Key Terms Flashcards
Macro scale
Look at society as a whole
Micro scale
Society from the individual
Structural theory
Top down
Macro
Deterministic
Trapped, controlled, no free will
Action theories
Bottom up
Individual controls society
We have impact and free will
Anomie
No norms and values, have lost them or have shifted ones
Normlessness
Lost norms and values
Organic analogy
Society works like organs in a body
Indispensability
Institutions have specific functions
Functional alternatives
Institutions can replace others and still be functional
Functional independence
If one institution fails the rest won’t
Universal functionalism
Every institution is functional
Capitalism
Economic system of large scale businesses who compete to make profit
Bourgeoisie
Ruling class own the means of production (e.g. Factories, banks etc) and control political system and cultural institutions (media&education)
Proletariat
working class who sell their labour power to survive / for a wage
Surplus value
Products are sold to consumers for more than they cost to make, leaving bourgeoisie with profit
