Functionalism short presentation

But, a discussion of Social Darwinism and
its most sinister spin-offs in more recent
history is important to think about.

What does the word “eugenics” mean to
you?

How about “The Bell Curve” by
Herrenstein and Murray?

Unfortunately, functionalism
was unable to explain a
number of features of
American society, such as
poverty, social change,
dissent, and the continuing
influence and political and
economic power of the
wealthy.

Thus we have the perspective of

Conflict Theory

 Conflict view: Where functionalists see
stability and consensus, conflict
sociologists see a social world in
continual struggle.

 Think in terms of “who benefits” from
social conflict. In ecological conflict
between business and the
environment, who generally wins? Who
is really winning the war in Iraq?

 Marx viewed struggle between classes
as inevitable. This goes beyond class
struggle though as it permeates
everyday life.
 Conflict theorists are interested in how
society’s institutions—including the
family, government, religion,
education, and the media—may help
to maintain the privileges of some
groups and keep others in a
subservient position.

 Does the crash of the US economy best
fit the functionalist viewpoint or that of
conflict theory?

 Emerged from the classic conflict
perspective is the feminist
perspective. It is one of conflict itself.
This view sees inequality in gender as
central to all behavior and
organization.

 Drawing on the work of Marx and
Engels, contemporary feminist
theorists often view women’s
subordination as inherent to capitalist
societies. However a cursory view of
middle eastern (and other) societies
shows that it is not atypical for women
to be in a culturally subordinate
position to men in other cultures as
well. That this happens in developed
capitalistic societies is what is most
remarkable.

Why do we need the study of feminism?

Consider that women constitute the fifty-
one percent minority but are still mostly
dominated by a male majority.

 As in traditional understandings of
conflict perspective, feminism looks at
who benefits from the social
arrangement. Clearly it is men who
benefit from sexist practices. These
practices go deep into our cultures
and permeate the business climate as
well.
 Think about your home-life and
professional life and the division of
gender roles. How are they at times
equal and unequal.

Gloria Steinem founder of Ms Magazine
Liberal feminism

This is a micro theory. It is a view that looks
at the interaction of individuals with one
another in varying size groups.

It is not necessarily at odds with macro
perspectives but rather is a viewpoint of
humans with agency.

 First: Pragmatism is a wholly American
school of thought that examines the
human relationship to the environment,
contrasting it with the relationship of
other animals to their environment. What
is real for humans always depends on our
own active intervention – our own
interpretation or definition.

 Second, to the pragmatist, knowledge
is judged by how useful it is in defining
the situation we enter.
 Third, things in situations are defined
according to the use they have for us at
the time.
 Fourth, it tells us something about how
philosophers and social scientists
should study the human being. Start
with action. It is what human beings do
in real situations that matters.

 We must regard the human being in
naturalistic terms. While a god may exist,
nature should be understood on its own
terms, as subject to natural laws.
 Mead, as Darwin, saw human
development as part of the evolutionary
process.

 Certain elements of humans make
them unique from other animals: a
highly developed brain; highly
developed vocal chords and facial
muscles that make it possible to create
many subtle and sophisticated sounds;
a helplessness in childhood that makes
it essential to rely heavily on society
and socialization.
 Such qualities, when combined, make
humans able to use language, and
language, in turn, allows them to reason.

But Mead went further than Darwin: To
Darwin evolution in nature is passive.
That is, changes in the environment
and in genetic makeup together
influence the changes in the animal
kingdom.

But for Mead: Once language and the
ability to reason arose in nature, the
resulting being was able to turn back on
nature itself, actively directing how the
natural forces act.

 Adorno
 Horkheimer

 Expatriates of Germany during WWII

 An emphasis upon mass culture.
 A dissatisfaction with sociology as not
considering the agency of the
individual.
 Critical of Marxism because it did not
consider the importance of culture.
 Mass culture as a product of capitalist
society cannot be truly representative
of the people of that culture.

 There are many interpretations and
definitions of postmodernism.

 One states that it is everything after so-
called “modernism” which is ending now
or has already ended.

 Other interpretations and arguments
posit that postmodernism is a
phenomena unto itself and that it
specifically represents the present
(and probably the future).
 It can be a positive phenomenon or a
negative one.
 Most positions are dystopic.

 On the positive side, the individual has
agency (self direction and choice) and
can navigate among the monolithic
society.
 On the other hand, the individual is
constantly bombarded by corporate
advertisements which reduce him to a
mere consumer.
 Science is greatly mistrusted as not being
as value free as it claims, rather having an
agenda that conforms to the status quo.

 We are no longer a goods-producing
society, but rather one which
disseminates images.
 Consider the ones and zeros of the
computer era. Most of what we look at
and hear is digital. It is reduced to
nearly nothing. And we pay for it with
 Ones and zeros from our credit and
debit cards.

 It differs from Conflict theory and
Functionalism in that it does not
assume history to be deterministic.
 Much like Social Constructionism, the
historical makeup of society is shown
to be the work of people—groups and
individuals and not some deterministic
force. Which leads to the social
construction of reality.

Which takes us to Social
Constructionism (also related to,
but different from, Social
Constructivism which is a
psychological phenomenon).

Constructionism is a position
largely attributed to Peter Berger
and Thomas Luckman.

It is another micro perspective that
asks how a social problem is defined
rather than what the problem is.

Also it challenges the objectivity of
science and places importance on the
subjective influence—much like
postmodernism.
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Functionalism short presentation

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Functionalism short presentation

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