RS1000 Class

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RS1000 Class 6

• Topics of Discussion
• Economic Base and Culture (Case Studies)
• McDowell County, WV
• Functionalist Perspective

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Natural Resource Based Economies (Extraction of
Resources) NOtes

• Farming
• Mining
• Fishing
• Logging

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Percentage Distribution of American Workers in
Mining (Notes)
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Sociological Theories

• A set of principles and definitions that tell how
  societies operate and how people relate to one
  another and respond to the environment.

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McDowell County, WV

• History?
• What is the culture of McDowell County?
• What factors contributed to the emergence of the
  culture of McDowell County?

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The Functionalist Perspective
Questions of Order and Stability
Functionalist Focus
Society as System of Interrelated Parts
Function as the Contribution of a Part to the
Larger System
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The Functionalist Perspective

• What is functional about a given social
  arrangement for the stability of the overall
  society?
• How do the parts of society fit together like an
  organism to meet the needs of the whole body of
  society?
• Dominant values(ideas) of a society serve the
  functional needs of society
• The functional needs of society are the source of
  social order.

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Mertons Concepts
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The Functionalist Perspective-McDowell County

• Examples of Manifest Functions
• Mines were developed to serve the energy needs of
  a growing population and urbanizing
• Mechanization makes mining more efficient and is
  more functional for meeting the needs of the
  society as a whole

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The Functionalist Perspective-McDowell County

• Example of Latent Functions
• Provided better jobs for Blacks who were
  suffering oppression in the deep south. Provided
  jobs for immigrants seeking a better life
• Generated a strong sense of local cultural
  identity and belonging among local residents
• Example of Manifest Dysfunctions
• Population is in decline
• Infrastructure breakdown
• Structure of opportunities not adequate to
  support the community residents

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The Functionalist Perspective-McDowell County

• Examples of Latent Dysfunctions
• Dependency created by the companies providing
  company towns in the past make it difficult for
  the people to mobilize to help themselves as the
  company stops investing in the community
• Problems in families

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Functionalist Perspective

• Defends Existing social arrangements justifies
  the way things are
• For instance, what would a functionalist
  perspective maintain about slavery?
• Assume all parts of a society serve a function.
  Not all parts may serve a function when first
  introduced so a biological analogy falls apart.
• Difficulty accounting for instability.

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• Example?
• Automobile not really useful until paved highways
  were introduced.
• Not the most environmentally advantageous method
  of transportation.
• Does not account for the net effects of a part of
  the whole, assumes it contributes to stability
  and that it is therefore desirable.

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The Conflict Perspective
Conflict Inevitable and Most Important Agent for
Social Change
Key Ideas of Conflict Perspective
Dominant and Subordinate Groups Compete for
Valued and Scarce Resources
Dominant Groups Create a Facade of Legitimacy
to Justify Their Actions
Ideologies Are Generated Espousing the
Fundamental Ideas of the Dominant Groups
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The Conflict Perspective

• 1. Who is controlling the use and access to
  resources? Who benefits?
• The owners of the means of production or
  property/Bourgeoisie
• 2. Who is being exploited?
• The laborers/Proletariat
• 3. What are the social structures that legitimate
  the exploitive relationships?
• The way production is organized
• Private property

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The Conflict Perspective

• Exaggerates tension and divisions in society