CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Question:-

1. How did the origins of British Sociology influence in the development of Sociological theory ?

2. Write an essay on Jeffrey Alexander's idea of neo- functionalism.

3. "The history f all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle". Discuss

SOCIAL FORCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Outline:

Political Revolution

The Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Capitalism

The Rise of Socialism

Feminism

Urbanization

Religious Change

The Growth of Science

An intellectual fields are profoundly shaped by their social settings. This is particularly true of sociology, which not only is derived from that setting as its subject matter. It was the utmost significance in 19th and early 20th centuries in the development of sociology.

POLITICAL REVOLUTION (FRENCH REVOLUTION)  

The French revolution in 1789 which carried over through the 19th century was the most immediate factor in the rise of sociological theorizing. The impact of this revolutions on many society was enormous and many positive changes resulted. However, what attracted the attentions of many early theorists was not the positive consequences but the negative effects of such changes, These writers were particularly disturbed especially in France. They were united in a desire to restore order to society. Some extreme thinkers and sophisticated thinkers wanted to return to the peaceful and relatively orderly days of the middle ages and recognized that social change had made such a return impossible. Thus they sought instead to find new bases of order in societies that had been overturned by the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. This interest in the issue of social order was one of the major concerns of classical sociological theories especially Comte, Durkheim and Parsons.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM

The industrial revolution mainly happened in the nineteenth  centuries. The industrial revolution was not a single event but many interrelated developments that culminated in the transformation of the western world from a largely agricultural to an overwhelmingly industrial system. Due to industrial revolution large number of people left the farms and agricultural land and work for the industrial occupations offered in the burgeoning factories. The factories themselves were transformed by a long series  of technological improvements. Large economic bureaucracies arose to provide the many services needed by industry and emerging capitalist economic system. In this economy, the ideal was a free marketplace where the many products of an industrial system could be exchanged. within this system, a few profited greatly while the majority worked long hours for low wages. A reaction against the industrial system and capitalism in general followed and led to the labour movement as well as to various radical movements aimed at overthrowing the capitalist system. The industrial revolution, capitalism and reaction against them all involved an enormous upheaval in western society, as upheaval that affected sociologists greatly. Four major figures in the early history of sociological theory Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and George Simmel were preoccupied.

THE RISE OF SOCIALISM

One set of changes aimed at coping with the excesses of the industrial system and capitalism can be combined under the heading "Socialism". Although some sociologists favored socialism as a solution to industrial problems, most were personally and intellectually opposed to it. On one side, Karl Marx was an active supporter of the overthrown of the capitalist system and its replacement by a socialist system. Marx did not develop a theory of socialism but he spent a great deal of time criticizing various aspects of capitalist society. In addition, he engaged in a variety of political activities that he hoped would help bring about the rise of socialist societies. Max Weber and Emile Durkheim were opposed to socialism- although they recognized the problems within capitalist society, They sought social reform within capitalism rather than the social revolution argued for by Marx. They feared socialism more than they did capitalism. This fear played a greater role in shaping sociological theory than did Marx's support of the socialist alternative to capitalism.

FEMINISM

In one sense there has always been a feminist perspective, wherever women are subordinated and they have been subordinated almost always and everywhere- they seem to have recognized and protested that situation in some form. While precursors can be traced to the 1630's high points of feminist activity and writing occurred in the liberationist  movements of modern western history- a first flurry of productivity in the 1780's and 1790's with the debates surrounding the American and French revolutions- a far more organised, focused effort in the 1850's as part of the mobilization against for women's suffrage (rights to vote in election) and for industrial and civic reform legislation in the progressive Era in the united states. All of this had an impact on the development of sociology, in particular on the work of a number of women in or associated with the field. Feminist concerns filtered into sociology only on the margins, in the work of marginal male theorists or of the increasingly marginalized female theorists- The men who assumed centrality (Critical role position in middle) in the profession from Spencer, through Weber and Durkheim made basically conservative responses to the feminist arguments going on around them, making issues of gender on inconsequential topic to which they responded conventionally rather than critically in what they identified and publicly promoted as sociology. They responded in this way even as women were writing a significant body of sociological theory. The history of this gender politics in the profession, which is also part of the history of male response to feminist claims, is only now being written.

