Synoptic: the feminist theories (liberal, radical, Marxist and difference or intersectional) and the interactionist or social action perspective (Mead, Goffman, Becker), and how each challenges structural consensus and conflict theory.

What this dot point is asking

OCR Sociology requires the perspectives that challenge the structural theories: feminism (which adds gender) and interactionism (which adds meaning and agency). You need the four feminisms and the social action thinkers (Mead, Goffman, Becker), and how each criticises functionalism and Marxism. These run through families, inequality and crime.

The answer

Feminism: gender and patriarchy

• Liberal feminism (Oakley) sees gender inequality as the result of outdated attitudes and gender role socialisation, to be reformed through equal-rights law and changing socialisation.
• Radical feminism (Walby) sees patriarchy as entrenched across six structures (paid work, housework, the state, male violence, sexuality, culture), requiring fundamental change.
• Marxist feminism links women's oppression to capitalism: unpaid domestic labour reproduces the workforce, and women form a reserve army of labour.
• Difference and intersectional feminism (Crenshaw, hooks) argues women's experiences vary by class, ethnicity and sexuality, so there is no single "women's experience".

Interactionism: meaning and agency

Mead argues humans act on the basis of meanings and can take the role of the other, interpreting symbols rather than simply responding to stimuli. Goffman's dramaturgy presents social life as a performance, with a frontstage self managed for audiences and a backstage where we relax, through impression management. Becker's labelling theory shows how the social reaction to behaviour, the labels applied, shapes identity and further behaviour (the self-fulfilling prophecy).

How they challenge structural theory

Both perspectives challenge functionalism and Marxism. Feminism exposes their neglect of gender, arguing they are "malestream". Interactionism exposes their neglect of agency and meaning, arguing people are not just puppets of structure. But interactionism is in turn criticised for neglecting structure and power: it struggles to explain large-scale patterns of inequality, and critics ask where labels and meanings come from.

Examples in context

A top essay weighs the insights of feminism and interactionism (gender, agency, meaning) against their limits, uses named theorists, and judges how they relate to the structural theories.

Try this

Q1. Outline two concepts from the interactionist perspective. [4 marks]

• What the marker wants. Two concepts (AO1, two marks each): the presentation of self or frontstage and backstage (Goffman), and labelling or the self-fulfilling prophecy (Becker), each briefly explained.

Q2. Outline and explain two ways in which feminism challenges traditional sociology. [10 marks]

• Cue. Two developed points: feminism exposes the neglect of gender and patriarchy in malestream theory, and it analyses women's experiences (Oakley on socialisation, Walby on patriarchy), each applied to an example.