functionalism.pdf

functionalism.pdf

• 1.
  EMERGENCE OF A FUNCTIONALIST PARADIGM
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  "The totality ofbeliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness." —The Division of Labour (1893)
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  ➤ Functionalism- mid1940s through to the early 1960s ➤ Each aspect of society depends on each other and each contributes to the overall stability and functioning of that society ➤ Emphasis on social order ➤ Analogy to the human body- a comparison that Comte, Durkeim and other functionalists made ➤ Similar to human body, analysing the function of some aspect of society such as religion means showing its part in the continued existence and health of a society ➤ Different social institutions exists because each one has a particular function ➤ Religion, politics, culture and all other social institutions are functional in the society and helps in maintaining order ➤ Relationship between part and the whole
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  ➤ To studythe function of a social activity is to analyse its contribution to the continuation of the society as a whole ➤ Functionalism emphasises the importance of moral consensus exists when most people share the same values ➤ Order and balance as the normal state of society- social equilibrium is grounded in a moral consensus among the members of society ➤ For instance, Durkheim argued that the religion reaffirms people’s adherence to core social values, thereby helping to maintain social cohesion ➤ Talcott Parsons and Robert K Merton- pioneers in functionalism
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  INTELLECTUAL ROOTS OFFUNCTIONALISM ➤ However, the idea of ‘functionalist analysis’ in social science existed long time before- Herbert Spencer ➤ American Sociology- organicism and evolutionary theory-organic analogy-society should be studied as a systemic whole by analysing its component parts, the interrelationships between them and functions that they fulfil for the total society ➤ Vilfredo Pareto- centrality of mechanisms to keep or restore a social system to a state of (dynamic) equilibrium as well as for his sharp distinction between subjective goals and objective outcomes ➤ So functionalist ideas were already there in American Sociology- with parsons, systematic approach developed  ➤ Early Functionalist thought in British Anthropology ➤ Functionalism- analysis of the part-whole relationship, with the nature of the part being understood in terms of its contribution to the whole ➤ Society as an entity over and above individuals— Durkheim
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  A.R RADCLIFFE BROWN
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  A.R RADCLIFFE BROWN ➤In British Anthropology, functionalism was revolutionary, more scientific and empirical- rejected the traditional way of explaining aspects of social life in terms of their history (criticised explanations as speculative and imaginative and empirically baseless reconstructions) ➤ Pioneers- A.R Radcliffe Brown, S.F Nadel, E.R Leach, Raymond Firth, Mayer Fortes, E Evans Pritchard ➤ Eg.men’s handshaking (shaking hands was means showing that no weapon was concealed). The practice has survived but the purpose it once had has been lost.(But, for the functionalists, even if a `survival’ account were true, it would not be explanatory of contemporary practice) ➤ Versions of functionalism- A.R Radcliffe-Brown (1881-1955) and Bronislaw Malinowski {Father of Social Anthropology} (1884-1942)
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  ➤ Malinowski’s assertion`that every item of culture, every custom and belief, represents a value, fulfils a social function’- theory of instrumental needs ➤ Every individual have some needs and society/culture satisfies these needs through different social institutions (eg. one needs to reproduce or satisfy sexual urge; how one can reproduce in a culture?; through the social institution of marriage and family)- more scientific methodology ➤ Influenced by Malinowski, RadcliffeBrown further expanded ➤ Theory of Structural-Functionalism ➤ Two aspects- structure and function
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  ➤ According toRadcliffe Brown, functionalism consisted in establishing the necessary conditions for the existence of a society; society as a social system- need to generate and preserve the integration of society must satisfy such conditions for their continued existence; the needs of society emphasises more biological needs, focused upon the level of society’s organisation ➤ It is not only the function, but the larger structures that gives more understanding about the cultures in a given society- Why society function the way it does by focusing on the relationship between various social institutions that make up a society- family, marriage, religion, kinship, economy, political organisation etc- relationship between these various institutions- all of these make up society as a whole! ➤ Basic idea- society or culture can be understood by analysing its structural-functional properties
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  STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL FEATURESOF SOCIAL LIFE-BROWN ➤ Existence of social group- one has to see that there is an existence of social group and this social group basically has an internal structure of this group-no social group is without a structure and structure means arrangements into social classes (for eg. gender relations between men and women) the social classes forms the base portion of the structure - Apart from social structure, there are individual social distinctions (eg. leader, head of the family etc)-every individual have one’s own social distinctions among them and these persons are arranged in a dyadic relationship (eg. in a family there’s a dyadic relationship between a wife and a husband, brother and sister etc)- all these relationships leads to a larger structural whole; that is the social structure; according to Brown, social structure is the existing social relation of a society; to analyse a society/culture you should look at how people are related to each other and how these interactions are going on between groups and persons.
