Structuralist Flashcards
What does structure give to a word?
Meaning
Is this a top-down or bottom-up approach?
Top-down
What do structuralists think society is more important than?
The individuals within it
What do they think social behaviours influenced by?
social insitutions
What are the other social structures?
Class, gender, and ethnicity
What do they believe are the most important factors in determining the way people act?
Social institutions and social structures
What methodologies do they prefer to use?
Positivist
What data do they prefer to collect?
Quantitative data
Do they think human behaviour is predictable?
Yes
What do they think their collected data can provide?
solutions to social issues
What are some examples of structural theories?
Consensus theories (functionalism) and Conflict theories (Marxism and feminism)
Did marxism and feminism start out in the structuralist tradition?
Yes
What do marxism and feminism agree with in terms of structural theory?
That structural inequality exists
Why are structuralist theories still relevant?
Because divisions still exist
What divisions still exist in society?
Social class, gender, ethnicity
How many people are there living in poverty in the UK?
14 million
Of the people still living in poverty in the UK, what type of people are they?
Females from minority ethnic backgrounds
Are there still people who haven’t quite evolved into postmodern society?
Yes, such as the elderly
What background do those that disagree with the theory come from?
Postmodern
What makes the ‘one size fits all’ structuralist belief no longer fit for purpose?
Individual choices and greater diversity
What is meant by ‘meta-narrative’?
An explanation that tries to sum up why everything happens in one truth
Does society still believe in meta-narratives?
No, according to Leotard
What have we replaced meta-narratives with?
Individual perspectives on society
Will everyone in the same social class, gender and ethnicity have similar experiences?
No
Is Structuralism a micro or macro approach?
Macro
What do macro approaches look at?
Society as a whole
