Theoretical Approaches to Pop Culture: Functionalist, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic

Interactionism

Functionalist

- Functionalists believe that without collective conscience/ shared values and beliefs, achieving
social order is impossible and social order is crucial for the well-being of society. They believe
that value consensus forms the basic integrating principle in society. And if members of society
have shared values they therefore also have similar identities, this helps cooperation and avoids
conflict. Value consensus also ensures that people have shared: – Goals, Roles and Norms.
Norms can be described as specific guidelines of appropriate behavior; for example, queuing
when buying things.

- Functionalists believe that there are four main basic needs that an individual requires in order to
exist in society. They also believe that these four basic needs are essential for maintaining social
order. They are: food, shelter, money and clothing.

- Functionalism and Media: The media operate in the public interest by reflecting the interests of
the audience. It portrays public opinion. The media understands that society has a wide diversity
of culture and this is shown by the different amounts of stories it covers.

- Functionalism is a sociological perspective based on the works of classical sociologists such as

Durkheim and Spencer. This perspective views society as a collection of systems that interact to
create harmony and balance within a society. Major features of this perspective include
analyzing social structures as "functional" or "dysfunctional" on the basis of their contributions
to social stability, and differentiating between manifest (intentional) and latent (unintentional)
functionality. The conflict perspective, which originated with the writing of Karl Marx, views
society as a collection of different groups that are constantly in competition for power in their
society and access to resources. These perspectives differ in their definitions of what makes up a
society; while functionalism views society as a collection of social structures with varying levels
of functionality, the conflict perspective understands society as a collection of different social
groups in constant conflict with one another .
Conflict Theory

- A conflict theory of culture also fits well with influential non-evolutionary theories of
culture such as Marxism. Marxism posits that economically dominant classes construct
culture to serve their interests. A conflict theory of culture also accords with common
observation of intense conflict over cultural issues (e.g., conflicts within legislative bodies
over the teaching of evolution or prayer in public schools; conflicts over regulation of the
content of media messages on aggression and sexuality). The idea of Kulturkampf is a
well-established and much-studied phenomenon in historical societies (e.g., Ross,
2000).

- Conflict theory also enables active attempts to construct culture in accordance with explicit
perceptions of possible costs and benefits. Because people have different construals of the costs
and benefits of particular forms of culture, there is conflict over the construction of culture.
Social controls and ideologies are introduced as general cultural categories that are enabled by
explicit processing and which are able to regulate and motivate behavior within particular
historical contexts, at times in ways that conflict with evolved predispositions. Ideologies are
often intimately intertwined with various social controls but are logically and psychologically
independent from social controls.

- The emphasis on conflict within societies is certainly in keeping with general evolutionary
considerations, since, in the absence of genetic identity, all organisms have conflicts of interest.
Therefore, it is not surprising that people may have conflicts of interest over the construction of
culture. More importantly for the present article is that humans have perceived conflicts of
interest over the construction of culture made possible by explicit processing. It is then
important to determine whether and to what extent the outcome of cultural conflict may affect
biological fitness. This perspective also leads to a complex view of the relationship between
human interests as proposed by evolutionary theory versus perceived interests that result from
explicit processing.
Symbolic Interactionism

- Symbolic interactionism tends to focus on the language and symbols that help us give meaning
to the experiences in our life. This theory consists of three core principles: meaning, language
and thought. Conceptualization of culture is the way to go in helping us understand our human
condition as they tend to see our social world as dynamic and dialectical. The role of human
agency is accounted for in making culture as well as the use of culture in reality.

- Symbolic interactionism requires role-taking on the part of the individual. In order to

communicate with others, a person must go outside the self to see the self as others would see
it. A person can take on the role of a specific other, a specific organized group, or the
generalized other. The generalized other is the "typical members of a society or culture with
which the individual identifies herself" (Fisher, 1978, p. 171).

- In symbolic interactionism, communication takes place on many levels, and is the dialogic
interaction between the individual and the other on each of those levels. This interaction is the
basis for any social relationship of shared meanings. According to Applegate (1980), this
interaction necessitates negotiatio.i. People who communicate are negotiating the purpose of
the interaction, the nature of the setting, the identities of those in the interaction, the types of
relationships which may be formed, and the norms and values of the relevant social or cultural
context.

- Before symbolic interactionism, self was primarily viewed as a freestanding, independent entity
even to the point of believing that all qualities of the self were innate. Mead saw self as an
entity that exists within social interactions and as such is both a product of those interactions
and player in those interactions. Again, the critical element that links self and society is symbols
as enacted in social interactions. Only humans have a sense of “self” because we have symbols
by which we can consider who and what we are. Our attitudes, values, beliefs which are
formulated through symbols constitute part of our sense of self.
References:
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/sociology/theories-in-sociology/concepts-of-
functionalism/
https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-are-the-major-features-of-functionalism-how-
663144
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/147470490900700206
https://www.researchgate.net/post/what_is_Symbolic_Interactionism_How_to_use_it_in_cultura
l-spatial_research
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED355560.pdf
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=engl_reports