Conflict/Functionalist Theories

KARL MARX EMILE DURKHEIM

 CONFLICT THEORY
• Begins with Marx and his analysis of history
• Thesis/antithesis = struggle (conflict)
• Synthesis = a new order is produced because
of the struggle between the classes
• All of history can be understood in this way
• Three stages of history: feudalism, capitalism
& socialism (it was an inevitable destination!)
(Many call it communism)
 Always a struggle
• The materialist  view of history = the most
important determinant of social life is the work
people are doing, especially work that results in
provision of the basic necessities of life, food,
clothing and shelter. 
• Marx thought that the way the work is
socially organized and the technology used in
production will have a strong impact on every
other aspect of society.
 Power=ownership
• He maintained that everything of value in society results
from human labour. Thus, Marx saw working men and
women as engaged in making society, in creating the
conditions for their own existence.
• Every part of human history and existence must be
understood through the lens of social/economic theory
• All relationships are based on conflict/struggle
• Who has the power? Who wants it? Who owns the
resources?
Only 1 institution: private property
• The central institution of capitalist society is private
property, the system by which capital (that is,
money, machines, tools, factories, and other material
objects used in production) is controlled by a small
minority of the population. This leads to two
opposed classes, the owners of capital (called
the bourgeoisie) and the workers (called the
proletariat), whose only property is their own
labour time, which they have to sell to the
capitalists.
• Economic exploitation leads directly to
political oppression, as owners make use of
their economic power to gain control of the
state and turn it into a servant of bourgeois
economic interests. Police power, for instance,
is used to enforce property rights and
guarantee unfair contracts between capitalist
and worker.
Conflict theory + marriage
 The Marriage Scam
• 1884
• Built on Marx’s ideas
• Monogamy is an invention to control sexual
reproduction
• Marriage is a social construct to guarantee
private property to biological children
• Conclusion: marriage is exploitation of women
 Oppression is everywhere!
•  The economic structure of society moulds
the superstructure, including ideas (e.g.,
morality, ideologies, art, and literature) and the
social institutions that support the class
structure of society (e.g., the state, the
educational system, the family, and religious
institutions).
• What do you think? Is school oppressive?
 Conflict theory & private schools
•  Because the dominant or ruling class (the
bourgeoisie) controls the social relations of
production, the dominant ideology in capitalist
society is that of the ruling class.
• Ideology and social institutions, in turn, serve
to reproduce and perpetuate the economic class
structure. 
• Does private school education perpetuate the
class system? What do you think?
Functionalist theory / Durkheim
• First theory in sociology
• Two fundamentals:
• 1- application of
scientific method
(sociologists must be
objective & without bias)
• 2- institutions fulfill
basic human needs and
all groups play a role in
achieving equilibrium
 Balance, equilibrium, stability
• Key words for functionalism
• Think of any system that must co-ordinate its
parts for survival (body & organs)
• A social system with needs that must be met
• When change in one group happens, other
groups must adjust, adapt, respond...to
accommodate for the change, finding the
equilibrium again
• HOMOEOSTASIS IS THE KEY WORD
HERE
 A society is
• A system of inter-related “parts”
• A change in one affects the others
• Most changes are the result of “evolution” or
natural progression of ideas and social change
• Durkheim was influenced by Darwin`s work
• Functionalism focuses on the individual and
how social forces influence him (Macro
perspective)
 The social self
• Functionalism understands the individual to be a
product of social forces in the environment
• Almost puppet-like (has been the criticism)
• The individual`s place in the social structure will
determine their actions
• Internalized social expectations and act
accordingly in order to satisfy the needs of the
group
• Social control may be explicit or implicit
• Functionalist want to PREDICT behaviour
• This explains the emphasis on the scientific
method
• Shared values (solidarity) is key to group
cohesiveness
• Example: laws, rules, constitutions are an
explicit expression of supreme values (justice,
freedom) that are held in common by a
group/society
• Functionalism is a macro approach to
studying society; it defines society as a system
of interrelated parts.
•  A good metaphor is the body with its
interrelated organs that all work together to
produce the state of health of the person.  It
has built in mechanisms that maintain stasis or
balance.  (Sweating, shivering, etc.)
•  In society, when things happen to provoke
change or throw it off kilter, other mechanisms
come into play to help bring back to a balance.
 Sometimes this new balance is slow change,
in the case of people`s values changing faster
than the laws or the other way around.  What
examples can you think of to prove this
theory?  
Conflict + Functionalist