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Structural-Functionalism

Fall 2010. Structural-Functionalism. Greeks (Aristotle). Genealogy. Hobbes & Rousseau. Darwin. Comte. Wundt. Marx. Spencer. Pareto. Weber. Durkheim. Freud. Malinowski. Radcliffe-Brown. Parsons (1938). Merton. Parsons (1951). Conflict Theory Critical Theory. 1960s.

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Structural-Functionalism

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  1. Fall 2010 Structural-Functionalism

  2. Greeks (Aristotle) Genealogy Hobbes & Rousseau Darwin Comte Wundt Marx Spencer Pareto Weber Durkheim Freud Malinowski Radcliffe-Brown Parsons(1938) Merton Parsons(1951) Conflict Theory Critical Theory 1960s

  3. Definition I Functionalism: "mode of analysis concerned with interrelations between social phenomena in general, and, more particularly, with the consequences of given items for the larger structure or structures in which they are embedded" (Coser1976, 146) [after Merton & Stinchcombe].

  4. Definition II Functionalism: a theory that explains the existence and persistence of social practicesin terms of the benefits these practices have for the system in which they are embedded Example: Patriotism and patriotic symbols and rhetoric promote solidarity and willingness to sacrifice for society and the more of this you get in a society, the better off the society is.

  5. Why… • …don’t pets blow up? • …do people ever stop having sex? • …is it hard to get back on a diet? • …do compliments improve behavior? • …do parties die when a few people leave? • …is there a “monthly cycle”?

  6. Answer: Feedback

  7. Why do we stop eating? Eat + + + Time Hunger Satisfaction -

  8. Why does a party die? Interaction + + Guests Fun + + Stay Time -

  9. Logic • Society is a system. • Systems have parts… • …that are interrelated. • WHAT IS “INTERRELATED”? • Mutual dependence and Functional requisites • Feedback • Amplification • Attenuation

  10. Functional Requisites • Social systems need things like • Tools to coordinate behavior • Communication • Generational transmission • Techniques for generating solidarity • Recall Durkheim’s notion of “normal”

  11. Feedback

  12. Feedback

  13. Feedback

  14. Feedback

  15. Introducing a “dysfunction”

  16. Functionalist Theories • Explain practices in terms of system benefits • “Socially” rational vs. individually rational • Systems of functional requisites

  17. Development • Reaction to ethnocentrism and diffusionism* • Cultural context matters • Ethnographic data matters • Need to study societies as “wholes” * see Baertch. 2

  18. Malinowski’s “needs” Level of Needs Level of Organization Time Scale cultural societies years-generations social groups months-years biological individual days-months

  19. Problems in Early Functionalism • Everything as functional • There are other reasons practices can survive • Naïve about cohesion as necessary • Unclear concept of system “survival” (or thriving) • How much? What kind?

  20. Parsons’ Contributions • Toward a “unified theory of society” • Problem: Hobbes’ “problem of order” • Weber:

  21. Greeks (Aristotle) Genealogy Hobbes & Rousseau Darwin Comte Wundt Marx Spencer Pareto Weber Durkheim Freud Malinowski Radcliffe-Brown Parsons(1938) Merton Parsons(1951) Conflict Theory Critical Theory 1960s

  22. 1930s Shift in American Sociology • From Chicago to Harvard • American Journal of Sociology to American Sociological Review • Crude Dichotomies • Fieldwork to abstract theorizing • People problems to systems problems

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