Core Perspectives in Sociology (AQA A Level Sociology): Flashcards

The social action view sees individuals as having free will: they actively make choices and can reject social expectations.

Giddens argued that both social structures and individual actions play an equal role in shaping human behaviour.

Functionalism is a consensus theory that explains why modern societies tend to remain relatively stable, orderly and well-organised.

The three main functions are value consensus, social integration and a specialised division of labour.

Social structure is the way society is organised economically, politically and socially.

Functionalists see society as a system of interdependent social institutions that work together to maintain social order.

The organic analogy compares society to the human body: like organs, each social institution performs a vital role that keeps society functioning smoothly.

Social integration creates a stable society because a shared culture gives people a sense of belonging, which leads to solidarity.

False.

Functionalism focuses on the positive functions that social institutions perform.

One example of how education creates value consensus is that the education system teaches shared values such as punctuality, respect and hard work, helping people cooperate in public life.

One strength of functionalism is that it highlights the importance of social order, showing how institutions work together to prevent chaos.

False.

Critics argue that functionalism fails to recognise inequalities because it wrongly assumes that everyone benefits equally.

Functionalism overlooks dysfunction by ignoring the negative aspects of institutions; e.g. domestic abuse in the family can cause serious harm.

Interactionist theorists argue that functionalism neglects individual agency, as individuals also shape society through their choices and actions.

Marxism is a conflict theory developed by Karl Marx that focuses on the economic structure of society, which it sees as unequal and exploitative under capitalism.

The bourgeoisie are the ruling class, who own the means of production, such as land, factories and raw materials.

The proletariat own nothing but their labour, which they sell to the bourgeoisie in exchange for a wage.

Marx called the economic system of society the base or infrastructure.

The relationship is exploitative because workers are paid less than the value of what they produce, and the difference becomes profit for the bourgeoisie.

False consciousness is when workers accept inequality as natural, fair or inevitable, rather than recognising it as exploitation.

Workers are alienated because they have no control over the production process, and work is repetitive, meaningless and for profit.

True.

Marx predicted revolution in advanced capitalist countries, but it has not occurred; countries such as the UK and USA remain capitalist.

Bowles and Gintis argued that the education system promotes the idea that poverty results from stupidity or laziness, making inequality seem the fault of individuals.

Communism is a classless and stateless society in which the means of production and wealth are owned collectively.

Workers must develop class consciousness, an awareness of their shared oppression, before they unite against capitalism.

The criticism is that Marx's theory places too much emphasis on the economy as the key force shaping society.

Structuralist Marxists such as Althusser take a relative autonomy view: the superstructure can also influence the base.

Weber argued that status and power are just as important as class in shaping inequality.

Feminism is a conflict theory that focuses on gender inequality in society.

The four broad feminist explanations are radical, Marxist, liberal and difference feminism.

Radical feminists see patriarchy as the most fundamental and deep-rooted source of women's oppression.

False.

Radical feminists argue that reforms are not enough and society must be radically transformed to dismantle male dominance.

By 'the personal is political', radical feminists mean that everyday experiences, such as domestic work and fear of male violence, are political because they uphold patriarchy.

Adrienne Rich (1981) used the term compulsory heterosexuality to describe the pressure on women to have heterosexual relationships.

Brownmiller highlighted how the threat of male violence controls women's behaviour, showing that private fear is a public issue.

Separatism is a radical feminist strategy of creating women-only spaces and households to escape male control.

Consciousness-raising helps women by sharing personal experiences, so they see their struggles as collective and political.

A reserve army of labour is cheap, flexible workers, often women, who can be hired and fired as needed by employers.

Women reproduce labour power by raising the next generation of workers at no cost and maintaining the current workforce through domestic work and emotional support.

Familism is the idea that women naturally find fulfilment in caring roles within the nuclear family.

False.

Marxist feminists believe true gender equality can only be achieved by abolishing capitalism.

Marxist feminism struggles to explain non-capitalist societies because, if capitalism causes patriarchy, it cannot explain why women were oppressed in pre-capitalist and non-capitalist societies.

Liberal feminists believe gender equality will be achieved through gradual change brought about by legal and political reform.

