Sociologists approach the study of society in different ways. Two concepts of society are functionalism and Marxism. Functionalists believe that different parts of society work together to keep the society running whereas Marxists believe societies are unequal and unfair. Both concepts differ in their views of how society operates for instance a Marxist would claim that there are only 2 classes and it is very hard to progress up a class whereas a functionalist would disagree and claim the harder you work, the more you achieve and the better your social position.

Functionalists believe society works like a human body for instance every part of society works to keep it going just like organs in a body and that the human body grows and develops as does society. They also believe that society is more important than the individual and that social institutions exist in order to keep the social order. For example the education system socialises us into the culture of society and this provides us with our values which support the society. A Marxist would disagree with this view, they see social institutions being used by the ruling class to control the working class and that education give people their values which support the bourgeoisie exploitation. For example in a child’s learning life they are taught to strictly obey rules which follows them into working life.

Functionalists also believe in meritocracy which is if you work harder, you get further. For example someone born into a poverty stricken household can grow up to become a billionaire if they work hard enough and have the talent to succeed. A Marxist strongly disagrees with this view and sees society as having only two classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Marxism states that the bourgeoisie control the jobs and in this society someone who has talent to be successful could end up a failure