conflict theory sociology essay

Understanding Conflict Theory

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Conflict theory states that tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts become the engine for social change. In this context, power can be understood as control of material resources and accumulated wealth, control of politics and the institutions that make up society, and one's social status relative to others (determined not just by class but by race, gender, sexuality, culture , and religion, among other things).

"A house may be large or small; as long as the neighboring houses are likewise small, it satisfies all social requirement for a residence. But let there arise next to the little house a palace, and the little house shrinks to a hut." Wage Labour and Capital (1847)

Marx's Conflict Theory

Conflict theory originated in the work of Karl Marx , who focused on the causes and consequences of class conflict between the bourgeoisie (the owners of the means of production and the capitalists) and the proletariat (the working class and the poor). Focusing on the economic, social, and political implications of the rise of capitalism in Europe , Marx theorized that this system, premised on the existence of a powerful minority class (the bourgeoisie) and an oppressed majority class (the proletariat), created class conflict because the interests of the two were at odds, and resources were unjustly distributed among them.

Within this system an unequal social order was maintained through ideological coercion which created consensus--and acceptance of the values, expectations, and conditions as determined by the bourgeoisie. Marx theorized that the work of producing consensus was done in the "superstructure" of society, which is composed of social institutions, political structures, and culture, and what it produced consensus for was the "base," the economic relations of production. 

Marx reasoned that as the socio-economic conditions worsened for the proletariat, they would develop a class consciousness that revealed their exploitation at the hands of the wealthy capitalist class of bourgeoisie, and then they would revolt, demanding changes to smooth the conflict. According to Marx, if the changes made to appease conflict maintained a capitalist system, then the cycle of conflict would repeat. However, if the changes made created a new system, like socialism , then peace and stability would be achieved.

Evolution of Conflict Theory

Many social theorists have built on Marx's conflict theory to bolster it, grow it, and refine it over the years. Explaining why Marx's theory of revolution did not manifest in his lifetime, Italian scholar and activist  Antonio Gramsci  argued that the power of ideology was stronger than Marx had realized and that more work needed to be done to overcome cultural hegemony, or  rule through common sense . Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, critical theorists who were part of The Frankfurt School , focused their work on how the rise of mass culture--mass produced art, music, and media--contributed to the maintenance of cultural hegemony. More recently, C. Wright Mills drew on conflict theory to describe the rise of a tiny "power elite" composed of military, economic, and political figures who have ruled America from the mid-twentieth century.

Many others have drawn on conflict theory to develop other types of theory within the social sciences, including feminist theory , critical race theory , postmodern and postcolonial theory, queer theory, post-structural theory, and theories of globalization and world systems . So, while initially conflict theory described class conflicts specifically, it has lent itself over the years to studies of how other kinds of conflicts, like those premised on race, gender, sexuality, religion, culture, and nationality, among others, are a part of contemporary social structures, and how they affect our lives.

Applying Conflict Theory

Conflict theory and its variants are used by many sociologists today to study a wide range of social problems. Examples include:

• How today's global capitalism creates a global system of power and inequality.
• How words play a role in reproducing and justifying conflict.
• The causes and consequences of the gender pay gap between men and women.

Updated  by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

• Karl Marx's Greatest Hits
• Understanding Karl Marx's Class Consciousness and False Consciousness
• The Main Points of "The Communist Manifesto"
• Conflict Theory Case Study: The Occupy Central Protests in Hong Kong
• All About Marxist Sociology
• Theories of Ideology
• A Brief Biography of Karl Marx
• What Is Social Order in Sociology?
• Proletarianization Defined: Shrinking of the Middle Class
• What Is Cultural Hegemony?
• The Differences Between Communism and Socialism
• Biography of Antonio Gramsci
• Understanding Critical Theory
• Understanding Alienation and Social Alienation
• The Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology

1.3 Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Describe the ways that sociological theories are used to explain social institutions.
• Differentiate between functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

Sociologists study social events, interactions, and patterns, and they develop theories to explain why things work as they do. In sociology, a theory is a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and to create a testable proposition, called a hypothesis , about society (Allan 2006).

For example, although suicide is generally considered an individual phenomenon, Émile Durkheim was interested in studying the social factors that affect it. He studied social solidarity , social ties within a group, and hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religious differences. Durkheim gathered a large amount of data about Europeans and found that Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics. His work supports the utility of theory in sociological research.

Theories vary in scope depending on the scale of the issues that they are meant to explain. Macro-level theories relate to large-scale issues and large groups of people, while micro-level theories look at very specific relationships between individuals or small groups. Grand theories attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change. Sociological theory is constantly evolving and should never be considered complete. Classic sociological theories are still considered important and current, but new sociological theories build upon the work of their predecessors and add to them (Calhoun, 2002).

In sociology, a few theories provide broad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life, and these are called paradigms . Paradigms are philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them. Three paradigms have come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

Functionalism

Functionalism , also called structural-functional theory, sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society. Functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist, Herbert Spencer, who saw similarities between society and the human body. He argued that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the various parts of society work together to keep society functioning (Spencer, 1898). The parts of society that Spencer referred to were the social institutions , or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy.

Émile Durkheim applied Spencer’s theory to explain how societies change and survive over time. Durkheim believed that society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability (Durkheim, 1893), and that society is held together by shared values, languages, and symbols. He believed that to study society, a sociologist must look beyond individuals to social facts such as laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashion, and rituals, which all serve to govern social life (Durkheim, 1895). Alfred Radcliffe-Brown (1881–1955), a social anthropologist, defined the function of any recurrent activity as the part it played in social life as a whole, and therefore the contribution it makes to social stability and continuity (Radcliffe-Brown 1952). In a healthy society, all parts work together to maintain stability, a state called dynamic equilibrium by later sociologists such as Parsons (1961).

Durkheim believed that individuals may make up society, but in order to study society, sociologists have to look beyond individuals to social facts. . Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society. For example, one function of a society’s laws may be to protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public health.

Another noted structural functionalist, Robert Merton (1910–2003), pointed out that social processes often have many functions. Manifest functions are the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated, while latent functions are the unsought consequences of a social process. A manifest function of a college education, for example, includes gaining knowledge, preparing for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes that education. Latent functions of your college years include meeting new people, participating in extracurricular activities, or even finding a spouse or partner. Another latent function of education is creating a hierarchy of employment based on the level of education attained. Latent functions can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful. Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society are called dysfunctions . In education, examples of dysfunction include getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment.

One criticism of the structural-functional theory is that it can’t adequately explain social change even though the functions are processes. Also problematic is the somewhat circular nature of this theory: repetitive behavior patterns are assumed to have a function, yet we profess to know that they have a function only because they are repeated. Furthermore, dysfunctions may continue, even though they don’t serve a function, which seemingly contradicts the basic premise of the theory. Many sociologists now believe that functionalism is no longer useful as a macro-level theory, but that it does serve a useful purpose in some mid-level analyses.

Big Picture

A global culture.

Sociologists around the world look closely for signs of what would be an unprecedented event: the emergence of a global culture. In the past, empires such as those that existed in China, Europe, Africa, and Central and South America linked people from many different countries, but those people rarely became part of a common culture. They lived too far from each other, spoke different languages, practiced different religions, and traded few goods. Today, increases in communication, travel, and trade have made the world a much smaller place. More and more people are able to communicate with each other instantly—wherever they are located—by telephone, video, and text. They share movies, television shows, music, games, and information over the Internet. Students can study with teachers and pupils from the other side of the globe. Governments find it harder to hide conditions inside their countries from the rest of the world.

Sociologists research many different aspects of this potential global culture. Some explore the dynamics involved in the social interactions of global online communities, such as when members feel a closer kinship to other group members than to people residing in their own countries. Other sociologists study the impact this growing international culture has on smaller, less-powerful local cultures. Yet other researchers explore how international markets and the outsourcing of labor impact social inequalities. Sociology can play a key role in people’s abilities to understand the nature of this emerging global culture and how to respond to it.

