6 names

‘Action is the product of deep underlying social forces’

• Functionalists: institutional needs
  • Organic analogy, more complex, each interdependent. (Parsons) 4 functional prerequisites of individuals fitting into society/institutions creates order: A(economic)G(political)I(culture)L(Family)
  • Socialisation → value consensus, Sense of belonging → value consensus → stable
• Marxist: relations of production
  • Economic is base, and superstructure
  • Althusser power: capitalist societies, ruling class economically powerful become politically/ideological powerful (RSA & ISA)
  • order and control: own economic base → control superstructures → conform

individual forces shape society, no social forces, agency

• Interactions
  • Society is constructed through social interaction based on meanings (Schutz), meanings are important, micro interactions, “bottom up”, mentally existing society
  • Socio-psychological process through which society are constructed (Garfinkle ethnomethodology, upset broke conventions, order desirable, unstated assumptions)
  • Over-socialised conception of men (Wrong), social context differences & Not obeying without a question. Meanings can change, always open to negoti and inter (Goffman).

But looking at the whole picture,

• Structuration
  • interactions: formalise behavioural rules into practices
  • rules become externalised, a sense of structure develops
  • Reflexivity