The Driving Forcce of Social Change - Essay Example

It can be said that functionalism is an extension of the Durkheimian concept, which describes the obvious equilibrium and internal structure of society. The functionalists have strived to understand and deal with those aspects of the social change which epitomize the philosophical perspective of social change. According to their point of view, as society is made of interconnected parts, the cause and effects of social change are manifold and reciprocal in nature. Hence, the functionalists say that when social issues are to be investigated, then society has to be studied as a ‘whole’ and not as a part.

As a social system is based on the foundation of dynamic equilibrium, the functionalists view social change as a slow and adaptive process than a revolutionary process. Also, functionalists believe that social change is the outcome of modification of the system, differentiation between the parts of the system, and internal innovations. However, this view of functionalism is not accepted by all. The theory that challenged the views of functionalism is the ‘conflict theory’ of social change. Conflict Perspectives  The theory of social change, which differs from the functionalist theory in its approach to the understanding of the causes and the nature of social change, is the ‘conflict theory’. . As Karl Marx is the originator of the ‘conflict theory,’ it is possible to understand the root of conflict theory by concentrating on the theory developed by Marx.

The perspectives of conflict theory are primarily based on Karl Marx’s writings on class struggle. The foundation of the conflict perspective is the Marxist conflict approach, which is based on the materialist explanation of history, a dialectical technique of investigation, a critical stance toward the existing social system, and a political course of the revolution. According to the Marxist conflict theory, one f the primary reasons for the social class is the class struggle between the proletariat and bourgeoisie in the capitalist society.

Conflict theorists state that social change occurs only when there is a class struggle between different social classes. Even though the class conflict has caused several social revolutions, the conflict theory differs strongly from the views that functionalists tend to have regarding social change. Marx’s Theory Large part of Marx’s theory was derived from Hegel’s view of history as a dialectical development. Hegel viewed that a notion creates its contrary antithesis. That is, the interaction of thesis and antithesis generates a new concept of synthesis, which in turn develops into the thesis of a new triad.

Based on this model of analysis, Marx concluded that all the changes in society are born out of the development of internal contradictions in society. Marx believed that class struggle results from dialectic interaction.