Conflict Theory

Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. This perspective is a macro-level approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher and economist Karl Marx, who saw society as being made up of individuals in different social classes who must compete for social, material, and political resources such as food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time. Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure. Some individuals and organizations are able to obtain and keep more resources than others, and these “winners” use their power and influence to maintain social institutions. The perpetuation of power results in the perpetuation of oppression.

Several theorists suggested variations on this basic theme like Polish-Austrian sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909) who expanded on Marx’s ideas by arguing that war and conquest are the bases of civilizations. He believed that cultural and ethnic conflicts led to states being identified and defined by a dominant group that had power over other groups (Irving, 2007).

German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) agreed with Marx but also believed that, in addition to economic inequalities, inequalities of political power and social structure cause conflict. Weber noted that different groups were affected differently based on education, race, and gender, and that people’s reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates of social mobility, as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in power. A reader of Marx, Georg Simmel believed that conflict can help integrate and stabilize a society. He said that the intensity of the conflict varies depending on the emotional involvement of the parties, the degree of solidarity within the opposing groups, and the clarity and limited nature of the goals. Simmel also showed that groups work to create internal solidarity, centralize power, and reduce dissent. The stronger the bond, the weaker the discord. Resolving conflicts can reduce tension and hostility and can pave the way for future agreements.

In the 1930s and 1940s, German philosophers, known as the Frankfurt School, developed critical theory as an elaboration on Marxist principles. Critical theory is an expansion of conflict theory and is broader than just sociology, incorporating other social sciences and philosophy. A critical theory is a holistic theory and attempts to address structural issues causing inequality. It must explain what’s wrong in current social reality, identify the people who can make changes, and provide practical goals for social transformation (Horkeimer, 1982).

More recently, inequality based on gender or race has been explained in a similar manner and has identified institutionalized power structures that help to maintain inequality between groups. Janet Saltzman Chafetz (1941–2006) presented a model of feminist theory that attempts to explain the forces that maintain gender inequality as well as a theory of how such a system can be changed (Turner, 2003). Similarly, critical race theory grew out of a critical analysis of race and racism from a legal point of view. Critical race theory looks at structural inequality based on white privilege and associated wealth, power, and prestige.

Sociology in the Real World

Farming and locavores: how sociological perspectives might view food consumption.

The consumption of food is a commonplace, daily occurrence. Yet, it can also be associated with important moments in our lives. Eating can be an individual or a group action, and eating habits and customs are influenced by our cultures. In the context of society, our nation’s food system is at the core of numerous social movements, political issues, and economic debates. Any of these factors might become a topic of sociological study.

A structural-functional approach to the topic of food consumption might analyze the role of the agriculture industry within the nation’s economy and how this has changed from the early days of manual-labor farming to modern mechanized production. Another might study the different functions of processes in food production, from farming and harvesting to flashy packaging and mass consumerism.

A conflict theorist might be interested in the power differentials present in the regulation of food, by exploring where people’s right to information intersects with corporations’ drive for profit and how the government mediates those interests. Or a conflict theorist might examine the power and powerlessness experienced by local farmers versus large farming conglomerates, such as the documentary Food Inc., which depicts as resulting from Monsanto’s patenting of seed technology. Another topic of study might be how nutrition varies between different social classes.

A sociologist viewing food consumption through a symbolic interactionist lens would be more interested in microlevel topics, such as the symbolic use of food in religious rituals, or the role it plays in the social interaction of a family dinner. This perspective might also explore the interactions among group members who identify themselves based on their sharing a particular diet, such as vegetarians (people who don’t eat meat) or locavores (people who strive to eat locally produced food).

Just as structural functionalism was criticized for focusing too much on the stability of societies, conflict theory has been criticized because it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability. Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly as conflict theory would suggest.

Symbolic Interactionist Theory

Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. Communication—the exchange of meaning through language and symbols—is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds. Theorists Herman and Reynolds (1994) note that this perspective sees people as being active in shaping the social world rather than simply being acted upon.

George Herbert Mead is considered a founder of symbolic interactionism though he never published his work on it (LaRossa and Reitzes, 1993). Mead’s student, Herbert Blumer (1900-1987), coined the term “symbolic interactionism” and outlined these basic premises: humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things; the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society; the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances (Blumer 1969). If you love books, for example, a symbolic interactionist might propose that you learned that books are good or important in the interactions you had with family, friends, school, or church. Maybe your family had a special reading time each week, getting your library card was treated as a special event, or bedtime stories were associated with warmth and comfort.

Social scientists who apply symbolic-interactionist thinking look for patterns of interaction between individuals. Their studies often involve observation of one-on-one interactions. For example, while a conflict theorist studying a political protest might focus on class difference, a symbolic interactionist would be more interested in how individuals in the protesting group interact, as well as the signs and symbols protesters use to communicate their message.

The focus on the importance of symbols in building a society led sociologists like Erving Goffman (1922-1982) to develop a technique called dramaturgical analysis . Goffman used theater as an analogy for social interaction and recognized that people’s interactions showed patterns of cultural “scripts.” He argued that individuals were actors in a play. We switched roles, sometimes minute to minute—for example, from student or daughter to dog walker. Because it can be unclear what part a person may play in a given situation, he or she has to improvise his or her role as the situation unfolds (Goffman, 1958).

Studies that use the symbolic interactionist perspective are more likely to use qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews or participant observation, because they seek to understand the symbolic worlds in which research subjects live.

Constructivism is an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be. We develop social constructs based on interactions with others, and those constructs that last over time are those that have meanings which are widely agreed-upon or generally accepted by most within the society. This approach is often used to examine what’s defined as deviant within a society. There is no absolute definition of deviance, and different societies have constructed different meanings for deviance, as well as associating different behaviors with deviance.

One situation that illustrates this is what you believe you’re to do if you find a wallet in the street. In the United States, turning the wallet in to local authorities would be considered the appropriate action, and to keep the wallet would be seen as deviant. In contrast, many Eastern societies would consider it much more appropriate to keep the wallet and search for the owner yourself. Turning it over to someone else, even the authorities, would be considered deviant behavior.

Research done from this perspective is often scrutinized because of the difficulty of remaining objective. Others criticize the extremely narrow focus on symbolic interaction. Proponents, of course, consider this one of its greatest strengths.

Sociological Theory Today

These three approaches still provide the main foundation of modern sociological theory though they have evolved. Structural-functionalism was a dominant force after World War II and until the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, sociologists began to feel that structural-functionalism did not sufficiently explain the rapid social changes happening in the United States at that time. The women’s movement and the Civil Rights movement forced academics to develop approaches to study these emerging social practices.

Conflict theory then gained prominence, with its emphasis on institutionalized social inequality. Critical theory, and the particular aspects of feminist theory and critical race theory, focused on creating social change through the application of sociological principles. The field saw a renewed emphasis on helping ordinary people understand sociology principles, in the form of public sociology.

Gaining prominence in the wake of Mead’s work in the 1920s and 1930s, symbolic interactionism declined in influence during the 1960s and 1970s only to be revitalized at the turn of the twenty-first century (Stryker, 1987). Postmodern social theory developed in the 1980s to look at society through an entirely new lens by rejecting previous macro-level attempts to explain social phenomena. Its growth in popularity coincides with the rise of constructivist views of symbolic interactionism.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Conflict Theory

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Conflict Theory by Jörg Rössel LAST REVIEWED: 29 April 2019 LAST MODIFIED: 29 October 2013 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0035

Conflict theory is a rather fuzzy theoretical paradigm in sociological thinking. The term conflict theory crystallized in the 1950s as sociologists like Lewis Coser and Ralf Dahrendorf criticized the then dominant structural functionalism in sociology for overly emphasizing the consensual, conflict-free nature of societies (see Classics of the Conflict Theory Paradigm ). Therefore, they put forward conflict theory as an independent paradigm of sociological theory with a distinct focus on phenomena of power, interests, coercion, and conflict. Basically, conflict theory assumes that societies exhibit structural power divisions and resource inequalities leading to conflicting interests. However, the emergence of manifest conflicts is a rather rare phenomenon, since it depends on the mobilization of power resources by social actors and on their social organization. Therefore, conflict theory assumes that societies and other forms of social organization usually exhibit rather stable structures of dominance and coercion, punctuated only infrequently by manifest conflicts. However, apart from some authors like Randall Collins (see Contemporary Works of the Conflict Theory Paradigm ), only few contemporary sociologists use the label conflict theory to identify their paradigmatic stance. Thus, conflict theory has not become an established paradigm in social theory (see History and Overviews ). However, apart from the notion of conflict theory as independent theoretical paradigm, the term is often used in at least three other important meanings: firstly, to summarize the theoretical tradition in sociological theory, which deals with conflict, power, domination and social change, exemplified by authors like Karl Marx, Max Weber (b. 1864–d. 1920), and Georg Simmel (b. 1858–d. 1918) (see Classics of the Conflict Theory Tradition ). Secondly, it is applied to denote the analysis and explanation of social conflicts in different sociological paradigms and in other behavioral sciences (see Multiparadigmatic Conflict Theory and Perspectives from Other Disciplines ). Finally, the label conflict theory is often applied to substantive research on power structures, domination, conflict, and change (see Fields of Conflict ). Conflict theory as a paradigm had a kind of catalytic function in the social sciences. It was able to show that the sociological classics also had a focus on phenomena of power and conflict (see Classics of the Conflict Theory Tradition ), it inspired other theoretical paradigms to broaden their focus to include hitherto neglected issues (see Multiparadigmatic Conflict Theory ), and it contributed to the emergence of conflict-oriented research in several fields of sociology (see Fields of Conflict ). In contemporary sociological discussions, therefore, conflict theory is less important as an independent sociological paradigm than in the various forms of conflict theorizing it has inspired.

Since conflict theory is not a fully established, independent sociological paradigm, the number of introductory texts and reflections on the history of conflict theoretical thinking is rather limited. Bartos and Wehr 2002 provide a general and comprehensive introduction to the explanation of social conflict. Binns 1977 is a thorough overview of neo-Weberian and Marxist conflict theory. Bonacker 2008 gives an excellent insight into multiparadigmatic conflict theory, covering most theoretical approaches to social conflicts in contemporary social science. Collins 1994 deals exhaustively with the conflict theory tradition, especially Marx and Weber, whereas Collins 1990 creates a link between the conflict theoretical paradigm and contemporary work in comparative historical sociology. Demmers 2012 introduces the most important general theories of violent conflict. The chapter in Joas and Knöbl 2011 is an excellent overview of classic work in the conflict theory paradigm in the 1950s and discusses reasons for the demise of conflict theory as an independent sociological paradigm. Finally, Turner 2003 briefly discusses the conflict theoretical tradition and the classical conflict theory paradigm and focuses especially on contemporary neo-Weberian, neo-Marxist, and feminist conflict theory.

Bartos, Otomar J., and Paul Wehr. 2002. Using conflict theory . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511613692

This is a comprehensive approach to the explanation of social conflict. It has an introductory character and links different theoretical perspectives with empirical examples.

Binns, David. 1977. Beyond the sociology of conflict . New York: St. Martin’s.

This is a historical reflection of the conflict theoretical tradition, focusing especially on the Weberian and neo-Weberian tradition in its relationship to Marxism.

Bonacker, Thorsten, ed. 2008. Sozialwissenschaftliche Konflikttheorien: Eine Einführung . Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

This volume covers a broad range of social scientific theories dealing with the phenomenon of social conflict. All contributions have a systematic structure and introduce complex theories in a very comprehensible way.

Collins, Randall. 1994. The conflict tradition. In Four sociological traditions . By Randall Collins. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

This monograph introduces the history of sociological theory by focusing on four major strands of theory building: the conflict, the rational/utilitarian, the Durkheimian or normative, and the micro-interactionist tradition. Because of the author’s readable style and the annotated list of references, the book’s first chapter is a very good introduction to the conflict theoretical tradition.

Collins, Randall. 1990. Conflict theory and the advance of macro-historical sociology. In Frontiers of social theory . Edited by George Ritzer, 68–87. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.

This chapter discusses the contemporary situation of conflict theoretical thinking and links the classical conflict theory paradigm to contemporary work in comparative historical sociology, especially the work in Mann 1986–2013 (see Contemporary Works in the Conflict Theory Paradigm ). It thereby illustrates Collins’s rather encompassing notion of the term conflict theory.

Demmers, Jolle. 2012. Theories of violent conflict: An introduction . Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

This is a book with an introductory character. It explains the most important theories of violent conflict of social psychology, sociology, and political science.

Joas, Hans, and Wolfgang Knöbl. 2011. Conflict sociology and conflict theory. In Social Theory: Twenty introductory lectures . By Hans Joas and Wolfgang Knöbl, 174–198. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

This book gives an exhaustive and readable overview of contemporary sociological theorizing. It was originally published in German (Sozialtheorie) in 2004. The chapter not only introduces the main authors and discussions of the classical conflict theory paradigm of the 1950s and 1960s, but it also depicts the failure of conflict theory to establish itself fully as an independent sociological paradigm.

Turner, Jonathan H. 2003. The structure of sociological theory . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

The four sub-chapters about conflict theorizing offer a very dense and systematic account of classical and contemporary conflict theory, especially in its neo-Weberian, neo-Marxian, and feminist variety. Turner presents the theories in a very analytic way, summarizing each of them by providing tables of major, empirically testable propositions.

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Conflict Theory

Learning outcomes.

• Summarize conflict theory
• Apply conflict theory

Sociological Paradigm #2: Conflict Theory

Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. This perspective is a macro-level approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx (1818–1883), who saw society as being made up of two classes, the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and the proletariat (workers), who must compete for social, material, and political resources such as food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time. Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure.

In the economic sphere, Marx focused on the “mode of production” (e.g., the industrial factory) and “relations of production” (e.g., unequal power between workers and factory owners). The bourgeoisie owns and controls the means of production, which leads to exploitation due to the profit motive. In this arrangement, proletarians have only their labor to sell, and do not own or control capital.  False consciousness is Marx’s term for the proletarian’s inability to see her real position within the class system, a mis-recognition that is complicated by the control that the bourgeoisie often exerts over the media outlets that disseminate and normalize information. These are just some of the structural constrains that prevent workers from joining together in what Marx called  class consciousness , or a common group identity as exploited proletarians and potential revolutionaries.

Watch this video for an overview of Marx’s conflict theory.

German sociologist Max Weber agreed with some of Marx’s main ideas, but also believed that in addition to economic inequalities, there were inequalities of political power and social structure that caused conflict. Weber noted that different groups were affected differently based on education, race, and gender, and that people’s reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates of social mobility, as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in power.

Ida B. Wells articulated the conflict perspective when she theorized a connection between an increase in lynching and an increase in Black socio-economic mobility in the United States from the late 1800s into the mid-20th century. She also examined competition within the feminist movement as women fought for the right to vote, yet the presumably egalitarian mainstream suffragist movements were headed by white women who excluded Black women from suffrage. W.E.B. DuBois also examined race in the U.S. and in U.S. colonies from a conflict perspective, and emphasized the importance of a reserve labor force, made up of Black men. Race conflict paradigms will be examined later in the course in the module devoted to race and ethnicity.

