J.S Furnivall was the father of the concept of plural society.

He developed the idea whereby

different races in a State can live amongst one another in different communities and yet may
still come together as one political unit. As what Furnivall calls, “individual meet but only in
the market place”. This depicts that even in the same economical sphere, there are certain
clear disparities between the race of a country. The aforementioned may not be seen to be ‘an
odd one out’ as most of the countries in the World have multi-cultural background with
different races and religions. Therefore, it seems that the idea of plural society in today’s
modern era is nevertheless embedded into our system1.

However, it is with this concept of plural society in which Furnivall stipulates that it is
inherently unstable as there is no common social will to actually integrate the different races
and cultures of a State. Furnivall then goes on to say that the origin of the concept of plural
society is through the colonial power who have destroyed the pre-colonial native societies.
When the concept of plural society flutters, there will be no check and balances in a State in
which citizens will be more endeared in terms of materials, rationalism and concentration on
only economic ends. The concept of plural society has inevitably divided the society into
different aspects which includes politics, economy and also education. However, despite this,
Furnivall’s ideas were seemingly not accepted by a few which countered that shared values
are not the key point to have a stable society. More often than not, the instability of a country
if probably due to the political agenda instead of the difference of race and cultures. In this
discussion, we will be delving into four elements of plural society that was developed by J.S
Furnivall.

References

Journal

1. “Lee Hock Guan” (2009) , Furnivall’s Plural Society and Leach’s Political Systems of
Highland Burma. Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, Volume 24
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/367737/pdf#:~:text=Furnivall%20argues%20that
%20economic%20progress,506).

1
“Lee Hock Guan” (2009) , Furnivall’s Plural Society and Leach’s Political Systems of Highland Burma.
Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, Volume 24 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/367737/pdf#:~:text=Furnivall
%20argues%20that%20economic%20progress,506).