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Sociology – Schools of Thought *Please note that there are some overlaps between that of the Anthropological and Sociological Schools of Thought Structural-Functionalism – the premise of Structural-Functionalists is that society must exist to provide its members with certain fundamental requirements in order for it to function. A Structural-Functionalist will not look to change society but instead look at how each system allows human society to function. These sociologists will look at how our social systems work together (sometimes unknowingly) to create social cohesion and stability. Within society there are specialized systems (like our education system) that exist to fulfill particular needs. *A sociologist will study these systems while an anthropologist may look at the differences from culture to culture* Dysfunctional – social institutions are those that fail to perform their intended purpose. Neo-Marxism – is a sociological school of thought that focuses on the ideas proposed by Karl Marx. He believed that society is best understood by looking at its economic system and the struggle for economic power. In addition, it is the economic power that controls political power. This system looks at society as ever-changing. As a result social change comes from changes made to the economic system. Neo-Marxists believe that it is the economic system that creates inequality in society. The free-market (or capitalist) society then creates an unavoidable rift between the rich and the power, the powerful and the powerless. In particular Neo-Marxists often study the effects of globalization on lesser developed countries. Symbolic Interactionism – basically put this is the way in which we as humans interact with others. Specifically though it is our ability to adjust our behaviour to the actions of others. This is possible due to our ability to interpret for ourselves the stimuli that we receive in daily life. Interpreting stimuli – to the symbolic interactionist each individual will interpret the stimuli they receive in a different manner. Different perceptions thus mean varying emphasis on what is important to each individual. For example, one sibling may value money while the other values charity. Both have received the same messages from their parents but have interpreted the stimuli in a different manner. Symbolic Interactionism – focuses on the face-to-face interaction of humans rather than on the social institutions. Feminist Theory – looks at the tradition of discrimination against women in society. Feminists will agree that, in the past, women have been marginalized via male dominated institutions. However, disagreement now exists in looking at the extent of the problem today (ie: does it still exist and to what extent?) 4 Types of Feminists: Liberal Feminists – do not actively challenge the role of men in society. Their belief is that chance can be brought about via legal and social reform. The idea here is that of equity or “sameness” and that women should be given the right to decide certain issues for themselves. Examples of issues that liberal feminists tend to support are: same-sex marriage, pro-choice movement and the legalization of prostitution. Marxian Feminists – believe that the capitalist society is the root of inequality and oppression of women. The rich class of working men created the undervalued (and unpaid) work of domestic women. The result (according to Marxian Feminists) is that even after entering the workforce women were not paid the same as their male counterparts. Radical Feminists – to the radical feminist society is seen as an oppressive patriarchy in which men dominate most institutions. Radical feminists will often clash with liberal feminists because they don’t think that legislation will bring about change. They feel that society has to be changed at its core. Radical feminists wish to completely destroy societal patriarchy. Sometimes radical feminists believe that they must rage a war against men, patriarchy, and the gender system which confines them to rigid social roles. They completely reject these roles, all aspects of patriarchy, and in some cases, they reject men as well. Social Feminists – share some beliefs with radical feminists in that both believe that the social state of patriarchy needs to be dissolved. A key difference though is that they believe men and women need to work side by side as equals. To accomplish this they take from the beliefs of Marxian feminists in that capitalism needs to first be overthrown. Inclusionism – is not a gender-based school of thought but instead looks at issues of race and religion. Historically most sociologists looked at society as being assimilationist (that the culture of the majority would eventually absorb racial, ethnic and religious minorities through public institutions). Multiculturalism – as Canada became more ethnically diverse sociologist began looking at the diversities within society. Furthermore they wished to study the experiences of visible minorities and the barriers they face. Inclusionism looks at the political involvement of visible minorities and their ability to obtain racial equity in the workplace (status, promotion and pay equity).