![]() ![]() Structural functionalist arguments hinge on the concepts of functional unity, universal function and functional indispensability.įunctional unity (as defined by Radcliffe Brown) refers to the function of a particular social usage is the contribution it makes to the total social life as the functioning of the total social system. However the nature of functional analysis remained unclear rather than problematic until the careful analysis conducted by Merton in his paper 'Manifest and Latent Functions' reprinted in Social Theory and Social Structure (Merton, 1968) They both claim that their field work exemplifies the nature of functional analysis. Both writers develop, in their work, the central themes of functionalism: namely functional unity universality and indispensability. Radcliffe Brown undertook a study of The Andaman Islanders again a Pacific people. Malinowski, in his book Argonauts of the Western Pacific examined the people of Trobriand Island. Both of these writers found that functionalism was a valuable method for analysing societies that were 'anthroplogically strange' and used the method in their field work. Structural functionalism had its origins in the work of two anthropologists: Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |