Compare Marxist and functionalist views on culture and society

Marxism is a sociological perspective that views society through class conflict, analyzing social hierarchies and the means through which conflict creates social change. The functionalist perspective frames society as a collection of institutions which exist to produce social order, and believe that society is maintained through social consensus (also called social cohesion). Marxist and functionalist theories are both sociological frames which focus on the macro level; in other words, they examine societal institutions and broad social phenomena, rather than individual or small group interactions. Otherwise, the perspectives make almost opposite assumptions and examine much different aspects of society. Marxist theory examines the conflict between groups in society, and functionalism centers how social cohesion develops in society. Functionalism focuses on how institutions contribute to the functionality of society, and Marxism examines how institutions create, continue and ideologically justify conflict between classes.