The following events related to sociology occurred in the 1850s.

Events

• Karl Marx The Class Struggles in France is published.

Events

• Herbert Spencer's Social Statics is published.

Events

• Karl Marx's The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte is published.

Births

• August 23: Arnold Toynbee

Events

• Auguste Comte's The System of Positive Philosophy is published.

Events

• Søren Kierkegaard's Attack Upon Christendom is published.
• Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play's Les Ouvriers européens is published.

Events

• Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play founds the Société internationale des études pratiques d'économie sociale.

Events

• Karl Marx's Grundrisse is written (but not published until 1941).

Events

• Karl Marx's A Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy is published.