Parsons Theory of Evolution - Essay Example

? Parsons’ Theory of Evolution Module Module Number: Academic Year: Seminar Essay Question: Outline and discuss the role and importanceof ‘differentiation’ and ‘specialization’ in Parsons’ theory of the evolution of ‘modern society’. Student Number: Introduction Parsons’ evolution theory holds that the primary disposition of modern society is marked by the escalated development of differentiation within sociological system as a means of grappling with the multifaceted nature of the current world. Social differentiation is achieved through the establishment of different sociological subsystems in society ((Trevino, 2001, p.12). Parsons indicates that differentiation permits more flexibility within the system so as to counter changes in the surroundings. Increased variation caused by social differentiation, not only permits better courses for the world, but also prompts faster socio-cultural evolution and specialization in particular values, which are deemed to be best. Socio-cultural evolution refers to a process of choice that arises from the existence of variation, in which case, more differentiation prompts the selection of better choices for specialization. Social differentiation Social differentiation is an imperative aspect of society, more so the modern one. The theory of differentiation has spread, with various quarters seeking to understand the social dynamics of the modern society. Social differentiation embodies socio-structural developments and the processes that dictate the existence of man in society. Structurally, differentiation entails the concept that a societal segment comprises of several unique parts. These segments may have some commonalities, for example a family as the primary segment of ethic societies. Differences, however, may come in the form of other key subsystems that form a modern society such as economy, mass media, and politics among others (Turner, 2009, p.78). The process part of social differentiation refers to the forces that trigger and create changes to differentiation. Background of the Parsons’ concept Parsons’ name has gone into the annals of history as the first prominent theorist to develop a concept of society, which revolves around the functional dynamics as a way of analyzing the evolution of modern society. The theorist perceives society as an integration of its subsystems and processes within the model of cybernetics. Parsons’ evolution philosophies regarding the societal subsystem would be inclined to show specialized qualities and the associated lines of organizational differentiation between the subsystems. Specialization and efficiency Parsons argues that social differentiation comes about as a result of social decomposition or emergence. The theory holds that social differentiation is a process of disintegration of a practically a weak unit such as an obligation, or an institution into multiple, and more functional units of specialization, which enhance efficiency (Elliott, 2009, p.102). Parsons offers a more generalized analysis, pointing out that the conceptual, structural, and functional composition of society are made up of four main subsystems namely economy, government; communities making up a society, and fiduciary system. Each of these constructs plays a vital and specific role to sustain the functional mechanisms of production within modern society. Parsons’ analytical theory has been construed in empirical evidence from studies focused on differentiation in society and specialization of social roles and organizations. On structural lens, the disintegration concept of social differentiation emphasizes the benefits of societal specialization, especially where there are commonalities with the organizational structure. Specialization enhances performance to a great extent, because each social unit concentrates in one area of expertise. For example, if modern learning in educational facilities is separated from the domestic family life, where ancient learning processes were done, both institutions benefit in terms of operational efficiency. In this case, instructors can base their operations on basic socialization achieved by parents, and such they are able to concentrate on the secondary form of socialization. The families that have sent their children to school also gain in a similar way (Stones, 2007, p.8). Upholding the fiduciary and eroding the ligatures Differentiation and specialization revolves around historical development of the cultural mechanisms such as cultural traditions, which Parsons regarded as a significant component of the fiduciary. The fiduciary system arguably enhanced the normatively important source of the social subsystem interactions and variations in the historical structure of organization between cultural and social system segments. Within the domination of the cultural values, Parsons specialized on the impact of the main religions of the global society yet he also uphold the perception that during the general rationalization process of the society and the associated decomposition of strong religious values under secularisation process, the core value composition of the faithful and subsystems would slowly be changed into specialized social constructs (Dunlap, 2002, p.56). It is notable that the differentiation within the context of modern society was transformed