a critical study of the views of functionalists on social differentiation

social differentiation is among the important concepts in sociology. the importance of the concept may be understood from its frequent recurrence in the works of the early sociologists including spencer, durkheim, weber and marx, as well as in the works of later sociologists such as parsons, smelser and luhmann. the idea of segregation is mainly discussed as a key concept in the theories of social change. the purpose of this paper is to critically explore the concept of social segregation as developed by durkheim, especially in his book social division of labor. the writers also study the theories of social differentiation as developed by more recent sociologists such as parsons, smelser and luhmann.