SOC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Class Conflict, Feminist Theory, Symbolic Interactionism
Document Summary
Reifying society: most sociologists believe society is simply a concept used to make sense of social relations in a certain place (can"t be analyzed as organisms in itself) Assumptions; functionalists assume everything they oberseve in society has some function with giving any proof that a function actually exists. Few functionalists sociologists today, although functionalist claims are still made. Some predict a come-back, and one can see some signs of this. Prominent figures: karl marx, max weber, c. wright mills. Conflict: while the functionalist view generally focuses on how people get along peacefully (consensus), the conflict view focuses on the opposite. Conflict of different classes, race for scarce resources. Functionalist: interested/emphasis in consensus, how to maintain a particular status quo. Conflict: domination, inequality, access to resources, education, Conflicts have impacts on levels/dimensions of social life. Believe that conflict is common and has a major impact on the form of social relations. To understand social relations, we must focus on conflict.