into an imperative subject of sociological concepts and the public life in the nineteenth century, throughout the twentieth century into the current world. This stems from the fact that the significance of social differential and specialization has permanent implications on the general society. These impacts are neither entirely constructive nor totally bad but a mixed bag of blessing, and as such provide some diversity (Stones, 2007, p.5). . Options to life and increased productivity The modern man benefits from differentiation of responsibilities because the evolutionary factor results in a bulge in alternatives, which happen virtually in every aspect of life. This enables the modern man a free-hand to choose what he or she deems fit, and specialize in it for better productivity (Fox, Lidz, & Bershady, 2005, p.11). From economic spheres of life such as markets for commodities, to alternative ways of taking part in the political process, to sporting activities, to continuous learning processes, and the general cultural life, differentiation has enabled members of the society to find and occupy particular spheres of life. The plenty of alternatives is the direct outcome of developments in performances in all subsystems within the society and of an integration of all participants who double up as members of the society, into the roles of buyers, clients, and civilians of the sociological subsystems. In relation to the polycontextural disposition of current-day world, differentiation of roles and the proliferation of options enable each individual to transform into a person in the credible sense of the term: an individual who establishes a distinct life and makes contributions that are entirely different from the rest of the members of society. Options, however, are merely one aspect of an individual’s chances in life, however. In contrast, there are meaningful links that connect an individual to particular movements, cultural societies, and communities or groups united by a cultural factor. In line with this concept, the basic differentiation of contemporary society appears to deviate from important psychic factors of individuals. Polycontexturalization and personalization processes transform ligatures. As a result, anomy, isolation, and other negative experiences take effect in the modern society (Adams, & Sydie, 2002, p.16). These negative occurrences come about, not just as misfortunes or temporary issues affecting individual members of a society, but as phenomena having far-reaching implications, which are brought about by their structurally generated consequences making the society vulnerable to their influence. Social Challenges It is arguable that when the general society is examined, social differentiation shows an equivalent ambiguity. This state of affairs is often as a result of successful functional differentiation. All kinds of classical, societies were highly influenced by the Western cultural influences that had already transformed to functional differentiation model for about three centuries (Patton, & McMahon, 2006, p.23). Across the world, there was no option for the subscription to different functional differentiation. Societies that attempted to discard the Western ideological constructs mid-way caved in. Similarly, societies where the politics was used to manipulate all other sociological subsystems were outdone by the West’s better developed functional differentiation, as Parsons had projected. This is a clear indication that through differentiation, specialization becomes not only natural but irreversible, and thus helps to create the sociological diversity of modern world (Adams, & Sydie, 2002, p. 12). The Western domination of the global society, having mature functional differentiation carries results in serious challenges. Their benchmark threatens the unity and specialization of contemporary society. More precisely, specialization differentiates structural integration from ecological integration, or social integration, by influencing contributions that each cultural construct brings to the society (Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff, & Virk, 2012, p.13). Systems integration appears to be the least challenging of the sociological factors. Coordination and collaboration among various subsystems of contemporary society is generally tenable, regardless of each of them being premised upon its own specialized binary code. However, there are diverse connections through which subsystems interrelate within a decentralized society. In case this fails to play out, delegates of subsystems, such as the leaders of interest groups, convene meetings and negotiate for common resolutions on political solutions. Political leadership may shore-up or advance inter-systems of evolution and trade-off strategies among subsystems. In such a scenario, system challenges regarding integration remain disintegrated and navigable for modern society. Exclusion of people Despite the advantages of differentiation and specialization in Parsons’ modern evolution, there are stark challenges to society that come with differentiation. For instance, social integration where individual members integrate, may present difficult challenges, following the wearing out of ligatures (Sharock, Hunges, & Pratt, 2003, p.31). The growth of many options for individual specialization might present