4. Homogenity of a society The question must be asked do Parsons' views apply only in relatively homogeneous societies, e.g. Mid West U.S.A. both at the time when he was writing and in the present day or pre-1950 Britain, but not in heterogeneous ones (like Britain in today).
If so Parsons is not universal and his views cannot be applied to all social systems.
     
Summary

Functionalist sociologists view Culture as
1. a shared experience, common to most (if not all) members of a society.
2. based on language as symbolic of that common heritage.
3. largely uniform in a single society.

Criticisms of Functionalist view
1. Functionalism stems from its known time span, which is co-incident with the height of mass production as the dominant technological culture. Life for most inhabitants of the U.S.A. or Britain in 1930s to late 1950s was extremely uniform and drab. There was little in the way of consumer choice.
2. Society is now more fluid and less uniform; the idea of a common culture is less widely held. There are a plurality of cultures within any given society in C21.

 
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Haralambos and M. Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, 5th edn., 2000,
 pages 886-889

M. Haralambos and M. Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, 6th edn., 2004,
 pages 793-795 (omits discussion of Parsons)

M. Slattery, Key Ideas in Sociology, 2003, pages 190-194,
  'Structural Functionalism - Talcott Parsons'.

DAVID H. KENNETT
October 2001, revised September 2006
[DHK, code he6cult1]

 
Supplementary Reading List for Sociology Lecture
Sociology Lecture
MARX
CAPITAL AND LABOUR
DEVELOPMENT OFCLASS
PROCESSES AND CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS

Key Questions:         
What does Marx mean by the concept of social polarisation and how relevant is it for contemporary society?
What is the significance of class - consciousness and class conflict for modern society?
Further reading:
Bilton, A. et. al. (2002) Introductory Sociology, Palgrave Macmillan, 4th Edition.
Fulcher, J. and Scott, J. (2007) Sociology, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edition.
Giddens, A. (2006) Sociology, Polity Press, 5th Edition.
Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. (2008) Sociology Themes and Perspectives, Collins, 7th Edition.
O`Donnell, M. (1997) Introduction to Sociology, Nelson, 4th Edition.

Haralambos (2008)
pp.9 – 11: This section covers an introduction into Marx`s writings, introducing you to key ideas of Marxist theory. Remember Marx`s ideas have been interpreted in many ways, with different schools of Marxism having been developed.
• Contradiction and conflict
• Exploitation and oppression
• Contradiction and change
• Ideology and false consciousness

pp.26 – 27: This section covers Marx`s ideas on historical change and the development of class societies with the emergence of a class of producers (wage-labourers) and a class of non-producers who own private property. They establish a relationship of mutual dependence and conflict within capitalism.
• Classes
• Classes and historical epochs
• Capitalist economy and exploitation
• Power and superstructure:
The key here is to understand that with ownership and control of the means of production, the ruling class is in a strong position to exercise political power. For Marx, the value and belief systems (the super-structure) are shaped by the economic structure and reflect the interests of the ruling class who are able to establish a ruling class ideology.