URBANIZATION

Partly as a result of the industrial revolution, large members of people in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were uprooted from their rural homes and moved to urban settings. This massive migration was caused, in large part, by the jobs, created by the industrial system in the urban areas. But it presented many difficulties for those people who had to adjust to urban life. In addition, the expansion of the cities produced a seemingly endless list of urban problems, over crowding, pollution, noise, traffic and so fourth. The nature of urban life and its early sociologists, especially Max Weber and George Simmel. In fact, the first major school of American sociology, the Chicago school, was in large part defined by its concern for the city and its interest in using Chicago as a laboratory in which to study urbanization and its problems. 

RELIGIOUS CHANGE

Social changes brought on by political revolution the industrial revolution and urbanization had a profound effect on religiosity, many early sociologists came from religious backgrounds and were actively and in some cases professionally involved in religion. They brought to sociology the objectives they wished to improve people's lives, sociology was transformed into a religion. For others, their sociological theories bore an unmistakable religious imprint. Durkheim wrote one of his major works on religion, morality played a key role not only in Durkheim's sociology but also in the work of Talcott Parsons. A large portion of Weber's work also was devoted to the religions of the world. Marx too, had an interest in religiosity, but his orientation was for more critical.

THE GROWTH OF SCIENCE

As sociological theory was being developed there was an increasing emphasis on science, not only in colleges and universities but in society as a whole. The technological products of science were permeating (spread though) every sector of life, and science was acquiring enormous prestige. Those associated with the most successful sciences (Physics, biology, chemistry) were accorded honored places in society. Sociologists (Comte, Durkheim, Spencer and Mead) from the beginning were preoccupied with science, and many wanted to model sociology after the successful physical and biological sciences. However, a debate soon developed between those who wholeheartedly accepted the scientific model and those who thought that distinctive characteristics of social life made a wholesale adoption of a scientific model difficult and unwise. The issue of the relationship between sociology and science is debated to this day, although even a glace at the major journals in the field, at least in the united states, indicates the predominance of those who favor sociology as a science.

INTELLECTUAL FORCES AND THE RISE OF SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Outline:-

The Enlightenment

The Conservative Reaction to the Enlightenment

The Development of French Sociology

The Development of German Sociology

The Origin of British Sociology

The Development of Italian Sociology

The Enlightenment

The enlightenment constitute a critical development in terms of the later evolution of sociology. It was a period of remarkable intellectual development and change in philosophical thought. There were long standing ideas and belief related to social life seen in enlightenment period. The most prominent thinkers who were associated were Charles Montesquieu and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The Enlightenment sociological theory was mostly negative and indirect than the positive and direct.The above Enlightenment thinkers were associated with two intellectual currents.

• Seventeenth century philosophy
• Science

Seventeenth Century philosophy was associate with the work of thinkers who were on producing grand, general and very abstract systems of ideas that made rational sense. Later part thinkers derived their ideas from the real world and to test them; in other words they wanted to combine empirical research with reason.The Enlightenment was characterized by the belief that people could understand and control the universe by means of reason and empirical research.It was the reason that physical world was dominated by natural law, so to discover the social law.When the Enlightenment thinkers understood the social law in terms of practical goal, it was the 'better' and more 'rational' world. The enlightenment philosopher inclined to reject beliefs in traditional authority; and when thinkers examine the traditional values and institutions, they found them irrational.

The Conservative Reaction to the Enlightenment

The French sociology became rational, empirical, scientific and change-oriented by reaction to the  Enlightenment. " The ideology of the counter- Enlightenment represented a virtual reversal of Enlightenment liberalism. In place of Modernist premises, we can detect in the Enlightenment critics a strong anti-modernist sentiment". Sociology in general and French sociology in particular has the beginning been an uncomfortable mix of Enlightenment and counter Enlightenment ideas. The most extreme form of opposition to Enlightenment was French Catholic counterrevolutionary philosophy  as represent by the idea of Louis de Bonald and Joseph de Maistre. These two thinkers were reacting against the Enlightenment and French Revolution which were the product of Enlightenment.The Enlightenment Philosopher were seen as the inferior to traditional religious beliefs. They considered irrational social life and assigned them positive value and they regard such phenomena as tradition, imagination, emotionalism and religion as useful and necessary components of social life. In that they disliked distribution and sought to retain the existing order, they deplored developments such as the French Revolutions and the Industrial Revolution as the disruptive forces. Actually the conservative tended to emphasize social order which become the central themes of the work of several sociological theorists.

