THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

Undergraduate Coursework Accountability Statement (To be completed by student)

ACADEMIC YEAR: _____2010/2011___________ SEMESTER: 1

COURSE CODE: SOCI1002 TITLE: Introduction to Sociology

NAME: __Claudia Nicole Campbell______________ ID: _309200662_____

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2. I understand what plagiarism is and what penalties may be imposed on students found guilty of plagiarism.

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Signature: …Claudia N. Campbell……….

Date: October 15, 2010

The conflict perspective views society less as a cohesive system and more as an arena of conflict and power struggles. Compare and contrast the main tenets of the functionalist and conflict perspectives.The development of society is dynamic in nature. There are different ways to explain this dynamism such as the Functional and Conflict perspectives. The Functionalist and Conflict perspectives are macro sociological approaches to the study of society, i.e. focusing on the structures of society and the relationship among groups and these structures. In this essay the writer proposes to discuss the perspectives identified above according to their proponents Auguste Comte and Karl Marx respectively. Having examined both theories I intend to posit that the Conflict perspective seems to have more traction with regards to societal trends in post modern society. Comte’s Functionalist school of thought is that society is comprised of distinct inter connected parts that function together as one entity. In contrast, the Conflict perspective was birthed from the worldview of its founder Karl Marx. Unlike the functionalist school of thought Marx’s Conflict perspective viewed society less as a cohesive system and more of an arena of conflict and power struggles.

Auguste Comte, a French thinker in search of an effective theory of society in light of the social upheavals that took place in Europe in the late 18th century founded the Functionalist perspective. Sociologists who endorse this perspective postulate that institutions such as the family and education teach individuals the norms and values of society. Functionalists embrace a concept referred to as ‘value consensus’ which is a term used to describe individuals sharing of social order and stability. It is the argument of Functionalist that value consensus creates a balance in society in the event that a disruption occurs which would have caused the balance (equilibrium) to move. While value consensus is a notable strength of Functionalism; it tends to ignore issues which constantly disrupt the balance in society such as divisions based on power, conflict, social class, race, ethnicity and gender. The Functionalist perspective is lacking in this regard as it does not account for how diversity can and more often than not will generate conflict.

In contrast to the Functionalist perspective, Conflict theorists see the society as being just that, in a state of conflict. This view of society came into being at a time when Europe was in the throes of the Industrial Revolution and Karl Marx, a German Jew who lived in England postulated that the society is divided into two main groups, the powerful (bourgeoisie) and the powerless (proletariat). Marx argued that the ‘forces of production’

which is a technical component of production that includes (a) the technology, (b) raw material, (c) scientific knowledge and (d) technical organization of the production process were owned by the bourgeoisie while the ‘relations of production’ which is the social relationships people enter into to produce goods are the only bargaining tool owned by the proletariat. Apropos to the imbalance in the ownership of resources Conflict theorists opine that social arrangements will tend to benefit some groups at the expense of others. It is argued that ‘the perspective highlights power struggles as the dominant trait of societies, giving little attention to social unity … ‘. It is my considered opinion however that the Conflict perspective is more in keeping with the reality of a post modern society.

An example of Conflict at work in society is the Mexican Maquildaora Porgramme which was established through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). American based firms employ Mexican women to work on assembly lines in factories and pay them low wages. The rational given for this employment practice is the women’s manual dexterity, patience and tolerance for monotonous work. It is important to note that the women cannot demand higher wages and better working conditions because the employers can easily replace them from a large pool of Mexican workers. In Jamaica the Freezone Era of the late 1980s to early 1990s saw women being employed under similar working conditions including bodily searches entering and exiting the factories. They were not entitled to vacation, sick or adequate maternity leave. The ‘class consciousness’ Marx alluded to came to the fore as unlike their Mexican counterparts, the Jamaican women united and arranged demonstrations and eventually abandoned their jobs en masse. The reaction of the Jamaican women forced the Freezone companies to leave Jamaica. I remain convinced that the Conflict Perspective does provide a more adequate explanation of societal phenomena.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Berkley, Bennie, Vashti Deochan, and Denise Gaspard-Richards.2005.Social Sciences Course Material: Introduction to Sociology. “The Sociological Perspectives 1 - Macro Sociology”. 2nd ed. Edited by Dianne Thurab-Nkhosi. University of the West Indies, Open Campus.___________. 2005. Social Sciences Readings. “Conflict Perspectives”. In Vol. 1 of University of the West Indies Readings #2.5. 2nd ed. Edited by Dianne Thurab- Nkhosi: University of the West Indies, Open Campus. Originally published in Haralambos, M., and M. Holborn and Robin Heald. 2004. “Conflict Perspectives”. In Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Harper Collins.

Ferrante, Joan.1998. “Theoretical Perspectives: With Emphasis on US Manufacturing Operations”. In Sociology: A Global Perspective. 3rd ed. Edited by Allan Venable. Wadsworth Publishing Company. ______________. 1998. An essay on “US Employers Preference for Female Labour: Latent Function or Dysfunction”. Writings by Susan Tiano, University of New Mexico. (1994). Edited by Allan Venable. Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Haralambos, Michael, and Martin Holborn. 1995.” Theories of Society”. In Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. 4th ed. Edited by Josephine Warrior. Harper Collins. London.