Functionalism developed from the ideas of theories such as Emile Durkheim and Herbert Spencer, but had its roots traced as far back as the father of sociology, August Comte. Marxism however, suggests that society is characterized by inequality is responsible for conflict and social change. Marxism was coined by Karl Marx who work focused on the increasing industrialization and the economic system of capitalism and the implications on the society. These theories have little similarities, so much so they often contradict each other. One similarity is that both theories are macro theories and the focus on both theories studies the society as a whole in a large scale manner however they both view society as a whole in different lights.
“the realist while rejecting the positivist approach of testing theory against data, acknowledges that there are underlying and unobservable cause to explain social phenomena and that testing theories against each other is the way to proceed with methodology” Outline the main principles of positivism and anti-positivism and explain with reference to the quote how realism adds to and challenges the traditional methodological discussion in sociology The merits of positivism and anti-positivism in defining social phenomena have been debated over many years. Positivists such as August Comte (1978 - 1857) believed that the accumulation of scientific knowledge and statistics could reveal sociological laws which would help to explain various functions of society. Anti-positivists counter this and instead claim, that because human beings individually act on a variety of influences, a scientific approach is insufficient in defining sociological theory. Realism challenges both theories by conceding that, although there are underlying causes that affect society, these causes cannot be understood by scientific methods alone. Instead they try to understand social phenomena by testing existing theory against new theory.
These combine to form the infrastructure and the superstructure i.e. education, politics, norms and values all support the dominant system determined by economic factors” Haralambos, M & Holborn, M (2000) Marxism believed that there was class conflict between the bourgeoisies (upper class/owners of land, factories etc) and the Proletariat (the working class/middle class). The Marxism theory was also a macro sociological theory as it views society in the ‘bigger picture’. The functionalist theory is different in the way that it is a consensus theory; this means that everything in society functions as individual parts that as a whole create society. Functionalists look at society like the human body; both human parts and parts of society have certain needs that need to be met if they are to survive.
It was Marx who coined this term ‘classical economics’ to refer to the economics of Smith, Ricardo and Mill. These three classical economists argued that free markets regulate themselves confining their labour theory of value. On the contrary, Marx considered capitalism to be a historically specific mode of production that would eventually be replaced by communism. In his writing on the communist Manifesto, Marx criticises capitalism and believes that labour exploitation will be the driving force behind a revolution for a socialist economic system. Adam Smith’s writing is structured around his economic metaphor of the ‘invisible hand’ which perceives the marketplace to be self-regulated.
There are different kinds of class processes - communist, capitalist, feudal, and so on - which vary according to who produces, appropriates, and distributes the social surplus and how that process is organized. No doubt, the distribution of power in society contributes to - participates in the overdetermination of - what kinds of class processes occur in that society and their particular qualities. Similarly, a society's particular class process overdetermines its power processes. However, the interaction of power and class processes is no warrant for collapsing them, reducing either to an effect of the other, or ignoring how both also are overdetermined by the natural, cultural, and indeed all the other processes that comprise any society. Monopoly designates a particular distribution of power in and over a particular institution, namely a market.
The self was defined anonymously as a “disembodied actor assimilating norms and producing meanings in relation to the wider, macrosociological system” (Swingewood, 2000:165). Only Simmel’s sociology with its basis in sociation and interaction approached an adequate theory of the living, active social subject. Mead later developed Simmel’s theory of the self, he argued “Human society as we know it, could not exist without minds
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins portrays a futuristic society set in a post-apocalyptic world; the novel exemplifies the perversion of Karl Marx's theory known as Marxism and the struggles between social classses. Collins shows the various ways in which a communistic society can be corrupted. It is human nature, to be greedy, selfish, lazy, and decietful; this is what ultimately forces Marxism to be an impossibility. A communistic based society would have no need for government simply because each individual would be more than willing to live their life according to the laws and ideas of Marxism. There would be a much greater chance of success for communism, if the location/environment was smaller and consisted solely of those in complete non-forceful compliance.
What do sociologists mean by social control and when do social controls influence behavior? Social control is the means by which members of a society attempt to induce each other to comply with the society's norms. Social controls influence behavior constantly because they are internalized and come into play every time a person has a deviant impulse. How do the various theories explain deviance? Social -control theory argues that deviance is largely a matter of failed social controls.
Marx believes differently than Freud, in the sense that the desire for freedom and pleasure is attainable if there isn't someone telling society that they can't attain those goals The follow is essay will highlight the arguments of Freud's Civilization and It's Discontents and as well For Carl Marx's Marx/ Engels Reader. This paper will discuss the theorist and see which one sounds more convincing. A brief synopsis of Freud's book Civilization and It's Discontents will better support his claim that it is impossible to achieve ultimate satisfaction. He he opens up the book with the pleasure principle and the reality principle. Through these principles humans are able to distinguish between realities that are imaginable or attainable.
Both Lyotard and Baudrillard believe that other sociological theories such as Marxism or Functionalism, are ‘meta-narratives’ or ‘grand narratives’, which means they are both elaborate stories that give the impression that society is largely under control, when in reality we find that this is not the case. These ‘grand narratives’ were developed in order to justify and explain a sense of control over the ever-expanding economic system, which in fact human beings have no control over at all. This therefore means that the role of sociology has been to justify and explain. However, Lyotard disagrees with this view and says that contemporary society consists of merely isolated individuals linked together by few social bonds, rather than how other sociological theories describe them. They both rejected the ‘grand narrative’ theories, Post Modernists instead focus upon the concepts of identity and difference rather than inequality.