can someone explain functionalist theory of social change (1 Viewer)

[Mustafa Mond]

Hey everybody, I was just going over my continuity and change notes, and I realised that I don't really understand how this works. I've read both the explanations oin heineman and excel adn still feeel like i don't get it! can someone please help me as I don't want to be stuck trying to apply conflict theory to everything Thanks

Mustafa

 

[winicat]

These are just a small part of my notes:

• Talcott parsons propounded the notion that a society consists of interdependen parts, each of which helps maintain the stability of the entire social system. The system itself constantly seeks equilibrium, thus change is undesirable although small changes can be integrated and the system rebalanced - a fairly irrelevant theory when explanations are being sought for the massive changes that follow industrialisation and modernisation
• key concepts in this theory are those of "differentiation" and "integration". Differentiation occurs as society becomes more complex but the new institutions must be integrated with each other and into the whole
• deals only with institutional change
• can be of some use when looking at the change in rural China from family-based work to the production team structure I don't know about this bit...

There's also this little bit from a diagram (but makes sense without it):

1. Society consists of interdependent parts. Each helps to maintain the stability of the social system.
2. Change is something that alters the stability of the social system (eg. famine, migration) when external or internal strains throw the system out of balance.
3. THe imbalance provokes adjustments that bring the social system back to equilibrium -- but different social arrangements not exist than prior to change

Note: The new social system is different, more complex but integrated. eg. Japan after WWII western reconstruction

social change consists of getting from one stable social situation to another

hope that all helped. i think the second stuff is making more sense than the top stuff but yeah ...

 

[Survivor39]

Hey everybody, I was just going over my continuity and change notes, and I realised that I don't really understand how this works. I've read both the explanations oin heineman and excel adn still feeel like i don't get it!
Mustafa

Basically, the Functionalist theory state that changes in the society occurs as a result of agreement, or consensus. So for example, the society think cloning should be banned, then change occur to abandon cloning in a particular society because the citizens agree that this is how it should be. But I think the Heinemann text explained it pretty clearly. But what's more important is the way you apply this theory to continuity and change in your selected country. (see page 160 of Heinemann). The doi moi policy hightlights the use of the Functionalist theory, in which the economy is not functioning well, and in order to change the system for the better, societal change has to occure and this was agreed by the Vietnamese people. hence introduced the doi moi policy. i think you get the picture.

Good luck!