Dynamic functionalism : strategy and tactics
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Dynamic functionalism : strategy and tactics
(The Arnold and Caroline Rose monograph series of the American Sociological Association)
Cambridge University Press, 1986
Available at 49 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
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  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 174-184
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Over the last several decades, functional theory in the social sciences has fallen into disfavour. Alleged to be a static form of theory incapable of explaining social change, methodologically impotent and ideologically tainted, functionalism stands accused of being socially and politically reactionary. In this book, Michael Faia challenges the view that functionalism should be rejected. He claims that because functional theories are causal, multivariate, time-ordered, and characterized by reciprocal causation, they are in fact inherently dynamic, demand the highest methodological rigour, and also force sociology to transcend its infamous 'paradigm disputes' by recognizing that the social sciences have already achieved an 'integrated methodological paradigm'. The central arguments of the book are illustrated by a wide variety of examples drawn from several academic disciplines. These range from the incest taboo to witchcraft, from tenure in the US Congress to duration of marriage. The reader thus gains a strong appreciation of the wide applicability of the functionalist mode of explanation.
Table of Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Preface
- Part I. Allegations, Definitions, and Illustrations: 1. A kindly critique of Kingsley Davis
- 2. The incest taboo: social selection as a form of feedback
- 3. Exemplary exercises in survivorship
- 4. The nature, determinants, and consequences of time-series processes
- Part II. Adaptive Structures and Social Processes: 5. Patterns of Adaptation
- 6. Processes, simulations, and investigations
- Part III. L'envoi: 7. Toward an integrated social science paradigm
- Appendix
- Notes
- References
- Index.
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