p With the onset of the general crisis in world capitalism Western sociology has undergone essential changes in its’ structure, functions and social development.

p The general tendency of Western sociology was succinctly defined by the American sociologist Daniel Lerner. He wrote that social sciences had developed mainly as a method of observing, evaluating and eliminating the frictions and tensions that arose in the modernising (capitalist— G. 0.) society as the result of the changes in its institutions and the increased mobility of each person.

p A group of French sociologists led by Jean Stoetzel investigated the economic conditions of French workers and their aspirations in changing these conditions. The sharp discrepancies between the economic and psychological factors discovered in a number of industrial enterprises were apparently mitigated and even eliminated by capitalists who made slight improvements in the working conditions and in wages. The result, as Stoetzel asserted, was that not only were possible social conflicts and serious clashes between workers and management obviated, but also that labour productivity increased; this justified all expenses incurred in improving working conditions and raising wages.

p Numerous other examples could be cited where the ruling social groups influence the formation of people’s consciousness and actually increase after empirical investigations of psychological and socio-psychological factors. The main conclusion is that if empirical research is to be of 42 practical significance, the results must not be utilised by monopoly capital as a means of further oppressing people’s consciousness.

p Some Western sociologists do not confine themselves to internal political problems. They urge their governments to pay more attention to sociological investigations for application in foreign policy. The American sociologist Arnold W. Green writes: “If the United States government seeks to establish close economic, political and military affiliations with countries and peoples all over the globe, then we (i.e., sociologists—G.O.) must know more than we do about those countries and their peoples. What are their cultures? What are the prevailing attitudes toward the United States, toward technological development? What beliefs and prejudices of theirs can be enlisted to draw them into our power orbit and what ones will have to be mollified or accepted before this can be done? What are the prevailing social-class structures, the focal points of leadership? Whose co-operation is most crucial before various programmes are launched? After such programmes have been started, continuing answers to all these questions must be carefully gathered and checked" [16; 8].

p Further, W. W. Rostow, the American economist, in a speech at a White House reception in honour of the participants in the Fifth World Congress of Sociology ( Washington, 1962) suggested that today the preservation and stability of the capitalist world depended on the paths which the developing countries would take. He went on to propose to the sociologists a programme of action which might help the U.S.A. to carry out its imperialist policy with respect to the peoples of these countries, i.e., a policy of bending them to the influence of the U.S.A.

p It should be made quite clear that many Western sociologists, including Americans, are inclined to a more liberal policy. Some are sincerely working for peace, for reforms in living and working conditions. Yet despite their subjective aspirations, the studies they conduct ultimately serve the interests of the monopolistic bourgeoisie and are aimed at patching up capitalism, supporting and preserving the capitalist system.

p The “patching up" and “repairing” of capitalism, the socio-economic measures suggested by Western sociologists, 43 may well mitigate social contradictions for a time, and may prevent overt clashes between workers and capitalists. But all these measures serve capital not the people; they help stabilise, consolidate and develop capitalist social relations, i.e., the relations of exploitation, oppression and enslavement.

p By disregarding the fundamental processes of social life modern Western sociology becomes captive to pluralism. It has sired innumerable, diverse yet absolutely worthless schools and trends. Nonetheless Western sociologists point to this plurality as the greatest merit of their science. The American sociologist Robert K. Merton once wrote that in the U.S.A. there are 5,000 sociologists and each of them has “his own sociology”. At the Fifth World Congress of Sociology the American sociologist E. C. Hughes declared that there was no single sociology, but that there were an American, Soviet, Yugoslav, Chinese and other sociologies.

p Western sociology is a partisan science at the service of the monopolies. It is true that among bourgeois sociologists and political figures there are some who state that “the world of science (sociology—G.O.), whatever its attitude to present-day affairs, must have its own continuity and pride to such an extent that it may withdraw and defend itself against the practical world and, if need be, openly disobey it" [17].

p Most Western sociologists (including eminent figures like R. Konig. P. F. Lazarsfeld, R. Merton and Talcott Parsons) regard themselves as academic scholars conducting empirical and theoretical research in the interests of “pure” science which has no connection with politics. Whether they do or do not admit connection between their research and politics, this work ultimately serves the interests of the ruling social groups of capitalist society. It is to the credit of sociologists like C. Wright Mills, Gunnar Myrdal and Ralf Dahrendorf that they have exposed the close link between sociology and the politics of the classes ruling capitalist society. Myrdal has written that “the social sciences have all received their impetus much more from the urge to improve society than from simple curiosity about its working. Social policy has been primary, social theory secondary" [18; 9].

p Similarly, C. Wright Mills maintained: “The social scientist who spends his intellectual force on the details of smallscale milieux is not putting his work outside the political conflicts and forces of his time. He is, at least indirectly and in effect, ’accepting’ the framework of his society" [19; 78].

p Ralf Dahrendorf asserts that although the American, Parsons-type, sociologists write about their independence from political power, they actually manifest an “interest in maintaining the status quo" (20).

p From these statements it may be concluded that the social evaluation of empirical facts includes an evaluation of the existing social system and that this evaluation is made either covertly or overtly. In their endeavour to keep out of politics Western sociologists, unwittingly or not, act as defenders of the existing social order.

p In the 20th century sociology has become an accepted science. It has at its disposal valuable techniques and methods, including mathematical and statistical methods, and is capable of solving many problems connected with the regulation of social events and phenomena, problems of controlling people’s social behaviour. But it is the ideology, the world outlook of the society and its leaders that determines how these problems are resolved.

p The main aim of Western, particularly American, sociology is the socialisation of man, i.e., to mould him to the way of life prevailing in the West. American society, for example, is good, and its social values are a blessing. All social conflicts can be resolved if only man assimilates these values. Marxist sociologists hold that a society based on exploitation and the society’s values, which are an ideological reflection of this environment, are anything but a blessing.

p The socialisation theory is reminiscent of the outmoded theories of Taylor-Ford, who advocated the adaptation of man to the rhythm of the machine. Man was to become an appendage of the machine and its rhythm. Modern methods and techniques afford scientific means of influencing man’s consciousness, lowering it to a primitive level and adapting man to a society based on exploitation. By serving this purpose Western sociology has embarked on 45 the path of anti-humanism and serves to transform man into an obedient tool of the ruling classes.

Marxists believe that society should be humanised, that the transformation of society is a sine qua non for the transformation of man. The nature and direction of society’s transformation can be understood only on the basis of scientific sociological theory. The materialist conception of history is this general sociological theory.