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Lecture Three: Sociological Perspectives/Theoretical Perspectives: Conflict
Chapter One: Read pages 12-19
Multimedia in Blackboard: Watch videos in the link titled – Sociological Perspectives
While it is fairly easy to observe social order in a society, the need for rules, and the
division of labor among members of a society, social conflict also exists. Conflict theory
just like structural functionalism, is a sociological theory used by sociologists to explain
how society works on the macro level. Conflict sociologists view society as a constant
competition between large groups of people who fight over what a culture deems as
valuable and access to these provides them with power over others. The competition
over power creates conflict and chaos in a society.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) is the father of conflict theory. C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) is
also considered major conflict sociologist. Read pages 17-18 to understand how conflict
sociologists have shaped the theory and Henslin’s analysis of divorce using conflict
theory.
Karl Marx was primarily a historian, economist, and a social activist during the
Industrial Revolution in Europe. He is best known by many as the coauthor of the
Communist Manifesto, a pamphlet urging the masses to revolt and form a communist
society. During the Industrial Revolution, peasants were driven out of the countryside and
into mushrooming cities filled with brand new factories. The majority of people were
poor and they were subjugated to the people that owned the factories.
The Industrial Revolution changed life as people knew it and historians, philosophers,
sociologists, and artists documented and attempted to understand these immense societal
changes throughout Europe, United States and other parts of the world. For the first time
in history, people spend the majority of the day away from their families, and work
became separated from the family sphere as they left home each day to toil in factories
for long hours and very little pay. Children also worked, many as young as four years old.
Childhood and adolescence as we know it is a recent cultural phenomenon.
Charles Dickens the author of many fictional books began A Tale of Two Cities as: “it
was the best of times and it was the worst of times.” He was referring to the masses of
poor peasants who became city dwellers living in overcrowded, unsanitary slum
tenements, and a small wealthy class who exploited or took advantage of them. Ebenezer
Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, was a fictional character of this wealthy class; a greedy
and selfish capitalist who exploited his workers.
Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations.
R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.
Karl Marx believed that capitalism was the source of social inequality in this new
industrial society due to its interest in profit over the wellbeing of workers. Marx
referred to the capitalists as the bourgeoisie class and the wage earners as the
proletariat class. While the bourgeoisie class was certainly wealthy, the definition of the
bourgeoisie class are the owners of the means of production. The means of
production refers to everything needed to produce goods including the land, factory,
machinery, labor, etc.
Capitalism according to Marx, results in an unequal distribution of power in obvious and
not so obvious ways and this is due to the bourgeoisie and proletariat classes having
opposing and competing interests.
Examples:
Bourgeoisie Class
Owners of the means of production
Purchase labor from proletariat
Main interest is profit
Proletariat Class
Do not own anything
Sell their labor to bourgeoisie
Main interest is increasing their wages and
improve their work conditions
Capitalism is also referred to as a free enterprise or a free market. This is because on
the surface it looks like both parties are free to pursue their own interests. The
bourgeoisie are free to hire or fire whomever they please and proletariats are free to quit
or work for whomever pays them their desired wage. Consumers are free to pursue their
interests by voting for the best and low cost products and services with their dollars.
But Marx pointed out that since the bourgeoisie class own the means of production this
is not at all a free relationship. Because the proletariat class competes with itself over
jobs held by the bourgeoisie class they cannot set or even negotiate wages. At the
beginning of the industrialization revolution, there were very few laws protecting workers
and consumers. A typical workweek consisted of 15-17 hour workdays, six to seven days
a week with no vacations, pensions, medical insurance, or overtime pay in dangerous and
often uncomfortable work conditions.
To maximize profit, bourgeoisie cut labor costs by investing in labor saving
technologies, employ the lowest cost workers, and find the cheapest materials to
manufacture products. Does this sound familiar?
Food for Thought: What tactics do you think workers could engage in to gain some
negotiation power in a capitalist economy?
Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations.
R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.
The labor movement and unions were born during the industrialization of society as
workers fought for improved work conditions. When all workers stage a walk-out and go
on strike, they gain some level of power as the capitalist faces a loss of profit with each
day the strikers picket. The early labor strikes were violent as capitalists used all sorts of
means to harass and threaten workers. While a strike may result in increased wages and
improved work conditions, Marx argued that the striking workers ultimately return to the
same capitalist system of exploitation. How long before the capitalist in an attempt to
recoup losses, lays off a part of the workforce, or worse moves operations elsewhere.
In the Communist Manifesto which he wrote with Frederich Engels, Marx implores
workers across the globe to revolt against the bourgeoisie class by overthrowing the
entire capitalist economic system and eventually create a communist society. He argued
that the proletariat class has a sense of false consciousness and once it gains class
consciousness it will overthrow the bourgeoisie class and form a classless society.
Examples:
Class Conflict
False Consciousness
Class Consciousness
Classless Society
Bourgeoisie Class
Proletariat Class
Seeks profit, exploits wage
earners, own the means of
production which results in
power.
