new right Flashcards
what is the new right
- not unified sociological theory - academics, politicians and journalists who share right-wing agenda
- draws heavily on different right wing approaches - free market neo-liberalism, social conservation
- influenced by right wing economics esp Hayek’s road to serdom
- supplanted functionalism as leading conservative sociological approach
what is new right evaluation
some argue these contradictions are actually examples of hypocrisy
accused of misusing statistics / science to justify racial and class inequality
takes a positivist approach so criticised by social action theorists / interpretivists
an american perspective
government welfare policies create feral underclass - welfare dependency main cause of community breakdown - heavily influenced the overhaul of USA’s welfare system
poverty is own fault for reckless behaviour - eg lack of work ethic
Murray - Coming Apart 2013 - rich in america must lead by example to show poor how they should live - favours hard work strong family values
The Bell Curve - Murrey and Hernstein - different social classes and ethnicities different innate IQ levels
an american perspective eval
lack of full time employment opportunities that lead to creation of underclass - majority of unemployed move in and out of employment
structural marxism - poverty due to capitalism’s constant pursuit of profit
Bell Curve - supports racial discriminatory practices alongside misunderstanding IQ
British perspective
Peter Saunders
sociology is very left wing - policy makers have skewed perspective on social world
sociology - anti-positivist - allows left wing feminist and social action theories go unchecked
society is meritocratic - social mobility study - those who were able to be upwardly mobile do so
no ruling class - proliferation of shareholders
reason why middle class do better in education and work is because they are more able
free market capitalist societies work best - not repressive like other forms of government
british perspective eval
society cannot be meritocratic if top of society based upon ascribed status
Durkheim - inheritance must be removed for society to be fair
statistical methodology for social mobility studies criticised for being inappropriate and introducing bias
evidence shows w/c with same qualifications still less likely to get the job
right realists
group of new right thinkers who study crime
right realists - reflect reality of crime unlike theories such as marxism
right realists highly influential on government approaches to crime - such as famous three strikes rule in NY USA
focus on restricting opportunities to commit crime and employ ration choice approach
focuses on socialisation and underclass for rises in crime along with biological explanations
similarities to functionalism - new right
both theories emphasise the importance of religion in providing strong collective moral framework
favour traditional nuclear family - best form of socialisation
both believe society is meritocratic and fair
favour strong systems of crime deterrence and prevention
differences to functinonalism - new right
functionalists see state as positive as it acts in interests of whole society
- new right dislike the state as it impinges on individual freedoms and operates in its own interests
welfare - positive for functionalists as it takes burden off family and the church allowing to focus on primary function
- new right see welfare as socially destructive and undermining personal responsibilities
applied new right
family - Murray - over generous welfare and divorce have led to the rise of single-parent family underclass - causes poorly socialised children
we must return to more traditional nuclear families and stop treating family breakdown as a choice rather than social problem
critical of feminists who they see as undermining the family and damaging society
impact of the new right
governments in western europe and america - moved politically right - cutting disability benefit, tax credits
educational policies increased competition
however social policies less influential - nuclear family
new right research criticised for methodology and contradictor beliefs - against state interference but want to tighten abortion legislation
Saunders and Murrary - quantitative research - see other methods as unscientific
