F soc usic lecture six

Lecture Six

Effective from September 2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 6 – Society

Contents

1. Review from Lecture Five2. Social Change3. Social Order4. Functionalism (Consensus Structuralist)5. Conflict Structuralist 6 . Conclusion7 . Homework

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Review from Lecture Five


Last week we learned of the different sociological viewpoints most commonly discussed and applied in social science research.

In Particular we looked at:Positivism InterpretivismFeminism


Social Change

In the UK during the 18th century, cultural changes began with the rapid development of scientific ideas that revolutionised the workplace through the industrial forms of production.

Employers needed highly skilled and educated workers. Many manual workers faced challenges for finding work

while needing to educate their children for future work. As a result the government developed the ‘Compulsory

Education’ system in the late 19th century.



Social Change and Marxism

Marxists view social change through conflict and the battle between the opposing interests built into capitalist forms of economic production.

The existence of different classes is the main source of conflict.

Capitalism is an extremely competitive economic system (businesses and workers are in constant competition for customers and jobs)

Business increase profits through low wages vs. workers want purchasing power so demand higher wages which leads to conflict at many levels of society.



Social Change and Feminism

Feminist theory of change has various explanations that vary slightly from each other.•Liberal Feminists believe change can be created through changes in legislation (laws). In the UK and USA they have promoted a range of anti-discrimination laws which they argue will rectify the historical gender imbalance.•Marxist Feminists link gender inequality to economic and class-based differences:

• Capitalism encourages and rewards sexist attitudes and behaviours• Improvement in women’s positions in society requires a radical change at the economic level where capitalism is transformed.

•Radical Feminists view social change occurring through the abolition of patriarchy. Women need a matriarchal society to replace patriarchy and place equality and mutual respect between genders.



Social OrderSocietal structures help maintain order in society through rules and regulations. At the root of rules and regulations is power.

◦Power can be defined as a relationship when someone acts in a way which they would otherwise not have done - irrespective of whether or not they choose to (Hughes & Fergusson, 2004:10)

People tend to follow rules when: Those who enforce rules have legitimate authority and there are consequences if broken (e.g. teachers, police, parents, etc.)

◦E.g. Teacher in the classroom can ask you to put your phones away during class time (rule). If you refuse teacher can take away phone (consequence)

However if the teacher runs into you on West street he/she cannot ask you to put your phone away because the power to enforce rules does not extend outside the school (limited authority)



Power as a mechanism for Social Order and Social Change

Power is a significant factor in creating social change and maintaining social order and comes in different forms and is manifested in different ways.

Forms of power:

Authority: legitimate power e.g. teacher, police.Coercion: power through use of force or threat e.g. follow rules or else.Manipulation: power through hiding true intent e.g. sales pitch. Persuasion: suggestive power e.g. advertisements.Domination: power through force with the removal of choice e.g. kidnappings.



Theories of Social Order


Social order is maintained through more than just creating rules and regulations or enforcing power.

Social order refers to the ways in which societies remain sufficiently stable to enable coordinated, productive and cultural activity. Social order requires the coordination and cooperation of activity within social structures and institutions.Social practices ensure the maintenance and enforcement of appropriate ways of behaving and these practices are supported by members of societyThere are numerous theories on social order established by sociologists such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons.



Social order is a core theoretical issue in the social sciences because human beings are both individual and social, hence for social order to arise and be maintained people must develop stable expectations of how others should behave.

Once these expectations are created people must abide by these social expectations or norms.

– Norms define when certain behaviours are acceptable and are regulated by members of society. e.g while it is not a crime in the UK to appear naked in public, but it is against the norms.

Following social norms could also result in rewards:– Children at nursery are taught to share and are rewarded either

with verbal praise or a prize when they are found sharing with others


Functionalism view order and stability through the creation and maintenance of organised social systems.

It involves the idea that the various parts of a society, such as family, education and work, all function [or should function] in agreement.

Society as a biological organism: Each part is dependent on the others, like in the body where the heart, lungs and brain work together to form a living body.


Functionalism

Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) argued that every social system consists of four functional sub-systems, each performing a different but related function that addresses issues faced by every society.


Various parts of the social system e.g family, culture, work and government are connected with an institutional purpose to fulfil a need.

For example: For the institution of family to exist and perform its function the members of the family must have their basic needs met e.g. housing, food and clothing.The institution of work provides the means to obtain those basic needs by allowing family members to earn money and pay for housing and buy food and clothing.In order for the work institution to perform its duties families need to produce human beings that have been taught how to behave in society and follow social norms.



According to Parsons for individuals to survive and prosper they need to be part of larger co-operative groups to combine and solve fundamental problems.

All social institutions must develop ways of ensuring people conform to the needs of both the institution and society. e.g. a child must do his chores in the home to meet the needs of his family, complete his homework to meet the needs of the school and become educated and work as an adult in order to meet the needs of society.

Parsons argues that if a social system is to continue, there are four basic functions it must perform:

1. Adaptation – capable of adapting to its environment, gathering enough resources.

2. Goal maintenance – set out goals to be attained and the mechanisms for their achievement.

3. Integration - Effective coordination between subsystems.

4. Latency – preserving and transforming values and culture to new generation.


Parson’s AGIL paradigm


According to Marxism: ‘Work’ is the most important activity in any society and no other social activity can exist without it.Work is socially organised (who does it? what they do? and who benefits from it?)The relationship between workers and business owners is based on a hierarchy of power where business owners have most of the power to order or control the workers.Capitalist societies have the ruling class or business owners who benefit from the work of the rest of society by keeping most of the profits from their business – workers only make a set salary.


Conflict Structuralist


MarxismThe ruling class also influence politics and policy to work in their favour.Media are controlled by the wealthy ruling class and are used to influence how others see the world- mainly from a capitalist perspective.The education system is also viewed as a mechanism of capitalist teachings by promoting competition and individualism and respect for authority.Order and stability are maintained at a systems level through social institutions who are controlled by the ruling class.




MarxismThe problem according to Marxists is that most people are locked into capitalist societies by their need to earn a living for themselves and their families. They are boxed in by a set of ideas that are generally supported by the rest of society – media, educational systems and government. Socialisation in capitalist societies effectively controls people’s thoughts and actions by allowing them to think that society’s interest [the ruling class interests] is their interest too. Socialisation is the process by which people learn the various forms of behaviour consistent with membership of a particular culture (Livesey, 2014).




Despite diversity among Feminist groups, they all contend that most contemporary societies are patriarchal and that the interests of men are always considered more important than those of women.

According to feminism order and control are based on male power, expressed in two ways.1.Interpersonal power which refers to things like physical

violence or the various ways female labour is exploited.2.Cultural power which focuses on how male-dominated

societies are structured to oppress and exploit women. According to feminist theory men dominate the highest levels of

economic, political and cultural institutions.


Feminist Theory


Social order is maintained through rules and regulations that are enforced through power.

Functionalists view order and stability through the creation and maintenance of organised social systems.

Marxists theorists argue that work is the most important social activity and that it is socially structured to benefit the ruling classes who promote Capitalism.

Marxists view social change through conflict and the battle between the opposing interests built into capitalist forms of economic production.


Conclusion


According to Feminism order and control are based on male power, expressed in two ways (interpersonal and cultural).

Feminists view social change through either legislation, transformation of capitalism or a shift from patriarchal to a matriarchal system.



•Review lecture notes and prepare questions for seminar one.

• Read Giddens’ pp. 79- 82 on MOLE and take notes.


Homework

F soc usic lecture six

Education

Transcript of F soc usic lecture six