Theories

intro to socio theory

CONSENSUS THEORIES :

• Consensus theories are one group of theories in society, they emphasis the idea that human societies work best when their members agree on fundamental principles of how society should be organised and share common norms,values and beliefs.
• This makes social life more predictable, and means that there is a social order in society.
• Example : In schools and colleges, teachers and students know what to expect of one another in their role.
• This theory also examine how different social institutions in society come together to ensure that members of society get the things they need.
• Example: schools and colleges exist to educate their students however they also serve the needs of businesses and the economy by ensuring future workers are suitably socialised and have the skills needed by employers.

FUNCTIONALISM :

• This theory has the most influence on the consensus theory in sociology, and has its origins in the work of early sociologists such as Durkhiem (1858-1917)
• Durkhiem argued that members of society need to feel a sense of social solidarity
• Social solidarity is a feeling of belonging to a larger community and a shared identity.
• Durkhiem was concerned that in large modern society people would lose their sense of belonging and become individuals uncertain about how to behave or what their roles are in society = Durkhiem described this as a sense of ‘anomie’ or normlessness.
• Parsons (1902-1979) emphasised the important role of socialisation in creating value consensus in society.
• Parsons saw key institutions such as families, the education system, mass media. peer groups and the religious organisation as woking together to transmit shared norms and values to each new generation.
• Parsons saw such institutions as working together in harmony, with each of them depending on each other and contributing to maintaining as a whole society.
• Functionalists sometimes use an ‘Organic analogy’ this is seeing the society as like a human body,different organs contributing to the whole
• Example : our lungs provide oxygen for the blood, the kidneys remove wast matter from the blood, in the same way that society = families and education socialises future workers so they can play a role in the economic system, which is in turn provides us with the consumer goods and services that we need
• Functionalism is often referred to as a structural theory due to the way it sees parts of society as linked together in structure.

evaluation of functionalism

• This theory is particularly effective at analysing how different parts of a society work together to provide for its members needs
• Its also highlights how societies tend to operate more effectively when people can agree and cooperate.
• Since 1960’s functionalism has come under strong conflict with other theories and only a few sociologists today would describe themselves as a functionalist. Functionalism fails to explain conflicts in society and tends to assume that society operates for everyones benefits equally.

New right

• The new right is a political stance rather than a sociological theory, the origins of the New right lie in the theories of liberal economists such as Adam Smith (1723-1790)
• Adam Smith argued that capitalist societies work best when there is a free market
• OTHER WORDS : the state should avoid interfering in the economy
• Example: by restricting trade or setting the price of goods or wages
• Smith argued that this should be left to the hidden hand of the market, and determined by the law of supply and demand, if lots of people want something the price will ride and this will encourage more producers to supply it bringing the price back down to a reasonable level as there will be no more competition.
• Smiths ideas were revived by neo-liberals in the 20th century such as Fredrich Hayek (1944) he argued that individuals had the greatest freedom in a free market capitalist society,
• For Hayek the policies pursued by Labour governments in great brit such as nationalising key industries and introducing a welfare state represented the beginning of the road to serfdom which the state would run peoples lives and take away the freedom of the individual.

Slide 6

• The most influential New Right thinker in terms of sociological debates has been the American political scientist
• Charles Murray
• Murray (1984) argued that in both Britain and the USA excessive government intervention to try and alleviate poverty by providing the poor with benefits had led to a dependency culture = whereby groups such as the unemployed and lone parents were rewarded for irresponsible behaviour
• Example: failing to look for work or having children outside marriage when unable to support them
• Murray argued that this had led to the emergence of the underclass of the people separated from the rest of society and lacking commitment to the norms of the wider society such as hard work, self- discipline and bringing children up within marriage.

evaluation of new right

• New right have some of the same ideas to functionalism offering a politically point of view which supports the capitalist economic system
• David argued that most British sociologists are influenced by Marxism and fail to teach the benefits of capitalism instead focusing on the alleged problems of living in an unequal society.
• New right ideas provide a useful counter-balance to the left wing or anti- capitalist stance of most sociology.
• Critics of the New right argue that many of their arguments are not based on clear sociological evidence
• Example : Murray’s view that the poor are feckless and irresponsible is contradicted by numerous studies of poor people which reveal that groups such as the unemployed and lone parents mostly aspire to the same things as other people such as economic security and stable family life and find themselves dependent on benefits not through choice but because of the circumstances beyond their control.

Conflict

• conflict theories start from the observation that in most societies there are social inequalities between different social groups.
• Conflict theories argue that in these situations it is difficult to achieve consensus in society, as what serves the interests of the powerful and dominant groups may go directly against the interest of groups lower down in society
• conflict theories don't deny that on the surface some societies may appear to be based on consensus, but also also that this is only because subordinate groups have been socialised into accepting their inferiority within the prevailing society
• Conflict theories use the concept of ideology to describe how powerful group put across ideas that justify their position and help make it existing social system appear to be fair and legitimate.
• Example : when slavery operated in the southern states of the U.S, slave owners used the variety of arguments to justify why black people of African origin were socially and intellectually inferior to whites.

