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Functionalism
- British theory of the beginning of the XX
- Criticizes evolutionism
- Classify different types of society without judgment (evolved or not evolved)
Functionalism – A position that explores how a particular social form functions from
day-to-day in order to reproduce the traditional structure of the society
Malinowski
- Function of social practices: To fulfill basic social, biological, and
psychological needs
Criticism
Stating that cultural practices satisfy human biological and psychological needs:
does not explain why human beings have different cultural answers to these needs.
Function of religion
- Normative aspects: impose social values, bound people together, allows
social continuity
Criticism of Functionalism
- Rigid static typologies: does not explain cultural change
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