Standpoint Theory Free Essay Example, 1500 words

However, this openness was also severely tested at various times when the immigrants came to America in waves from certain regions of the world and the make-up or composition of American society changed over time. Successive waves of immigrants fought for the same jobs and wanted a fair share of its resources; natives such as the American Indians and descendants of black slaves were subsequently slowly marginalized due to overt and subtle discrimination by the majority or dominant sector of American society. Immigration policy is a major reflection of the prevailing social attitudes at a particular time in contemporary American history. History records showed immigration policies that were clearly discriminatory in terms of outright exclusion or tight quota restrictions indicative of a growing prejudice and racial bias. Enlightened political discussions had mitigated somewhat the discrimination in America today but the fact remains that questions linger on who is considered to be an American and what is the definition of a true American? A sociological viewpoint can help explain social attitudes and practices in terms of prevailing social theories and in particular, the Standpoint Theory. We will write a custom essay sample on Standpoint Theory or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Discussion Just as history is written by the victors, the laws of any society are usually written and adopted by the dominant cultural or ethnic group in society. Sociology is more than helpful in a closer examination of the dynamics of how various groups that make up a society vie for both political and economic power. The Enlightenment Period during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries produced a good number of brilliant thinkers who discussed social theories although not yet in a strictly academic sense but rather in more philosophical terms. Great thinkers like Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1788), and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) had published important essays on how human nature is shaped by society that in turn can lead to either smooth integration or social conflicts caused by deviant behaviors. These in turn were further expanded by the ideas of subsequent philosophers like that of Auguste Comte (1798-1857), John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), Karl Marx (1818-1883), Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), Max Weber (1864-1920), and also Pitirim Sorokin (1889-1963) but it was Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) who earned the distinction and credit of his theories having solidified and edified sociology as a valid academic discipline with the publication of his ground-breaking â€Å"Rules of the Sociological Method† back in 1895.