A family of sociological perspectives holding that individuals and social groups, especially social classes, interact and compete for scarce resources and power, so that social order and change are driven more by conflict and coercion than by shared consensus.
Facts
Core ClaimSourced to the subject's own accountSociety is best understood as an arena of unequal power and competing interests, in which dominant groups use political, economic and ideological means to maintain their advantage against subordinate groups, producing ongoing tension rather than stable consensus. 1 Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account1908 marks Georg Simmel's early formal use of conflict as a sociological framework; the classical roots of conflict theory are usually traced further back still, to Marx. Cross-Tradition Connections
Critiqued Here
Classical structural functionalism (Durkheim) is described on the same page as opposing the conflict view of society; neither account is presented here as having won the argument.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Philosophy Atlas: Marxism, was influenced by this subject there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Conflict Theories
WikipediaOpening definition, descriptionQuote, Opening definition, description
argue that individuals and groups (social classes) within society interact on the basis of conflict rather than agreement
1. Wikipedia: Conflict Theories
WikipediaOpening paragraphs, originQuote, Opening paragraphs, origin
Georg Simmel was one of the earliest sociologists to formally use 'conflict' as a framework to understand social change, writing about the topic in his 1908 book
1. Wikipedia: Conflict Theories
WikipediaIn classical conflict theory (Durkheim), contrast with functionalismQuote, In classical conflict theory (Durkheim), contrast with functionalism
opposed conflict theory views and instead saw society as a functioning organism
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