A good deal of progressive ideology is rooted in sociological theory.

[LeftInTX]

55. I think it's a mixture of things

For instance in the Progressive era: Public health, child labor laws, Margaret Sanger, Dorothy Day etc. this was a very academic movement. I assume the study of sociology played an important part. Public health and public education type issues tend to be sociology based.

Labor unions: Have been mostly grassroots and organization. I'm not well versed in the academic history of labor unions. I'm sure that someone in Europe wrote some academic papers that were influential, but I see the labor union movements primarily as a workers' grassroots organization. I believe management's and the establishment's acceptance of them have been due to the fact that management was outnumbered and relied on workers. In the later half of the 20th century, right to work states started popping up and stealing jobs. However, within 20 years jobs were suddenly outsourced to foreign countries. Outsourcing is completely stifling grassroots organizations. It may take some sociological research or a type of tipping point, such as a series of industrial accidents here and abroad or loss of profits due to poor working conditions to revive the movement.


Anti-trust laws: This seems like a pragmatic common sense legislation. I'm not sure if there was much sociology behind it. From an academic standpoint, maybe there were economists involved with this?

I guess that's how I see roots of modern progressive ideas.