Race and Conflict Theory

W.E.B. DuBois is a classic sociologist who, after earning a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895 (the first Black man to do so), went on to an extremely productive career with extensive publication, research, theorizing, and activism.  The Philadelphia Negro  (1896) is considered one of the first examples of scientifically framed and conducted sociology research. DuBois’ study included over 2,500 in-person interviews conducted with African American households in the seventh ward of Philadelphia and even had visual representations of data such as bar graphs to illustrate the realities of racism [1]

He entered the national stage with an article written for  The Atlantic  in 1897 in which he described  double consciousness . Read the following passage from DuBois’ article as he articulates double consciousness:

“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One feels his two-ness, — an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, — this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa; he does not with to bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he believes—foolishly, perhaps, but fervently—that Negro blood has yet a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without losing the opportunity of self-development.” [2]

C. Wright Mills, who coined the term  sociological imagination , also used conflict theory to examine systems of power and the ways in which government, military, and corporations forming a  power elite  (1956) in the United States in the 1950s. Bernie Sanders raised these issues in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by pointing out that both Republican and Democrat candidates were accepting campaign contributions from banks and investment firms on Wall Street, which he argued would make them subject to corporate influence.

Just as structural functionalism was criticized for focusing too much on the stability of societies, conflict theory has been criticized because it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability. Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly, as conflict theory would suggest.

Gender and conflict Theory

Feminist theory was developed to fill a void in Marxism and neo-Marxism that examined class, but not gender as a distinct category. Feminist theory examines gender and gender inequality and also points out the male-centric aspects of conflict theory. It focuses on analyzing the limitations faced by women when they claim the right to equality with men. Additionally, feminist scholars examine the gendered nature of human interactions, which makes it a microsociological as opposed to a macrosociological theory.

Feminist scholars study a range of topics, including sexual orientation, race, economic status, and nationality. However, at the core of feminist sociology is the idea that, in most societies, women have been systematically oppressed, and that men have been historically dominant. This system of seemingly “natural” male control is referred to as patriarchy .

From the early work of women sociologists like Harriet Martineau, feminist sociology has focused on the power relationships and inequalities between women and men. How can the conditions of inequality faced by women be addressed?

Feminist theory has been criticized for its early focus on the lived experiences of white, educated women—which represent just a small subset within American society.  Intersectional theory examines multiple, overlapping identities that include Black, Latina, Asian, gay, trans, working class, poor, single parent, working, stay-at-home, immigrant, and undocumented women, among others. This synthesis of analytical categories takes into consideration the various lived experiences of a more diverse range of women.

To take a contemporary example, the #MeToo movement began when white actress Ashley Judd came forward in 2017 and claimed that film producer Harvey Weinstein invited her to his hotel room, greeted her in a bathrobe, and asked her to massage him or watch him shower. The phrase “me too” had actually been coined in 2006 by Turana Burke, a Black activist who sought to bring attention to women who had been sexually assaulted. Many other wealthy, white, powerful woman came forward and said or tweeted #MeToo. Within one year, the #MeToo movement had become intersectional, stretching across industries, racial and ethnic backgrounds, age, sexual orientation, and gender identities.

<a style="margin-left: 16px;" href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vy-T6DtTF-BbMfpVEI7VP_R7w2A4anzYZLXR8Pk4Fu4" target="_blank"

• Cole, N.L. updated 2017. How WEB DuBois Made His Mark on Sociology. https://www.thoughtco.com/web-dubois-birthday-3026475 ↵
• Dubois, W.E.Burghardt. 1897. Strivings of the Negro People. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/ ↵

Introduction to Sociology Lumen/OpenStax Copyright © 2021 by Lumen Learning & OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Module 1: Foundations of Sociology

Reading: conflict theory, sociological paradigm #2: conflict theory.

Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. This perspective is a macro-level approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx (1818–1883), who saw society as being made up of individuals in different social classes who must compete for social, material, and political resources such as food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time. Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure. Some individuals and organizations are able to obtain and keep more resources than others, and these “winners” use their power and influence to maintain social institutions. Several theorists suggested variations on this basic theme. Polish-Austrian sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909) expanded on Marx’s ideas by arguing that war and conquest are the basis of civilizations. He believed that cultural and ethnic conflicts led to states being identified and defined by a dominant group that had power over other groups (Irving 2007).

German sociologist Max Weber agreed with Marx but also believed that, in addition to economic inequalities, inequalities of political power and social structure cause conflict. Weber noted that different groups were affected differently based on education, race, and gender, and that people’s reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates of social mobility, as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in power. German sociologist Georg Simmel (1858–1918) believed that conflict can help integrate and stabilize a society. He said that the intensity of the conflict varies depending on the emotional involvement of the parties, the degree of solidarity within the opposing groups, and the clarity and limited nature of the goals. Simmel also showed that groups work to create internal solidarity, centralize power, and reduce dissent. Resolving conflicts can reduce tension and hostility and can pave the way for future agreements. In the 1930s and 1940s, German philosophers, known as the Frankfurt School, developed critical theory as an elaboration on Marxist principles. Critical theory is an expansion of conflict theory and is broader than just sociology, including other social sciences and philosophy. A critical theory attempts to address structural issues causing inequality; it must explain what’s wrong in current social reality, identify the people who can make changes, and provide practical goals for social transformation (Horkeimer 1982). More recently, inequality based on gender or race has been explained in a similar manner and has identified institutionalized power structures that help to maintain inequality between groups. Janet Saltzman Chafetz (1941–2006) presented a model of feminist theory that attempts to explain the forces that maintain gender inequality as well as a theory of how such a system can be changed (Turner 2003). Similarly, critical race theory grew out of a critical analysis of race and racism from a legal point of view. Critical race theory looks at structural inequality based on white privilege and associated wealth, power, and prestige.

Bring It Home

The following video summarizes the main concepts of conflict theory.

Click on the image to open the video in a new tab.

Just as structural functionalism was criticized for focusing too much on the stability of societies, conflict theory has been criticized because it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability. Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly as conflict theory would suggest.

1. Who believed that the history of society was one of class struggle?

• Emile Durkheim
• Erving Goffmann
• George Herbert Mead

Show Glossary

• Introduction to Sociology 2e. Authored by : OpenStax. Located at : http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e . License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]
• section on feminism. Authored by : William Little. Provided by : BC Campus. Located at : https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter1-an-introduction-to-sociology/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Social Conflict Theory. Authored by : Paul Hannan. Located at : https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/social-conflict-theory--3?pathway=foundations-of-sociology--2 . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• image of Max Weber. Located at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber#/media/File:Max_Weber_1894.jpg . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright

Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Conflict Resolution Theory — Insights into Social Conflict Theory

Insights into Social Conflict Theory

• Categories: Conflict Resolution Theory

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Published: Jan 30, 2024

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Table of contents

Overview of social conflict theory, key components of social conflict theory, examples of social conflict theory in practice, criticisms and limitations of social conflict theory, class struggle and inequality, power and domination, ideology and social change, economic inequality, racial and ethnic discrimination.

• Marx, K. (1867). Capital: A Critique of Political Economy.
• Weber, M. (1922). Economy and Society.
• Dahrendorf, R. (1958). "Out of Utopia: Toward a Reorientation of Sociological Analysis."
• Collins, R. (1990). "Stratification, Power, and Conflict: An Integrate Approach."
• Giddens, A. (1981). A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism.

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Conflict Theory in Sociology: Assumptions and Criticisms

In Marx’s view of society, conflict was inherent between social groups because resources were limited. Those who had access to these scarce resources had every incentive to deny them to those who did not. 

This, in a nutshell, is the conflict theory in sociology.

Conflict theory is most commonly associated with the philosophy of Karl Marx (1818-1883), who is sometimes referred to as the father of sociological conflict theory – one of the three sociological paradigms . 

Marx famously summed up conflict theory like this:

“The history of all hitherto existing society, is the history of class struggles”. (Marx & Engels, 1998)

Definitions of Conflict Theory

Some scholarly definitions of conflict theory include:

• “Conflict between groups arises at least in part from competition for limited resources or conflicting goals” (McKenzie & Gabriel, 2017)
• “Conflict theory posits that conflict is a fundamental part of the social order” (Chernoff, 2013)
• “people develop negative attitudes towards others as a result of competition with those others over limited resources” (Major, 2006)

Three Conflict Theory Assumptions

Conflict theory is not a single unified theory, but rather an umbrella term used for a variety of perspectives, all of which share three underlying assumptions in common: 

• Humans are rational beings acting to maximize their self-interest.
• The resources which humans seek are limited.
• The pursuit of scarce resources by rational self-interested actors will necessarily lead to conflict. 