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  ➤ According tohim, these things can be put under a law but not completely a scientific law ➤ We can see generalisation of common opinion ➤ How every individuals in the society has common opinion about how to organise themselves; there are no individual differences; thats why we call it as a structural whole ➤ In a specific culture in a specific time there are common opinion about everything ➤ According to Brown, “Scientific” means “Careful Examination” ➤ The functional aspects should be seen systematically in a scientific way
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  CRITICISM ➤ Criticised forfailing to consider the effect of historical changes in the societies he studied, especially the in addressing the changes brought about by colonialism ➤ His analysis of society, that saw social institutions as functionally interdependent parts of the society working as a giant organism, is considered an oversimplification ➤ Edward E. Pritchard, who was Radcliffe-Brown’s early follower and eventually replaced him at Oxford, later denounced structural-functionalism as a form of reductionist.
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  ROBERT K MERTON
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  ➤ Prominent AmericanSociologist known for his pathbreaking concepts like Middle Range Theories, Latent and Manifest Functions and Anomie ➤ According to him, the functional theories of Brown and Malinowski, which were formulated to deals with the realities of a simpler tribal society, isolated from the rest of the world, could not be applied to contemporary societies of our own time, which are complex and where historical traditions have overlapped with social institutions over several centuries ➤ Therefore, Merton argued that an institution such as religion, which is universally integrative in simple tribal societies, may cause disharmony in our own society, where there are many religions, which often compete against each other ➤ So, religion, instead being functional (integrative) may become dysfunctional (disintegrative) in society
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  ➤ According toMerton, the major part of sociological explanation consists in uncovering the latent functions of social activities and institutions ➤ He modified earlier functionalist view and criticised the three fundamental postulates of earlier functionalist and suggested their modification in following paradigms: 1.Modification of postulate of functional unity- according to him, social reality has to be viewed in terms of a system and various objects or phenomena ensure the unity of the system. Durkheim, Spencer and Radcliffe Brown emphasised on functional unity. Merton argued that today’s world is complex and it is not necessary that whatever exists provides the function of unity of the system. Investigator has to study dysfunction and non-functions of a particular social item as well. This idea was novel in functionalist approach as earlier structural functionalist never looked beyond pure integrative functionalist perspective
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  2. Modification ofpostulate of functional indispensability- earlier, functionalists like Radcliffe Brown and Parsons argued that there are some indispensable functions to be performed in the society and there are also some social institutions which are indispensable to perform such functions. However, Merton argued that social items are not indispensable in nature and there may be functional alternatives. I.e., the same function may be performed by different items as well. By recognising that some structures are expendable, functionalism opens the way for meaningful social change.
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  Merton states that,just as the same item may have multiple functions, so may the same function be diversely fulfilled by alternative items. Our society, for example, could continue to exist (and even be improved) by the elimination of discrimination against various minority groups. Similarly, one can argue that Indian society will perhaps be a better place if caste is not there. 3. Modification of postulate of universal functionalism- Earlier functions believed that all existing social and cultural forms are invariably functional and fulfil some positive function. Merton argued that the context in which the social item is studied should also be taken into account. The item may be functional in one context and dysfunctional in other context. He also distinguished between latent and manifest functions
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  ➤ Manifest functions-intended by the participants in a social activity ➤ Latent functions- consequences of that activity of which participants are unaware ➤ He used the example of a rain dance performed by the Hopi tribe of Arizona and New Mexico; the Hopi believe that the ceremony will bring the rain they need for their corps (manifest function); so they organise and participate; but using Durkheim’s theory of religion, Merton argued that the rain dance also promotes the cohesion of Hopi society (latent function)
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  READING EXERCISE ➤ Durkheim-TheElementary Forms of the Religious Life (Allen and Unwin, 1976). ➤ Radcliffe-Brown’s study- Structure and Function in Primitive Society (1952) ➤ Barnard, A. (n.d.). Functionalism and structural- functionalism. History and Theory in Anthropology, 61–79. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808111.006
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  ACTIVITIES ➤ Society orculture can be understood by analysing its structural-functional properties. Discuss ➤ Structural-functionalism as reductionism ➤ List out some manifest and latent function of a university
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  REFERENCES ➤ Alan Barnard,Jonathan Spencer - Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology-Routledge (2010) ➤ A. R. Radcliffe-Brown - Structure and Function in Primitive Society Essays and Addresses (1952) (ch. 9 & 10) ➤ Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P . Appelbaum, Deborah Carr - Introduction to Sociology (Seagull Ninth Edition)-W. W. Norton & Company (2013).pdf ➤ Adam Kuper - Anthropology and anthropologists_ the modern British school-Routledge (1983) Pg-37-68