Marxism and Functionilism

        Marxism is a conflict theory. This means that the main rules that govern social behaviour are based on conflict. The largest conflict of all is the class conflict between the bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. They see society maintaining this conflict by the bourgeoisie being predominately in control, and imposing rules on everybody that benefit in their favour. Often everyone else do not realise this. Contrastingly Functionalists view the rules governing society as coming from a general agreement, and what's right for everybody else is right for us. For example murder is immoral and illegal because the vast majority of society agrees with this. This is called a consensus theory. The agreement on rules and morals helps guide society in a smooth way to function. Functionalists emphasise order as normative and even when these norms are broken, they are still seen as functional.

        Functionalists often ignore the inequalities or domination of a group, such as the domination of the powerful and the inequality of those in poverty. And when they do appreciate these they see them as still functional and good for society. This inequality in society, especially amongst the classes is at the heart of Marxism. They see conflict as normative and believe it exists in every value. Although they both believe that conflict will help develop society, Marxists say that only through development conflict alone can make society move on. Whereas functionalists argue every aspect or core value of society as having potential to evolve and develop.

        Another similarity between the two paradigms is the passive view on man, where he is forced into choice by the structures and systems of society and has little autonomy within these structures. For example Marxists see the proletariat as being passive by accepting false conscience, not realising the rules imposed on them are not for their benefit nor ever help them develop as a class. Similarly functionalists see society as willing to accept the rules and maintain order with little question. This over generalisation of man can obscure their perception on society.

        In conclusion Functionalism and Marxism are largely polar opposites in their critiques, yet have similarities in a lot of their fundamental theories and the way they view society on a macro level.