The Development of French Sociology

The actual founding of sociology as a distinctive discipline was the work of three French thinkers Claude Saint-Simon, Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim. The most interesting aspect of Saint-Simon was his significance to the development of both conservative and radical Marxian theory. On the conservative side, Saint-Simon wanted to preserve society as it was, and on the radical side Saint-Simon saw the need for socialist reforms, especially the centralized planning of the economic system. Many of Saint-Simon's ideas are found in Comte's work, but Comte developed them in a more systematic fashion.He was the first one to use the term Sociology and later enormous influence on later sociological theorists like Emile Durkheim and Herbert Spencer. According to Comte study of sociology should be scientific as many classical theorists and most contemporary sociologists do. Comte developed his 'positivism' or 'positive philosophy' through the negative and destructive philosophy of the Enlightenment and the Revolution. And too he developed social physics which later in 1839 he called sociology. He too discuss social statics and social dynamics; and his approach of evolutionary theory or the law of the three stages.Emile Durkheim had the number of positive effect on the Enlightenment, he looks at the best inheritor of the conservative tradition especially as it  was manifested in Comte's work. He developed an increasingly strong academic base as his career progressed. Durkheim legitimized sociology in France, and his work ultimately become a dominant force in the development of sociology in general and of sociological theory in particular.He too developed like Social facts as distinctive subject matter of sociology; and in The Rules of Sociological Method argues that it is the special task of sociology to study what he called social facts. And his theory of Suicide, Division of labour, religion in the work of his The elementary form of Religious life.

The Development of German Sociology 

As the French Sociology had the progression from the Enlightenment and the French Revolution to the conservative reaction and to the increasingly important sociological ideas of Saint-Simon, Comte and Durkheim German sociology was fragmented from the beginning. The German sociologist were Max Weber and George Simmel. Max influence sociology through his theory like Dialectical Materialism, Political Economy, Alienation, Bureaucracy, Power and Authority, theory of religion, surplus values, economic determinism, class struggle, Verstehen approach, ideal type and social action theory and also world religion and western capitalism. And George Simmel discuss formalistic, the metropolis and mental life, philosophy of Money and so on.

The Development of British Sociology

The development of sociology in France (Comte, Durkheim) and Germany (Marx, Weber and Simmel) and now the parallel development of sociology in England like Philip Abrams who discuss Political Economy, Ameliorism and Social Evolution. And Herbert Spencer another influential eminent person in the development of sociology in the England; he was influenced by Comte in terms of their development of sociological theory but there were some differences between them. He was the English father of sociology  and second father of sociology. He contributed to sociology as the evolutionary doctrine and the organic analogy.

The Development of Italian Sociology

The key figure of Italian sociology is Vilfredo Pareto; he was the influential but his contemporary relevance is minimal. There was a brief outburst of interest in Pareto's work in the 1930's, when the major American theorist, Talcott Parsons, devoted as much attention to him as he gave to Weber and Durkheim. But in recent year, except for a few of his major concepts, Pareto also has receded in importance and contemporary relevance. His major contribution to sociology are Methodology-logic-experimental method, the social system theory and the circulation of Elites.

FUNCTIONALISM AND NEO- FUNCTIONALISM: 

Talcott Parsons: Structural Functionalism

Robert K. Merton: Revision of Functional Analysis

Jeffrey Alexander: Neo- Functionalism.

Talcott parsons: Structural Functionalism

Introduction

Talcott parsons was born Dec 13 1902, Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S, died May 8 1979 (aged 79). He was an American Sociologist. He studied in Harvard University and London School of Economics. His doctoral students were Clifford Geertz, Robert K. Merton, Harold Garfinkel and others. He too influenced by Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Anthony Giddens. He too served on the faculty of Harvard University from 1927 to 1973. Parsons contributed many sociological theory among them 'Action Theory' which based on the methodological principle of Voluntarism and the epistemological  principle of analytical realism. He was considered as a major structuralist functionalist scholar where he exhibits substantially on the term 'Functional' or Structural Functional' theory. And he developed the concept of 'Grand Theory'.

The Emergence of Functionalism

The early 19th century functionalism is the oldest and dominant conceptual perspective in sociology.The organicism of Comte and later that of Spencer and Durkheim clearly influenced the first functional anthropologists Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown. Durkheim shaped the modern functional perspectives. Weber's emphasis on social taxonomies or ideal type which become the strategy of the 'social organism'. The early functional theorists often conceptualized social needs or requisites which were  mostly of Malinowski in which institutional arrangements meet one of various levels of needs or requisites- biological, structural and symbolic. Emile Durkheim and A.R.Radcliffe-Brown analyse social needs or requisite separately through causes and functions of  a socio-cultural items which later generate two related problems in the analysis 1) tautology (In logic, a tautology  is a formula that is true in every possible interpretation) 2) illegitimate teleology (A teleology is an account of a given thing's purpose). To say structural items, such as the division of labor, emerges because of the need for social integration is a teleological assertion for an end state is presumed to cause the event, which brings about this very end state.

