Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 127

Durkheim’s approach to sociology is known as functionalism, the study of society and the way its institutions connect together and change. Yet, though it has been very influential in the past, functionalism is in retreat. There are several reasons why.

Many have argued that functionalism is good at explaining consensus – why societies hold together – but less effective in explaining conflict and radical social change. Others argue that Durkheimian functionalism prioritizes societies’ constraints on people and does not allow enough room for the creative actions of individuals. Functional analysis also tends to impute ‘purposes’ and ‘needs’ to society itself. For example, we might say that the function of the education system is to train young people for the needs of a modern society. This seems to suggest that societies have ‘needs’ in the same way that people do. But is this really an adequate form of explanation? Modern economies may well require certain skills, but is the present education system the only or even the best way to provide them? What we really want to know is how, exactly, did the education system develop into its present form and could things have been different? Functionalism does not prioritize such questions.