sociologist
- Hauke Brunkhorst, German sociologist
- José Joaquín Brunner, Chilean sociologist
- Hans Henrik Reventlow Bruun, Danish sociologist
- Lois Bryson, Australian sociologist
- Walter F. Buckley, American sociologist
- Michael Burawoy, American sociologist
- Ernest Burgess (1886–1966), Canadian sociologist
- Tom R. Burns, European-American sociologist
- Ronald Burt, American sociologist
- Judith Butler (born 1956), American gender theorist
C
[edit]- Werner J. Cahnman, German-American sociologist
- Alain Caillé, French sociologist
- Roger Caillois, French sociologist
- Craig Calhoun, American sociologist
- Michel Callon, French sociologist
- Charles Camic, American sociologist
- Colin Campbell, British sociologist
- Elias Canetti, Bulgaria-born novelist and outsider sociologist
- Georges Canguilhem, French intellectual
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso (born 1931), Brazilian sociologist, former President of Brazil
- Gabriel Careaga Medina, Mexican sociologist
- Kathleen Carley, American computational sociologist
- Antonio Caso, Mexican sociologist
- Robert Castel, French sociologist
- Julieta Castellanos (born 1952), Honduran sociologist
- Manuel Castells (born 1942), Spanish sociologist and urban planner
- Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997), Greek philosopher and political theorist
- Santiago Castro-Gómez, Colombian philosopher and sociologist
- Michel de Certeau, French cultural sociologist
- Karen A. Cerulo, American sociologist
- Francis Stuart Chapin (1888–1974), American sociologist
- Christopher Chase-Dunn, American sociologist
- Louis Chauvel (born 1967), French sociologist
- Albert Chavannes, American sociologist
- Andrew Cherlin, American sociologist
- Nancy Chodorow (born 1944), American sociologist, psychoanalyst, and gender theorist
- Nicholas A. Christakis, American sociologist
- Ann-Dorte Christensen, Danish sociologist
- Chua Beng Huat, Singaporean sociologist
- Aaron Cicourel, American sociologist
- Dieter Claessens (1921–1997), German sociologist
- Adele Clarke (1945–2024), American sociologist
- Simon Clarke, British sociologist
- Lars Clausen (1935–2010), German sociologist
- Marshall B. Clinard (1911–2010), American sociologist (criminology)
- Clifford Clogg, American sociologist
- Richard Cloward (1926–2001), American sociologist
- Ansley J. Coale, American demographer and sociologist
- Philip N. Cohen, American sociologist
- Ronald L. Cohen, American social psychologist
- Stanley Cohen, British sociologist (criminology)
- James Samuel Coleman (1926–1995), American sociologist
- Harry Collins, British sociologist
- Patricia Hill Collins (born 1948), American sociologist
- Randall Collins, American sociologist
- Auguste Comte (1798–1857), French founder of sociology
- Nicolas de Condorcet, French mathematician and early sociologist
- Dalton Conley, American sociologist
- R.W. Connell (born 1944), Australian sociologist
- Paul Connerton, British sociologist
- Karen Cook, American sociologist
- Charles Cooley (1864–1929), American sociologist
- Anna Julia Cooper, American sociologist
- Lewis A. Coser (1913–2003), American sociologist
- Carl J. Couch (1925–1994), American sociologist
- Douglas E. Cowan, Canadian sociologist
- Oliver Cox, Trinidadian-American sociologist
- Maxine Leeds Craig, American sociologist
- Rosemary Crompton, British sociologist
- Colin Crouch, British sociologist
- Michel Crozier, French sociologist
- Agustin Cueva, Ecuadorian sociologist
- Stefan Czarnowski (1879–1937), Polish sociologist
D
[edit]- Robert Dahl (1915–2014), American political scientist
- Ralf Dahrendorf (1929–2009), German-British sociologist and politician
- Dankwart Danckwerts (1933–2012), German sociologist
- Randy David, Filipino sociologist
- Leonore Davidoff (1932–2014), American-British sociologist and historian
- Kingsley Davis (1908–1997), American sociologist
- Georges Davy (1883–1976), French sociologist
- François de Singly, French sociologist
- Régis Debray, French mediologist
- Alexander Deichsel (born 1935), German sociologist
- Christine Delphy (born 1941), French sociologist, feminist, and theorist
- Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995), French philosopher
- Donatella della Porta, Italian sociologist and political scientist
- Christine Delphy, French sociologist
- Bogdan Denitch (1929–2016), American sociologist
- Norman K. Denzin, American sociologist
- Régis Dericquebourg (born 1947), French sociologist of religions
- Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), French philosopher
- Matthew Desmond, American sociologist
- Heinz Dieterich, German-Mexican sociologist
- Bulent Diken, Danish sociologist
- Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911), German historian, psychologist and sociologist
- Helen Dinerman (1920–1974), American public opinion researcher
- Gail Dines, British-American sociologist
- Paul DiMaggio, American cultural sociologist
- Georgi Dimitrov Dimitrov, Bulgarian sociologist
- Thomas A. DiPrete, American sociologist
- Stuart C. Dodd (1900–1975), American sociologist
- G. William Domhoff, American sociologist
- Orna Donath, Israeli sociologist
- Pierpaolo Donati, Italian sociologist
- Ronald P. Dore, British sociologist
- Theotônio dos Santos, Brazilian sociologist
- Mary Douglas (1921–2007), British anthropologist and sociologist of perception
- Tommy Douglas (1904–1986), Canadian politician
- W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), American sociologist and civil rights leader
- Denis Duclos, French sociologist
- Otis Dudley Duncan (1921–2004), American sociologist
- Mitchell Duneier, American sociologist
- Eric Dunning (1936–2019), British sociologist
- Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), French sociologist
- Troy Duster, American sociologist
- Maurice Duverger (1917–2014), French sociologist
- Jean Duvignaud (1921–2007), French sociologist
E
[edit]- Gerald L. Eberlein (1930–2010), German sociologist
- Alain Ehrenberg, French sociologist
- Eugen Ehrlich, German sociologist
- Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt (1923–2010), Israeli sociologist
- Riane Eisler (born 1931), cultural historian, systems scientist, educator, and attorney
- Glen Elder, American sociologist
- Norbert Elias (1897–1990), German sociologist
- Jacques Ellul (1912–1994), French sociologist
- Jon Elster, Norwegian sociologist
- Mustafa Emirbayer, American sociologist
- Hugo O. Engelmann (1917–2002), American sociologist
- Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), German socialist philosopher
- Paula England, American sociologist
- Ronald Enroth (1938–2023), American sociologist
- Kai T. Erikson (1931–2025), American sociologist
- Fernando Escalante Gonzalbo, Mexican sociologist
- Gosta Esping-Andersen, Danish sociologist
- Roger Establet, French sociologist
- Amitai Etzioni (1929–2023), American sociologist
- Peter B. Evans, American sociologist
F
[edit]- Orlando Fals Borda (1925–2008), Colombian sociologist
- Frantz Fanon, Martinican intellectual and sociologist
- Rick Fantasia, American sociologist
- Thomas Fararo (1933–2020), American mathematical sociologist
- Sara R. Farris, Italian sociologist of feminism and migration
- Didier Fassin, French sociologist
- Paul Fauconnet (1874–1938), French sociologist
- Joe Feagin, American sociologist
- Mike Featherstone, British sociologist
- Fei Xiaotong (1910–2005), Chinese sociologist and anthropologist
- Anuška Ferligoj, Slovenian mathematical sociologist
- Florestan Fernandes (1920–1995), Brazilian sociologist
- Myra Marx Ferree (born 1949), American sociologist
- Enrico Ferri, Italian sociologist and criminologist
- Mileva Filipović (1938–2020), Montenegrin sociologist and gender studies pioneer
- Gary Alan Fine (born 1950), American sociologist
- Claude Fischer (born 1948), American author of the subcultural theory of urbanism
- George Fitzhugh (1806–1881), American social theorist
- Crystal Marie Fleming (born 1981), American sociologist and author
- Peter Flora, Austrian sociologist
- Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002), Austrian/American cybernetician
- Pim Fortuyn (1948–2002), Dutch sociologist author and politician
- Daniel A. Foss (1940–2014), American sociologist
- John Bellamy Foster, American sociologist and journalist
- Michel Foucault (1926–1984), French philosopher
- Alfred Jules Émile Fouillée, French philosopher and sociologist
- Charles Fourier (1772–1837), French proto-sociologist
- Renée Fox, American sociologist
- Frances Fox Piven, American sociologist
- Andre Gunder Frank (1929–2005), German economic historian and sociologist
- Mary Frank Fox, American sociologist
- Nancy Fraser, American social theorist
- Hans Freyer (1887–1969), German sociologist and philosopher
- Gilberto Freyre (1900–1987), Brazilian sociologist
- Erhard Friedberg, Austrian sociologist
- Georges Friedmann, French sociologist
- Steve Fuller, American sociologist
- Frank Furstenberg, American sociologist
- Celso Furtado (1920–2004), Brazilian economist
G
[edit]- Luciano Gallino, Italian sociologist
- Francis Galton (1822–1911), English statistician
- Johan Galtung, Norwegian sociologist, mathematician, and founder of peace studies
- Diego Gambetta, Italian sociologist
- Herbert J. Gans (1927–2025), American sociologist
- Néstor García Canclini, Argentinian-Mexican sociologist
- Brígida García Guzmán, Dominican-Mexican sociologist
- Delphine Gardey (born 1967), French sociologist
- Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011), American sociologist
- David W Garland, British sociologist
- Manuel Antonio Garretón, Chilean sociologist
- Romeo B. Garrett, American sociologist
- Marcel Gauchet, French sociologist
- John Gaventa, American-British sociologist
- Patrick Geddes, Scottish sociologist
- Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist
- Arnold Gehlen (1904–1976), German philosopher and sociologist
- Theodor Geiger (1891–1952), German sociologist
- Ernest Gellner (1925–1995), Czech-British philosopher and social anthropologist
- Uta Gerhardt, German sociologist
- Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1893–1983), Indian sociologist
- Anthony Giddens (born 1938), English sociologist
- Franklin Henry Giddings, American sociologist
- Ayelet Giladi (born 1964), Israeli educational sociologist
- Nigel Gilbert, British sociologist
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American sociologist
- Paul Gilroy, British sociologist
- Salvador Giner, Spanish sociologist
- Corrado Gini (1884–1965), Italian statistician
- Morris Ginsberg, British sociologist
- Herbert Gintis, American behavioral scientist
- Henry Giroux, American sociologist of education
- Todd Gitlin, American sociologist
- Barney Glaser, American sociologist
- David Glass (1911–1978), British sociologist
- Barry Glassner (born 1952), American sociologist
- Nathan Glazer, American sociologist
- Max Gluckman (1911–1975), South African/English social anthropologist
- Erving Goffman (1922–1982), Canadian interactionistic sociologist
- Steven J. Gold (born 1955), American sociologist
- Lucien Goldmann, Romanian/French sociologist
- Jack Goldstone, American sociologist
- John H. Goldthorpe (born 1935), British sociologist
- Yasunosuke Gonda, Japanese sociologist
- Pablo González Casanova, Mexican sociologist
- Jeff Goodwin, American sociologist
- Roger V. Gould, American sociologist
- Alvin Gouldner, American sociologist
- Ziya Gökalp (1876–1924), Turkish sociologist, writer, poet and political activist
- Isacque Graeber (1905–1984), sociologist and Jewish historian
- Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937), Italian Marxist and social theorist
- Mark Granovetter, American sociologist
- Richard Grathoff (1934–2013), German sociologist and phenomenologist
- Andrew M. Greeley, American sociologist, priest, writer
- Liah Greenfeld (born 1954), Russian/American sociologist
- Leonid Grinin (born 1958), Russian sociologist
- Wendy Griswold, American sociologist
- Ramón Grosfoguel, Puerto Rican sociologist
- Jaber F. Gubrium , American sociologist
- Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909), Polish sociologist, one of the founders of European sociology
- Dipankar Gupta (born 1949), Indian sociologist
- Georges Gurvitch, Russian/French sociologist
- Dimitrie Gusti (1880–1955), Romanian sociologist, the creator of the sociological monographic method
H
[edit]- Jürgen Habermas (born 1929), German social theorist
- Jeffrey K. Hadden (1937–2003), American sociologist
- Maurice Halbwachs (1877–1945), French philosopher and sociologist
- Drew Halfmann (born 1967), American sociologist
- Bente Halkier, Danish sociologist
- John A. Hall (born 1949), British/Canadian sociologist
- Stuart Hall (1932–2014), British cultural theorist
- Jean Halley, American sociologist
- Donna Haraway (born 1944), American gender and technology theorist
