Structural Theories: The Big Picture
Ever wondered why society seems to follow certain patterns? Structural theories argue that massive social forces shape our behaviour more than we realise.
Functionalism, founded by Emile Durkheim, sees society like a human body where every part works together. It believes in value consensus - that we all basically agree on what's right and wrong through socialisation. Think of schools, families, and governments all working together to keep society stable.
Marxism takes a completely different view, focusing on class conflict between the wealthy bourgeoisie (business owners) and the proletariat (workers). Marx argued that capitalism creates exploitation through surplus value - basically, workers create more value than they're paid for.
Key insight: Functionalism sees cooperation everywhere, whilst Marxism sees conflict and inequality as the driving forces of society.
Both theories have major blind spots though. Functionalism struggles to explain why there's so much conflict if we all agree on values. Marxism gets criticised for being too focused on class and ignoring other important factors like gender and race.
