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Macrosociology is a large-scale approach to sociology, emphasizing the analysis of social systems and populations at the structural level, often at a necessarily high level of theoretical abstraction.[1][2] Though macrosociology does concern itself with individuals, families, and other constituent aspects of a society, it does so in relation to larger social system of which such elements are a part. The approach is also able to analyze generalized collectivities (e.g. "the city", "the church").[3]
In contrast, microsociology focuses on the individual social agency. Macrosociology, however, deals with broad societal trends that can later be applied to smaller features of society, or vice versa. To differentiate, macrosociology deals with issues such as war as a whole; 'distress of Third-World countries'; poverty on a national/international level; and environmental deprivation, whereas microsociology analyses issues such as the individual features of war (e.g. camaraderie, one's pleasure in violence, etc.); the role of women in third-world countries; poverty's effect on "the family"; and how immigration impacts a country's environment.[4]
A "society" can be considered as a collective of human populations that are politically autonomous, in which members engage in a broad range of cooperative activities.[4] The people of Germany, for example, can be deemed "a society", whereas people with German heritage as a whole, including those who populate other countries, would not be considered a society, per se.[4]
- ^ Calhoun, Craig, ed. 2002. "Macrosociology." Dictionary of the Social Sciences. New York: Oxford University Press.
- ^ Bottomore, Tom (1975). "Competing Paradigms in Macrosociology". Annual Review of Sociology. 1: 191–202. ISSN 0360-0572.
- ^ Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall, eds. 2000. Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
- ^ a b c Lenski, Gerhard. 1982. Human societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-037176-8.