Oakley distinguished between sex and gender: sex refers to biological differences between males and females, while gender refers to culturally constructed roles and behaviours.

Liberal feminism is criticised for focusing mainly on the experiences of privileged women.

Liberal feminism focuses on public legal rights, so it struggles to explain why patriarchal control persists in private life, e.g. violence against women.

Essentialism is the belief that all women experience patriarchy in the same way.

Difference feminists argue that gender intersects with other social divisions, such as class, ethnicity, sexuality, age and religion, to shape women's experiences.

True.

By emphasising diversity, difference feminism can make collective goals and shared campaigns harder to organise.

The New Right is a right-wing perspective combining neo-liberal and neo-conservative ideas that promotes individual responsibility, free-market capitalism and traditional values.

Neo-liberal New Right thinkers support free-market policies, privatisation and competition in public services.

A dependency culture is where an 'underclass' relies on benefit payments instead of working, which the New Right says generous welfare creates.

The New Right emphasises law and order, patriotism, respect for authority and traditional gender roles.

The New Right believes that moral decline is behind many social problems, such as crime and family breakdown.

False.

The New Right argues that the state should play a limited role in the economy, focusing on law and order, national defence and traditional values.

One policy influenced by the New Right is the Child Support Agency (1993); marriage tax allowances are another.

Crompton argued that the concept of the underclass unfairly blames individuals for their poverty, rather than addressing its structural causes.

False.

Critics argue the New Right's ideal is outdated, as it fails to reflect single-parent families, same-sex families and cohabiting couples.

The New Right's view of welfare dependency is said to lack evidence because studies show that most people on benefits are in work, temporarily unemployed or unable to work due to illness or caring responsibilities.

Critics doubt the efficiency of privatised public services because profit-driven models can reduce quality, increase inequality and limit access for the most vulnerable.

Social action theory, also called interpretivism, focuses on the individual and the meanings they attach to everyday actions and interactions.

Social action theory takes a micro-level approach, concentrating on small-scale interactions rather than large institutions.

False.

Social action theory rejects this determinism and argues that individuals have free will.

Social action theorists argue that society is socially constructed by individuals through their everyday behaviour.

Interactionists often use qualitative methods, such as interviews, observations and case studies.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is when a person comes to act according to a label they have been given, e.g. a student labelled disruptive starts to behave disruptively.

Becker is one of the sociologists who developed labelling theory.

Labelling can lead to inequality because certain groups may be unfairly stigmatised or marginalised.

False.

Labelling theory does not fully explain where power comes from or why certain groups can impose labels on others.

Phenomenology argues that we must understand the subjective meanings people attach to the world and how they categorise and interpret social phenomena.

One strength of social action theory is that it produces rich, in-depth, valid data that captures people's real experiences and meanings.

Structural sociologists argue that interpretivist methods are not reliable or generalisable, as they use small samples and depend on the researcher's subjective interpretation.

Postmodernism is a perspective arguing that society has undergone a fundamental shift since the mid to late 20th century, from a modern to a postmodern society.

Postmodernists argue that identity is shaped by individual choice and consumption, e.g. the brands people buy and the music they listen to.

Metanarratives are big theories or stories that claim to explain everything, e.g. Marxism, functionalism and the Enlightenment project.

Lyotard argued that the defining feature of postmodernity is 'incredulity towards metanarratives'.

Lyotard argued that knowledge today is fragmented into small, localised 'language games'.

Hyper-reality is Baudrillard's idea that postmodern societies are dominated by simulacra, copies of reality that can seem more real than reality itself.

False.

Postmodernists argue that the media creates reality: what we see on screens shapes how we understand the world.

Postmodernists argue there are no universal truths, only different discourses, so science cannot guarantee progress.

A hybrid identity is an identity that combines elements from different cultural traditions, as globalisation mixes cultures.

Politics has become more fragmented, with movements centred on single issues, such as the environment, rather than class struggle.

The economy of postmodern society is focused on consumption, choice and services, rather than industrial production.

True.

Critics argue that modern structures, such as class, gender and ethnicity, still matter; e.g. poverty still affects life chances.

Postmodernism is accused of lacking empirical evidence because its broad claims are often vague and untestable.