far-reaching impacts on the subsystems, by stretching their abilities to the limit. In light of this, inequality within society and the increasing predilection of the subsystems to enhance their own contribution, usually act on the societal values in their effort to survive. Following the conflict between individuals who benefit more and those who take home peanuts from a certain subsystem's performance, the beneficiaries will work toward impeding redistribution. In contrast, specialization will serve as the main remedy; this can be achieved by stimulating the performance of the system so that groups, whose bargain is deemed as unfairly low, can be helped to grow without the higher-end groups ceding anything. For instance, students from the lower levels of education have had the opportunity to scale the educational ladder through tertiary education. However, this has not been achieved that easily, following a disagreement in which the senior classes have ceded a number of their learning opportunities in a positive way transformative evolution through expansion (Edles, & Appelrouth, 2007, p. 62). The developments have fulfilled the interests of various stakeholders in the learning environment. Professional teaching staffs have been empowered by the progress occasioned by the cultural dynamics. Such dynamics, empowered by complementary factors and interests, and supported by influential cultural ideologies could persist forever, if there were no restrictions to the development of subsystems. However, owing to existence of these limits, for example, in resources, persistent inequalities embody a possibility for grave social challenges whose answer would not be achieved through functional differentiation. Ecological integration The increasing cases of problems of ecological integration in the modern society can be attributed to the functional differentiation. Modern society’s increasing deviation from protection of the natural ecology has come about as a result of two main features of the subsystems within society; developmental predilections, and the abandonment of pro-ecology practices. The contemporary economy presents the clearest example where pollution is the order of the day. Family is as an important subsystem is responsible the increase in population, and pollution. It is notable, that the modern society lacks effective subsystems that conserve the environment, only social groups and movements are concerned about expressing their reservations to the political subsystem for action. Therefore, it is advisable that the political subsystem differentiates it primary role of maintaining and consolidating power from causing harm to other subsystems by setting up and or supporting organizations whose specialization in the environmental conservation would save the ecology (Edles, & Appelrouth, 2010, p19). Pessimism and conflict Towards the end of Parsons’ research on evolution, the theorist pours scorn on the prevalent cynicism over the existence of contemporary societies, especially among those specialized in academia, pointing out that the rather negative attributes leads to the successes so far realized in the field. This basically comes in as scholars seek to outdo each other and build on or reverse previous theories. Person, however, suggests that that absolute differentiation and specialization may result in war, and acknowledges the inevitable possibility of irresistible damages as a result of conflict (Edles, & Appelrouth, 2010, p29). Unlike the past, the theorist argues that the likelihood of conflict will reduce as the society continues to evolve, perhaps because with time, various key subsystems will transform to coexist in a more peaceful way than has been the case in the past. Conclusion Generally, Parsons sees the modern world as one where there are immense opportunities and sociological successes that have been occasioned by differentiation and specialization. The theorist adopted a relatively constructive approach to understanding the coexistence of various subsystems. Parsons’ general concepts certainly describe the modern society as a construct of diverse subsystems. Parsons’ theory of evolution focuses on differentiation, which basically involves the differentiation of sociological constructs into vital subsystems such as politics, economy, family, mass media, and folklore among others. The existence of these subsystems calls for specialization in those fields, which though, can be traced to one sociological construct, tend to conflict. The modern world however has the capacity to balance the conflicting interests for peace and prosperity. Bibliography Adams, BN, & Sydie, RA, (2002), Contemporary Sociological Theory, Pine Forge Press, London, 12-69. Calhoun, C, Gerteis, J, Moody, J, Pfaff, S, & Virk, I, (2012), Contemporary Sociological Theory, John, Wiley & Sons, New York, 7-89. Dunlap, R E, (2002), Sociological Theory and the Environment: Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights, Rowman & Littlefield, London, 56-119. Edles, L D, & Appelrouth, S, (2007), Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory: Text and Readings, Pine Forge Press, London, 62-111. Edles, L D, & Appelrouth, S, (2010), Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era: Text and Readings, Pine Forge Press, London, 10-99. 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