- Eszter Hargittai, Hungarian sociologist
- Marta Harnecker, Chilean sociologist
- Valérie Harvey, Canadian writer and sociologist
- Chandrakala A. Hate (1903–1990), Indian sociologist, social worker, and author
- James Hawdon, American sociologist and professor
- Darnell Hawkins (born 1946), American sociologist, criminologist, and emeritus professor
- Amos Hawley, American sociologist
- Peter Hedström, Swedish sociologist
- Samuel Heilman, American sociologist
- Peter Heintz, Swiss sociologist
- Wilhelm Heitmeyer, German sociologist
- Dirk Helbing, Swiss sociologist
- Horst Helle, German sociologist
- Ágnes Heller, Hungarian philosopher and sociologist
- Celia Stopnicka Heller (1922–2011), American sociologist
- Will Herberg (1901–1977), American sociologist
- John Heritage, American sociologist
- Robert Hertz, French sociologist
- Danièle Hervieu-Léger, French sociologist
- Michael D. Higgins, Irish sociologist and former Irish president
- Reuben Hill, American sociologist
- Ulf Himmelstrand, Swedish sociologist
- Travis Hirschi, American sociologist
- Paul Hirst, British sociologist
- Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), British philosopher
- Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, pioneer British sociologist
- Arlie Russell Hochschild, American sociologist
- Richard Hoggart (1918–2014), British sociologist
- John Holloway, Irish sociologist
- Susanne Holmström, Danish sociologist
- Robert J. Holton, British sociologist
- George C. Homans (1910–1989), American behavioral sociologist
- Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, American sociologist
- Axel Honneth (born 1949), German social theorist
- Ida R. Hoos (1912–2007), American sociologist
- Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), German social theorist
- Irving Louis Horowitz, American sociologist
- Eugenio María de Hostos, Puerto Rican sociologist
- François Houtart, Belgian sociologist
- Philip N. Howard, Canadian-American sociologist
- Spomenka Hribar (born 1941), Slovenian sociologist, philosopher politician, and public intellectual
- Joan Huber, American sociologist
- Everett Hughes, American sociologist
- Stephen J. Hunt, British sociologist
- James Davison Hunter, American sociologist
- Herbert Hyman, American sociologist
I
[edit]- Octavio Ianni (1926–2004), Brazilian sociologist
- Ibn Khaldun (1332/ah732–1406/ah808), North African historian, forerunner of modern historiography, sociology, and economics
- Kancha Ilaiah (born 1952), Indian political scientist and social activist
- Eva Illouz, Moroccan sociologist
- Jose Ingenieros, Argentinian sociologist[1]
- Harold Innis, Canadian sociologist who developed staples theory
- John Keith Irwin (1929–2010), American sociologist known for his expertise on the American prison system
- Larry Isaac, American sociologist
J
[edit]- Jacquelyne Jackson (1932–2004), American sociologist and educator
- Stevi Jackson (born 1951), British sociologist
- Jane Jacobs, American theorist with wide influence on urban sociology
- Janet L. Jacobs (born 1948), American sociologist
- Michael Hviid Jacobsen, Danish sociologist
- Eliezer Jaffe, Israeli-American sociologist
- Marie Jahoda (1907–2001), Austrian-British sociologist and social psychologist
- Marie Jaisson, French sociologist
- Ayesha Jalal, Pakistani-American historian, sociologist, and professor
- Fredric Jameson, American philosopher and social theorist
- Morris Janowitz, American sociologist
- James M. Jasper (born 1957), American sociologist
- Guillermina Jasso, American sociologist
- Gail Jefferson (1938–2008), American sociologist and conversation analyst
- Yasmin Jiwani, feminist academic and activist
- Hans Joas, German social theorist
- Carole Joffe, American sociologist
- Benton Johnson (born 1928), American sociologist
- Guy Benton Johnson (1901–1991), American sociologist
- Miriam M. Johnson (1928–2007), American sociologist
- Rodrigo Jokisch (born 1946), German-Mexican sociologist and social theorist
- Frank Lancaster Jones (born 1937), Australian sociologist
- Lewis Wade Jones (1910–1979), African/American sociologist and educator
- Danny Jorgensen, American sociologist
- Paul Jorion, Belgian American sociologist and cognitive scientist
- Mark Juergensmeyer, American sociologist
K
[edit]- Dirk Kaesler (born 1944), German sociologist
- Boris Kagarlitsky, Russian sociologist
- Irawati Karve, Indian anthropologist and sociologist
- Alexandr Kapto, Russian and Ukrainian scientist, sociologist, and political scientist; a diplomat, journalist, politician, and statesman
- Elihu Katz, American sociologist
- Nitasha Kaul, Indian Kashmiri sociologist, writer, and poet
- Karl Kautsky, Czech Marxist theorist
- Vytautas Kavolis, Lithuanian-American sociologist and literary critic
- Frances Kellor (1873–1952), American sociologist, social reformer, and investigator
- Stephen A. Kent, Canadian sociologist
- Lane Kenworthy, American sociologist
- Sherin Khankan, Danish sociologist
- Abdelkebir Khatibi (1938–2009), Moroccan literary critic, novelist, philosopher, playwright, poet, and sociologist
- Aquila Berlas Kiani (1921–2012), Indian sociologist and educator
- Benjamin Kidd, British sociologist
- Baruch Kimmerling, Israeli sociologist
- Susan Myra Kingsbury (1870–1949), American sociologist
- Julieta Kirkwood (1936–1985), Chilean sociologist, political scientist, and feminist activist
- Evelyn M. Kitagawa (1920–2007), American sociologist, demographer, and educator
- John Kitsuse, Japanese-American sociologist
- Gabriele Klein (born 1957), sociologist, dance theorist, and educator
- Bernardo Kliksberg, Argentinian sociologist
- Eric Klinenberg, American sociologist
- Karin Knorr Cetina (born 1944), Austrian sociologist
- Antonina Kłoskowska (1919–2001), Polish sociologist
- Karin Knorr Cetina (born 1944), Austrian sociologist
- Katsuya Kodama (born 1959), Japanese sociologist and peace researcher
- Martin Kohli, Swiss sociologist
- Mirra Komarovsky (1905–1999), Russian-American sociologist
- René König (1906–1992), German sociologist
- Andrey Korotayev (born 1961), Russian sociologist
- Reinhart Koselleck (1923–2006), German historian and social theorist
- Maksim Kovalevsky (1851–1916), Russian sociologist
- Siegfried Kracauer, German sociologist
- Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French feminist sociologist
- Alfred L. Kroeber (1876–1960), American anthropologist
- Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), Russian anarchist thinker
- Thomas S. Kuhn (1922–1996), American science theorist
- Eugene M. Kulischer (1891–1956), Russian/American sociologist
- Charles Kurzman, American sociologist
- Martin Kusch, Austrian philosopher and sociologist
L
[edit]- William Labov (born 1927), American sociolinguist and dialectologist
- Jacques Lacan (1901–1981), French psychoanalyst
- Richard Lachmann, American sociologist, specialist in comparative historical sociology
- Ernesto Laclau, Argentinian sociologist
- Joyce Ladner, American sociologist and activist
- Imre Lakatos, Hungarian philosopher
- Janja Lalich (born 1945), American sociologist
- Michele Lamont, American sociologist
- Diane Lamoureux (born 1954), Canadian sociologist, professor, and writer
- Edgardo Lander, Venezuelan sociologist
- David C. Lane (born 1956), American sociologist
- Silvia Lara Povedano, Costa Rican politician and sociologist
- Annette Lareau, American sociologist
- Ralph Larkin, American sociologist
- Scott Lash, American sociologist
- Harold Lasswell, American political sociologist
- Bruno Latour (born 1947), French sociologist of science
- Pat Lauderdale, American sociologist
- Peter Lavrovich Lavrov, Russian sociologist
- John Law, British sociologist
- Paul F. Lazarsfeld (1901–1976), Austrian/American sociologist
- Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931), French social psychologist
- Frederic Le Play, early French sociologist
- Anna Leander, Danish sociologist
- Emil Lederer, German sociologist
- Henri Lefebvre (1901–1991), French Marxist philosopher
- Enrique Leff, Mexican sociologist
- Charles Lemert (born 1937), American sociologist
- Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and intellectual
- Gerhard Lenski, American evolutionary sociologist
- Magdalena León de Leal (born 1939), Colombian sociologist
- Wolf Lepenies, German sociologist
- Yuri Levada, Russian sociologist
- John Levi Martin, American sociologist
- Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009), French anthropologist
- Jack Levin (born 1941), American sociologist/criminologist
- Barry B. Levine (1941–2020), American sociologist
- Peggy Levitt, American sociologist
- Ruth Levitas, British sociologist
- Daniel Levy, German-American sociologist
- Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (1857–1939), French philosopher, sociologist, and ethnographer
- Kurt Lewin, German social psychologist
- Loet Leydesdorff, Dutch sociologist
- Li Yinhe (born 1952), Chinese sociologist, sexologist, and activist
- Stanley Lieberson, American sociologist
- Nan Lin, American sociologist
- Alfred R. Lindesmith (1905–1991), American sociologist of drug policy
- Frederick B. Lindstrom (1915–1998), American sociologist of the arts
- Juan José Linz, Spanish sociologist
- Gilles Lipovetsky, French philosopher
- Seymour Martin Lipset (1922–2006), American comparativist sociologist
- Allen Liska, American sociologist
- Daniel Little, American philosopher and sociologist
- Émile Littré, French philosopher and sociologist, disciple of Comte
- Omar Lizardo, American sociologist
- John Locke, English philosopher
- David Lockwood, British sociologist
- Joseph Lopreato, American sociologist
- Martina Löw, German sociologist
- Leo Löwenthal, German sociologist
- Michael Löwy, Brazilian-French sociologist
- Nathalie Luca (born 1966), French sociologist
- Thomas Luckmann (1927–2016), German sociologist
- Anthony Ludovici (1882–1971), British conservative sociologist and philosopher
- Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998), German sociologist (systems theory)
- György Lukács, Hungarian philosopher
- Steven Lukes, British social theorist
- George Lundberg (1895–1966), American sociologist (scientific)
- Rosa Luxemburg (1870–1919), German socialist theoretician
- Robert Staughton Lynd (1892–1970), American sociologist
- David Lyon, British sociologist
- Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), French philosopher
M
[edit]- Amin Maalouf, Lebanese author with a degree in sociology
- Richard Machalek (born 1946), American sociologist and sociobiologist
- Robert Morrison MacIver (1882–1970), Scottish/American sociologist
- Donald A. MacKenzie, British sociologist
- Annie Marion MacLean (1869–1934), Canadian-American applied sociologist
- Michel Maffesoli, French sociologist
- Henry Maine (1822–1888), British jurist and legal historian
- Sinisa Malesevic (born 1969), Irish political and historical sociologist
- Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942), Polish social anthropologist
- Thomas Malthus (1766–1834), English demographer
- Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Brazilian social theorist
- Michael Mann (born 1942), British/American sociologist
- Karl Mannheim (1893–1947), Hungarian/German sociologist
- Peter K. Manning (born 1940), American sociologist
- José María Maravall, Spanish sociologist
- Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979), German/American sociologist (Frankfurt School)
- Ruy Mauro Marini, Brazilian sociologist
- Władysław Markiewicz (1920–2017), Polish sociologist
- Catherine Marry, French sociologist
- Dennis Marsden, British sociologist
- Alfred Marshall, English economist
- Thomas Humphrey Marshall, British sociologist
- Everett Dean Martin, American sociologist
- Jean Martin, Australian sociologist
- John Levi Martin, American sociologist
- Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), English writer described as 'first female sociologist'
- Alberto Martinelli, Italian sociologist
- Vladimir Martynenko (born 1957), Russian sociologist, economist, political scientist
- Margaret Maruani (born 1954), Tunisian-French sociologist
- Gary T. Marx, American sociologist
- Karl Marx (1818–1883), German political philosopher, social theorist
- Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Czech sociologist
- Douglas Massey, American sociologist
- Brian Massumi, Canadian social theorist
- Humberto Maturana, Chilean biologist and sociologist of knowledge
- Marcel Mauss (1872–1950), French sociologist
- Carl R May (born 1961), British medical sociologist
- Claire Maxwell (born 1975), German-Australian sociologist
- Renate Mayntz, German sociologist
- Doug McAdam, American sociologist
- Fayette Avery McKenzie (1872–1957), American sociologist
- Robert McKenzie (1917–1981), Canadian Politics professor and psephologist
- Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980), Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar
- George Herbert Mead (1863–1931), American philosopher and social psychologist
- Margaret Mead (1901–1978), American cultural anthropologist
- Cecilia Menjívar, Salvadoran-American sociologist
- Stephen Mennell (born 1944), English sociologist
- Fatema Mernissi (1940–2015), Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist
- Robert K. Merton (1910–2003), American sociologist
- Michael Messner (born 1952), American pro-feminist sociologist
- John W. Meyer, American sociologist
- Robert Michels (1876–1936), Italian-German political sociologist
- Maria Mies, German sociologist
- Ralph Miliband, British sociologist
- C. Wright Mills (1916–1962), American sociologist
- Andrew Milner (born 1950), British-Australian sociologist of literature
- Ann Mische, American sociologist
- Munesuke Mita, Japanese sociologist
- J. Clyde Mitchell (1918–1995), British social anthropologist
- Shinji Miyadai (born 1959), Japanese sociologist
- Tariq Modood, British sociologist
- Abraham Moles (1920–1992), French sociologist, psychologist, and engineer
- Andres Molina Enriquez, Mexican sociologist
- Montesquieu, French philosopher
- James D. Montgomery, American economist and mathematical sociologist
- Barrington Moore, Jr., American political sociologist
- Wilbert E. Moore, American sociologist
- Jacob L. Moreno, Romanian-American psychosociologist, founder of sociometry
- Edgar Morin, French sociologist
- Aldon Morris, American sociologist
- Gaetano Mosca (1858–1941), Italian political and social scientist
- Serge Moscovici, French psychologist and major influence in the study of social representations and social movements
- Chantal Mouffe, Belgian post-Marxist theorist
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927–2003), American sociologist, diplomat and politician
- Radhakamal Mukerjee, Indian sociologist
- Lewis Mumford, American sociologist
- Peter A. Munch (1908–1984), Norwegian/American sociologist
- Richard Münch, German sociologist
- Charles Murray (born 1943), American sociologist
- Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist
- Gunnar Myrdal (1898–1987), Swedish economist, sociologist, and politician
N
[edit]- Ashis Nandy, Indian sociologist
- Vicenç Navarro, Spanish sociologist
- Victor Nee, American sociologist
- Antonio Negri, Italian political philosopher and critic of Luhmann
- Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890–1991), German Roman Catholic theologian, sociologist and social reformer
- Otto Neurath (1882–1945), Austrian sociologist and political economist
- Otto Newman (born Neumann 1922–2015), Austrian-British sociologist
- Norman H. Nie (1943–2015), Inventor of SPSS
- Robert Nisbet (1913–1996), American sociologist
- Helga Nowotny (born 1937), Austrian sociologist
O
[edit]- Ann Oakley, British sociologist
- Claus Offe (1940–2025), German political sociologist
- William F. Ogburn (1886–1959), American sociologist
- Lloyd Ohlin (1918–2008), American sociologist
- Orlandina de Oliveira, Brazilian-Mexican sociologist
- Michael Omi, American sociologist
- Gail Omvedt (1941–2021), American/Indian sociologist
- T. K. Oommen, Indian sociologist
- Franz Oppenheimer (1864–1943), German sociologist and political economist
- José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955), Spanish philosopher
- Stanislaw Ossowski (1897–1963), Polish sociologist
- Dag Østerberg, Norwegian sociologist
- Moisey Ostrogorsky (1853–1921), Russian sociologist
P
[edit]- Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923), Italian economist and sociologist
- Robert E. Park (1864–1944), American sociologist
- Frank Parkin, British sociologist
- Talcott Parsons (1902–1979), American sociologist
- C.J. Pascoe, American sociologist
- Jean-Claude Passeron, French sociologist
- Bindeshwar Pathak (born 1943), Indian sociologist
- Orlando Patterson, Jamaican-American sociologist
- Karl Pearson (1857–1936), English statistician
- Willie Pearson Jr, American sociologist
- Jacqueline Peschard (1965), Mexican sociologist
- James Petras (1937–2026), American sociologist
- Jean Piaget (1896–1980), Swiss developmental psychologist
- Andrew Pickering, British sociologist
- Trevor Pinch, British sociologist
- Alessandro Pizzorno, Italian sociologist
- Michael Plekon, American sociologist
- Helmuth Plessner, German sociologist
- Geoffrey Pleyers, Belgian sociologist
- Joel M. Podolny, American sociologist
- Karl Polanyi, Hungarian economist
- Friedrich Pollock, German social scientist
- Heinrich Popitz, German sociologist
- Karl Popper, Austrian philosopher
- Juan Carlos Portantiero, Argentinian sociologist
- John Porter (1921–1979), Canadian sociologist
- Alejandro Portes, Cuban-American sociologist
- Adam Possamai, Belgian-born sociologist
- Dudley L. Poston Jr., American sociologist
- Nicos Poulantzas (1936–1979), Greek political sociologist
- Émile Poulat, French historian and sociologist
- Walter W. Powell, American sociologist
- Ricardo Pozas Arciniega, Mexican sociologist and anthropologist
- Suzana Prates (1940–1988), Brazilian feminist sociologist and academic
- Anette Prehn, Danish sociologist
- Harriet B. Presser (died 2012), American sociologist and demographer
- Samuel H. Preston, American demographer and sociologist
- Ilya Prigogine, Belgian chemist, main contribution to sociology is dissipative structures theory
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), French utopian socialist thinker
- Adam Przeworski, Polish political sociologist
- Jade Puget (born 1973), American musician
- Robert Putnam (born 1941), American political scientist
Q
[edit]- Sigrid Quack, German sociologist
- Enrico Quarantelli (1924–2017), American sociologist
- Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874), French statistician and sociologist
- Anibal Quijano (1930–2017), Peruvian sociologist
- Richard Quinney (born 1934), American sociologist
R
[edit]- Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown (1881–1955), British social anthropologist
- Charles C. Ragin, American sociologist
- Gustav Ratzenhofer, Austrian sociologist
- Stephen Raudenbush, American sociologist and statistician
- Aviad Raz (born 1968), Israeli sociologist and anthropologist
- Mark Regnerus, American sociologist
- Juliette Rennes (born 1976), French sociologist
- Sal Restivo, American sociologist
- John Rex (1925–2011), British sociologist
- James Mahmud Rice (born 1972), Australian sociologist
- Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher
- Cecilia L. Ridgeway, American sociologist
- David Riesman, American sociologist
- George Ritzer (born 1940), American sociologist
- Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Bolivian sociologist
- Roland Robertson, British sociologist
- William I. Robinson, American sociologist
- Guy Rocher (1924–2025), Canadian sociologist
- Terje Rød-Larsen (born 1947), Norwegian diplomat and sociologist
- Jesús M. de Miguel Rodríguez (born 1947), Spanish sociologist
- Stein Rokkan, Norwegian sociologist
- Hartmut Rosa, German sociologist
- Arnold Marshall Rose, American sociologist
- Gillian Rose, British sociologist
- Nikolas Rose, British sociologist
- Paul Rosenfels (1909–1985), American psychologist and sociologist
- Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy (1888–1973), German social philosopher
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher
- Peter H. Rossi, American sociologist
- Guenther Roth, German-American sociologist
- Rubén G. Rumbaut, Cuban-American sociologist
- W. G. Runciman, British sociologist
- Arne Runeberg (1912–1979), Finnish sociologist, anthropologist and linguist
S
[edit]- Harvey Sacks (died 1975), American sociologist and ethnomethodologist
- Renaud Sainsaulieu (1936–2002), French sociologist concerned with the sociology of organizations
- Henri de Saint-Simon (1760–1825), French philosopher and social thinker
- Patricia Salas O'Brien (born 1958), Peruvian sociologist and Minister of Education
- Robert J. Sampson, American sociologist
- Pierre Sansot, French sociologist
- Abdelmalek Sayad, Egyptian-French sociologist
- Andrew Sayer, British sociologist
- Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Portuguese sociologist
- Giovanni Sartori (1924–2017), Italian political scientist
- Saskia Sassen (born 1949), American sociologist
- Peter Saunders, Australian sociologist
- Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913), Swiss linguist (structuralism)
- Albert Schäffle, German sociologist
- Thomas J. Scheff, American sociologist
- Emanuel Schegloff, American sociologist
- Max Scheler, German philosopher and founder of the sociology of knowledge
- Helmut Schelsky (1912–1984), German sociologist
- Juraj Schenk (born 1948), Slovak sociologist
- Herbert Schiller, American sociologist
- Kurt C. Schlichting, American sociologist
- Wolfgang Schluchter, German sociologist
- Sylvia Schmelkes, Mexican sociologist
- Paul Schnabel, Dutch sociologist
- Allan Schnaiberg (1939–2009), American environmental sociologist
- Juliet Schor, American sociologist
- Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883–1950), Austrian economist
- Alfred Schütz (1899–1959), Austrian philosopher and sociologist (phenomenology)
- Michael Schwartz (born 1942), American sociologist
- John Scott (born 1949), British sociologist
- Sue Scott, British sociologist
- Jean Séguy, French sociologist of religions (1925–2007)
- Steven Seidman, American sociologist
- Pınar Selek, Turkish sociologist
- Philip Selznick, American sociologist
- Amartya Sen, Indian economist influential in the sociology of development
- Richard Sennett (born 1943), American sociologist and public figure
- Perla Serfaty (born 1944), Moroccan-born French and Canadian academic, sociologist, psychosociologist, writer
- William H. Sewell, American sociologist
- Steven Shapin, American sociologist
- Jeremy J. Shapiro, American sociologist
- Ali Shariati (1933–1977), Iranian sociologist and writer
- Tamotsu Shibutani, Japanese-American sociologist
- Bahija Ahmed Shihab (1932–2012), Iraqi sociologist and professor
- Edward Shils, American sociologist
- Anson Shupe, American sociologist
- Volkmar Sigusch, German sociologist and sexuologe
- Charles E. Silberman, American criminologist
- Beverly J. Silver, American sociologist
- François Simiand, French sociologist
- Georg Simmel (1858–1918), German sociologist and philosopher
- Herbert A. Simon, American social scientist
- Theda Skocpol (born 1947), American sociologist and political scientist
- Beverley Skeggs, British feminist sociologist
- Albion Woodbury Small (1854–1926), American sociologist
- Neil Smelser, American sociologist
- Adam Smith (1723–1790), Scottish economist and philosopher
- Christian Smith (born 1960), American sociologist of religion
- Dorothy E. Smith (born 1926), British/American sociologist and gender theorist
- Stephen C. Smith (born 1968), American sociologist and 21st century trend researcher
- Tom Snijders, Dutch mathematical sociologist
- David A. Snow (born 1942), American sociologist
- Werner Sombart (1863–1941), German economist and sociologist
- Georges Sorel, French philosopher
- Aage B. Sørensen, Danish-American sociologist
- Bernardo Sorj (born 1948), Brazilian sociologist
- Pitirim Sorokin (1889–1968), Russian sociologist
- Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), English philosopher
- Oswald Spengler (1880–1936), German philosopher
- Lynette Spillman, American sociologist
- Hasso Spode, German sociologist and historian
- M N Srinivas (1916–1999), Indian sociologist
- Susan Star, American sociologist
- Carl Nicolai Starcke, Danish sociologist
- David C. Stark, American sociologist
- Rodney Stark, American sociologist
- Paul Starr, American sociologist
- Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Mexican anthropologist and sociologist
- George Steinmetz, American sociologist
- Ana María Díaz Stevens, Puerto Rican-American sociologist
- Samuel A. Stouffer, American sociologist
- Anselm L. Strauss (1916–1996), American sociologist
- Wolfgang Streeck, German sociologist
- Sheldon Stryker, American sociologist
- Lucy Suchman, American sociologist
- Mark Suchman, American sociologist
- Thomas Sugrue, American historian and sociologist
- William Graham Sumner (1840–1910), American sociologist
- Eilert Sundt (1817–1875), Norwegian sociologist
- Edwin Sutherland (1893–1950), American criminologist
- Maristella Svampa, Argentinian sociologist
- Ian Svenonius, American cultural sociologist
- Richard Swedberg, Swedish sociologist
- Ann Swidler, American sociologist
- Jan Szczepanski (1913–2004), Polish sociologist
- Iván Szelényi, Hungarian-American sociologist
- Piotr Sztompka (born 1944), Polish sociologist
T
[edit]- Hippolyte Taine (1828–1893), French positivist historian and critic
- Yasuma Takada (1883–1972), Japanese sociologist
- Salim Tamari, Palestinian historical sociologist
- Lisa Taraki, Palestinian sociologist
