Culture is a key factor in socialization that regulates various areas of human connection, from daily conversation to the functioning of the global marketplace. Music, fashion, technology, and values are all cultural products. It is necessary to compare the concepts of culture from two main theoretical perspectives: functionalism and critical sociology. Functionalists observe community as a system in which all parts work or function together to create society as a whole. Thus, society needs a culture to exist and develop positively. Cultural norms serve to support the smooth functioning of society, and cultural values guide people in their choices.
Really as members of the community work together to meet the needs of society, culture exists to satisfy the fundamental requirements of its members. Functionalists also study culture in terms of values. Education is an essential concept in the United States because it is valued (Robbins 134). The culture of education – including material culture, such as classrooms, textbooks, libraries, dormitories – supports the value of educating society members.
Critical sociology views the civil structure as inherently uneven, based on differences in power related to issues such as class, gender, race, and age. Culture is marked as strengthening ‘privilege’ for special groups based on nationality, gender, and race for critical sociology. Similarly, women strive for equal rights with men and eradicate discrimination. Older people are fighting to protect their rights, health care, and independence from legislators’ younger generation. There are inequalities in the system of cultural values (Robbins 210). Therefore, the cultural norms of society benefit some people but harm others. Some rules, formal and informal, are practiced at the expense of others.
In some states, gay and lesbian couples have been denied marriage. Racialism and prejudice are very extremely alive today. Although cultural diversity is supposedly valued in the United States, many people are still troubled with interracial marriages. Same-sex marriage is banned in most states, and polygamy, common in some cultures, is unthinkable for most Americans (Damien and Saad-Filho 611). The theory is based on the influence of economic production and materialism.
That is well-developed access to technology and education in wealthy nations versus the lack of technology and knowledge in underdeveloped countries. The critical theory states that the possibilities and potential of material production affect other components of society, including culture. People who belong to the lower class have less ability to adapt to cultural change.
This view contrasts with the perspective of functionalism theory. For structural functionalism, culture is one of the basic requirements of society. Accordingly, because all members of the community have free access to cultural heritage, they can make useful choices. Also, in terms of value systems, culture plays a significant role. People’s understanding of basic ethical and social principles motivates civilization to develop and enrich themselves spiritually.
Instead, in critical sociology, the economic dimension occupies a central place. That is, all segments of the population strive only for material enrichment but receive it only a tiny part. Accordingly, only a privileged position of society can enjoy cultural heritage, and all others have limited access. Thus, for one theory, culture is an important condition for the development of society, and another approach neglects it.
According to structural-functionalism, society consists of many individual actors who interact with each other to meet their needs. The unification of people into society was the result of the emergence of shared ideas and tasks. Therefore, the best way to achieve the goals was to join forces. To achieve common welfare, the community divided the responsibilities of the members according to their skills. Moreover, all people have certain statuses and roles; the rank should be assigned equally, not hierarchical.
In a united society, the needs of the system are critical, so individuals must take on different roles to fulfill the functions of their statuses. If responsibilities are divided correctly, then the order will prevail in society. To maintain the distribution of operations, it is necessary to use socialization, education, and lifelong learning. These tools will help to understand the value of each person and his need to maintain stability. If the sharing of roles in civilization is successful, this process will become automatic, which will let norms and values acquire an individual character. That is, people will be able to satisfy their desires and at the same time work for the public welfare (William 156).
As a result, a society in which there are many roles and statuses will allow each member to choose them independently and show individuality. If it is necessary to control the community’s activities, special bodies are created to ensure stability and security with the consent of the people.
According to Marx, the creation of modern society was associated with the emergence of capitalism as a global economic system. Consequently, the economic method of production determined the culture of society, law, political system, family form, and the distribution of people’s responsibilities. According to his theory, economic conflict in society is the driving force of change. The system of production defined two categories, such as means of creation and production relations. The means of creation depended on the state’s level of development; it could be high technology and factories or primitive tools. As for production relations, there was a division into classes.
Thus, people performed only those functions that were part of their responsibilities and were not entitled to claim higher social roles (William 158). Therefore, there was no practical development of society; the state’s efforts to control even the division of labor could lead to economic stagnation. Also, members of society will likely try to change the distribution of roles and classes. As a result, it can lead to destruction and collapse of the system.
Thus, the approaches are common in that people come together to achieve a specific goal, often economic. After establishing mechanisms for achieving well-being in accordance with functional theory, there is a division into individual roles, and a choice is given to each member of society. Therefore, the functional theory empowers individuals and the state to develop. Critical sociology did not provide for the right of everyone to choose a place in society. That is, the privileged classes received the best jobs and status according to the distribution. Accordingly, if people do not have the right to decide but only constantly perform the same duties, then the type of society becomes closed. (William 160). As a result, there is no progress and the desire of individuals to perform their boring roles, which leads to decline.
Structural functionalists describe the process of socialization as a value according to which all individuals jointly accept the rules behavior. It is a kind of unwritten social contract that helps maintain order in society and determine the rights and responsibilities of each member. Socialization itself is a long process that admits people to learn, inherit and disseminate specific knowledge and habits that allow the development of the individual and society. The functionalist paradigm believes that a socialized society is constant. Functionalism argues that it is the social structure that is responsible for positive and negative changes in society (Candea 42).
Therefore, the social formation is constantly trying to maintain a delicate balance between all components of society. Also, it is vital to regard that the development of society is due to the observance by people of already established rules. Therefore, the correct values and priorities must be laid down in the formation of the core of society.
Critical theory is not based on the concept of socialization in the traditional sense. Instead, an important point is the political formation of society. In the theoretical realm, authors argued that capitalism should grow into socialism without social revolution. In the realm of politics, the revisionists defended the theory of harmony of class interests and class cooperation, denying the view of the proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat (Chuanhao 27). Accordingly, socialization was to take place through the transition to a new and better social order, which would allow all classes to enjoy the same level of rights, which led to the common ideal.
In my opinion, the theory of structural functionalism proved to be the most viable. The distribution of roles in the system at the individual request allowed for the prosperity of all spheres of society. Indeed, among the main factors that influenced the development of society and socialization were cultural values. Also, the necessity of development and training allowed transferring knowledge and information about the change of institution through generations.
Works Cited
Candea, Matei. Schools and Styles of Anthropological Theory. Routledge, 2018.
Chuanhao, Ma. ‘Research on Contemporary Significance of Marx’s Political Socialization.’ WOP in Education, Social Sciences and Psychology, vol.4, 2017, pp.27-29.
Damien, Cahill, and Saad-Filho Alfredo. ‘Neoliberalism Since the Crisis.’ Critical Sociology, vol. 43, no. 4–5, 2017, pp. 611–613.
Little, William. Introduction to Sociology. BCcampus, 2016.
Robbins, Derek. Anthem Companions to Sociology. Anthem Press, 2016.