Talk:Neofunctionalism

Addition

The article on neofunctionalism is good on its own terms but leaves out the broader use of the term 'neofunctionalism' to designate a tendency in sociological theory. Jeffrey Alexander describes this tendency in his introduction to his edited book Neofunctionalism (1985) and in Neofunctionalism and After (1998). This tendency is analogous to neoMarxism in that it attempts to revitalize the functionalist perspective by revising it in response to its critics, divesting it of elements seen to be unnecessary encumbrances and incorporating elements seen as lacking in its 'orthodox' version. In particular, neofunctionalism incorporates an account of conflict and of agency, and also pushes functionalist thought to the left or at least broadens it beyond the right-liberal, socially conservative stance attributed to Talcott Parsons.

Having said that, I've more or less exhausted my own knowledge of the subject - someone with a solid background in functionalist sociology should write a proper entry. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that neofunctionalism as currently defined on this page is probably a variant or application of the more general theoretical tendency. And it should be linked to the Functionalism (sociology) article, and vice versa.

(canciand1 21:07, 2 January 2007 (UTC)) I think that this article needs to be corrected grammatically. Sometimes it is impossible to understand what the writer means and the punctuation used doesn't make it easier. To me it seems like that the syntax is also incorrect. For example, what do the writer mean for "the transfer of domestic allegiances and technocratic automatically" (which is before the bullet points)? Do you mean national loyalties such as Nationalistic believes? What about technocratic? Does the writer mean intellectuals? Another one is: "The mechanism of a transfer in domestic allegiances can be best understood by first noting that an important assumption within neofunctionalist thinking is of a pluralistic society within the relevant nation states." Something like: "The mechanism of a transfer in national loyalties from national to the European level can be best understood by the important assumption within Neo-functionalists thinking that the Nation States are essentially made by pluralistic societies. Neo-functionalists claim that, as the process of integration increases peace, interest groups and associations within the societies of the nation states involved will transfer their national loyalties to the supranational European political institutions. This will happen because individuals and communities would eventually realise that the institutions of the EU are politically and democratically more effective than the national ones." If this is what the writer means than just change it! Thanks! (canciand1 21:07, 2 January 2007 (UTC))

The tab on the right of the page

...is divided in various sections and sub-section...

Idealism, Realism, etc...

My understanding is that Functionalism and Neofunctionalism are both sub-sections of the broader liberal thought. Hence I would put both as a sub-section of idealism —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bhork (talk • contribs) 19:14, 18 April 2010 (UTC)