Skip to main content

Charles Booth Biography

Charles Booth

(Liverpool, 1840-Whitwick, 1916) British sociologist.His research contributed to the knowledge of the social problems suffered by the less privileged classes of English society as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, and to the establishment of a methodology that sociology later used.

Charles Booth

Before dedicating himself to sociological studies, Booth founded in 1866, together with his brother Alfred, a shipping company that served between Europe and Brazil, the Steamship Company Ltd., in which served as CEO.A member of the conservative Tory Party and defender of the protectionist economic policy carried out by Chamberlain, Booth was appointed a member of the Customs Reform Propaganda Board between 1903 and 1904, to go on to be appointed private councilor of the Government and member of a commission in charge of studying the state of poverty of the English lower classes, in order to elaborate laws aimed at mitigating such a painful condition.

Booth was appointed to this role for the publication of his impressive work Life and Labor of the People in London ( Life and work of the people in London ), drawn up between 1902 and 1903, whose data on the causes, location and degrees of poverty in London strongly influenced the authorities to take action on the matter.

The work, in which Booth counted on the appreciable collaboration of the sociologist Beatrice Webb, it is divided into seventeen volumes.Booth first described the living conditions of the different social classes that coexisted in London, then went on to carry out an in-depth analysis to determine the causes of the extreme levels of poverty that existed.Booth used the example and direct testimonies of 4,076 real cases that he personally interviewed, distributed among marginalized, alcoholics, unemployed, sick and a long etcetera.

Apart from the novelty of the subject and the data that he contributed , the importance of Booth's work lay in the methodology and way of approaching the study that he put into practice; He was the first to use what was later called by sociologists the Social Surveys (social surveys).These social surveys, as Booth approached them, were intended to collect as much data or information as possible on the living and working conditions of a certain locality or population stratum, in order to be able to prepare later, once it had been obtained the knowledge of the existing reality, the suitable and opportune measures of social action.

The methodology created by Booth was continued until today by the British School of Social Science and the London School.Booth worried about the direct relationship between old age and the different poverty lines, he defended a pension project for the very elderly who lived in terrible conditions or who lacked sufficient income to lead a decent life.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gustave Moreau Biography

Gustave Moreau (Paris, 1826-id., 1898) French painter.In 1857 he made a trip to Italy that allowed him to learn about the work of classics such as Michelangelo Buonarroti or Andrea Mantegna, and obtained critical recognition at the 1864 Salon, with Oedipus and the Sphinx .His period of maturity began in 1870.His work shows a clear preference for historical, biblical and mythological themes, always developed in a disturbing and evocative way, through the recreation of exotic, often oriental atmospheres, and drama of the scenes.Its particular sense of color also stands out, especially striking for its golden sheen.Among his paintings, it is worth highlighting, among others, The Apparition (1876), Chimera (1884) and Jupiter and Semele (1896).Belonging to the symbolist current, Moreau inspired future surrealist artists, especially André Breton, Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí.His work is exhibited in his Parisian mansion, which in 1902 became the Gustave Moreau Museum. Gustave More...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jose del Perojo Biography

José del Perojo (Santiago de Cuba, 1853-Madrid, 1908) Spanish writer and politician of Cuban origin.He was a liberal deputy and distinguished himself by the speech in which he denounced the commercial tyranny exercised by the United States in Cuba.Neo-Kantian philosopher, wrote Colonial Questions (1883) and Essays of Colonial Policy (1885).
Post a Comment
Read more

Francisco Javier Elío Biography

Francisco Javier Elío (Pamplona, ​​1767-Valencia, 1822) Spanish military.A veteran of the North African and Roussillon campaigns, he faced, as governor, the outbreaks of revolution that occurred in the Río de la Plata. Francisco Javier Elío Admonished by the Cortes when he returned to Spain in 1812, his rejection of the constitutional system was accentuated, and in 1814 he was favorable to Fernando VII, to whom he offered his support from his position as captain general of Valencia to restore absolute power.Thus, between 1814 and 1820 he was one of the fundamental pillars of absolutism, and a zealous persecutor of liberals, whom he fought harshly. When the revolution of 1820 occurred, he was imprisoned by the Duke of Almodóvar to prevent the people from executing him; but, suspected of leading a riot from prison, he was sentenced to die with a vile stick.The name of General Elío was rehabilitated by King Fernando VII himself by granting his son Don Bernardo Elío, Leizaur and O...
Post a Comment
Read more