- Alexander Tarasov, Russian sociologist
- Gabriel Tarde (1843–1904), French sociologist and social psychologist
- Sidney Tarrow, American sociologist
- R. H. Tawney (1880–1962), English ethical socialist
- Dorceta Taylor, American environmental sociologist
- Ian Taylor (1944–2001), English sociologist and criminologist
- Laurie Taylor (born 1936), English sociologist and broadcaster
- Göran Therborn, Swedish-British sociologist
- W. I. Thomas (1863–1947), American social psychologist
- E. P. Thompson (1924–1993), British socialist historian
- John Thompson (1979–2021), British sociologist of culture and media
- Sarah Thornton (born 1965), Canadian sociologist, writer, and ethnographer
- Ole Thyssen, Danish sociologist
- Marta Tienda, American sociologist
- Charles Tilly (1929–2008), American sociologist
- Nicholas Timasheff (1886–1970), Russian sociologist
- Valery Tishkov (born 1941), Russian ethnologist and sociologist
- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859), French essayist and political analyst
- Ferdinand Tönnies (1855–1936), German philosopher and founder of German sociology
- Alain Touraine (1925–2023), French sociologist
- Peter Townsend (1928–2009), British sociologist
- Judith Treas, American sociologist
- Renato Treves (1907–1992), Italian sociologist
- Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923), German sociologist and philosopher
- Zeynep Tufekci, Turkish-American sociologist
- Raimo Tuomela (1940–2020), Finnish philosopher and social theorist
- Sherry Turkle, American sociologist
- Bryan S. Turner, British sociologist
- Jonathan H. Turner, American social theorist
- Stephen Park Turner, American sociologist
- France Winddance Twine (born 1960), American sociologist and ethnographer
U
[edit]- John Urry (1946–2016), British sociologist
V
[edit]- Mariana Valverde, Canadian sociologist
- Francisco Varela (1946–2001), Chilean biologist and philosopher
- Aninhalli Vasavi (born 1958), Indian sociologist
- Diane Vaughan, American sociologist
- Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), American sociologist and economist
- Ruut Veenhoven, Dutch sociologist
- Calvin Veltman (born 1941), Canadian sociologist, demographer and sociolinguist
- Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, American sociologist
- Eliseo Verón, Argentinian sociologist
- Alfred Vierkandt (1867–1953), German sociologist
- Marika Vila (born 1949), Spanish comics artist and writer; feminist sociologist
- George Edgar Vincent (1864–1941), American sociologist
- Paul Virilio (1932–2018), French philosopher and social theorist
- Shiv Visvanathan, Indian sociologist and social scientist
W
[edit]- Loïc Wacquant, French sociologist
- Peter Wagner, German sociologist and social theorist
- Judy Wajcman, British sociologist
- Sylvia Walby, British sociologist
- Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019), American sociologist and historian
- Margit Warburg, Danish sociologist
- Lester Frank Ward (1841–1913), founder of American sociology
- Vron Ware, British educator and journalist
- Mary C. Waters, American sociologist
- Duncan Watts, American mathematical sociologist and network theorist
- Emile Waxweiler (1867–1916), Belgian sociologist
- Beatrice Webb (1858–1943), British socialist and social theorist
- Sidney Webb (1859–1947), British socialist and social theorist
- Alfred Weber (1868–1958), German sociologist
- Marianne Weber (1870–1954), German sociologist
- Max Weber (1864–1920), German sociologist
- Frank Webster (born 1950), British sociologist
- Margaret Weir, sociologist and political scientist
- Barry Wellman (born 1942), Canadian/American sociologist
- Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931), American sociologist, journalist, social worker
- John Westergaard (1931–2003), British sociologist
- Edvard Westermarck (1862–1939), Finnish sociologist and philosopher
- Nathan Whetten (1900–1984), American sociologist and academic administrator
- Douglas R. White (1942–2021), American mathematical sociologist and anthropologist
- Harrison White, American sociologist
- William Foote Whyte (1914–2000), American sociologist
- William H. Whyte (1917–1999), American sociologist, journalist and peoplewatcher
- Saskia Wieringa (born in 1950), Dutch sociologist and professor
- Leopold von Wiese (1876–1969), German sociologist
- Michel Wieviorka (born 1946), French sociologist
- Jean-Paul Willaime (born 1947), French sociologist of religions
- Sidney M. Willhelm (1934–2018), American sociologist, author
- Raymond Williams (1921–1988), British sociologist, novelist, and critic
- Paul Willis (born 1945), British sociologist and social scientist
- Helmut Willke, German sociologist
- William Julius Wilson (born 1935), American sociologist
- Howard Winant, American sociologist
- Christopher Winship, American sociologist
- Louis Wirth (1897–1952), German/American sociologist
- Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski (1944–2015), Polish sociologist
- José Woldenberg, Mexican sociologist
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), British social reformer
- Steve Woolgar, British sociologist
- Monroe Work (1866–1945), American sociologist
- Cas Wouters (1943–2025), Dutch sociologist
- Erik Olin Wright (1947–2019), American sociologist
- Robert Wuthnow, American sociologist
Y
[edit]- Lewis Yablonsky (1924–2014), American sociologist
- Kazuo Yamaguchi, Japanese sociologist, Department of Sociology, University of Chicago
- Masahiro Yamada, Japanese sociologist
- Hajar Yazdiha, American sociologist
- John Milton Yinger (1916–2011), American sociologist, president of the American Sociological Association 1976–1977
- Paul Yonnet (1948–2011), French sociologist
- Michael Young (1915–2002), British sociologist and Labour politician
- Wayland Young (1923–2009), British historian, social thinker and Labour politician
Z
[edit]- Benjamin Zablocki (1941–2020), American sociologist and social psychologist
- Mayer Zald (1931–2012), American sociologist
- Tatyana Zaslavskaya (1927–2013), Russian sociologist
- René Zavaleta Mercado (1935–1984), Bolivian sociologist
- Hans Zeisel, Austrian-American sociologist
- Viviana Zelizer,Argentinian Sociologist
- Eviatar Zerubavel, American cognitive sociologist
- Jean Ziegler (born 1934), Swiss sociologist
- Carle C. Zimmerman, American sociologist
- Florian Znaniecki (1882–1958), Polish/American sociologist
- Irving Zola (1935–1994), American medical sociologist and disability rights activist
- Tukufu Zuberi, American sociologist
- Harriet Zuckerman, American sociologist, specializes in science
- Sharon Zukin, American sociologist
- Phil Zuckerman, American sociologist
References
[edit]List of sociologists
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Introduction
Defining Sociologists and Inclusion Criteria
A sociologist is a social scientist who systematically examines society, social behavior, and the structures that emerge from human interactions, including groups, institutions, and cultural patterns.[9] This discipline emphasizes empirical methods such as surveys, statistical analysis, ethnography, and historical data to identify patterns and causal mechanisms in social phenomena, distinguishing it from speculative philosophy or anecdotal observation.[2] Unlike related fields like economics or psychology, sociology prioritizes the interplay of macro-level structures—such as class systems or bureaucracies—with micro-level interactions, often employing theoretical frameworks to test hypotheses about social order and change.[10] The term "sociologist" applies to professionals who hold advanced degrees in the field, conduct original research published in peer-reviewed journals, or teach in sociology departments, though historical figures may qualify through pioneering writings that laid foundational principles without formal credentials.[2] Core activities include analyzing how social forces shape individual outcomes, such as inequality or deviance, while critiquing institutional biases in data interpretation; for instance, self-reported surveys must account for response distortions influenced by cultural norms.[9] Empirical rigor demands falsifiable claims supported by replicable evidence, rejecting ideologically driven narratives that prioritize normative goals over observable realities. Inclusion in lists of sociologists requires demonstrated notability through significant intellectual contributions, measured by metrics like citation counts in academic literature, authorship of influential texts, or election to prestigious bodies such as the National Academy of Sciences.[11] Criteria exclude peripheral figures whose work overlaps with adjacent disciplines without advancing sociological theory or methods, prioritizing those whose ideas have shaped empirical research paradigms, such as quantitative modeling of social networks or qualitative studies of power dynamics.[12] Recognition often hinges on peer validation via high-impact publications, though systemic biases in academic gatekeeping—evident in uneven citation patterns favoring certain ideological clusters—can skew visibility, necessitating cross-verification against primary outputs rather than institutional endorsements alone.[13] This approach ensures lists reflect causal influence on the field's development, not mere popularity or media amplification.Historical Development of Sociology
Sociology emerged as a formal academic discipline in 19th-century Europe amid rapid industrialization, urbanization, and political instability following the French Revolution and Enlightenment ideas, which prompted intellectuals to systematically analyze social order and change.[14] These transformations disrupted traditional agrarian societies, leading to new forms of labor, class structures, and family dynamics that demanded empirical study beyond philosophical speculation.[15] French philosopher Auguste Comte formalized the field by coining the term "sociology" in 1838, deriving it from Latin socius (companion) and Greek logos (study), and positioning it as a positivist science modeled on physics and biology to uncover laws governing social phenomena.[16] Comte's Course of Positive Philosophy (1830–1842) divided sociology into social statics (forces maintaining equilibrium) and social dynamics (processes of evolution), advocating observation, experimentation, and comparison over metaphysical or theological explanations.[17] His emphasis on scientific progress influenced subsequent thinkers, though his hierarchical "law of three stages" (theological, metaphysical, positive) reflected optimistic assumptions about societal advancement that later critics, including Karl Marx, challenged by highlighting conflict and exploitation.[18] In the latter half of the 19th century, British philosopher Herbert Spencer applied evolutionary principles to society, viewing it as an organism adapting through survival of the fittest, which justified laissez-faire policies amid industrial growth.[19] Concurrently, Marx analyzed capitalism's class antagonisms as drivers of historical change, predicting proletarian revolution, though his materialist dialectic prioritized economic determinism over Comtean positivism.[1] By century's end, Émile Durkheim established sociology's empirical rigor in France, securing the first European academic chair in 1895 at the Sorbonne and pioneering statistical methods in works like Suicide (1897), which quantified social integration's role in behavior.[14] Max Weber, in Germany, countered determinism with interpretive approaches emphasizing subjective meanings and rationalization's "iron cage" effects on modern bureaucracy.[18] Institutionalization accelerated in the early 20th century, with the first sociology department founded in 1892 at the University of Chicago under Albion Small, who also launched the American Journal of Sociology in 1895, fostering empirical research amid U.S. immigration and urbanization.[1] This marked sociology's shift from European theory to American pragmatism, though early departments often intertwined with social reform efforts, raising questions about the discipline's scientific detachment versus activist influences.[20] By the 1920s, foundational texts from these figures had crystallized core paradigms—positivism, evolutionism, conflict theory, and functionalism—setting the stage for 20th-century diversification despite persistent debates over methodology and ideological neutrality.[16]Ideological Diversity and Prevalent Biases
