SOC 101 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Critiques of Functionalism from the Instructor Erin Hatton I II III IV V VI Like any perspective the functionalist perspective has its shortcomings Complex society such as ours has a multitude of competing values rather than just one stable set of shared beliefs so it s actually quite difficult to argue that a social structure serves to reinforce a social value because there is no single social value there are lots of competing ones For one we might argue that an It s also important to note that people s actual behavior usually falls short of the values they claim to hold This makes it even more difficult to identify one set of shared beliefs because not only do different people believe in different things they also DO different things than they say they believe Functionalism can also be tricky because it may be used inappropriately to justify and legitimize the existence of an undesirable parts of society such as poverty or unemployment For instance recall how Herbert Spencer argued that poverty was just a natural part of society a part which according to him would eventually die out because the poor weren t among the fittest in this life which he believed was the survival of the fittest VII This was an inappropriate use of functionalism one based on racism and conjecture rather than actual research VIII IX A final critique is that functionalists focus on shared values and beliefs leaves out the issue of power In particular the power that only some people within any particular society have to define that society s values and moreover the power that those same people have to evade punishment when those values are violated So by focusing on shared traits and shared values functionalists can overlook power dynamics and may mistake some people s values for everyone s values X XI XII This question of power and conflict between those with power and those without power is the primary concern behind the third and final theoretical perspective 1 Yet in this perspective conflict is not only a negative aspect of society since it may also produce social change Conflict theorists understand conflict as an inevitable part of social life 1 According to conflict theorists societies are characterized by inequality a There are dominant and subordinate groups which compete for resources These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute b And this competition which is wrought by inequality according to conflict theorists produces conflict rather than social order and consensus XIII This conflict can only be overcome through a fundamental transformation of existing relations in the society Now if this reminds you of Karl Marx well it should Marx was a classic conflict theorist who argued as you will recall that the proletariat and capitalist classes would always be in conflict in the industrial capitalist system and that the only way to change this would be to fundamentally get rid of industrial capitalism But you don t have to be against capitalism to be a conflict theorist Rather conflict theorists analyze power differentials and the struggles between them XVI According to conflict theorists the idea of social consensus is simply a euphemism for ideology They believe that genuine consensus can never actually be achieved and that the more powerful in societies are able to impose their ideas on others and thus their discourse their beliefs become the dominant discourse and the dominant beliefs Thus from this perspective consensus does not maintain social order rather it entrenches stratification or inequality XVII Here s an example of conflict theory in action Take for instance the American Dream Most people in America define our country as the land of opportunity The American Dream says that everyone no matter their race sex or creed has the opportunity to work hard and succeed People are said to be living the American Dream when they work their way up from poverty And we ve all heard countless of these rages to riches stories about people like Oprah Bill Clinton Elvis Presley Mark Wahlberg and many more So if you think about it this American Dream is fundamentally a belief in the impermanence of poverty it s the belief that it is possible to move out of poverty through hard work and thrift by keeping your eyes open and your head about you And thus the American Dream is ALSO a belief about those who are still poor as it implies that are not doing things right that they are NOT working hard enough they are NOT saving as they should or that they are making bad decisions So while functionalists might say that our cultural belief in the American Dream gives us a sense of shared understanding and therefore fosters social order Conflict theorists would say that it serves to preserve social inequality by putting the onus the responsibility for achievement on poor people themselves while covering up the many structural barriers that impede their ability to move out of poverty XVII Like the other perspectives there are critiques of conflict theory For instance critics would say that conflict theorists tend to overemphasize tensions and divisions within a society and ignore shared values and sources of social stability within a society In addition critics would argue that relationships between groups of people including workers and employers is more complex their relationship can t simply be reduced to conflict and exploitation