Conflict Theory
Symbolic Interactionism
View of society
“Society is made up of connected structures”.
(www.youtube.com-sydney brown)
Society is mutually reinforcing, creating interdependence.
When one part of society is under strain, the other parts counterbalance.
“Functionalism, holds that society is a complex system whose various parts work together to produce stability and that sociology should investigate their relationships”. (A.Giddens 2013 P.18)
“Society is made up of power struggles”.
(www.youtube.com-sydney brown)
Conflict Theory holds the view that society is based on inequality, with some members of society benefiting at the expense of others.
Conflict theorists in sociology, see’s society as separate …show more content…
Different parts of society compete, class, gender, ethnicity, in this regard, society can adapt, progress and change.
View of social change
If all functions work together stability and order are the outcome, if not society must adapt to change i.e. during a financial crisis.
If there is a problem with one structure in society, the other structure mutually reinforces the other, therefore creating a social consensus.
Social Structures become imbedded in society.
Inequalities are not always apparent, with status quo, of religions, cultures and norms, maintaining them.
This is guarded by the elites in society, as it is in their best interest and benefits to do so.
Webber looked a Bureaucracy as a necessary in contemporary society.
Individuals could not exist without Bureaucratic structures in place, i.e. the obtaining of a passport.
Focus of analysis
Society is similar to an organism, composed of mutually dependent structures.
Similar to the Human Body.
Durkheim, focused on society in terms of Roles of Values and Norm of behaviour.
Focusing on Suicide, and how it affects society as a whole not just the …show more content…
similar to a co operative.
As society exists and develops, members of this society begin to develop social structures, these structures become part of society, fulfilling their functions, therefore creating a stable society.
Marx main area of interest was capitalism.
Marx held that society had two groups, or great camps, the workers (proletariats) and the property owners (capitalist and bourgeoisie).
“Marx believed capitalism generated inequalities, exploitation and the poverty of the workers as they found themselves disadvantaged in markets, forced to sell their labour power at less than its value, so that owners could make more profits for themselves”.
(K.Plumer 2016 P.65)
He linked Religion and Economics.
“Webber wrote extensively about religion. He was concerned with the meanings and world views that religions give rise to at a point in