Evaluation World - 33 mark Flashcards
Strengths of Marxism
1) Recognizes the impotance of ecenomy and how it can influence a wide range of social institutions
2) Remains a highly influential theory, which has had a significant influence on other theories. eg. NM , Weber and Marxist Feminists
Weaknesses of Marxisn
1) Over -emphasises the extent of conflict in society and pays little attention to factors such as age, gender and eth.
2) Deterministic and sees people as passive products of the social system which socialises them into conformity
3) forgets individual choice and free will.
4) PM’s argue that metanarative of class is no longer important and the main social divisions of class comes from individual choices in consumption, patterns and lifestyle.
Strengths of Feminism?
1) Successfully deconstructed the social constraints of women in sociology
2) Studies of domestic violence offers a qualitative and unique insight into the experience of women
3) Makes sociology less biased, hegemonic and patriarchal.
Weaknesses of Feminism?
1) Gender determinist - No issues of class or poverty placed
2) Partraichry is in decline! Women are becoming more equal to men
3) Its a fragmented movement, different IDEAS and SOLUTIONS lead to LACK of UNIT and PROGRESS
Weaknesses of Functionalism?
1) Conflict theorists see functionalism as a conservative ideology which legitizmises the status quo and the privelleged position of powerful groups.
2) Marx - Not harmonious but sciety is based on exploitation and divided into classes with conflicting interests and UNEQUAL power.
3) Functionalism (along with Marxism) is an example of a meta-narrative that tries to create a model for society as a whole. PM’s claim that i=this overall theory is no longer possible since society is increasingly FRAGEMENTED , DIVERSE and UNSTABLE.
4) Merton - neglects dysfunction - but some things may be functional for some groups and dysfunctional for others (SOCIETY ISN’T ALWAYS AS SMOOTH RUNNING AND INTEGRATED AS YA THINK)
