Functionalism (Émile Durkheim) - Historical Development Anthropology and Blog - Aiden C

 Aiden Cunningham

Mr. Roddy
IHSS
8 September 2021

Functionalism (Émile Durkheim) - Aiden C IHSS Blog

Functionalism is an idea formed by Émile Durkheim around the 19th century which thought of societies as a delicate balance, with each part of a society working together but individually to overall create a working society. This theory focused mainly on the institutions and social facts of society, and very little on the people inside said society. This means that functionalism explains how big business, schools, medicine, marriage, etc. work together with things that are known as common parts of society, such as laws and traditions. These things will not die out after any individual passes away, and they can be known as defining features of a society. This system was actually quite good when being used to observe the basics of a society, but its problem was that it lacked any form of recognition for social change and conflict. This means that, as a basic tool for explaining what makes a society tick in the current time of here and now, Functionalism works great, but if we want to explain how things in society are changing, or how a change in a society is being advocated for, Functionalism won’t work.












Works Cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Functionalism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Oct. 2008, https://www.britannica.com/topic/functionalism-social-science. Accessed 8 September 2021.


Khan Academy, “Functionalism” Khanacademy.org, 2021, www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/society-and-culture/social-structures/v/functionalism. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021.


“Cultural Anthropology - Boas and the Culture History School | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2021, https://www.britannica.com/science/cultural-anthropology/Boas-and-the-culture-history-school#ref38791 1. Accessed 9 Sept. 2021.

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