Marxism

• Marxism is most probably the most influential conflict theory, and derives from the ideas of the german writer Karl Marx
• Marx argued that historically all societies apart from the most simple hunting and gathering societies, are based on class divisions between those who benefit from the economic system and those who do not.
• Marx describes the economic system of modern industrial societies such as the UK as capitalist societies, they are based on a ruling class of capitalists, people who own capital or wealth and invests it in running businesses to make a profit and a working class comprising the majority of people who have little or no wealth and who therefore have to work for wages.
• Marx argued that eventually the working class would become aware of their exploited position and would overthrow capitalism and created a communist society where the means of production - such as farms and factories, would be taken over by the workers and run for the benefit of everyone.

Role of ideology

• Marxists today see capitalist societies as being just as unequal and exploitative as they were in the 19th century, but they would accept that in most western societies there is little sign of the communist revolution that Marx foresaw as inevitable.
• Modern marxists such as Louis Althusser (1971) argue that capitalist societies have survived not simply by forcing workers to accept the system but by developing ideological state apparatus = transmits ideas that legitimate or justify the capitalist system and its class inequalities
• ideological state apparatus include the educational system, mass media, peer groups
• Example : the media in the form of television, newspaper and cinemas helps to entertain the workers and make their lives more bearable
• All of this diverts attention away from the real inequalities in society and creates what Marx called a ‘false consciousness’
• False consciousness is whereby the working class cannot see any alternative to the existing systems
• Marxism is a conflict theory but it also focuses on the functions.structures of the society, especially in the economic system which shares aspects of the society such as family,school and mass media.

The structure according to Marxism

• The superstructure includes all of the curtail institutions of society
• Example: families and the educational system
• And it is shaped by the requirements of the infrastructure, the economic systems that provides for peoples materials needs

Evaluation

• Many sociologists are attracted to the marxism because it offers more a critical view to the capitalist societies rather than the theories like functionalism
• Marxist also face criticism from other sociologists
• Example : the idea that the working class are ‘brainwashing’ into the false consciousness by capitalist ideology has been attacked for suggesting that people are not conscious of their own interests.
• Marxism also mainly focuses on divisions and inequalities of class, other sociologists have argued that other forms of inequalities may also create significant divisions and conflict in society, such as those based on gender,nationalism, ethnicity and religion.

Feminists theories

• Feminist ideas have a long history but began to influence sociology most strongly in the 1970’s, following the second wave of feminism.
• Feminists argue that in most societies, women have been disadvantaged compared to men, men often control the key institutions in society such as businesses and political. They also tend to be more dominant in a personal relationship, Feminism encourages sociologists to focus much more on gender inequalities and women experiences of the social world.

INTERACTIONLISM

• Interactionism is one of the main social action theories in sociology,interactionists argue not only that people interpret the social world around them but also that how they do so is influenced by the way they interact with other people.
• In these interactions people use symbols such as words or gestures to communicate meaning and reacting to other peoples actions in terms of hot it is interpreted.

Postmodernism

• It can not be described as a sociological theory,Postmodernists present a variety of ideas about the social world which do not always agree with one another.Some postmodernists such as Jean-Francois-Lyotard (1984) argue that we should abandon the attempt to explain the social world using what he calls ‘metanarratives’
• or grand theories. Most postmodernists would argue that we should focus on small parts of the social world and try and understand them from a variety of viewpoints. Postmodernists reject the idea that any one theory can be correct or proven and thus undermine the whole idea that sociology is a social science that can provide theories about the social world that are superior to common sense or opinion.Postmodernists has considerable influence on sociology and has encouraged sociologist to ask some important questions about how they approach studying society. Postmodernist start from the assumptions that the era of modernity started to come to an end in the late 20th century and we are now moving into a new kind of social world variously described as postmodernity or the postmodern condition. Modernity was the kind of society that emerged with the industrial revolution,modern machine technology and mass production of goods. It is associated with a move from religious and traditional ways of thinking to scientific and rational thinking.Also resulted in larger more complex societies usually organised around nation states rather than smaller tribal societies.Postmodernists argue that the age of mass production is giving way to an ge pf knowledge production in which computers,digital communication and mass media are much more significant, both culturally and economically

Evaluation

• Postmodernism help sociologist to focus on many of the changes taking place in the world today
• Example: the process of globalisation which is the boundaries between societies based on nation states are being broken.
• Postmodernist highlight the complexity of personal identity, showing we are not defined simply by being female or male or rick or poor but by a set of factors, the importance of which varies between individuals and in different social contexts.
• Many sociologist are reluctant to accept the ideas of postmodernism due to the way it tends to undermine the view that through sociology and science more generally we can understand the world around us in a logical and rational manner.
• Most sociologists would argue that while their theories cannot be said to be ‘true’ they are usually based on a symmetrical research and carefully collected data and this presents a better understanding of the social world and the understandings of it.