Social Structure

Soc100-125 Topic: Social Structure In order for us to understand why sociological theories could be classified into 'consensus' and 'conflict' perspectives it may be best to first define these concepts. Consensus is a concept of society in which the absence of conflict is seen as the equilibrium state of society based on a general or widespread agreement among all members of a particular society. Conflict can be overt or covert, stemming from the range …

…between the theories. For example, Talcott Parsons set out to synthesize Weber's and Durkheim's works, but tended to be more Durkheimian than Weberian. Thirdly, these social theorists derive their theories from the works of a previous social theorists as well as critics. Therefore, we see that the borders drawn between these paradigms by denoting some as conflict theories and others as consensus theories are merely lines drawn in the sand of a wider sociological discourse.