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Societies can be fast-tracked to modernization by ‘importing’ Western technical capital, forms of organization, and science and technology to developing countries. Modernization is slowly but surely creating a new future for all. “Whichever approach you find more convincing, keep in mind that change in the United States is no longer separate from change in the rest of the world” (Page 509). Rich people could help poor people along with rich nations help poor countries develop their economies.

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In the twentieth century, individuals are more likely to have a greater importance placed on science and rational thought as traditional metanarratives no longer provide a reasonable explanation for a postmodern lifestyle. “Now that the world is capable of producing material abundance, ideas are taking on more importance. In this sense, postmodernity is also a post materialistic era in which issues such as social justice, the state of the natural environment, and animal rights command more and more public attention”(Page 508). Postmodernism includes criticism of supposedly superior modern ideas as well as the inclusion of earlier material and techniques.

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Wage inequality is best defined under the symbolic interactionist perspective. This theory states that for something to be a social problem, it must be recognized by society as such. “However, mass-society theory suggests that so much social diversity, widespread isolation, and rapid social change can make it difficult for many people to establish any coherent identity at all”(Page 504). Societal views cause women and men to be paid, educated, treated and taught differently from the point of birth.

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In the late 2000’s the light began to be shined on police officers, government officials, majors, and people with authority and power. The society began to witness the brutality from the police officers and government officials lying and twisting around documents to win elections and votes. The sense of them being untrustworthy began to surface and questioning along with assumptions began as well. “This self-centeredness weakens the social ties that once united small communities. Under capitalism, people are transformed into commodities: a source of labor and a market for capitalist products” (Page 503). As long as they remain on the top of the food chain, whether we question or not at the end of the day they are still in control.

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Structural-Functional Perspective (Government ) 

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Structural-Functional Perspective (Government ) 

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The government surrounds us and makes people and states stay in order as much as possible. The government provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. That is, the family is dependent upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can raise and support their own families. “In a mass society, power resides in large bureaucracies, leaving people in local communities with little control over their lives”( Page 503). If all goes well, the parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity.

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What is Structural Functionalism?

Take a step back and think of your hometown's government. Unless you live in a very small town, chances are that the local doctor is not also the local policeman. In fact, there are plenty of municipal services that make up the small town. Each different part of the government contributes something different. After all, you wouldn't want the local dogcatcher to be too busy fighting fires to keep stray dogs out of your garbage.

Several decades ago, some sociologists thought that all of society interacts like this; where each part of society had a specific task. They called this framework structural functionalism. While the ideas of structural functionalism have fallen out of favor, let's take a bit to try and understand what they were saying.

Structural Functionalism in Theory

First, let's look at the history of structural functionalism. During the 19th century, the world was becoming a much smaller space. Trains and steamships had linked the world in a way no one had thought possible. While many Europeans were starting to think of themselves as superior, due to their more 'advanced' culture, a French philosopher, named Emile Durkheim, noticed this and started to think that society was made up of building blocks that were focused towards a common goal. If people stopped agreeing on those common goals, then society would disintegrate. However, as long as most people agreed, society would be fine.

For example, this image of a circular flow of money through an economy demonstrates how something that almost everyone can agree on, education, is made into a goal. Of course, this only worked as long as everyone was focused. If one group disagreed on where society is going, then the whole thing falls apart. These social bonds are very important.

However, structural functionalism had a serious problem. It was too far removed from actual society. It assumed that these blocks were homogenous, all wanting the same thing. Also, it thought that all motivation was a zero-sum game, meaning that there had to be winners and losers. After all, if you increase funding for the police department, that money had to come from somewhere, right? This all neglects that groups can have different starting points and different motivations. For a two-person dog catching team, an extra $50,000 in funding is a big deal, while for a forty-person police department, it is relatively minor. To put that into real world terms, structural functionalism assumed that all of society's groups are always equal, which is simply not the case. Just turn on the news or watch any political debate and you'll see that many groups of society are anything but equal.

Challenging the Status Quo

All of that may sound a little confusing, so let's take a look at an example of society going through massive changes and see what structural functionalism says about each of them. Chances are that you're familiar with the French Revolution of 1787. If not, all you really need to know is that the will of the masses was ignored in favor of the will of the nobility and that afterwards there was chaos for several years while society tried to figure out what to do. Suddenly, the masses decided that they weren't going to put up with the nobility anymore. In what was known as the Reign of Terror, thousands of people were executed as one part of society, the masses, rebelled against the rest of society.

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theory & examples - video & lesson transcript | study.com

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Structural Functionalism: Definition, Theory & Examples - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Take a step back and think of your hometown's government. Unless you live in a very small town, chances are that the local doctor is not also the local policeman. In fact, there are plenty of municipal services that make up the small town. Each different part of the government contributes something different.

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http://ideas.iwmarketing.com/fast-forward-to-video-trends-in-2019

Trends could also be called a “Fad” which is defined as an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically. It is dramatically increasing in the society day by day from where a celebrity was for vacation, what diet a model was on, the clothes a rapper had on etc. “Fads capture the public imagination but quickly burn out. Because fashions reflect basic cultural values like individuality and sexual attractiveness, they tend to stay around for awhile” (Page492). Celebrities have the power to make something big which is why so many companies team up with models, actors and professional athletes to advertise their company so it influences people’s thoughts on the company or influences them to buy what the celebrities advertise.

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Contemporary example of social change happening right now:	Technology ( “Robots” ) replacing people and putting them out of work.

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Contemporary example of social change happening right now:	Technology ( “Robots” ) replacing people and putting them out of work.

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This example was chosen because it is seen in many factories & in the military where manufactured electronic devices are created to do the work 4 people would do in one. It connects to the chapter because it is changing the world we live in dramatically. Society has to adapt to a new way of living around new technology being developed everyday,  “For example, auto manufacturers seek more efficient ways to power our cars, and advertisers try to convince us that life is not complete without a 4G cell phone or some other new electronic gadget” (page 489). People are continuously losing jobs to manufactured ‘robots’ which means more people in poverty or unemployment and more money for the business owners.