Mitchell Duneie's "Sidewalk"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that "Sidewalk" by Mitchell Duneie describes a Sixth-Avenue society, which was observed for five years, where people of diverse race and class find similarities among their differences and establish a new order and stability. The author points out that the writer states that many of the rules of the Sixth-Avenue society are very different from what is seen in an average capitalistic economy. The paper concludes that, although symbolism is a part of the sidewalk society, even the dialogue is symbolic because language is involved; it is the fundamentalist perspective that Duneier stresses as he relates the maintenance of order and the continuance of the sidewalk society, despite the many challenges it continually confronts.

From the Paper:

"The functionalist perspective focuses on how a part contributes to the survival of the whole. In sociology, functionalism rests on the belief that society is based on order and stability that come from the cultural consensus of values and norms. Early functionalists in the 1800s, such as Emile Durkheim, Auguste Comte and Herbert Spenser, stressed that extensive social change can be very damaging for social systems. They focused on the need to maintain equilibrium through conformity. Throughout history, societies have been quite varied, from the mainstream to the alternative. Yet they all have needed this agreement of values to remain cohesive and functional."

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