UNDERSTANDING SOCIOLOGY

  Lewis Coser (Conflict Theory)   German American Sociologist Born 27 th November 1913 in Berlin Germany Died 8 th July 2003 Education : from Columbia University Book: THE FUNCTION OF SOCIAL CONFLICT   (1956)     Three spheres of conflict                       COERCION                                                             DOMINANCE                                         ...

  C. Wright Mills   Charles Wright Mills was born on August 28, 1916 in Waco, Texas. Mills completed both   his bachelor and master’s in philosophy from the University of Texas. Mills got his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1941 Joined Columbia University as a Professor of sociology in 1946 He was an American sociologist known for his critique of contemporary power structure Mills started his career at the University of Maryland where he joined as an associate Professor of sociology in 1941. C. Wright Mills a prominent social thinker of the 20 th century, was an influential American social conflict theorist. His theories drew inspiration from the works of Karl Marx and Max Weber, although he never explicitly acknowledged their influence. Mills was inspired by Weber’s explanation of stratification and political systems using differentiation between impacts of Power, Status and Class. He clearly identified differences between himself and Marx....

ALFRED REGINALD RADCLIFFE BROWN ü   Born in Sparkbook, Birmingham, England on 17 th January 1881 ü   His name of Alfred Reginald Brown but he later changed his name as Radcliffe Brown ü   He entered Cambridge University in 1901, studied philosophy, psychology, economics and natural science. INFLUENCES: He was influenced by his professors at Cambridge : W.H.R Rivers, Emile Durkheim, Prof Hadden and W.W. Rouse Ball. WORK Radcliffe Brown brought French sociology to British anthropology as he was influenced by E. Durkheim FIELD WORK Studied Andaman Islander and Western Australian aboriginals. IMPROTANT PUBLICATIONS: THE ANDAMAN ISLANDERS: A STUDY IN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY (1922) SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF AUSTRALIAN TRIBES (1931) STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETY (1935) STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM: There are two aspects : one is structure and the other is function, so together it is called structural functionalism which has been improvised by Ra...

FUNCTIONALISM: B. MALINOWSKI   v   Functionalism explain the persistence of social practices by referring to those effects which are beneficial for the equilibrium or integration of the social system in which these practices are embedded. v   Functionalism reconstructs the notion of rationality; it is assumed that certain practices which appear      irrational can be made intelligible once their social functions are spelled out. Beneath the surface lies      a deeper social rationality which it is the task of the sociologist to uncover. v   Functionalism draws upon the notion of functional prerequisites. The argument is often that these           prerequisites need to be fulfilled from a given society to survive or alternatively that society operates        such  that these needs tend to be fulfilled. v   Functionalism as a label and a separate school only emerged in t...