Michelangelo's David

Anyone who has traveled to Florence will agree with me that it is a special city, where art arises in any corner or in any corner, a city created to be admired.There is a street that well It could go unnoticed, a cobbled street over Florence, a street that hides one of the most beautiful treasures of the Renaissance.A sculpture that from the bottom of the Galleria dell 'Accademia, stares at everyone who I approached to contemplate that imposing figure. The David of MiguelAngel , let us know its characteristics, its history, and also some curiosity about this sculpture of colossal size. The David of MiguelAngel | Historic Moment When Cosme de Medici managed to become Signore in 1434 of the city of Florence, the power of a banker dynasty began> who directed the designs of Florence during practically the entire Renaissance.Sixty years of a dynasty that brought four signori to the city government, until in 1494 the last sign Pedro de Medici surrendered to the brillia...
Post a Comment
Read more

Heinrich maier Biography

Heinrich Maier (Heidenheim, 1867-Berlin, 1933) German philosopher.He produced a "critical realism", along the lines of H.Driesch.He is the author, among other works, of Aristotle's syllogistics (1896-1900) and of The philosophy of reality (1926-1935).
Post a Comment
Read more

Joseph Alois Schumpeter Biography

Joseph Alois Schumpeter (Trest, Moravia, 1883-Salisbury, Connecticut, 1950) Austrian economist and sociologist.Joseph Schumpeter began his higher education in Vienna, where he was a disciple of Friedrich Von Wieser and Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, prominent representatives of the Austrian marginalist school.In 1907 he continued his studies in Great Britain.Austrian Finance Minister (1919), devoted himself mainly to teaching, being a professor at Bonn and Harvard.In 1932 he settled permanently in the United States. Joseph A.Schumpeter Joseph Schumpeter's work, one of the most extensive to be produced in the 20th century, exerted a broad influence on economic thought and social sciences as a whole.Schumpeter stressed the importance of entrepreneurs, the creation of credit and technology in economic development, in addition to arguing with socialism. One of the concepts introduced by Schumpeter that would have more popularity was that of innovation.According to him, there is a stat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Francis Thompson Biography

Francis Thompson (Preston, 1859-London, 1907) English poet.He was the son of a homeopathic doctor.In accordance with his inclinations, well seen by the family, who were Catholic, he was oriented towards the priesthood, and, because of this, he was trained at Ushaw College (Durham) in classical studies.After a change of opinion, advised by his superiors, he later studied medicine, although without ever obtaining a degree, at Owens College in Manchester and in Glasgow. Francis Thompson A fervent Catholic, in love with literature and an independent character, he abandoned his family and studies when he realized that he was not understood in his aspirations, still unclear, and he went to London in 1885, where the failures of the various and humble occupations through which he tried to earn a living for four years (match-seller, horse-keeper, bookseller) threw him, because of the growing and bitter sadness of loneliness, the vice of opium, contracted after an illness. On a piece of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jose Pellicer Biography

José Pellicer (Zaragoza, 1602-Madrid, 1679) Spanish writer.He was royal councilor and honorary chronicler of Castilla y León (1624) and Aragon (1640).He is the author of genealogical memorials and poems ( The Phoenix , 1630; Sapphic Astrea , 1641).His greatest contribution to literature are the Solemn Lessons to the Works of D.Luis de Góngora (1630).
Post a Comment
Read more

Jorge de Podebrady Biography

George of Podebrady (Podebrady, 1420-Prague, 1471) King of Bohemia (1458-1471).In 1439 he led the Utraquista party, made up of moderate Hussite.He seized Prague (1448), which was in the hands of the Catholics.He succeeded Ladislao IV the Posthumous (1458), during whose minority he had been general administrator of the kingdom.Excommunicated by Paul II, his reign was characterized by permanent religious struggles between Hussites and Catholics, in which Matías Corvino intervened in support of the Catholics.
Post a Comment
Read more