(Y1) Activities

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Social Order: Functionalism - 09/02/2021

Functionalism

"Macro or mid"

"The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the whole"

"sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society"

"Manifest functions are the consequences of a social process that are sought and anticipated."

"Latent functions are the unsought consequences of a social process"

Link

social order is about the hierarchy of society, which places people in different spots to complete their role

both agree that individuals in society rely on each other to function best

agrees that social institutions, such as schools, have a significant impact on society working as a whole

without social order and reliance on each other, society would be in chaos as everyone is doing their own thing with no regard to others

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Social Order: Marxism - 09/02/2021

Marxism

"believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production."

"Capitalism, an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of goods and the means to produce them"

"predicted that the inequalities of capitalism would be so extreme that workers would eventually revolt"

"Marx's idea that social conflict leads to change in society is still one of the major theories used in modern society"

Conflict Theory

"Macro"

"the way inequalities contribute to social differences and perpetuate differences in power"

"looks at society as a competition for limited resources"

"focus on conflict to ensure the exclusion of recognizing stability. Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing as abruptly as conflict theory would suggest"

Link

both agree that individuals in society rely on each other to work best

agree that if one component went off the rails it would have an overall societal impact

the social order of society is shaped by the conflicts between the stratified groups

both look at the way in which a society functions, ie fighting for resources and trying to keep their social order stable

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Functionalism and Immigration - 23/02/2021

What assumptions lie at the heart of functionalist accounts of immigration?

This week we turn the sociological gaze to the assumptions built into functionalist accounts of immigration. What assumptions about our society are central to this account?

During the documentary*, I want you to think of this Functionalist account summarised and try to answer the following questions:

Critique the functionalist perspective on immigration with the case study you have just watched.

the host model is flawed

the host society did not treat immigrants well, even when they tried to/did assimilate

for example, not letting them buy/rent homes, not letting them apply for all jobs

the immigrants culture's clearly had an influence on Britain, rather than just being blocked out

for example, skinheads, ska, reggae

What types of jobs did the immigrants get? What sociological conclusions can you draw from this?

labour-central ones, ones where people could get hurt

immigrants were looked down upon

seen like machines, just there to do the heavy lifting and work

their lives weren't seen as equal

*Gooding, C. (2015). Leaving the Caribbean for Britain. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_8dRWoHDCc

With reference to functionalism and Sheila Patterson’s Dark Strangers respond to the following:

“Different ‘races’ cannot live together in harmony”.

This should be mainly focused on evaluations of the theory and study, rather than a descriptive answer.

Key to Patterson’s thesis is that immigrants should be assimilated into the host culture. What is problematic about this based on what you have just watched?

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News Article on Multiculturalism - 23/02/2021

Sealy, T. (2020). What can multiculturalism offer in the fight against racism in Britain? [online] Open Democracy. Available at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/global-extremes/what-can-multiculturalism-offer-fight-against-racism-britain/

What is the point/focus of the article?

whether or not multiculturalism could help stop racism in Britain

the relationship between BLM and multiculturalism

What key debates are considered?

racism impacts all poc, not just Black people

health is a mixed picture but Bangladeshi have the highest death rates

education (degree classification) is lower for Black people

criminal justice (stop and search and arrest rates) are higher for Black people

not for average custodial sentence length or conviction ratio

employment for Asians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are lower than Black people

anti-Black racism is important but so are the others, picture is more complex

patterns of discrimination are different depending on the 'race'/ethnicity/culture

discrimination about religion has declined, except for Muslims where its worse

how to address racism (?)

What conclusions are reached?

multiculturalism has positive aspects

for example, how it addresses discrimination and equality

What evidence does the author present to support the arguments?

mixed in with the key debates question

What aspects, if any, relate to structure, history, biography?

structure: hierarchy of racism, i.e. whites are on top, then Blacks and people of colour

history: religious discrimination is decreasing except for Muslims, Britain's racism has changed over time (but is still there), "Multiculturalism in Britain developed out of the anti-racism struggles of the 1970s and 1980s"

biography: health inequality, education inequality, criminal justice inequality, employment inequality

What aspects, if any, relate to the relationship between society and the individual?

Can we identify any links/connections/aspects that relate to the three key concepts: socialisation, stratification, social order?

stratification - hierarchy/categories of race/ethnicity within multiculturalism, people judged based on category

socialisation - not much harmony/social cohesion as people are being treated unfairly, socialisation leads to discrimination as parents influence children (therefore, growing up with racist parents can lead to racist and/or ignorant children)

social order - not much harmony/social cohesion as people are being treated unfairly

Can we make connection to support/critique structural theories (Functionalism and Marxism/Neo-Marxism) and Symbolic Interactionism?

functionalism - critiques host model as it shows that the host society does not treat the immigrants equally/fairly

marxism - supports society being built on conflict, supports the idea that social institutions are built on top of and reflect the interests of those who control the economic base (white people), supports their view on socialisation, social order and stratification

symbolic interactionism - supports their view on stratification and the consequences of 'race' on individuals

What questions or debates did this raise/create in your groups?