Conflict theories stand in contrast to consensus theories in sociology, which, while agreeing with the first two propositions stated above, differ from the third.

This is to say, consensus theorists believe that a division of scarce resources among rational, self-interested actors can also be arrived at through a mutually beneficial agreement, rather than through conflict alone. 

Related: Conflict Theory Examples

Conflict Theory vs Consensus Theory

Consensus theory is the main competing theory to conflict theory (see: conflict theory vs consensus theory ). According to this theory, societies can reach an equilibrium whereby groups can cooperate and live peacefully alongside one another.

The theory does not hold that society is fundamentally fair and equal. However, it does posit that social change needs to take place through incremental institutional change rather than conflict (as opposed to the structural-functionalist perspective of social change).

For example, in a democracy, people can achieve change not by overthrowing a government but by convincing enough electors to vote for their perspective.

The struggle between conflict and consensus approaches is evident within left-of-center politics. Center-left groups tend to embrace consensus theory whereby social change is achieved through incrementalism. Farther-left groups, such as communists, embrace a view of the world that is based on a power struggle, oppression, and revolution.

Evolution of Conflict Theory Since Marx

1. ludwig gumplowicz.

The Polish – Austrian sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz ( 1838 – 1909) provided a more comprehensive formulation of conflict theory, transcending Marx’s narrow focus on economic factors for conflict.

For Gumplowicz, conflict was the basis of civilization, state formation, and the legal system. The laws in any society, according to Gumplowicz, were not based on any idea of social welfare but were rather written by victorious groups in social conflict to serve their own self-interest. 

2. C. Wright Mills

The American sociologist C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) used conflict theory to explain the formation of power elites in society.

The power elites, according to Mills, were the people in a society who had near unlimited access to the state and its resources, such as the government and large corporations.

By contrast, the ordinary citizen is powerless as the power elites can manipulate state power to their end. 

Strengths of Conflict Theory

1. explains the oppressive nature of capitalism.

Marx was, primarily, focused on capitalism and class struggle. According to Marx, capitalism inherently involves the oppression of the workers by the capitalist class that controls the resources.

Thus, whenever there are fights between unions and employers , or internal social conflicts between the popular masses and corrupt oligarchs, Marx’s theorization that the world is defined by conflict over resources re-plays itself in real life.

In other words, this theory has stood for over 150 years as an example of man’s tendency to oppress his potential competitor for access to resources. Over and again, the theory’s predictions seem to come to fruition.

2. Explains Social Stratification

Conflict theory explains why societies tend to be stratified into groups of people with power and those without power.

For example, societies have achieved social stratification by creating caste systems, the patriarchy , apartheid, and other institutional and social measures that sustain the power of the dominant groups to access and control resources and deny access to those resources to the subjugated groups.

3. No Society has Achieved Peaceful Equality

Conflict theory can explain why no society has successfully achieved peaceful equality. All societies have, historically, faced moments of revolution and violence.

For example, ancient Rome was overcome with the gluttony of the few which led to its collapse. Similarly, even historically peaceful societies like the United States have bloodied histories of violent struggles between black slaves and white slave owners and even women versus men.

These examples demonstrate how conflict theory goes beyond just class struggle and into other intersectional areas of group identity, such as race and gender.

Conflict theory helps to explain these regular outbreaks of conflict within societies by highlighting that it’s a result of conflict between social groups .

Criticisms of Conflict Theory

1.  the consensus theory critique.

The consensus theory in sociology is the logical antithesis of the conflict theory. It states that human beings are almost as likely, if not more, to cooperate with each other to distribute scarce resources justly, rather than engage in conflict and attempt to subjugate the other. 

2. Conflict Theory Ignores Stability

History is made up of both periods of upheaval and periods of stability. By focusing only on conflict and strife, and ignoring the long stretches of peace and stability, the conflict theory takes a partial view of history and human society, akin to focusing only on the troughs of a waveform and ignoring the crests. 

Conflict Theory and Dialectic Materialism

The conflict theory is an example of dialectic materialism.

Dialectic simply means something that results from the action of two or more opposing forces.

The German philosopher Hegel (1770 – 1831)  expanded the meaning of the term to mean a contradiction inherent in all material phenomena.

We can see this dialectical nature of the material world all around us – that the world is complex and full of contradictions is a statement most of us would agree with. 

In Hegelian dialectics, this inner contradiction of all material beings is capable of being resolved through analysis and synthesis.

A very simple formulation of Hegelian dialectic can be presented as:

• Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis

Marx, while agreeing with Hegel that the material world is full of inner contradictions, disagreed that they could be peacefully resolved.

In the Marxian view, such inner contradictions could only be successfully resolved through a complete social and structural reorganization. 

Thus, for Marx, the inner contradictions of the capitalist mode of production, which brought the ruling and the working classes in conflict with each other,  could only be resolved through a class struggle and a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Despite his comprehensive statement of the conflict theory, Marx’s account remained limited in its scope due to its exclusive focus on class as the only faultline of social conflict.

Related: Role Conflict Examples

The conflict theory has near-universal application to a wide variety of phenomena.

This stems from its roots in dialectical materialism, or the observation that all things are made up of contradictions, much like Biblical juxtapositions of good vs evil, light vs dark, and so on.

The junctures at which these contradictions meet represent faultlines from which conflicts erupt.

However, for critics of the theory, contradictions do not need violent resolution. Sometimes, they can also be resolved through analysis, reflection, and cooperation.

Just as human nature is not always base and self-interested. History is replete with examples of humans – both individually and collectively – acting out of a complete disregard for self-interest, solely for altruistic purposes.

Thus, the conflict theory, despite its seeping explanatory powers, comes with its limitations. 

See More Examples of Sociology Here

Atwood, M. (1972) Survival: A thematic guide to Canadian literature. Los Angeles: Anansi.

Chernoff, C. (2013). Conflict theory of education. In J. Ainsworth (Ed.), Sociology of education: An a-to-z guide (Vol. 1, pp. 146-147). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452276151.n84  

Christie, D.J. (2011)   The encyclopedia of peace psychology. London: Wiley.

Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903). The souls of Black folk . New York: Bantam Classic.

Durkheim, E. (1938). The rules of sociological method. The University of Chicago Press.

Hess, A.J. (June, 2020) How student debt became a $1.6 trillion crisis  CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/12/how-student-debt-became-a-1point6-trillion-crisis.html  

Huntington, S. P. (1993). The clash of civilizations?. Foreign Affairs . 72 (3), 22–49. doi : 10.2307/20045621

Lasswell, H. D. (1941). The Garrison State. American Journal of Sociology , 46 (4), 455–468. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2769918  

Marx, K. and Engels, F. (1998) The communist manifesto: Introduction by Martin Malia. London: Penguin.

McKenzie, J., & Gabriel, T. (2017). Applications and extensions of realistic conflict theory: moral development and conflict prevention. In Norms, groups, conflict, and social change (pp. 307-324). Routledge.

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8.7: Conflict Theory and Society

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Learning Outcomes

• Describe the conflict theory view of society
• Explain Karl Marx’s concepts of class and alienation

Karl Marx and Conflict Theory

Karl Marx is certainly among the most significant social thinkers in recent history. While there are many critics of his work, it is still widely respected and influential. For Marx, society’s constructions were predicated upon the idea of “base and superstructure.” This term refers to the idea that a society’s economic character forms its base, upon which rests the cultural and social institutions, the superstructure. For Marx, it is the base (economy) that determines what a society will be like.

Additionally, Marx saw conflict in society as the primary means of change. Economically, he saw conflict existing between the owners of the means of production—the bourgeoisie —and the laborers, called the proletariat .

