Answer:

Well, perhaps because the 19th century was known for its revolutionary fervor - starting with the FRENCH Revolution in the LAST decade of the 18th century, there was much turmoil in Europe. 1848 is known as “the spring of the nations” (just like “the Arab spring” earlier this decade), because nationalism flourished and led to the establishment of many independent nations. Also, utopian socialism was developing in those decades, advocating for the rights of the working people. And sociology, as a scientific study of society and social reality, emerged toward the end of the 19th century, with Comte, Marx, Durkheim, Mead and others laying its foundations, to be built upon by Weber, Parsons, MERTON and many others in the 20th century.To put it simply - in a system of aristocratic rule, where the Divine Right of Kings is the ultimate law, there was no need for understanding society and its FUNCTIONING - at least not for the wider population. The less people knew, the easier it was to rule them. With the advent of liberalism, nationalism, socialism, emancipation, universal suffrage, democracy, etc., GOVERNANCE and understanding of the increasingly complex social structures became a must.