Sociology, as an academic discipline, exhibits limited ideological diversity, with faculty and researchers predominantly identifying with left-leaning political orientations. Surveys of American sociology professors reveal that self-identified conservatives constitute approximately 2-3% of the field, while liberals and progressives comprise the vast majority, often exceeding 80-90%. [21] [22] This imbalance is starkly illustrated by research identifying only about 12 openly conservative sociologists among roughly 6,000 in the United States, many of whom face professional disincentives to disclose their views. [23] Such homogeneity contrasts with more ideologically balanced fields like economics, where conservative perspectives are more represented, highlighting sociology's departure from pluralistic scholarly norms. [24] This predominance stems partly from the discipline's historical evolution, incorporating conflict theories influenced by Marxist frameworks that emphasize power imbalances and systemic inequities, often aligning with progressive critiques of capitalism and social hierarchies. Empirical analyses indicate that this left-wing skew correlates with hiring, promotion, and publication biases, where conservative-leaning scholarship—such as inquiries into cultural factors in poverty or critiques of affirmative action—receives disproportionate scrutiny or rejection. [6] For instance, peer-reviewed studies on faculty political views document self-censorship among non-liberal scholars and a reluctance to engage dissenting viewpoints, fostering echo chambers that prioritize activism over falsifiable hypotheses. [25] Institutions like the American Sociological Association, which guide the field, reflect this through conference themes and awards favoring intersectional and critical race frameworks, sidelining empirical work on topics like family dissolution's causal links to inequality without invoking structural oppression. [26] The resulting biases manifest in research outputs that systematically underemphasize individual agency, biological influences on behavior, or policy failures attributable to progressive interventions, instead privileging narratives of oppression and redistribution. Quantitative reviews of sociological literature show overrepresentation of studies affirming environmental determinism in social outcomes, with meta-analyses revealing publication lags or rejections for findings challenging dominant paradigms, such as those questioning the universality of gender egalitarianism's benefits. [27] This ideological monoculture erodes the discipline's credibility, as evidenced by public skepticism toward sociological claims on issues like inequality or crime, where causal attributions often ignore cross-national data favoring institutional explanations over purely discriminatory ones. Efforts to introduce viewpoint diversity, such as through conservative-identifying programs or journals, remain marginal, perpetuating a cycle where the field's self-perpetuating recruitment favors like-minded graduates from ideologically aligned undergraduate programs. [28]Pioneering Figures
19th-Century Founders
Auguste Comte (1798–1857), a French philosopher, originated the term "sociology" in 1838 as part of his positivist philosophy, which posited that society could be studied scientifically like the natural sciences, progressing through theological, metaphysical, and positive stages.[29] He outlined a hierarchical classification of sciences, placing sociology at the apex to synthesize knowledge for social reconstruction, influencing the discipline's emphasis on empirical observation over speculation.[30] Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), an English writer and theorist, conducted early empirical research on American society during her 1830s travels, documenting customs, religion, and gender roles in Society in America (1837), which applied systematic observation to critique social institutions.[31] She translated Comte's works into English, adapting positivism for broader audiences, and advocated methodological rigor, including covert observation and cross-cultural comparison, earning recognition as an inaugural female contributor to sociological inquiry despite contemporary gender barriers.[32] Karl Marx (1818–1883), a German philosopher and economist, analyzed capitalism's class dynamics in The Communist Manifesto (1848, co-authored with Friedrich Engels) and Das Kapital (1867), arguing that economic production relations drive historical change through class conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat.[33] His materialist conception of history, emphasizing base-superstructure dialectics, provided sociology with a framework for examining power inequalities and alienation, though his predictions of proletarian revolution remain empirically contested.[34] Herbert Spencer (1820–1903), an English philosopher, developed an evolutionary model of society in Social Statics (1851) and Principles of Sociology (1876–1896), likening social organization to biological organisms adapting via "survival of the fittest," which he applied to justify laissez-faire policies and industrial differentiation.[35] His synthetic philosophy integrated sociology with biology and psychology, promoting functional analysis of institutions, though later critiqued for conflating natural and social selection without rigorous evidence.[36]Early 20th-Century Contributors
Max Weber (1864–1920) extended sociological inquiry into interpretive methods and the dynamics of modern capitalism, emphasizing verstehen—an empathetic understanding of actors' subjective meanings in social action.[37] His 1905 work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism argued that Calvinist doctrines of predestination fostered a disciplined work ethic that inadvertently propelled rational economic accumulation, challenging purely materialist explanations of industrialization.[38] Weber also delineated ideal types of legitimate authority—traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal—highlighting bureaucracy's efficiency in large-scale organizations while warning of its potential to engender an "iron cage" of disenchantment through excessive rationalization.[39] In the United States, the Chicago School emerged as a hub for empirical urban studies, treating cities as natural laboratories for observing social processes. Robert E. Park (1864–1944), a central figure, developed human ecology to model spatial competition and succession among urban groups, akin to biological ecosystems.[40] Park's research on immigrant assimilation and race relations, including his marginal man concept for individuals straddling cultures, drew from fieldwork in Chicago's diverse neighborhoods during the 1910s and 1920s.[41] W.I. Thomas (1863–1947) contributed foundational empirical methods through The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918–1920, co-authored with Florian Znaniecki), a five-volume study using life histories to trace immigrant adaptation amid industrialization.[42] Thomas's theorem—"If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences"—underscored how perceptions shape behavior, influencing later symbolic interactionism.[43] George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) laid groundwork for micro-sociological perspectives by theorizing the self as emerging from social interactions via gesture, role-taking, and the "generalized other."[44] His lectures, compiled posthumously as Mind, Self, and Society (1934), portrayed language and symbols as enabling perspective-taking, essential for cooperative human conduct in early 20th-century urban settings.[14] These ideas countered deterministic views, prioritizing agency within symbolic environments.Mid-Century Influentials
Structural Functionalists and Conflict Theorists
Structural functionalism emerged as the predominant paradigm in American sociology during the mid-20th century, positing society as an integrated system of interdependent parts that function to maintain equilibrium and social order.[45] This approach emphasized how institutions and norms contribute to stability, often drawing from biological analogies of organisms.[46] Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) was a central figure, developing the AGIL schema to explain how societies fulfill four imperatives: adaptation to the environment, goal attainment, integration of parts, and pattern maintenance through latency.[47] His action theory integrated individual motivations with systemic requirements, influencing postwar sociological frameworks until critiques highlighted its abstractness and neglect of change.[48] Robert K. Merton (1910–2003) refined functionalism by advocating middle-range theories over grand schemes, introducing distinctions between manifest functions (intended consequences) and latent functions (unintended ones), as well as dysfunctions that disrupt equilibrium.[49] Merton's work, including analyses of bureaucracy and deviance, emphasized empirical testing and functional alternatives, bridging abstract theory with observable social processes.[50] In contrast, conflict theorists challenged functionalism's consensus model by focusing on inequality, power differentials, and antagonism as drivers of social dynamics, reviving Marxist-inspired ideas adapted to industrial societies.[51] Ralf Dahrendorf (1929–2009) reconceptualized class conflict around authority in imperatively coordinated associations rather than ownership, arguing that quasi-groups form around dominance-subordination relations, leading to regulated conflicts that enable change without revolution.[52] His 1959 book Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society critiqued static functionalism by integrating Weberian pluralism with Marxian dialectics.[53] C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) applied conflict analysis to elite domination, identifying a "power elite" of interlocking corporate, military, and political leaders who shape U.S. policy amid mass powerlessness, as detailed in his 1956 work The Power Elite.[51] Mills urged intellectuals to connect personal troubles to public issues via the "sociological imagination," critiquing structural functionalism for obscuring coercion.[54] Lewis A. Coser (1913–2003) examined conflict's constructive roles, arguing in The Functions of Social Conflict (1956) that it reinforces group boundaries, prevents stagnation, and fosters adaptation, particularly when external rather than internal.[55] Drawing from Simmel, Coser contended that moderate conflicts enhance cohesion by clarifying loyalties, countering views of conflict as purely disruptive.Symbolic Interactionists and Micro-Sociologists
Symbolic interactionism emerged as a micro-sociological framework emphasizing how individuals construct reality through ongoing interactions mediated by symbols, with meanings arising from social processes rather than fixed structures.[56] This perspective, rooted in the Chicago School tradition, prioritizes subjective interpretations, role-taking, and the fluid nature of self and society over macro-level determinism.[56] Micro-sociologists in this vein focus on everyday encounters, agency, and the interpretive acts that shape behavior, contrasting with structural emphases in functionalism or conflict theory. George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) laid the theoretical foundations through concepts like the "I" and "me" aspects of self, developed via gestural communication and perspective-taking in social acts.[56] His lectures, compiled posthumously in Mind, Self, and Society (1934), argued that mind and self originate in cooperative human interaction, not innate traits.[56] Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) introduced the "looking-glass self," positing that self-conception forms through imagining others' appraisals, responses, and one's reaction to those perceived judgments.[56] Outlined in Human Nature and the Social Order (1902), this idea highlighted primary groups' role in personal development via reflected appraisals.[56] Herbert Blumer (1900–1987) formalized symbolic interactionism as a distinct paradigm, coining the term in 1937 and articulating three core premises in Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method (1969): meanings derive from interaction, are processed mentally, and evolve through interpretive handling.[57] As a Mead disciple and Chicago sociologist, he advocated methodological relativism, critiquing positivist surveys for ignoring emergent meanings in qualitative fieldwork.[57] Erving Goffman (1922–1982) extended the approach via dramaturgical analysis, treating interactions as performances where actors manage "front stage" impressions through props, scripts, and regions to sustain definitions of situations.[56] In The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), he detailed tactics like impression management and face-saving, revealing how micro-interactions sustain social order amid potential disruptions.[56] Howard S. Becker (b. 1928) applied interactionist principles to deviance in Outsiders (1963), developing labeling theory to show how societal reactions, not inherent traits, construct deviant identities through interpretive processes.[58] His ethnographic work on marijuana users and musicians underscored collective definitions emerging from negotiated meanings in subcultures.[58]Contemporary and Recent Figures