Marx maintained that these conflicts appeared consistently throughout history during times of social revolution. These revolutions, or “class antagonisms” as he called them, were a result of one class dominating another. Most recently, with the end of feudalism, a new revolutionary class he called the bourgeoisie dominated the laboring masses that he called the proletariat. The bourgeoisie were revolutionary in the sense that they represented a radical change in the structure of society. In Marx’s words, “Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other—Bourgeoisie and Proletariat” (Marx and Engels 1848).

In the mid-nineteenth century, as industrialization was booming, bourgeois industrial employers, the “owners of the means of production” in Marx’s terms, became more and more exploitative toward the working class proletariat. The large manufacturers of steel were particularly ruthless, and their facilities were popularly dubbed “dark satanic mills” based on a poem by William Blake. Marx’s frequent co-author and friend, Friedrich Engels, wrote The Condition of the Working-Class in England (1844), which described the horrid conditions.

Add to that the long hours, the use of child labor, and exposure to extreme temperatures and toxic chemicals, and it is no wonder that Marx and Engels referred to capitalism, which is a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) are owned by profit-seeking individuals and companies rather than by the government, as the “dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.”

For Marx, how we labor defines who we are. Historically, and in spite of the persistent efforts of one class to dominate another, Marx argued that some element of common humanity still existed in pre-industrial, smaller-scale modes of productions such as guild communities and workshops. In these workplaces, there was at least some connection between the worker and the product, whose creation was partially governed by seasonal cycles and by the the rise and fall of the sun, just as in earlier agricultural societies. But with the bourgeois revolution and the rise of industrialization and capitalism, the worker now labored for wages alone. His relationship to his labor was no longer of a human nature, but was instead based on artificial, inorganic conditions.

Marx described modern society in terms of alienation. Alienation refers to the condition in which the individual is isolated and divorced from his or her society, work, or sense of self. Marx defined four specific types of alienation.

• Alienation from the product of one’s labor. An industrial worker does not have the opportunity to relate to the product he labors on. Instead of training for years as a watchmaker, an unskilled worker can get a job at a watch factory pressing buttons to seal watch pieces together. The worker does not care if he is making watches or cars, simply that the job exists. In the same way, a worker may not even know or care what product to which he is contributing. A worker on a Ford assembly line may spend all day installing windows on car doors without ever seeing the rest of the car.
• Alienation from the process of one’s labor. A worker does not control the conditions of her job because she does not own the means of production (i.e., the factory and its tools and raw materials). If a person is hired to work in a fast food restaurant, she is expected to make the food the way she is taught. All ingredients must be combined in a particular order and in a particular quantity; there is no room for creativity or change. An employee at Burger King cannot decide to change the spices used on the fries in the same way that an employee on a Ford assembly line cannot decide to place a car’s headlights in a different position. Everything is decided by the factory-owning bourgeoisie who then dictate orders to the laborers.
• Alienation from others. Workers compete, rather than cooperate. Employees vie for time slots, bonuses, and job security. Even when a worker clocks out at night and goes home, the competition does not end. As Marx and Engels described this dynamic in The Communist Manifesto (1848), “No sooner is the exploitation of the laborer by the manufacturer, so far at an end, that he receives his wages in cash, than he is set upon by the other portion of the bourgeoisie, the landlord, the shopkeeper, the pawnbroker.”
• Alienation from one’s self. A final outcome of industrialization is a loss of connectivity between a worker and her occupation. Because there is nothing that ties a worker to her labor, there is no longer a sense of self. Instead of being able to take pride in an identity such as being a watchmaker, automobile builder, or chef, a person is simply a cog in the machine.

Taken as a whole, then, alienation in modern society means that an individual has no control over his life. But why, then, does the modern working class not rise up and rebel? (Indeed, Marx predicted that this would be the ultimate outcome and would result in the collapse of capitalism.)

Another idea that Marx developed is the concept of false consciousness . False consciousness is a condition in which the beliefs, ideals, or ideology of a person are not in the person’s own best interest. In fact, it is the ideology of the dominant class (here, the bourgeois capitalists) that is imposed upon the proletariat. Ideas such as the emphasis of competition over cooperation, or of hard work being its own reward, clearly benefit the owners of the means of production. Therefore, workers are less likely to question their place in society or to assume individual responsibility for existing conditions.

In order for society to overcome false consciousness, Marx proposed that it be replaced with class consciousness , the awareness of one’s rank in society. He thought it was crucial that workers recognize their real relationship to, and political distance from, the means of production. Instead of existing as a “class in itself,” the proletariat must become a “class for itself” in order to effect social change, meaning that instead of just being an inert stratum of society, the class could advocate for social improvements (Marx and Engels 1848). Only once society entered this state of political consciousness would it be ready for a social revolution.

Review Marx’s ideas about alienation and the four types of alienation in the following video.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://pb.libretexts.org/its/?p=200

Further Research

One of the most influential pieces of political writing in modern history was Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto (1848). Visit “Manifesto of the Communist Party” on Marxists.org to read the original document that spurred revolutions around the world.

Think It Over

• Think of the ways workers are alienated from the product and process of their jobs. How can these concepts be applied to students and their educations?
• Use Marx’s argument to explain a current social event such as the Occupy movement. Does his theory hold up under modern scrutiny?

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What Is Conflict Theory?

Understanding conflict theory, special considerations.

• Conflict Theory FAQs
• Behavioral Economics

Conflict Theory Definition, Founder, and Examples

What you need to know about the Karl Marx theory

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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Conflict theory, as associated with Karl Marx , is a social theory that posits that society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources.

Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than by consensus and conformity. According to conflict theory, those with wealth and power try to hold on to it by any means possible, chiefly by suppressing the poor and powerless. A basic premise of conflict theory is that individualcs and groups within society will work to try to maximize their own wealth and power.

Key Takeaways

• Conflict theory focuses on competition among groups within society over limited resources.
• Marxist conflict theory sees society as divided along lines of economic class between the proletarian working class and the bourgeois ruling class.
• Conflict theory views social and economic institutions as tools in the struggle among groups or classes, used to maintain inequality and the dominance of the ruling class.
• Later versions of conflict theory look at other dimensions of conflict among capitalist factions and among various social, religious, and other types of groups.

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Philosophers and sociologists have long sought to use conflict theories to explain a wide range of phenomena, including wars, revolutions, poverty , discrimination, and domestic violence.

Marx’s version of conflict theory focused on the conflict between two primary classes. Each class consists of a group of people bound by mutual interests and a certain degree of property ownership. Marx theorized about the bourgeoisie, a group that represented members of society who hold the majority of the wealth and means. The proletariat is the other group, comprised of those considered working-class or poor.

With the rise of capitalism, Marx theorized that the bourgeoisie , a minority within the population, would use their influence to oppress the proletariat, the majority class. This way of thinking is tied to a common image associated with conflict theory-based models of society. Adherents to this philosophy tend to believe in a pyramid arrangement in terms of how goods and services are distributed in society. At the top of the pyramid is a small group of elites that dictate terms and conditions to the larger portion of society because they have an outsized amount of control over resources and power.

Uneven distribution within society was predicted to be maintained through ideological coercion; the bourgeoisie would force acceptance of the current conditions by the proletariat. Conflict theory assumes that the elite will set up systems of laws, traditions, and other societal structures in order to further support their own dominance while preventing others from joining their ranks.

Marx theorized that, as the working class and poor were subjected to worsening conditions, a collective consciousness would raise more awareness about inequality, and this would potentially result in revolt. If, after the revolt, conditions were adjusted to favor the concerns of the proletariat, the conflict circle would eventually repeat but in the opposite direction. The bourgeoisie would eventually become the aggressor and revolter, grasping for the return of the structures that formerly maintained their dominance.

Marx viewed capitalism as part of a historical progression of economic systems. He believed capitalism was rooted in commodities , or things that are purchased and sold. For example, he believed that labor is a type of commodity. Because laborers have little control or power in the economic system (because they don’t own factories or materials), their worth can be devalued over time. This can create an imbalance between business owners and their workers, which can eventually lead to social conflicts. He believed these problems would eventually be fixed through a social and economic revolution.

