Need help with a sociology essay?

[achimelech51]

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Assess the view that interpretive theories are more relevant than structural theories for understanding modern societies.

Advanced technology, urbanisation, capitalism and consumerism are all factors in defining the modern societies of today. Essentially, it is a movement away from the more traditional values of a culture and a leap into discovering the impact science and developed social environments have on human life. Interpretive and structural theories are common ways in which sociologists attempt to understand modern societies. As societies continue to develop scientifically and technologically, interpretive theories are increasingly more relevant than structural theories.

An interpretive perspective views society as individuals that have been shaped by small groups and have gone on to shape society itself through interacting with other individuals. Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the importance of individual roles that contribute to human interaction. Roles direct human understanding and behaviour. An individual becomes aware of his or her role through the ‘role taking’ process wherein the interpretations of others and experiences as a child allow the individual to differentiate between roles that apply and don’t apply to themselves.

Today, modern societies are largely based on levels of freedom and individual achievements. In a capitalist society, a successful businessman tends to act according to the benefits that his decisions will have for himself or for the success of his company rather than for his extended family or elders. In doing so, he also has the responsibility of making the choice, giving him freedom. However, as symbolic interactionism states, the actions of individuals are somewhat constrained by the expectations and social norms that their given roles hold for them. For instance, a full-time maid would not be expected to suddenly join a team of doctors and assist them with a medical procedure as she may not have the right qualifications or training for her interaction to be of any real help in that situation. But Symbolic Interactionism believes that people still have the freedom to act differently and fulfil more than one role at a time, which can be applied to the ways of human behaviour in modern societies. For example, women are no longer required to just stay home and raise children as they were in olden times. They are able to have part-time jobs, allowing them to take on roles as teachers or employees as well as mothers. Individuals are given the freedom to chose which lifestyle best suits them depending on their situation and are often respected for their abilities to do so. In this way, modern, industrialized societies have opened to the idea of the abilities individuals possess and furthermore how they can change the society that they live in with this freedom of interaction and thought.

Structural perspectives differ from an interpretive view of society as it argues society shapes the individual. It attempts to understand society acting as a mechanism that imposes social order through social institutions and acts as an external force. Marxism is one example of a structural theory, essentially arguing that economic aspects of society such as political systems and social class divisions control the behaviour of individuals.

In most modern societies, the fundamental aspects of society that Marx states are important in the event of social change and order are still very relevant today. Marxism argues that from a capitalist society the proletariat class, who sell their labour to earn a living, will rise up against the smaller bourgeoisie class who own the means of production and ultimately are exploiting the members of the proletarians class. Once the false consciousness of the exploited class is overcome, they are able to create a true communist government and achieve equality and order within society. However there are other areas of society that Marxism doesn’t take into account, such as the different types of possible political systems. Modernized societies often have different forms of government other than capitalism or communism. Parliamentary, Democracy and Presidential systems are all relevant forms of government that are used in different societies today. Because Marxism analyses the political and social change from capitalism to communism within a society, this perspective would not be relevant to use when studying these other political systems and their effect on the social environment and on other social institutions. Marxism also does not analysis the need for individuals in a society even though they are what essentially make things happen by causing conflict and developing ideas. Without humans, there would be no society to analysis.

[treasigh]

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