SOCIOLOGIE JAKO KONSTRUKT STŘEDNÍCH VRSTEV

The aim of this article is to present sociology as a discipline fostered by the middle classes. The author shows to what extent sociology can be understood as a tool used to help the middle classes construe their own place in society, think over their relation to it and clarify both the possibilities and limits of their actions. The mentality of the middle classes, which is a result of their ambivalent place in society, affects their accounts of social structure, social integration and social regulation. From this point of view, the author analyses the theories of social stratification and the theory of micro and macrostructure relations. He also deals with the theme of social roles. He studies the transformations of the sociological theory and methodology which accompanies the transition from the old middle classes to the new middle classes and to those of current society, which he calls the newest middle classes.