Adaptations of Marxist Conflict Theory

Max Weber, a German sociologist, philosopher, jurist, and political economist, adapted many aspects of Marxist conflict theory and later further refined some of Marx's ideas. Weber believed that conflict over property was not limited to one specific scenario. Rather, he believed that there were multiple layers of conflict existing at any given moment and in every society.

Whereas Marx framed his view of conflict as one between owners and workers, Weber also added an emotional component to his ideas about conflict. Weber's beliefs about conflict extend beyond Marx's because they suggest that some forms of social interaction, including conflict, generate beliefs and solidarity between individuals and groups within a society. In this way, an individual's reactions to inequality might be different depending on the groups with which they are associated; whether they perceive those in power to be legitimate; and so on.

Conflict theorists of the later 20th and early 21st centuries have continued to extend conflict theory beyond the strict economic classes posited by Marx, although economic relations remain a core feature of the inequalities across groups in the various branches of conflict theory. Conflict theory is highly influential in modern and postmodern theories of sexual and racial inequality, peace and conflict studies, and the many varieties of identity studies that have arisen across Western academia in the past several decades.

Examples of Conflict Theory

Conflict theorists view the relationship between a housing complex owner and a tenant as being based mainly on conflict instead of balance or harmony, even though there may be more harmony than conflict. They believe that they are defined by getting whatever resources they can from each other.

In the above example, some of the limited resources that may contribute to conflicts between tenants and the complex owner include the limited space within the complex, the limited number of units, the money that tenants pay to the complex owner for rent, and so on. Ultimately, conflict theorists see this dynamic as one of conflict over these resources.

The complex owner, however gracious, is fundamentally focused on getting as many apartment units filled as possible so that they can make as much money in rent as possible, especially if bills such as mortgages and utilities must be covered. This may introduce conflict between housing complexes, among tenant applicants looking to move into an apartment, and so forth. On the other side of the conflict, the tenants themselves are looking to get the best apartment possible for the least amount of money in rent.

The financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent bank bailouts are good examples of real-life conflict theory, according to authors Alan Sears and James Cairns in their book "A Good Book, in Theory." They view the financial crisis as the inevitable outcome of the inequalities and instabilities of the global economic system, which enable the largest banks and institutions to avoid government oversight and take huge risks that only reward a select few.

Sears and Cairns note that large banks and big businesses subsequently received bailout funds from the same governments that claimed to have insufficient funds for large-scale social programs such as universal healthcare. This dichotomy supports a fundamental assumption of conflict theory, which is that mainstream political institutions and cultural practices favor dominant groups and individuals.

This example illustrates that conflict can be inherent in all types of relationships, including those that don't appear on the surface to be antagonistic. It also shows that even a straightforward scenario can lead to multiple layers of conflict.

Conflict theory is a sociopolitical theory that is heavily associated with Karl Marx. It seeks to explain political and economic events in terms of an ongoing struggle over finite resources. In this struggle, Marx emphasizes the antagonistic relationship between social classes, in particular the relationship between the owners of capital—whom Marx calls the “bourgeoisie”—and the working class, whom he calls the “proletariat.” Conflict theory had a profound influence on 19th- and 20th-century thought and continues to influence political debates to this day.

What Are Some Common Criticisms of Conflict Theory?

One common criticism of conflict theory is that it fails to capture the way in which economic interactions can mutually benefit the different classes involved. For example, conflict theory describes the relationship between employers and employees as one of conflict, in which the employers wish to pay as little as possible for the employees' labor, while the employees wish to maximize their wages. In practice, however, employees and employers often have a harmonious relationship. Moreover, institutions such as pension plans and stock-based compensation can further blur the boundary between workers and corporations by giving workers an additional stake in the success of their employer.

Who Is Credited With Inventing Conflict Theory?

Philosophers and sociologists have long used conflict theory to analyze societies.

Marxist conflict theory refers to conflict theory as put forward by the 19th-century political philosopher, who led the development of communism as a school of thought in economics. Karl Marx’s two most famous works are The Communist Manifesto , which he published in 1848; and Das Kapital , published in 1867. Although he lived in the 19th century, Marx had a substantial influence on politics and economics in the 20th century and is generally considered one of history’s most influential and controversial thinkers.

University of North Carolina, Pembroke. " Social Work Theories ."

OpenEd CUNY. " Theoretical Perspectives on Society: Karl Marx and Conflict Theory. "

Stanford University, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. " Karl Marx ."

OpenEd CUNY. " Theoretical Perspectives: Conflict Theory. "

University of Minnesota Duluth. " Sociological Theory: The Basics of Conflict Theory ."

Alan Sears and James Cairns. “ A Good Book, In Theory .” Pages 40-41. University of Toronto Press, 2015.

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The Conflict Theory in Today’s World

The Conflict Theory in sociology is one of the key perspectives for understanding social dynamics. Karl Marx can be considered as one of the most influential sociologists, who introduced the idea of conflict and classes as the main catalyzers of the confrontations. He actively advocated for revolutions, where the working class needs to fight for its future and power. One of the most determining factors for the given concept is inequality, which creates a wealth and power disparity among the groups. It is stated that Marx’s ideas got transformed and modified to apply to gender, race, and sexual orientation-based conflicts. In other words, the perspective is multifaceted, and it can explain a wide range of social interactions. Therefore, the initial and basic concepts in sociology are the concepts of the social group and social structure, social action and social interaction, social stratification, and social status. Moreover, the more complex society is, the more orderly and organized individual behavior is, the more complex the mechanisms of this orderliness and organization.

The Conflict Theory is still relevant today, because wealth disparity, racism, and sexism are becoming more and more prominent due to increased exposure. For example, “Black Lives Matter” protests are based on the notion of race, where White institutions oppress African Americans. It can be most evidently seen in the case of police brutality and law enforcement in general. In addition, feminism is also based on Marx’s ideas of conflict, where patriarchal society diminishes women’s roles and rights. The real meaning and place of the confrontations in public life can be determined based on clarifying the consequences or the direction of its impact on society as a whole or on certain spheres of its life in a certain time frame.

Bibliography

Simon, Richard. “The Conflict Paradigm in Sociology and the Study of Social Inequality: Paradox and Possibility.” Theory in Action 9, no. 1 (2016): 1-31.

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Overview of Sociology's Conflict Theory

Culture Conflict, Subcultural, and Differential Opportunity Culture conflict theory says that the cause of criminality is caused by different views between socialized groups over what behavior is right or wrong. According to Thorsten Sellin, expectations for human behavior within a social group are acquired early in life through childhood. (Schmalleger, 2018). The clash of these expectations is what results in crime.

Sellin describes two types of culture conflict, primary conflict, and secondary conflict. The primary conflict is when a fundamental clash of cultures occurs.

Secondary conflict is when smaller cultures within the primary one clash. (Schmalleger, 2018). The subcultural theory is a sociological perspective that emphasizes the contribution made by variously socialized cultural groups to the phenomenon of crime. (Schmalleger, 2018).

Subculture is different than the larger cultures because they claim a smaller group of people. According to Walter Miller, subcultural crime is the consequence of specific values of the subculture. Trouble and crime are most likely to occur in a lower-class culture. The individuals within the lower class tend to get into trouble, therefore, it is a focal point for those members.

Fighting and gambling are crimes often made in a lower-class culture because those who commit these crimes are excitement for those individuals.Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin published a report on the activities of juvenile gangs that blended the subcultural thesis and the ideas from strain theory. (Schmalleger, 2018). They identified two types of socially structured opportunities, illegitimate and legitimate. Illegitimate opportunities are when individuals commit crimes when the chances of getting caught are low.

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Cloward and Ohlin also describe three types of delinquent subcultures, criminal subcultures, conflict subcultures, and retreats subcultures. Criminal subcultures are when criminal role models are available for adoption by those being socialized into the subculture. (Schmalleger, 2018). Conflict subcultures are when participants seek status through violence. Lastly, retreats subcultures are where drug use and withdrawal from the wider society predominate.