When we look back the theoretical efforts of early functionalists, then the legacy of their work as follows-

1. The social world was viewed in systematic terms. (needs and requisites)
2. Despite their concern with evolution, thinkers tended to view systems with needs and requisites as having normal and pathological states.
3. System viewed as the social world was seen as composed of mutually interrelated parts- focused on requisites of systemic wholes, maintaining system normality or equilibrium.
4. Viewing typically interrelated parts in relation to the maintenance of a systemic whole, causal analysis frequently became vague, lapsing into tautology and illegitimate teleology.

The positive side of functional theorizing has stimulated attempts to expand upon old conceptual perspectives and to develop new perspectives as alternatives to what are perceived to be the inadequacies of functionalism. But for the present, let us concentrate on a detailed overview of contemporary functional theorizing.

Structural Functionalism

Robert Nisbet argued that structural functionalism was 'without any doubt, the single most significant body of theory in the social sciences in the present century' took the position that structural functionalism was, for all intents and purposes, synonymous with sociology. Alvin Gouldner too attacked largely western sociology through a critical analysis of the structural functional theories of Talcott Parsons. The structural functionalism was declined after the world war II and lost the significance of sociological theory but Even Wilbert Moore was associated him with this theory and argued that it had "become an embarrassment in contemporary theoretical sociology". And others two observed "thus, functionalism as an explanatory theory is, we feel, 'dead' and continued efforts to use functionalism as a theoretical explanation should be abandoned in favor of more promising theoretical perspectives". The later Nicholas Demerath and Richard Peterson took a more positive view, arguing  that structural functionalism is not a passing fad and they admitted that it is likely to evolve into another sociological theory.

In structural functionalism, the term structural and functional need not be used in conjunction, although they are typically conjoined. We could study the structures of society without being concerned with their functions for other structures. Similarly we could examine the functions of a variety of social processes that may not take a structural form. Still, the concern for both elements characterized structural functionalism. Although structural functionalism takes various forms societal functionalism is the dominant approach among sociological structural functionalism. The primary concern of societal functionalism is the large-  scale social structures and institutions of society, their interrelationships, and their constraining effects on actors.

Talcott Parsons' theory of Social Action

Social System

Parsons's conception of social system begins at the micro level with interaction between ego and alter ego, defined as the most elementary form of the social system. Parsons define a social system thus- A social system consists in a plurality of individual actors interacting with each other in a situation which has at least a physical or environmental aspect, actors who are motivated in terms of a tendency to the "optimization of gratification" and whole relation to their situations, including each other, is defined and mediated in terms of a system of culturally structured and shared symbols.This definition seeks to define a social system in terms of many of the key concepts in Parsons's work- actors, interaction, environment. optimization of gratification, and culture.

This definition seeks to define a social system in terms of many of the key concepts in Parsons's work- actors, interaction, environment, optimization of gratification, and culture. Parsons in his study of social system does not take 'interaction' as his fundamental unit rather he used the 'status role'  complex as the basic unit of the system. This is neither an aspect of actors nor an aspect of interaction, but rather a structural component of the social system. Status refers to a structural position within the social system, and role is what the actor does in such position, seen in the context of its functional significance for the larger system. The actor not view in terms of thoughts and actions but instead as nothing more than a bundle of statues and roles.Parsons was interested in large-scale components of social systems as collectivities, norms and values. And in his social system; he is not only the structuralist but too functionalist.Thus he delineated number of the functional prerequisites of a social system.

1. Social system must be structured so that they operate compatibly with other systems.
2. To survive, the social system must have the requisite support from the other systems.
3. The system must meet a significant proportion of the needs of its actors.
4. The system must elicit adequate participation from its members.
5. It must have at least a minimum of control over potentially disruptive behavior.
6. If conflict becomes sufficiently disruptive, it must be controlled.
7. A social system requires a language in order to survive.

