The video with the title “Main social paradigms: Crash Course sociology №2,” posted by Crash Course, examines the sets of concepts, which explains the functioning of society. The narrator compares the community to a well-oiled machine built on a common interest basis. The video states that it is necessary applying to social paradigms to understand how groups of people interact with each other. The narrator describes two levels, considered by sociology, which are macro and micro. The first describes entire structures and global phenomena, while the second is concerned with the interaction between distinct individuals.
Further, the video outlines three types of social paradigms, which are structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism, emphasizing their use in obtaining a correct insight into a society. The first one represents a community as a living organism with all parts working together and fulfilling required functions, based on the French sociologist Emile Durkheim’s vision. This paradigm is grounded on the belief that society is stable and autonomous.
The video explains that the second paradigm enables researchers to consider society as a community composed of different groups that struggle over limited resources such as money or status. The narrator brings the example of the discussed concept, which is Karl Marx’s theory of class conflict. The provided instance shows that society is divided into classes with unequal access to resources, which is the main issue from this paradigm’s perspective. Both the mentioned methods of understanding society are focused on the macro level, while symbolic internationalism enabled researchers to consider the micro one. The narrator presents the point of view that this paradigm’s usefulness is in understanding society through considering everyday individuals’ interactions based on Max Weber’s assumption. The video provides distinctions between micro and micro levels and explains three major social paradigms.