Final answer:
Functionalism is a sociological perspective that views society as a stable system where components work together to maintain balance. Social institutions and structures are considered crucial for societal health, and patterns of inequality may be seen as having specific functions, such as ensuring the most capable individuals fill key roles.
Step-by-step explanation:
The functionalist perspective is a framework in sociology that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This macro-level approach, grounded in the works of Herbert Spencer and other sociologists like Emile Durkheim, views social structures and institutions as necessary to meet the needs of society as a whole. It explores the functions of various social phenomena, such as education, religion, and the economy, and how they contribute to the functioning and well-being of society. Social institutions like these are crucial in stabilizing society and contributing to overall harmony and equilibrium. For instance, inequality in the functionalist view may be seen as a mechanism that ensures the most capable individuals fill the most important roles within society.
The Davis-Moore thesis, for example, justifies social stratification by stating that the most difficult jobs in any society are the most necessary and require the highest rewards and incentives to motivate the most qualified individuals to fill them. Furthermore, functionalists may examine how social change, such as movements like the Tea Party or MeToo, contributes to social cohesion by allowing societies to adjust and maintain stability in the face of shifting values and norms. When examining global inequality, a functionalist might suggest that disparities exist because some nations are more adept at adapting to technological changes and capitalizing on a globalized economy than others. When companies from developed countries invest in less developed ones, they potentially expand the local economies and provide more opportunities for local workers, thus playing a role in the global economic system.