Parsons identifies four general analytic components of the 'unit act'

1. Agent or Actor- An act implies an agent who is able to exert a degree of voluntaristic (free will) control over events.
2. End or Goal- An act implies an end or goal, a state of affairs towards which the action is oriented.
3. Situation- It includes condition of action- trends and circumstances the actor cannot control and mean of action trends and circumstances the actor can control.
4. Normative- Finally action implies a normative component.

Parsons identifies four general functional requirements, four functions that must be accomplished for a system to survive as a system.

1. Adaptation- Refers to obtaining disposable goods and facilities from the environment to be allocated among tasks.
2. Goal attainment- Refers to allocating goods and facilities among competing goals within a system so that specific goals can be achieved.
3. Integration- Refers to coordinating inputs and outputs among various subsystem, each with its own specific goals.
4. Latency (Pattern maintenance)- A system must furnish, maintain, and renew both the motivation of individuals and the cultural pattern that create and sustain the motivation.

More on AGIL Model

Functional System Problems – AGIL (P) 

According to Parsons, social systems have needs.  In order to survive and continue, each social system or subsystem has four characteristics that must be met.  These are functional needs of the system, “a complex of activities directed towards meeting a need or needs of the system.” (Ritzer, p. 240).  The first two are necessary for survival and continued operation (instrumental or production and reproduction), with the last two being a means of regulation of the social system (consummatory or completion).   The functions can also be classified by whether they refer entirely to social action within the system (internal) or whether they refer to how social action in any system deals with external conditions (external).  In the handout, the sector of society that is most closely indentified with each function is also given.  While the sectors overlap with more than one AGIL function for each sector, this is an ideal type way of sorting through some of the functions and sectors of a social system.   These functional needs can be remembered by the acronym AGIL, and these functions are a set of ideal types.

a. Adaptation (A).   Each system exists in an environment, and must be able to adapt to this environment.  In the process of adaptation, the environment is also affected and may become oriented or  adapted to the society.  This is the mobilization of resources so that the system can survive and that things can be done to meet goals of the system.  In the family or household, adaptation could include obtaining economic resources – earning an income to support the family.  For larger social systems, the economy that produces the goods and services for members of a society allows the society as a system to survive, grow, change, and develop.  The major institutions in the economic sphere, agriculture, industry, and services provided through the market are the means by which adaptation takes place.  These serve the function of allowing the system to survive and provide the goods and services required for society to operate.  In economic analysis, there are  equilibrating mechanisms within the economy that tend toward producing an orderly outcome.  The market mechanism itself can be regarded as a system that has tendencies in the direction of stable equilibria.  Some of the government institutions relating to the economy also help serve this function (infrastructure, defense).   Note also how the economy as a system modifies the natural environment.

b. Goal Attainment (G).  Each system has certain purposes associated with it.  The goals of the system must be defined, means of attempting to achieve these goals must be laid out, and then these goals must be achieved.  Within the social system, the polity (political sphere and government) is an important aspect of this, setting and altering the goals for the society as a whole, and “mobilizing actors and resources to that end” (Ritzer, p. 246).  The state bureaucracy and other organizations – business and nonprofit – all help to implement and achieve these goals.  Smaller scale institutions also have goals, for example, the University of Regina as a system has the goal of teaching, research, and community service.  Within a family or individual system, there will also be goals, although these may not be so clearly spelled out as in formal organizations.  Each organization, as a subsystem, has certain goals, and within this there will be positions with roles to play in helping the organization achieve these goals.  Within a business, there will be marketing, production, finance, etc. positions that each have specific roles within the context of attempting to make profits for the business and help the business expand.  Within the family, husband and wife, parents and children are each statuses with roles for meeting family goals.

c. Integration (I).   This is the means by which social relationships, and interrelationships among units or groups, are regulated.  One aspect of these is the rules and procedures associated with an institution, organization, or system.  “By integration Parsons means the need to coordinate, adjust, and regulate relationships among various actors or units within the system … in order to keep the system functioning” (Wallace and Wolf, pp. 39-40). 

