(1) Perspectives of Society

• What is meant by macro and micro approach?

  Macro approaches focus on large scale interactions in societies, micro approaches focus on small scale social interactions
• What is meant by structuralism?

  The approach that focuses on macro approaches and structures rather than individuals and believe that it is societal structures who shape the identity of individuals
• Describe features of structuralism

  • They see societies as a set of structures in which people play fixed roles
  • They believe that individuals have little to no freedom in actions
  • They believe that invisible social forces pull the strings that make individuals behave the way they do
• What is meant by interpretivism?

  A micro perspective that focuses on individuals rather than society and believe that individuals create their own identity through the interaction with others
• Describe features of interpretivism

  • They believe that individuals are in control of their identity through the way they live through actions
  • Norms and values constantly change as society's ideas change
• What is meant by social consensus?

  The belief that people share basic agreements between values and no major disagreements exist in society
• What is meant by social conflict?

  The belief that major disagreements exist between people about important issues usually from significant differences between them
• Why does the social conflict-consensus argument not apply to interpretivists?

  Because they focus on micro social interactions
• What is Functionalism?

  • It is a consensus approach that focuses on the functions that each institute of society carries out to maintain order
  • Durkheim noted that modern industrial societies are characterized by social order and people's behaviors are predictable due to members of society being united through collective consciousness
  • It is compared to the organic analogy; the idea that the institutes of society work together as one to keep society in order and if one part fails, everything fails just like the organs of the body
  • Talcott Parsons and Emile Durkheim are functionalists
• Give an example of a functionalist viewpoint

  Schools help students to develop the necessary skills required to survive and work, which helps the economy of society
• What is Marxism?

  • A conflict approach that focuses on the view that society is divided into the infrastructure and superstructure.
  • The infrastructure compromises of the rich bourgeoisie who dominate the mass means of production and constantly exploit the proletariat
  • The superstructure is made of social institutes like the family and media which reproduce bourgeoisie ideology and this in turn allows capitalist societies to exist with no objection from the proletariat
• • Karl Marx claimed that the existence of the superstructure has produced a working class that exists in a state of false class consciousness. They‘re deliberately told lies by the rich elite who seem to support them but rather help the other upper class people which in turn leads to the proletariat contributing to their own exploitation
• Give an example of a Marxist viewpoint

  Schools ensure that some people fail and they believe it’s their own fault so they accept a low position in society
• What is feminism?

  • A conflict approach that focuses on the view that society is patriarchal because men have all the wealth and power in society and women are deliberately kept inferior to men
  • It is a structuralist approach, just like Marxism and Functionalism