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Summary Functionalism and Social Inequality
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Functionalism and social inequality
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Functionalist approach to InequalityWhy do we have inequality?
- Argue that it is necessary for all societies to have inequality in order to survive-
inequality is FUNCTIONAL / POSITIVE
- Differences that exist in society with regard to wealth, power, status and prestige
exist to motivate the most talented people to work hard for the jobs with the best
reward- MERITOCRACY- link to education
- Believe that society is run by most talented and motivated people for the benefit of
us all- people are only motivated by the rewards of wealth and high status when
they aim for powerful positions in society
Social Darwinism
- Strongest people in society should become wealthy and powerful whereas the weak
should be punished and controlled in the some way
- Can be argued that functionalists propose a form of social Darwinism
- Arguments for why we need people to be poor:
Act as lesson / warning to work hard
Do manual labour jobs that others won’t want to do
Positive feeling if we help to poor
Charity provides others with work
Davis-Moore Theory
- There is inequality in all societies so inequality must be necessary for societies to
function and develop
- Inequality is good for society because it exists in all societies
- Not all social positions are equally pleasant or important to the success of society so
there must be rewards that encourage the best people to do the most important
jobs
- Most important positions are best rewarded and least important positions are poorly
rewarded- pay and status therefore reflect a person’s value to society
Criticism of Davis-Moore theory
- Circular- inequality is good because it exists then looks for evidence to show that it
exists because it is good
- Difficult to decide functional importance of every job
- Are those at the top of society in those positions because of talent? - overlooks birth
and wealth-nepotism
- Tumin- Davis and Moore provide rich people with an ideology that justifies their
greed and selfishness- come to believe that they are morally right because they are
in power
- Marxists- there is limited or no chance for poorest people to advance, regardless of
ability
- Feminists- gender inequality is built into social structures to point where it isn’t even
recognised
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