Revision summary
Functionalism asks what a custom does in the present. Malinowski tied culture to individual needs. Radcliffe-Brown tied institutions to structural continuity. It justified intensive fieldwork against unilinear history. Limits are harmony bias and a thin sense of time.
Model answer
Introduction
Functionalism explains a custom by the present job it does for persons or for the social whole. It was the British school’s answer to speculative history.
Body
Two wings
- Malinowski’s biological functionalism: culture meets seven needs, from metabolism to growth, as in Trobriand gardens and kula.
- Radcliffe-Brown’s structural functionalism: institutions maintain social structure, as Andaman rites keep solidarity.
Yield and limit
- Fieldwork replaced armchair stages. Every rite was asked: what does it do now?
- Evans-Pritchard later said the Nuer need history, not only function.
- Conflict, inequality, and change look like noise if function is only harmony. Gluckman put conflict inside function.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD F[Functionalism] --> MAL[Malinowski needs] F --> RB[Radcliffe-Brown structure] F --> LIM[History conflict]
Conclusion
Functionalism made ethnography a study of living uses. Malinowski served needs; Radcliffe-Brown served structure. History and conflict must still be let back in.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Delineate the salient features of Chalcolithic cultures.
Next question in the 2016 paper (Q2). View answer →
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Is functionalism the same as function in ordinary English?
It is a theory: present use explains the custom’s existence, which critics call circular.
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Did it ignore the past?
It postponed conjectural history. Later work put archives and oral history back.
PYQ trend
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Critically discuss the controversies related to fieldwork of Bronislaw-Malinowski and Margaret Mead. -
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Radcliffe-Brown's ideas on status, role and institution
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