NEOFUNCTIONALISM Neofunctionalism is a theoretical development that emerged in the mid- 1980s in the United States and.Germany. In 1984 the theory section of the Americ iological Association, then headed by Jeffrey C. Alexander, devoted two sessions to a conferénce on neofunctionalism at the annual meeting. Most of the papers presented reappraised and reconsidered the empirical applications of Parsonian theory-“Alexander, recognized as the leading propo! ctionalism in the United States, subsequently published a volume titled Neofunctionalism In the introduction to Neofunctionalism Alexander suggests three simi- larities between neofunctionalism and neo-Marxism. Both include a critique of some of the basic tenets of thé original theory, the incorporation of ele- its from antag’ he , and a variety of competing velopments rather than a single coherent form. Alexander then argues that neofunctionalism is a tendency rather than a developed theory, and he elaborates on the various tendencies of neofunctionalism: (1) to create a form 7 of functionalism that is multidimensional and includes micro as well as macro levels of analysis; (2) to push functionalism to the left and reject Parsons’s optimism about modernity; (3) to argue for an implicit democratic thrust in functional analysis; (4) to incorporate_a ict.orientation; and (5) to, emphasize contingency (uncertainty) and interactional. creativity. What remained at issue among neofunctionalists, soe tee the following kinds of interrelated problems: How may researchers est charac- terize they ‘elationship between confli contingency and. social order? To Scanned with Car20%" ngs 58 Chapter 2 what extent must Parso: action and social ord Tesearch? In the ns’s emphasis wy ler be reformu! reformulated in inform empirical 1980: and. 1990s “contributors e tionalism in the United States, in addition to Alexander, include Paul Colomy, Dean Gerstein, Mark Gould, Frank Lechner, Germany Niki David Sciulli, and Neil Smelser, and in las Luhmann and briefly mentio: Richard Munch. In the following section we n the work of Alexander, Smelser, and Luhmann. JEFFREY C. ALEXANDER In his book titled Neofunctionalism and After, Jeffrey Alexander confessed that he considers the neofunctionalism Project as finished. He argues that the transition from orthod. reconstructed functionalism has been com oleted ~zansition fron r wee Tunchonalism has been comp! b ‘arsons’s cent establish Parsons as a theorists, Parsons’s th dominate contemporary. t] ideas are “no more important than some of the critical achievements of otheg classical theorists,”"* ee ~~~ On the other hand, Alexan “vital cui der continues to view functionalism as a contemporary work... one strong strand in the f. ic of th ical movement.” Further, he predicts that neofunctionalists will” portant sociological studies. But he of new politically generated theories su society, and postcolonialians 718A tac Scanned with Car