Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber all convey very serious concerns about the modern, capitalist social world that they theorize. Specifically, Marx describes capitalist life as being characterized by alienation, Durkheim expresses concern over elevated rates of anomie, and Max Weber describes moderns as being trapped in an iron cage. Your task in this assignment is to compare and contrast these theorists in terms of these key concepts (alienation, anomie, & the iron cage). In so doing, be sure to clearly define and explain the concepts and how they fit into the theorists' overarching theoretical perspective. Then you'll need to compare/contrast how these concepts are similar to and/or different from each other. Your paper should conform to the following structure:
- Brief introductory paragraph that sets the stage for the compare/contrast to follow;
- Paragraph on Marx's concept of alienation/estrangement;
- Paragraph on Durkheim's concept of anomie;
- Paragraph on Weber's notion of the iron cage;
- Paragraph (or 2) that compares/contrasts the concepts and what they explain about the social world
- Brief concluding paragraph.
Sample Solution