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50-80wson Burrell Gareth Morgan - Sociological Paradigms and Organisational A
50-80wson Burrell Gareth Morgan - Sociological Paradigms and Organisational A
50-80wson Burrell Gareth Morgan - Sociological Paradigms and Organisational A
Comite believed that all sciences passed through his three phases
of development but did so at different times according to their
complexity. He felt that the ‘positive’ method which had already
triumphed in mathematics, astronomy, physics and biology would
eventually prevail in politics and culminate in the founding of a
positive science of society, which is called sociology. His vision
was of a sociology based on the models and methods employed in
the natural sciences, addressing itself to the discovery of scientific
laws which explain the relationships between various parts of
society — ‘social statics’ — and the way in which they change over
time — *social dynamics’. In his writings Comte made much of the
link between biology and social science. He saw biology as mark-
ing a decisive point of transition between sciences, in that it
marked a distinction between the ‘organic’ and ‘inorganic’ and
placed emphasis upon understanding and explanation within the
totality of the living whole (Comte, 1853, vol. II, pp. 111-26).
Comte thus laid the foundations for the mode of social theorising
characteristic of the functionalist paradigm. Based upon the ‘posi-
tive’ model of the natural sciences, utilising mechanical and
organic analogies, distinguishing between statics (structure) and
dynamics (process), and advocating methodological holism,
Comite initiated important ground rules for a sociological
enterprise geared to an explanation of social order and
regulation.
This, indeed, was the problem that remained central to the whole of
Durkheim's life work: as he was 10 write in a letier to Bouglé, ‘the
object of sociology as a whole is to determine the conditions for the
conservation of societies’. At this early period the problem posed itself
as a question of determining the nature of social solidarity in industrial
societies. as opposed to that in traditional or pre-industrial societies,
and of accounting for the historical transition from the latter to the
former. Later he was to turn to the study of ‘elementary’ or tribal
societies. and in particular, primitive religion, in order to determine the
nature of social solidarity in general. (Lukes, 1973, p. 139)
logy. As will become apparent from our discussion in this and the
next chapter, for this reason alone Pareto’s influence calls for
consideration in any review of the background to the functionalist
paradigm.
Among the main features of his work which are relevant for
comment here are the fact that after establishing the extent and
significance of the non-logical in social affairs, he proceeded to
explain it in terms of a social systems model based upon the notion
of equilibrium. His view of society was that of a system of interre-
lated parts which, though in a continual state of surface flux, were
also in a state of unchanging equilibrium, in that movements away
from the equilibrium position were counterbalanced by changes
tending to restore it. Pareto saw in the concept of equilibrium a
useful tool for understanding the complexities of social life. In the
physical sciences it had provided a means of analysing the rela-
tionship between variables in a state of mutual dependence, and it
had been used successfully in the field of economics. Pareto
extended it to the social sphere, viewing society as determined by
the forces acting upon it.
Structural functionalism
heim has had its major impact upon sociological thought. Building
upon the concepts of holism, interrelationship between parts,
structure, functions and needs, the biological analogy has been
developed in diverse ways to produce a social science perspective
firmly rooted in the sociology of regulation. Treating the external
social world as a concrete reality, governed by observable func-
tional relations amenable 10 scientific investigation through
nomothetic methods, structural functionalism developed as the
dominant paradigm for sociological analysis dunng the first half of
the twentieth century. Indeed, by the 1950s its influence was 50
pervasive that in certain quarters functional analysis was equated
with sociological analysis per se (Davis, 1959).
Goal anainmens
the actions which serve to define the goals of the
system and to mobilise and manage resources and
effort to attain goals and gratification.
Integration the unit acts which establish control, inhibit
deviancy, and maintain co-ordination between
parts, thus avoiding serious disturbance.
Latency or patiern maintenance
the unit acts which supply actors with necessary
motivation.
Systems theory
Since the early 1950s the ‘systems approach’ has assumed increas-
ing importance in various branches of social analysis. In sociology,
psychology, anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, organisation
theory. industrial relations and many other social science subjects,
systems theory has become established as an important method of
analysis. Among the more prominent studies, it is worth citing by
the way of illustration the work of Parsons (The Social System,
1951), Homans (The Human Group, 1950), Katz and Kahn {The
Social Psychology of Organisations, 1966), Easton {The Political
System, 1953) Dunlop (Industrial Relations Systems, 1958) and
Buckley (Sociology and Modern Systems Theory, 1967).
Despite its popularity, however, the notion of ‘system’ is an
elusive one. Many books on systems theory do not offer a formal
definition of the systems concept, and where a definitionis attempt-
ed, it is usually one of considerable generality." For example,
Angyal suggests that ‘there is a logical genus suitable to the treat-
58 Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis
The above point has not been clearly articulated and stressed in
the literature on systems theory, at least not in the systems litera-
ture most often read by social scientists. As far as most social
scientists are concerned, there are two types of system perspec-
tives — open and closed. The fact that the former encompasses a
whole range of possibilities is hardly ever recognised.
60 Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis
The emphasis in our discussion here has been placed upon the
fact that systems theory in principle is not linked to the use of any
one particular type of analogy. The fact that most applications
TYPE OF Mechanical Organismic Marphogenic Factional Catastrophic
SYSTEM
ANALOGY