• Foundation of every discipline is laid by some torchbearers such as Comte, Durkheim, Marx and Weber in Sociology.

• Sociology has accommodated diverse thoughts due to its very nature.

• On one hand, Positivists like Durkheim gave society primacy.

• On the other hand, post-modernists put individual subjectivity at the heart of the discipline.

• Growth of discipline witnessed various phases dominated by particular ideas in particular epochs.

• Unlike scientific disciplines, truth in Sociology has many shades of grey.

• This plurality brought fresh perspectives in the discipline from time to time.

• Social thinkers present multiple truths helping to understand complex human society.

• Human society cannot be explained by one-size-fits-all universal rules.

• Their vibrant contribution led to intellectual churnings shaping Sociology as a mature discipline.

• Social reality is complex yet shows nuanced patterns.

• Complexities and patterns are viewed differently through various frameworks.

• Some thinkers engaged in frameworks, while others relied on mere observation of social phenomena.

• The chapter begins with analysis of earliest endeavours under functionalism.

Functionalism

• Functionalism as a perspective evolved with the beginning of Sociology as a discipline and Comte, Durkheim and Spencer put forth its basis.

• Its premise is that society works as a system of interconnected parts and each part exists to perform functional prerequisites for the whole system.

• Functionalists believe society behaves like an organism with various parts, each studied in light of the function it performs for the whole.

• Integration in society is the basic concern of functionalists.

• Terms Positivism and Functionalism are often used together but are not the same.

• Positivism puts scientific study at the heart of Sociology, aiming to make the discipline scientific and predictive like natural sciences.

• Comte was the first true Positivist.

• Both functionalists and conflict theorists like Durkheim and Marx fall under this classification as they offered predictive theories.

• Functionalism is a subset of Positivism in this sense (but not exactly).

• Durkheim was the first true functionalist.

• Functionalist approach begins with the observation that societal behaviour is structured.

• Relationships between members are organised by rules.

• Social relationships are patterned and recurrent.

• These are guided by generalised values which create value consensus and ensure integration.

• Functionalism was applied in different contexts by thinkers: Malinowski (religion), Murdock (universality of family), Davis and Moore (stratification), Herbert J. Gans (functions of poverty), Merton (deviance).

• It became a dominant perspective in the 1940s–50s as Structural Functionalism, led by Parsons and Merton.

• Its popularity declined during the 1960s–70s upheavals, when conflict perspective and others re-emerged as alternatives.

• Functionalists face criticism for focusing only on beneficial aspects of social relations, making their approach conservative and status quoist.

• They are accused of offering teleological explanations (confusing cause and effect in a circular manner).

• Example: Davis and Moore’s theory of stratification outlines positive functions of stratification, then uses these effects to explain its origin.

• Alvin Gouldner criticised functionalists for stressing on values without asking whose values they represent.

• Functionalist theories are prone to ecological fallacies, i.e., inferring about individuals from aggregate data.

• Example: GDP growth being positive globally does not mean everyone is better off.

• Functionalists make similar mistakes when considering functional roles of institutions, ignoring their impact on individuals.

TAUTOLOGIES AND TELEOLOGIES
These are the two fundamental limiting aspects of functionalist explanations. Tautology denotes saying the same thing twice. For example, this rectangle has four sides is tautological. Functionalists are accused of using tautological explanations. For example, functionalist claim that religion exists because it performs the function of enhancing social cohesion. But when we ask what they mean by religion, they define it as that collective activity which has the function of enhancing social cohesion. So, causal relationship between two separate things (religion and social cohesion), is simply the elaboration of the definition. Teleology is the study of purposes, intentions or goals. Functionalists explanations are accused of suffering from illegitimate teleologies. For example, functional explanation of social stratification is teleological in the sense that it uses serving a societal need of ensuring that the best people get the most important jobs. The problem with this is that it uses a consequence as a cause.

Conflict Perspective

• Like functionalists, conflict theorists also stress on structure and are predominantly Positivist in approach.

• They suggest a grand framework to explain society, but instead of consensus, they focus on divisions.

• They explain why unequal relations exist in society and how they are perpetuated.

• Marx was the first major thinker of this perspective through his dialectical materialistic conception of history.

• He saw societies as divided into two classes: haves (dominant upper class) and have nots (subjugated class).

• His ideas reflected not only sociological analysis but also a radical political reform agenda.

• Frankfurt School of Germany carried forward Marxist ideas, adding culture into structural analysis.

• Thinkers like Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse and later Jurgen Habermas belonged to this school, also called the Critical School or neo-Marxist school.

• Ralf Dahrendorf combined Marxist ideas with Weberian perspective, linking conflict to differences in interests of individuals and groups.

• Unlike Marx, who linked conflict only to class, Dahrendorf added dimensions of power and authority.

• Ivan Illich and Althusser applied Marxist ideas in education and culture.

• Gramsci gave the concept of hegemony in the field of polity.

• Pierre Bourdieu developed a model of four-fold capitals in modern societies using conflict perspective.

• Wallerstein used it to study globalisation and unequal trade in his World Systems Theory.

• While functionalism declined after the 1960s, the conflict perspective has remained enduring.

• It continues to evoke interest in the wake of events like the global financial crisis (2011-12) and the Jasmine Revolution (2012) in the Middle East.