FUNCTIONALISM is the analytical tendency within the social sciences—most notably, sociology and social anthropology—that exhibits a particular interest in the functions of social or cultural phenomena. In its most traditional form, functionalism has claimed that all items and activities in a system should be explained in reference to their objective consequences for the system as a whole. Thus the pivotal meaning of function is the objective consequence of an activity or phenomenon for the system of which it is a part. A secondary—but nonetheless significant—meaning of function in social science is similar to the use of the term in mathematics. When it is stated that x is a function of y, it is meant that x varies in direct proportion to variation in y. In social science this perspective on the concept of function has to do with interrelatedness. The dominant and the secondary...