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Over the last several decades, functional theory in the social sciences has fallen into disfavour. Alleged to be a static form of theory incapable of explaining social change, methodologically impotent and ideologically tainted, functionalism stands accused of being socially and politically reactionary. In this book, Michael Faia challenges the view that functionalism should be rejected. He claims that because functional theories are causal, multivariate, time-ordered, and characterized by reciprocal causation, they are in fact inherently dynamic, demand the highest methodological rigour, and also force sociology to transcend its infamous 'paradigm disputes' by recognizing that the social sciences have already achieved an 'integrated methodological paradigm'. The central arguments of the book are illustrated by a wide variety of examples drawn from several academic disciplines. These range from the incest taboo to witchcraft, from tenure in the US Congress to duration of marriage. The reader thus gains a strong appreciation of the wide applicability of the functionalist mode of explanation

Intro -- Contents -- 1. Functionalism Historicized -- 2. The Functional Reduction of Kinship in the Social Thought of John Locke / Thomas de Zengotita -- 3. Robertson Smith and James Frazer on Religion: Two Traditions in Birtish Social Anthropology / Robert Alun Jones -- 4. Tribal Exemplars: Images of Political Authority in British Anthropology, 1885-1945 / Henrika Kuklick -- 5. Englishmen, Celts, and Iberians: The Ethnographic Survey of the United Kingdom, 1892-1899 / James Urry -- 6. Dr. Durkheim and Mr. Brown: Comparative Sociology at Cambridge in 1910 / George W. Stocking, Jr. (Editor) -- 7. Radcliffe-Brown and British Social Anthropology / George Stocking, Jr. -- 8. Function, History, Biography: Reflections on Fifty Years in the British Anthropological Tradition / Hilda Kuper -- 9. Miscellaneous Studies: From Philology to Anthropology in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Germany / James Whitman -- Information for Contributors -- Index.

Introduction -- The Designed World -- The Functionalist School and Functional Practice -- Programmatic Functionalism and Functionalist Programmes -- Bronisław Malinowski and Cultural Biology -- Radcliffe Brown: Social Anthropology as Comparative Sociology -- Marion Levy and Structural: Functional Requisite Analysis -- Robert K. Merton: Functional Tensions in a Divided World -- Functional Design and Functional Reasoning: Conclusion.

International integration & functionalism are defined as the processes whereby decisions & activities are performed by international organizations rather than by separate nations. The greatest difficulty incurred in the development of such worldwide programs is their location in the context of current national & transnational processes. Some of the other issues which must be dealt with in the creation of global models include: (1) the fact that overlapping functions of territorial units perform conflict management functions as well as performing specific functional roles, (2) organizations created for a specific need often perform interdependent functions with groups created out of a different need, (3) since many global problems transcend boundaries of rich & poor nations, some equalization of resources may be necessary to produce efficient collaboration between rich & poor groups, & (4) existing national boundaries may not necessarily reflect the nature of future global systems. 1 Figure, 1 Table. M. Cain.