General Theory of Crime

The general  theory of crime, also known as the self-control theory of crime, focuses on the lack of an individual’s self-control. The general theory of crime looks at the individual’s childhood and whether or not their parental upbringing. It suggests that children under the age of ten who did not have good parenting in their life are more likely to have less self-control than those who had good parenting.

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi children with behavioral problems tend to grow up to be delinquents because the path of crime comes early in life. (Essays, 2013). Therefore, children who have loving parents who raise and punish them accordingly will develop a sense of self-control. Whereas, those who do not have loving parents tend to impulsive, aggressive, and act out by committing crimes.

When an individual’s  interest is conflicted with a long-term interest, those with a lack of self-control will want the desires of the current moment. (Schmalleger, 2018). Gottfredson and Hirschi also argue that the lack of self-control is not a necessary condition for crime to occur. They believe that there may be other possibilities of the situation that would affect the individual’s likelihood of committing a crime. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, the belief that a well-developed social bond will result in  effective mechanisms of self-control. (Schmalleger, 2018).

The link between crime and self-control depends on the situation that the individual is in. According to Per-Olof H. Wikstrom’s situational action theory, an individual’s ability of self-control is the outcome of the interaction and situation that they are involved in. (Schmalleger, 2018). One downfall of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s theory is that it is just a general view of crime and ignores the complexity of the criminal process. General Strain Theory General strain theory is the thought that social structures within a society pressures citizens to commit a crime. Individuals that are experiencing extreme amounts of stress may turn to crime as a coping mechanism.

Strain theory is thought of like the pressure that individuals feel to reach a socially determined goal. (Schmalleger, 2018). As a consequence to strain, crime tends to arise because some individuals feel pressured to be successful. However, the tools they need to be successful do not come easy to them, therefore, some individuals turn to crime. For example, individuals who stress about financial stability may feel the pressure to rob a bank to get the money they need to be successful.

Objective strains are events or conditions that are disliked by most individuals in a given group. Subjective strains are events or conditions that are disliked by the people who are experiencing them. (Agnew, 2001). An emotional response to an event is linked to subjective strain. Therefore, the subjective strain is distinct from an emotional reaction to strain.

Two individuals can evaluate an event the same way, meaning, they both can dislike the event at an equal amount. Therefore, they have the same amount of subjective strain. Although they may experience the same dislike, the emotional response may be different. For example, one individual may feel angry in response to the strain. Whereas, the other individual may feel depressed in response to the strain.

Convict Criminology

Convict Criminology is a blend of writings by credentialed ex-inmates and critical criminologists who joined together in distrust of mainstream criminology. (Schmalleger, 2018). It is when ex-convicts become criminologists. Convict Criminology gives a perspective with regards to the justice systems. The convict criminologists have a criminal background and give incite to the inside perspective. Ethnography is the preferred method used by convict criminologists. They study the culture of inmate society. Ethnographers used the experiences that they lived and write about them. In this case, the convict criminologists have lived the life of a convict. Therefore, they are now writing about their experience. Luckily, the hours that an ethnographer usually spends learning and experiencing the culture they are studying, the convict criminologists do not have to spend because they have already experienced it because the subject is themselves. Convict Criminology is a source for improving the justice system. (Schmalleger, 2018).

Convict Criminology is often critiqued because many say that the authors are white men and some of them are not ex-convicts. Also, most groups of convict criminologists are partisans and activists, therefore, it is a biased approach. Convict criminology differs from other theories discussed in this course because it has the first-person  view on the inside and is written down based on the criminologist’s point of view.

•  Agnew, R. (2001). Building on the Foundation of General Strain Theory. Retrieved from http://www.d.umn.edu/~jmaahs/MA Theory Articles/Agnew GST.pdf Essays, UK. (November 2013).
• Self-Control Theory of Crime. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/criminology/the-self-control-theory-criminology-essay.php?vref=1 Schmalleger, F. (2018).
• Criminology (Justice Series) (9th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

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The term “conflict theory” came into wide use in sociology during the 1960s, when it was seen as an alternative to and rival of functionalism. Initially, the term seemed merely to identify a more politically neutral Marxian perspective, but for some it meant something much broader. The strongest contemporary advocate of conflict theory is Randall Collins. For him, conflict theory includes not only Marx and the Marxists, but also Weber and a number of other social theorists extending back to earlier times. He sees as early forerunners of modern conflict theory such thinkers as Machiavelli and Pareto. Collins (1974; 1975) has done more than any sociologist to develop a synthesized conflict theory that owes more to Weber than to any other sociologist. Sociologists have often regarded Lewis Coser’s The Functions of Social Conflict (1956) as a version of conflict theory, but it is more a functionalist analysis of the role of conflict in social life than a use of conflict propositions to explain various social phenomena.

Conflict theory presupposes the following: (1) conflict or struggle between individuals and groups who have opposing interests or who are competing for scarce resources is the essence of social life; (2) competition and conflict occur over many types of resources in many settings, but power and economic resources are the principal sources of conflict and competition; (3) conflict and struggle typically result in some individuals and groups dominating and controlling others, and patterns of domination and subordination tend to be self-perpetuating; (4) dominant social groups have a disproportionate influence on the allocation of resources and on the structure of society.

Marxian conflict theory is the more prominent of two major lines of work. For Marxists, social class is the source of conflict in all societies above the level of primitive egalitarian communities. Class conflict — between masters and slaves or landlords and peasants, for example — pervades history and is the engine of historical change. Marxists have focused most of their attention, though, on the class structure of modern capitalist society. The most prominent feature of capitalist society is the class struggle between capitalists and workers. Marx assumed, and nearly all later Marxists have assumed as well, that to understand the structure, functioning, and evolution of capitalist society you had to start from the fact that capitalists have as their main objective maximizing profits and accumulating capital. They do this by exploiting the working class, i.e., by paying them wages that are less than the full value of the goods they produce. Workers are motivated to resist capitalist exploitation as much as they can, and thus there is an inherent antagonism between capitalists and workers. This class struggle is the foundation of capitalism and the root cause of all other forms of struggle or conflict within capitalism.

In the 1970s some sociologists began to rethink the traditional interpretation of Weber handed down by Talcott Parsons, viewing Weber as offering a kind of conflict theory that was similar to Marxian theory in certain ways, but different in crucial respects. Collins (1975; 1986) developed this idea most thoroughly. He argued that Weber was a complex and multidimensional thinker who later in life evolved into a conflict theorist. Like Marx, Weber emphasized the role of conflict, struggle, and discord in social life, viewing them as pervasive features of society and the keys to understanding it.

Conflict theory is alive and well in modern sociology and many sociologists work within that framework, broadly conceived. It has contributed much to sociological understanding and is being extended in new ways through linkage with perspectives normally thought far removed from it, such as socio-biology (Sanderson 2001) and Durkheimian social theory (Collins 2004).

Bibliography:

• Collins, R. (1974) Reassessments of sociological history: the empirical validity of the conflict tradition. Theory and Society 1: 147—78.
• Collins, R. (1975) Conflict Sociology: Toward an Explanatory Science. Academic Press, New York.
• Collins, R. (1986) Max Weber: A Skeleton Key. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
• Collins, R. (2004) Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
• Sanderson, S. (2001) The Evolution ofHuman Sociality. Rowman & Littlefield, Boulder, CO.
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• How the Nursing Profession Should Adapt for a Digital Future
• Solutions to Computer Viruses
• Social Issue: Concepts of Sociological Imagination and Sociological Perspectives
• Sociological perspectives of Gender Inequality
• Contemporary sociological theory
• Integrated vs. Fragmented Sociological Theory
• Racism Elimination and Sociological Strategies
• Methods of Sociological Analysis
• Sociology and Its Three Major Perspectives
• Variables, Measurement, and SPSS
• Abolition, Women's Rights, and Temperance Movements Analysis
• Sociological Theories: Definition and Aims