As various social process functions occur, strains, tensions and conflicts may emerge.  These are a result of the way that individuals relate to each other, and as different units carry out their tasks and roles that need to be done in a system.  At the level of society as a whole, there are a variety of institutions and ways that these functions are performed.  Socialization is a major function with respect to the raising of children, and also with respect to the ongoing socialization that occurs through over the life span.  Religion, education, the media, the legal structures – police and courts – all play a role.  Ritzer refers to these as societal community.  Any institutions that help disseminate the shared culture, and reinforce “that culture through ritual celebrations of its values” (Cuff, p. 45) help in this.  Sporting events could be seen in this light – anthems, rules of the game, common allegiances, etc.   Where strains are great, there may be a need for social control, formal and informal sanctions, or discipline so that the system can enforce social order.  In general though, Parsons argued that systems develop automatic means of integration, along with roles and organizations to assist integration.  Within subsystems, there is a set of roles that do this, although these may not always be specialized.  For example, in educational institutions, teachers carry out the roles of adaptation, goal attainment, and integration as part of their activities.   Norms are also important in providing guidance, along with social approval and disapproval, which tend towards enforcement of the norms. 

d. Latency (L) or pattern maintenance (P).   This is the function of pattern maintenance and Parsons also refers to this as the cultural-motivational system (Parsons, 1967, p. 261).  These are referred to as latent because they may not always be as apparent as the A, G, or I functions.  These involve means of managing these tensions and diffusing and resolving conflicts, so that there are orderly means of carrying on activities. For Parsons, “All institutionalization involves common moral as well as other values.  Collectivity obligations are, therefore, an aspect of every institutionalized role.  But in certain contexts of orientation-choice, these obligations may be latent ... .” (Parsons, 1951,  p. 99).  Even though these exist they may not be readily apparent and thus are latent.  The test of their nature would be to determine the actors reaction in a specific situation. 

The organizations and roles that perform latent functions can be regarded as those that “furnish, maintain, and renew both the motivation of individuals and the cultural patterns that create and sustain this motivation” (Ritzer, p. 242).  Parsons refers to these as fiduciary, that is, founded on trust.  At the level of the social system, these are schools, educational institutions, and the major institution that is concerned with the latent function is kinship and family or other forms of personal relationships.  Within this, leisure, affection, love, sex, and friendship, can all play an important function.  People provide comfort, consolation and relief to each other, thus reducing tension or keeping it within manageable limits.  For Parsons, the role of women was key here, as will be seen when discussing his view about proper family structures and functioning.  Within organizations, there may be few latent functions that are an explicit part of the organization, but people within any organization tend to develop these, or come to the organization with these functions developed. 

For Parsons, the AGIL functions exist at all levels of society and in each subsystem.  These may not be consciously worked out functions, and roles and functions can be shared among organizations or individuals.  In traditional societies, most of these functions would have been centred in family and kinship structures, and in local communities.  In the traditional society, there may have been little differentiation in functions, although culture and the integration function often came to be associated with religion.  As societies have developed, these functions tend to evolve and differentiate themselves, with different institutions emerging to undertake different functions; within organizations, as they develop, there is a differentiation of functions, so that organizations become more bureaucratic, with different departments, branches, and programs developing responsibilities for separate functions – finance, human resources, marketing, service, production.  Specialized functions and roles develop, and specialized institutions to carry these out also evolve, and it is best to have specialized roles and specialized institutions to carry out the functions of a modern, complex society.  These may develop in an evolutionary fashion, without any conscious consideration, much like Durkheim's “natural” development of the division of labour.  Or, as in bureaucracies, they may be consciously worked out organizational structures. 

Parsons designed the AGIL model to be used at all levels in his theoretical system. In the discussion below on the the FOUR ACTION SYSTEMS.

1. The Behavioural Organism-is the action system that handles the adaptation function by adjusting to and transforming the external world.
2. The Personality System- performs the goal attainment function by defining system and mobilizing resources to attain them.
3. The Social System- copes with the integration function by controlling its component parts.
4. The Cultural system- performs the latency function by providing actors with the norms and values that motivates them for action.

Parsons' problem of order in structural functionalism has following set of assumptions.

• Systems have the property of order and interdependence of parts.
• Systems tend toward self-maintaining order, or equilibrium
• The system may be static or involved in an ordered process of change.
• The nature of one part of the system has an impact on the form that the other parts can take.
• System maintain boundaries with their environments.
• Allocation and integration are two fundamental processes necessary for a given state of equilibrium of a system.
• Systems tend toward self- maintenance involving the maintenance of boundaries and of the relationships of parts to the whole, control of environmental variations and control of tendencies to change the system from within.

Pattern Variables of Parsons'

Pattern Variables are five dichotomies, developed by Talcott Parsons, to draw out the contrasting values to which individuals orient themselves in social interaction. One side of the dichotomies reflect the values pattern dominant in traditional society (Gemeinschaft) the other reflects the dominant values of modern society (Gesellschaft)

1. Affective Versus Affective Neutrality- concern