Social Theory and Social Change

Bibliographic Data

ID24022950
AuthorsCharles Harper (corresponding author), Kevin Leicht
Year2015
Pages53-75
Publication date2015-08-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueExploring Social Change (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9781315664200-8
OpenAlexW618641583
ISBN9781315664200
LanguageEN
Citations received12

There are three broad theoretical perspectives in contemporary American sociology. These are functionalism, conflict theory, and a cluster of related perspectives that we will call “interpretive theories.” They embody three different images of society and social change and provide different answers to the most basic sociological questions. For our purposes, these questions boil down to: What factors determine the structure of society and the nature of change? One answer is that society and change are shaped by the necessities of survival (the functionalist answer). Another is that society and change are shaped by conflict among groups and classes within society over the control of valued and scarce resources (the conflict theory answer). A third answer is that the social interaction processes between people and groups result in the creation and ongoing negotiation and revision of the meanings, symbols, and social definitions that constitute both society and change (the interpretive answer).

Political science · Social change · Sociology · Critical Realism in Sociology · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory · World Systems and Global Transformations

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