Late 20th-Century Theorists
Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002) advanced reflexive sociology through concepts like habitus—enduring dispositions shaping social practices—and field, semi-autonomous social arenas of struggle over resources.[59] His theory of multiple capitals (economic, cultural, social, symbolic) explained how inequalities persist via non-economic mechanisms, such as educational credentials favoring dominant classes' tastes and knowledge.[60] Bourdieu's empirical studies, including on Algerian society and French academia, critiqued how power operates subtly through symbolic violence, where dominated groups accept hierarchies as legitimate.[61] Anthony Giddens (born 1938) formulated structuration theory in works like The Constitution of Society (1984), arguing that social structures exist only through recursive human agency, creating a duality where agents draw on rules and resources to enact and transform systems.[62] This bridged micro-macro divides by rejecting determinism, emphasizing time-space distanciation in modern societies where global interconnections amplify individual actions' reach.[63] Giddens also analyzed late modernity's risks and reflexivity, influencing policy on the "Third Way" blending market and welfare elements.[64] Jürgen Habermas (born 1929) distinguished communicative action—oriented to mutual understanding via rational discourse—from strategic action pursuing individual goals, positing the former as basis for legitimate norms in The Theory of Communicative Action (1981).[65] His discourse ethics required validity claims (truth, rightness, sincerity) redeemable in ideal speech situations free from coercion, critiquing system intrusions like markets colonizing lifeworlds of cultural reproduction.[66] Habermas extended Frankfurt School critical theory, applying it to deliberative democracy where public reasoning counters administrative power.[67] Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017) characterized postmodernity as "liquid modernity" in his 2000 book, depicting fluid social forms where solid institutions dissolve into transient networks, heightening individual uncertainty and consumerist identities.[68] Unlike earlier "solid" modernity's heavy bureaucracies, liquid phases prioritize mobility and adaptability, eroding certainties like lifelong employment and fostering ethical individualism amid globalization's insecurities.[69] Bauman's analyses drew on consumer culture and Holocaust studies to highlight modernity's ambivalence, where freedom coexists with precariousness.[70] Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019) developed world-systems theory from the 1970s, viewing global capitalism as a single division-of-labor unit with core states exploiting semi-peripheral and peripheral ones via unequal exchange.[71] Rejecting nation-state centricity, his framework traced cycles of hegemony (e.g., Dutch, British, U.S.) and predicted systemic crisis from overaccumulation and falling profits.[72] Wallerstein integrated Marxist insights with longue durée history, emphasizing commodity chains and antisystemic movements challenging core dominance.[73]21st-Century Sociologists
Sociologists active primarily in the 21st century have emphasized empirical analyses of digital networks, urban inequality, and cultural dynamics, leveraging large-scale data and interdisciplinary methods to address evolving social structures. While the field continues to grapple with ideological biases prevalent in academic institutions, scholars producing verifiable, data-driven insights have gained prominence through peer-reviewed publications and policy impacts. Citation metrics from 2010 to 2020 highlight influences in areas like relational sociology and economic embeddedness.[74] Omar Lizardo (born 1974), holding the LeRoy Neiman Term Chair in Sociology at UCLA, has advanced cultural sociology by integrating practice theory with cognitive science, examining how embodied habits shape social networks and cultural tastes; his work earned the 2013 Lewis A. Coser Award for Theoretical Agenda Setting.[74][75] Manuel Castells (born 1942), professor emeritus at the University of Catalonia, extended his network society framework into the 21st century, analyzing how microelectronics and global flows reconfigure power and identity; in a 2024 analysis, he advocated regulating digital networks to mitigate societal disruptions like pandemics.[76][77] Matthew Desmond (born 1981), Maurice R. Greenberg Professor of Sociology at Princeton, conducted ethnographic and quantitative research on housing instability, revealing that evictions affect 1 in 8 Milwaukee renters annually and exacerbate poverty cycles; his 2016 book Evicted received the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction in 2017 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2015.[78][79][80] Mark Granovetter (born 1943), Joan Butler Ford Professor at Stanford, has influenced 21st-century economic sociology through his enduring theory of weak ties, with over 50,000 citations, applying network principles to labor markets and social contagion in digital eras.[74] Viviana Zelizer (born 1946), Lloyd Cotsen '50 Professor at Princeton, explores the social meanings of money and care work, demonstrating through historical and qualitative data how intimate relations embed economic transactions, as in her analysis of life insurance markets from the 19th to 21st centuries.[74] Bruno Latour (1947–2022), formerly at Sciences Po, developed actor-network theory to trace human-nonhuman interactions in scientific and social processes, influencing empirical studies of technology and environment; his framework, updated in 21st-century works, critiques overly anthropocentric views of agency.[74][81]Alphabetical Listing
A
- Abbott, Andrew (born c. 1948): American sociologist noted for contributions to the study of professions, occupations, and the historical development of academic disciplines through processual and ecological lenses. He received a BA from Harvard University in 1970 and a PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1982, later becoming the Stella Block Professor of Sociology at Chicago.[82]
- Adler, Patricia A. (born 1951): American sociologist specializing in deviance, qualitative methods, and self-injury, often collaborating with her husband Peter Adler on ethnographic studies of drug use and peer groups. She earned her PhD from the University of California, San Diego in 1984 and served as Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder.[83][84]
- Alba, Richard D. (1942–2025): American sociologist focused on assimilation, ethnicity, immigration, and the integration of diverse populations in advanced societies, challenging narratives of persistent ethnic divisions with evidence of mainstream convergence. He was Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Graduate Center, CUNY, following positions at SUNY Albany.[85][86]
- Anderson, Elijah: American urban ethnographer renowned for research on inner-city poverty, racial dynamics, and the "code of the street" governing behavior in disadvantaged communities. He holds the position of Sterling Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Yale University and received the Stockholm Prize in Criminology for his fieldwork-based insights.[87][88]
B
Zygmunt Bauman (19 November 1925 – 9 January 2017) was a Polish-born sociologist and public intellectual whose work examined transformations in modern society, particularly through the lens of "liquid modernity," a framework depicting social structures as fluid and transient due to globalization and consumerism.[89] Ulrich Beck (15 May 1944 – 1 January 2015) was a German sociologist who coined the term "risk society" to characterize advanced industrial societies where human-generated risks, such as environmental hazards and technological uncertainties, eclipse traditional class-based conflicts as primary organizing forces.[90][91] Howard S. Becker (18 June 1928 – 11 March 2023) was an American sociologist renowned for advancing labeling theory, which posits that deviant behavior emerges not from the act itself but from the application of labels by social audiences, thereby shaping individuals' self-concepts and trajectories.[92][93] Pierre Bourdieu (1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist who developed the concepts of cultural capital and habitus to explain how social inequalities persist through non-economic mechanisms, such as embodied dispositions and educational systems that favor dominant classes.[94][95]C
- Auguste Comte (1798–1857) was a French philosopher who coined the term "sociology" and founded positivism, proposing that society should be studied scientifically through observation and the law of three stages: theological, metaphysical, and positive.[30]
- Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) was an American sociologist and social psychologist best known for developing the "looking-glass self" theory, which posits that individuals form their self-concept based on perceived reactions from others in social interactions.[96]
- Lewis A. Coser (1913–2003) was an American sociologist who analyzed the functions of social conflict, arguing in works like The Functions of Social Conflict (1956) that conflict can reinforce group boundaries and prevent stagnation by allowing expression of hostilities.[97]
- Randall Collins (born 1941) is an American sociologist whose interaction ritual theory explains how micro-level emotional energies and group solidarity emerge from successful rituals of mutual focus and shared emotion, influencing broader social structures.[98]
D
Ralf Dahrendorf (1929–2009) was a German-British sociologist known for developing a conflict theory that emphasized authority and imperatively coordinated associations as sources of social conflict, extending beyond Marxist class analysis.[99] He earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Hamburg in 1952 with a thesis on justice in Karl Marx's work and later held academic positions including professorships in sociology at Hamburg, Tübingen, and Konstanz before entering politics and administration.[99] W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was an American sociologist and civil rights activist who pioneered empirical studies of African American communities, establishing the first sociology laboratory at Atlanta University in 1897.[100] He conducted systematic surveys of Black social conditions in Philadelphia, challenging biological determinism in racial explanations and advocating for sociological analysis of structural factors in racism.[101] Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) was a French sociologist who formalized sociology as a distinct academic discipline through empirical methods and theoretical frameworks emphasizing social facts as external to individuals.[102] Born on April 15, 1858, in Épinal, France, he founded the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895 and analyzed phenomena like suicide rates to demonstrate social integration's causal role in behavior.[103]E
E. Franklin Frazier (September 24, 1894 – May 17, 1962) was an American sociologist who analyzed the social disorganization of African American families under slavery and urbanization, authoring works like The Negro Family in the United States (1939).[104] Eugen Ehrlich (September 14, 1862 – May 2, 1922) was an Austrian legal scholar and founder of the sociology of law, introducing the concept of "living law" to describe norms emerging from social associations rather than state statutes alone.[105] Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt (September 10, 1923 – February 2, 2010) was an Israeli sociologist who pioneered comparative studies of civilizations, developing the framework of "multiple modernities" to explain diverse cultural paths to modernity beyond Western models.[106] Norbert Elias (June 22, 1897 – August 1, 1990) was a German-born sociologist who theorized the "civilizing process" as a long-term transformation in European societies involving increasing self-restraint, interdependence, and state monopolies on violence from the Middle Ages onward.[107] Amitai Etzioni (January 4, 1929 – May 31, 2023) was an Israeli-American sociologist who advanced communitarianism, advocating balanced rights and responsibilities in society, and contributed to socioeconomics by integrating moral and social factors into economic analysis.[108]F
Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895) collaborated with Karl Marx on The Communist Manifesto (1848) and co-authored The German Ideology (1846), providing early sociological insights into historical materialism, class conflict, and the material conditions shaping social structures.[109] His analysis in The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845), based on empirical observations in Manchester factories, highlighted industrial capitalism's exploitative dynamics, influencing subsequent sociological studies of inequality and urbanization.[110] Orlando Fals Borda (11 July 1925 – 12 August 2008) pioneered participatory action research (PAR) in Latin America, integrating sociological inquiry with community activism to address rural poverty and land reform in Colombia during the 1960s and 1970s.[111] As founder of Colombia's National University sociology department, he emphasized praxis-oriented methods that empowered marginalized groups, critiquing traditional positivist sociology for its detachment from social change.[112] Frantz Fanon (20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) analyzed the psychological and social impacts of colonialism in works like Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961), arguing that decolonization required violent rupture to dismantle internalized oppression and establish authentic national identities.[113] Drawing from clinical experience in Algeria, Fanon highlighted how colonial power distorted interpersonal relations and collective consciousness, contributing to postcolonial sociology's focus on race, violence, and identity formation.[114] Fei Xiaotong (2 November 1910 – 24 April 2005) conducted foundational ethnographic studies of Chinese rural communities, as detailed in Peasant Life in China (1939), revealing the "differential mode of association" (chaxu geju) as a key feature of Chinese social organization rooted in familial networks rather than Western individualism.[115] His fieldwork in villages like Kaihsienkung emphasized empirical observation of economic interdependence and kinship, influencing Asian sociology's emphasis on indigenous social patterns amid modernization.[116] Michel Foucault (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984) examined power as diffuse and productive through institutions like prisons and asylums, as in Discipline and Punish (1975), shifting sociological paradigms from sovereign to disciplinary and biopower mechanisms that normalize bodies and populations.[117] His concepts of discourse and genealogy critiqued knowledge production as historically contingent, impacting sociological analyses of surveillance, sexuality, and expertise in modern societies.[118]G
Georg Simmel (1 March 1858 – 28 September 1918) was a German sociologist whose analyses of social forms, including conflict, secrecy, and urban life, influenced urban sociology, symbolic interactionism, and social network analysis. His 1903 essay "The Metropolis and Mental Life" examined how city environments foster intellectual individualism and blasé attitudes amid sensory overload.[119] Simmel viewed society as an association of free individuals, emphasizing qualitative aspects of interactions over quantitative aggregates.[120] Anthony Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is a British sociologist who developed structuration theory, positing that social structures are both the medium and outcome of human actions through recursive practices.[121] This duality reconciles agency and structure, explaining how individuals draw on rules and resources to reproduce or transform systems.[122] Giddens applied the framework to modernity, highlighting reflexivity and globalization's disembedding effects on time and space.[123] Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-American sociologist renowned for his dramaturgical approach, portraying social interactions as theatrical performances where individuals manage impressions to sustain definitions of situations. In The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), he described front-stage behaviors shaped by audiences and back-stage preparations for authenticity.[124] Goffman's micro-sociology focused on face-to-face encounters, rituals, and stigma, revealing order in everyday disruptions.[125] Mark Granovetter (born 20 October 1943) is an American sociologist whose 1973 paper "The Strength of Weak Ties" demonstrated that loose acquaintances bridge social clusters, facilitating information diffusion like job opportunities more effectively than close ties.[126] Weak ties connect disparate networks, reducing redundancy and enabling novel information flow, as empirically shown in a study of professional workers where 56% of jobs came via weak ties versus 28% from strong ones.[127] Granovetter extended this to economic sociology, arguing markets are embedded in social relations rather than purely rational exchanges.[128]H
Habermas, Jürgen (born June 18, 1929) is a German philosopher and sociologist who advanced critical theory as a successor to the Frankfurt School, emphasizing communicative rationality, discourse ethics, and the public sphere as mechanisms for democratic legitimacy.[129][130] Horkheimer, Max (1895–1973) was a German-Jewish philosopher and sociologist who led the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research from 1930, formulating critical theory as a dialectical critique of positivism and instrumental reason, notably in his essay "Traditional and Critical Theory" and co-authored Dialectic of Enlightenment with Theodor Adorno.[131][132] Hughes, Everett Cherrington (1897–1983) was an American sociologist affiliated with the Chicago School, renowned for ethnographic research on occupations, professions, and social institutions, including studies of ethnic dynamics in industrial settings and the concept of "dirty work" in labor processes.[133][134]I
Eva Illouz (born April 30, 1961, in Fes, Morocco) is an Israeli sociologist whose research examines the cultural and emotional dimensions of capitalism, including how market forces shape intimacy, morality, and selfhood.[135] Her seminal works include Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism (2007), which analyzes the integration of emotions into economic rationality, and Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation (2012), linking romantic suffering to neoliberal individualism and consumer culture.[136] Illouz holds the Rose Isaac Chair of Sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and serves as Directrice d'Études at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, where she advanced to full professorship in 2006.[137] She was dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Hebrew University from 2011 to 2018.[135] Illouz's contributions extend to critiques of happiness industries and populism, as detailed in Manufacturing Happy Citizens (2019, co-authored with Edgar Cabanas), which dissects the psychologization of citizenship under neoliberal governance.[138]J
Jerry A. Jacobs (born February 7, 1955) is an American sociologist whose research examines gender inequalities in labor markets, work-family conflicts, and professionalization trends. He has served as president of the Eastern Sociological Society and authored works including The Time Divide, analyzing time pressures in modern economies. Jacobs holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and is a professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.[139][140] James M. Jasper (born 1957) is an American sociologist specializing in political sociology, social movements, and the role of emotions and culture in collective action. His publications, such as The Art of Moral Protest, integrate cultural analysis into understandings of activism and strategic interactions in politics. Jasper earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.[141][142] J. Craig Jenkins is an American sociologist focused on social movements, contentious politics, and their effects on policy and institutional change. His empirical studies, often using cross-national data, highlight how protest cycles and organizational resources influence democratic transitions and inequality reduction. Jenkins is a professor at Ohio State University with a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[143] Richard Jenkins (born 1952) is a British sociologist known for contributions to theories of ethnicity, nationalism, and social identity, including interpretations of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts in works like Pierre Bourdieu. He has explored human categorization and institutional racism through ethnographic and historical methods. Jenkins held a chair in sociology at the University of Sheffield until retirement.[144]K
- Melvin L. Kohn (October 19, 1928 – March 19, 2021): American sociologist and past president of the American Sociological Association in 1990–1991, renowned for empirical studies linking occupational self-direction to parental values, child socialization, and psychological well-being, including cross-national research in the United States, Japan, Poland, Ukraine, and South Korea conducted from the 1960s to the 1990s.[145][146]
- Karin Knorr Cetina (born July 19, 1944): Austrian sociologist and professor at the University of Chicago since 2002, specializing in the social construction of scientific knowledge, epistemic cultures in high-energy physics and molecular biology, and microstructures of global finance, with foundational works like The Manufacture of Knowledge (1981) emphasizing constructivist approaches over traditional empiricist views of science.[147][148]
L
- Paul Lazarsfeld (1901–1976): Austrian-American sociologist who founded Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research and advanced empirical methods in communication studies, including the two-step flow of communication model.[149]
- Bruno Latour (1947–2022): French sociologist and anthropologist known for developing actor-network theory and critiquing the separation of science from society in works like Laboratory Life.[150]
- Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931): French social psychologist and sociologist whose 1895 book The Crowd analyzed collective behavior and the psychology of mass movements.[151]
- Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998): German sociologist who developed systems theory, viewing society as autopoietic systems of communication differentiated into functional subsystems like law and politics.[152]
- David Lockwood (1929–2014): British sociologist who contributed to theories of social stratification and integration, notably in The Blackcoated Worker (1958) examining class conflict and system integration.[153]
M
- Robert M. MacIver (1882–1970), Scottish-born American sociologist, political scientist, and educator who emphasized the compatibility of individualism and community in social theory.[154]
- Michael Mann (born 1942), British sociologist and historian at UCLA, known for his macro-historical analysis of power through ideological, economic, military, and political networks in The Sources of Social Power.[155][156]
- Marcel Mauss (1872–1950), French sociologist and anthropologist whose seminal work The Gift (1925) examined reciprocity and exchange as foundational to social solidarity across cultures.[157]
- Robert K. Merton (1910–2003), American sociologist at Columbia University who developed middle-range theory and advanced the sociology of science, including concepts like the Matthew effect and unintended consequences.[50][158]
N
- Otto Neurath (1882–1945), Austrian philosopher, sociologist, and economist who contributed to logical positivism and developed ISOTYPE, a method of visual education using standardized pictograms to represent social and economic data.[159][160]
- Robert Nisbet (1913–1996), American sociologist who analyzed the decline of community in modern society, critiqued centralization of power, and emphasized tradition and intermediate institutions as bulwarks against individualism and statism in works like The Quest for Community (1953).[161][162]
O
- Howard Washington Odum (May 24, 1884 – November 8, 1954), American sociologist who established the first school of social work and sociology program at the University of North Carolina in 1920, founded the Institute for Research in Social Science there in 1924, and pioneered regional planning and studies of social conditions in the American South, emphasizing empirical data on race relations, public welfare, and economic disparities.[163][164]
- William Fielding Ogburn (June 29, 1886 – April 27, 1959), American sociologist and statistician who introduced the concept of cultural lag in his 1922 book Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature, arguing that technological advancements outpace adjustments in social institutions and values; directed the President's Research Committee on Social Trends, producing the 1933 report Recent Social Trends in the United States based on quantitative analysis of census and survey data; served as president of the American Sociological Association in 1931 and emphasized positivist, empirical methods in sociology.[165][166][167]
P
- Park, Robert E. (February 14, 1864 – February 7, 1944), American urban sociologist and a leading figure in the Chicago School, known for pioneering research on race relations, ethnic minority groups—particularly African Americans—and human ecology, emphasizing the ecological approach to urban social organization.[168][41]
- Parsons, Talcott (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979), American sociologist who developed action theory and structural functionalism, integrating concepts from economics, psychology, and anthropology to explain social systems as mechanisms maintaining equilibrium through patterned interactions and roles.[169][170]
Q
- James Quayle Dealey (August 13, 1861 – January 22, 1937) was a British-American sociologist, educator, and journalist who served as professor of social and political science at Brown University from 1891 to 1928 and as the 10th president of the American Sociological Society in 1919.[171] He authored early sociology textbooks, including A Textbook of Sociology (1905) co-written with Lester F. Ward, emphasizing the development and applications of sociological principles to social organization and control.[172]
- Richard Quinney (born 1934) is an American sociologist and criminologist recognized for pioneering critical criminology, integrating Marxist and phenomenological perspectives to analyze crime as a product of social conflict and power structures rather than individual pathology.[173] His works, such as Criminality and Economic Conditions (1965) and Critique of the Legal Order (1974), shifted focus toward the role of capitalism and inequality in defining deviance, influencing subsequent radical and peacemaking criminology approaches.[174]
R
- Philip Rieff (December 15, 1922 – July 1, 2006) was an American sociologist and cultural critic who taught at the University of Pennsylvania from 1961 to 1992, authoring influential works on Sigmund Freud's impact on society and the decline of cultural authority in modern therapeutic culture.[175][176]
- David Riesman (September 22, 1909 – May 10, 2002) was an American sociologist and educator whose 1950 book The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Character analyzed shifts in American social character from inner-directed to other-directed types, becoming one of the most widely read sociological texts of the 20th century.[177][178]
- George Ritzer (born October 14, 1940) is an American sociologist and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, known for developing the concept of "McDonaldization" to describe the rationalization and standardization of modern society, as well as extensive work on globalization, consumption, and metatheory in sociology.[179][180]
S
Small, Albion W. (1854–1926) was an American sociologist who founded the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago in 1892, the first such department in the United States, and edited the American Journal of Sociology from its inception in 1895 until 1925, shaping early American sociological scholarship through institutional leadership and translations of European works.[181][42] Simmel, Georg (1858–1918) was a German sociologist and philosopher whose analyses of social interactions, such as dyads and triads, and urban life in works like The Philosophy of Money (1900) laid foundations for formal sociology, emphasizing subjective meanings and micro-level processes over positivist approaches.[182][183] Skocpol, Theda (born 1947) is an American sociologist and political scientist known for her comparative-historical analyses, particularly States and Social Revolutions (1979), which argues that state structures and international pressures, rather than class dynamics alone, drive major revolutions like those in France, Russia, and China.[184][185] Sorokin, Pitirim A. (1889–1968) was a Russian-American sociologist who directed Harvard University's Sociology Department from 1930 to 1944, pioneering studies on social mobility in Social Mobility (1927) and proposing cyclical theories of cultural change between sensate, ideational, and idealistic phases in Social and Cultural Dynamics (1937–1941).[186][187] Sumner, William Graham (1840–1910) was an American sociologist and economist at Yale University whose Folkways (1906) introduced concepts of customs, mores, and ethnocentrism, influencing cultural relativism while advocating laissez-faire individualism and critiquing reformist interventions as contrary to natural social evolution.[188][189]T
- Charles Tilly (May 27, 1929 – April 29, 2008) was an American sociologist, political scientist, and historian whose research examined the interplay between politics and society, including state formation, social movements, and collective violence.[190][191]
- Edward A. Tiryakian (August 6, 1929 – February 1, 2025) was an American sociologist known for contributions to sociological theory, the sociology of religion, globalization, and the history of social thought, with extensive publications spanning over six decades.[192][193]
- Gabriel Tarde (March 12, 1843 – May 13, 1904) was a French sociologist, criminologist, and social psychologist who developed a theory of social interaction emphasizing imitation as a fundamental mechanism of social change and behavior.[194][195]
- Barrie Thorne (born 1942) is an American sociologist whose work focuses on gender relations, childhood socialization, and feminist theory, including ethnographic studies of schoolchildren's interactions.[196]
- W. I. Thomas (August 13, 1863 – December 5, 1947) was an American sociologist pivotal in the development of symbolic interactionism, best known for the Thomas theorem stating that "if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences," and for research on social disorganization and immigrant adaptation.[197][198]
U
John Urry (1 June 1946 – 18 March 2016) was a British sociologist whose research focused on mobility, tourism, and complex social systems.[199] He earned a BA and MA in economics from Cambridge University before obtaining a PhD in political sociology there, then joined Lancaster University as a lecturer in 1972, rising to professor and head of the sociology department.[200] Urry co-founded the Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster in 1998 and directed it until his death, authoring or co-authoring over 20 books that shaped the "new mobilities paradigm," emphasizing how physical and virtual movements structure societies beyond traditional national boundaries.[201] His works, such as The Tourist Gaze (1990, revised 2002) and Societies Beyond Societies (2000), analyzed tourism as a performative social practice and critiqued globalization's uneven impacts on environment and inequality, drawing on empirical studies of travel patterns and policy data.[202] Urry's influence extended internationally, with citations exceeding thousands annually in sociology journals, though some critics argued his paradigm underemphasized economic determinism in favor of cultural flows.[203]V
- '''Pierre L. van den Berghe''' (January 30, 1933 – February 6, 2019) was a Belgian-born American sociologist and anthropologist whose research focused on comparative sociology, race and ethnic relations, and kinship systems; he applied sociobiological perspectives to explain ethnic phenomena in works such as The Ethnic Phenomenon (1981).[204][205][206]
- '''Thorstein Veblen''' (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was an American economist and sociologist who critiqued capitalist institutions through an evolutionary lens, introducing terms like "conspicuous consumption" and "leisure class" in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), influencing institutional economics and social theory.[207][208][209]
W
- Wacquant, Loïc (born 1960), French-American sociologist affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley, known for ethnographic studies on urban marginality, the penal state, and embodiment in social theory.[210]
- Ward, Lester Frank (June 18, 1841 – April 18, 1913), American sociologist and paleontologist regarded as a founder of American sociology for advancing ideas on social evolution, telesis, and the role of intellect in societal progress.[211]
- Warner, W. Lloyd (October 26, 1898 – May 23, 1970), American sociologist and anthropologist who applied functionalist methods to analyze social stratification and community dynamics, notably in the Yankee City studies of Newburyport, Massachusetts.[212]
- Weber, Max (April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920), German sociologist, economist, and philosopher central to the development of modern social science, best known for theories on the Protestant ethic's link to capitalism, bureaucracy, and the rationalization of society.[37]
- Wirth, Louis (August 28, 1897 – May 3, 1952), German-American sociologist associated with the Chicago School, famous for the 1938 essay "Urbanism as a Way of Life" positing that urban environments foster impersonal, segmented social relations.[213]
- Wilson, William Julius (born December 20, 1935), American sociologist and Harvard University professor emeritus whose empirical research on concentrated urban poverty, racial inequality, and joblessness, as in The Truly Disadvantaged (1987), shaped debates on welfare and inner-city decline.[214]
X
- Xavier de Souza Briggs (born 1968), American sociologist and urban planner, is recognized for contributions to understanding social capital, neighborhood change, and policy interventions in disadvantaged communities. His research emphasizes how networks and civic capacity influence economic mobility and community resilience, as detailed in works like The Geography of Opportunity (2005). Briggs served as director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at Harvard Kennedy School until 2015 and later as vice president at the Ford Foundation.[215]
- Xavier Coller i Porta (born 1961), Spanish sociologist and political scientist, earned his PhD from Yale University in 1995 and specializes in comparative politics, electoral behavior, and methodology. He has held faculty positions at institutions including the National University of Distance Education (UNED) in Spain and has published on topics like voting patterns and parliamentary elites in Europe. Coller also works as a journalist, contributing to analyses of democratic processes.[216]
- Yang Sao Xiong, American sociologist and Asian American studies scholar, focuses on immigrant incorporation, particularly Hmong American communities, examining language barriers, socioeconomic adaptation, and educational outcomes. Holding a PhD in sociology, Xiong has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and California State University, Fresno, with publications on English proficiency and cultural retention among refugees. His interdisciplinary approach integrates sociology with anthropology to address minority group dynamics in the U.S.[217]
- Yiping Xia, media sociologist at Texas A&M University, investigates the sociotechnical dimensions of journalism, digital platforms, and audience engagement through qualitative methods. Her work explores how algorithms and social media shape news consumption and public discourse.[218]
- Shuting Xia, British sociologist with a PhD from the University of Cambridge (2023), researches labor markets, digital work, and inequality, including opportunities for refugees in gig economies. As a research fellow at the Institute for the Future of Work, she analyzes policy implications for equitable access to remote employment.[219]
Y
- Jock Young (1942–2013) was a British sociologist and criminologist who contributed to the development of left realism and cultural criminology, analyzing the social exclusion and ontological insecurity in late modern societies.[220][221]
- Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (1915–2002), was a British sociologist and social entrepreneur who coined the term "meritocracy" in his 1958 satirical book The Rise of the Meritocracy, critiquing class stratification, and founded institutions like the Open University and the Consumers' Association.[222][223]
- Yu Xie (born 1957) is a Chinese-American sociologist and statistician at Princeton University, specializing in social stratification, demography, and quantitative methods, with research on economic inequality in China and gender disparities in science.[224][225]
- George Yancey (born 1962) is an American sociologist at Baylor University, focusing on interracial relationships, racial attitudes, and anti-Christian bias, authoring works like Beyond Racial Gridlock that challenge dominant narratives in race relations.[226][227]