ABSTRACT
Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) was one of the founders of social criticism in the United Kingdom. Feminist, sociologist, economist, and writer are just some of the characteristics of a woman who struggled with loneliness, illness, and misunderstanding. This chapter seeks to emphasize the role of Harriet Martineau as the founding mother of sociology and classical collaborator in the study of emotions and sensibilities as axes of social analysis. Martineau’s work was a tribute to the Victorian moral context, to the critical situation of the “social question” in the UK, and to new movements and ideas such as anti-slavery, feminism, and social criticism in general.
