Functionalist Theory of Labour

3 Key excerpts on "Functionalist Theory of Labour"

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  Restless Ideas

  Contemporary Social Theory in an Anxious Age

  • Tony Simmons(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Fernwood Publishing

    (Publisher)

  As social structures grew increasingly complex over time, the component parts of these social structures became increasingly differentiated and specialized. Equilibrium: According to Parsons and many other structural functionalist theorists, social systems remain, for the most part, in a self-adjusting state of internal balance, or homeostasis. When external disturbances or internal changes happen, systems tend to correct themselves. Function: The most obvious legacy of the biological metaphor in sociological theory can be seen in the concept of “function.” The idea that societies, or social structures, are said to have functions is closely related to the idea that biological organisms are said to have needs. In much the same way that the different parts of an organism are indispensable to its overall vitality and survival, so too may the different parts of a society or organization be essential for its overall vitality and survival. Once sociologists adopted this theoretical perspective, the discipline became increasingly preoccupied with showing how the different parts of society (organizations, institutions, sets of beliefs or practices) are all functional for its long-term survival. This, in a nutshell, is the essence of classical structural functionalism: every system is made up of a set of interrelated parts and each part has an important role in the overall survival of the system. Anything that is functional helps the system maintain its internal cohesion and also helps it to adapt to its external environment. In a family setting, parents are functional not only as agents for the socialization of children but also as providers: they help the family unit adjust to its external environment and they help their children integrate into the family unit by internalizing common norms and values

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  Themes in Geographic Thought (Routledge Revivals)

  • Milton Harvey, Brian Holly, Milton Harvey, Brian Holly, Milton E. Harvey, Brian P. Holly(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Very simply, functionalism is concerned with functions, and the analysis of functions of certain customs, acts and artifacts to the society. As Gouldner noted, functionalism is nothing if it is not the analysis of social patterns as parts of larger systems of behaviour and belief (Gouldner, 1959, p.241). Recently, Eisenstadt and Curelaru noted that functionalism:

  stresses the systemic properties of groups, institutions, and macro-societal orders, their internal organizational and structural characteristics or dynamics, and possibly, their interrelationships. It has tended to define social units as systems or organizations with specific structures and needs (Eisenstadt and Curelaru, 1976, pp.86–7).

  In political science, the importance of group properties and super-international organisations designed to solve specific human problems is at the heart of functionalism. Functionalism, in this context, focuses on the structure and functions of international organisations within a framework of working peace that, in the words of Myrdal, would build the Welfare World.

  The above discussion was an initial attempt to give the student some idea of what functionalism entails. Like any other conceptual and philosophical viewpoint in the social sciences, definitions of functionalism have varied over time and across disciplines in response to both the needs of that discipline and criticisms about the limitations of time-specific prevailing viewpoints. In general, the major developments in the definition of functionalism are associated with the works of Emile Durkheim, Bronislaw Malinowski, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton in sociology and anthropology. The contributions of each to functional theory are briefly discussed below.

  Emile Durkheim and Functionalist Ideas

  Functionalist ideas are usually traced to Durkheim who developed an organicist’s view of functionalism. He regarded society as an entity; a system, in space and time, which cannot be reduced to its constituent parts. In a broader context, he ‘viewed system parts as fulfilling basic functions, needs or requisites of that whole’ (Turner, 1974, p.18). He contended that the cultural practices of a society are a function of the social organisation of that society. As noted in a later translation of his work, ‘… all moral systems practiced by peoples are a function of the social organisation of these peoples, are bound to their social structures and vary with them’ (Durkheim, 1938, p.67). His major contributions to functionalism were the systemic view of society, the functional needs of society, the roles performed by the constituent parts of the society, the implicitness of societal equilibrium, and the importance of causal relationships.

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  Rethinking Sociological Theory

  Introducing and Explaining a Scientific Theoretical Sociology

  • Stephen K. Sanderson(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Chapter One Functionalism BASIC PRINCIPLES Functionalism is a term that has been widely used in the social sciences, sociology and anthropology in particular, to identify a variety of related lines of thought. For my purposes, a crucial distinction must be made between functionalism as a theoretical tradition and a functionalist mode of social explanation. The former incorporates the latter, but the latter can stand on its own and can be (and sometimes is) associated with other theoretical traditions. Functionalism as a theoretical tradition began in anthropology in the early part of this century with the works of such prominent figures as Bronislaw Malinowski and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown. 1 These thinkers sought to identify the parts of society, show how they were interrelated, and demonstrate their function or functions for the maintenance of society. Both Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski, especially the former, were greatly influenced by Emile Durkheim, whose ideas also had a major influence on sociological functionalism. Functionalism came into sociology partly by way of importation from anthropology and, more substantially, through the work of Talcott Parsons and his students and disciples. In The Social System, Parsons generated a functionalist model of societies as social systems. 2 He was preoccupied (virtually to the point of obsession) with the “problem of order,” and his sociological theory is overwhelmingly devoted to dealing with this problem. Like Durkheim, Parsons strongly rejected nineteenth-century utilitarian thinking. Society could not be composed simply of individuals pursuing their own interests, for such a thing would not be stable

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