Capitalists manipulate the
proletariat class through laws,
religion, media and other means
creating a belief system that
capitalism is good for everyone.
“Anyone can be successful if
they work hard.”
Capitalism is embedded within
the cultural ideologies (belief
system).
Seeks wages and improved
work conditions, has no power
and is dependent on capitalist.
Capitalism and private property
are abolished. Classes and the
division of people into haves
and have nots no longer exists.
Everyone is equal.
Proletariat class accepts and
does not question the
manipulation and believes that
capitalism is a free enterprise
in which everyone benefits and
therefore capitalism is good for
society.
Proletariat class becomes aware
of the manipulation and begins
to reject the cultural beliefs that
capitalism is beneficial to them.
Communism results in “from
each according to his ability, to
each according to his need.”
Work becomes pleasurable
since it is no longer tied to the
exploitative nature of profit.
It’s Your Turn: Think of examples of false consciousness in our current society.
Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations.
R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.
Marx predicted that the transition from capitalism to communism would occur through
stages filled with bloody revolutions and his explanation of social change is referred to as
dialectical materialism.
Examples:
Social Change
Capitalism
Socialism
Communism
Status Quo
Government controlled and
planned economy with the
purpose of all workers
sharing wealth.
No private property.
Everyone is equal –
classless society.
Profit driven economy
Transition between
capitalism and
communism.
People express themselves
through labor to meet
society’s needs.
Throughout the 20th century, people in different parts of the world did revolt and
overthrew capitalism to create economic systems in which the government had various
levels of control. Some countries formed the Communist Party which grew to control not
just the economy but all aspects of a society including religion, media, even the family.
China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and the Soviet Union are some of the examples of
communism that you might be familiar with. The Cold War, Korean War, and the
Vietnam War were conflicts fought over the expansion of communism. As communist
leaders gained power and attempted to hold on to power, they persecuted, imprisoned and
executed millions of people throughout the 20th century.
Food for Thought: Do you think it is possible for a classless society to exist?
Today, the writings and ideas related to Marx are more commonly referred to as
Marxism. This is because the societal consequences of communism in which the
government held absolute power over people was not at all what Marx had in mind when
he envisioned a classless society.
Conflict theory is based on Marxism but modern conflict sociologists also go beyond
Marxism. Conflict sociologists tend to agree with Marx that capitalism maintains social
inequality between groups of people. However at the heart of conflict theory is that
society works through the continual competition over power among groups of people; the
haves and the have nots.
According to conflict theory, societal changes are often sudden and rapid as different
groups of people gain power and privilege in a society. Power and privilege in the
Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations.
R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.
American culture mainly comes from occupations, education, and wealth. Conflict
sociologists study the effects of power on dominant groups (groups that have access to
power and privilege) and minority groups (groups that are denied access to power and
privilege). The class conflict today is not just between the bourgeoisie class and the
proletariat class but includes competition over valuable social resources such as
education and wealth between the dominant and minority groups.
Examples: Dominant groups in the United States traditionally have included whites,
males, heterosexuals, Judeo-Christians, etc.
Food for Thought: What other dominant groups exist in the United States today?
One way to examine dominant and minority groups in the United States is to study the
history of voting rights. The following website has a Voting Rights Timeline:
http://www.infoplease.com/timelines/voting.html. Here are some examples:
1790
1870
1920
1924
1965
1971
Only adult white males who are property
owners have the right to vote.
All adult males have the right to vote but
rights are limited through barriers such as
poll taxes and literacy tests.
Adult women gain the right to vote.
Native Americans gain the right to vote.
The Voting Rights Act eliminates voting
barriers in an attempt to protect voting
rights of minority populations.
Voting age is lowered to 18 years.
Food for Thought: How do you think the Vietnam War affected the passage of the 26th
Amendment which lowered the voting age to 18 years?
Conflict sociologists explain social change as a transition of power between the
dominant and minority groups. Examples:
Contemporary Social Change
Dominant group benefits from privilege
New dominant group emerges
Conflict Theory
Minority group denied access to privilege
Minority group struggles to gain privilege
Minority group gains access to privilege
and becomes a dominant group
New minority group emerges
Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations.
R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.
As you can see, social change is continual process as new dominant and minority groups
emerge. Many times the struggle for power and privilege is a violent one and also
involves social movements. Examples:
Civil Rights Movement
Women’s Rights Movement
Gay Rights Movement
Your Turn:
Your Turn:
Your Turn:
Comparing Theories: While functionalists view social order as the basis for the existence
of a society, conflict sociologists view class conflict as a fundamental aspect of a society.
Students analyzing conflict theory often wonder if labor among people can truly be
equally shared. What about the slackers? Think about how this question is really false
consciousness. Think about how Americans are taught that financial success is
important. Think about how sports teaches Americans that competition is good and
reinforces ideas about social inequality – the losers just didn’t work hard enough. These
cultural values support capitalism and income inequalities.
People are taught that if they purchase certain products, others will like them. This results
in people’s self-identities being connected to their purchases and amassing debt: “I owe, I
owe…so off to work I go.” People often toil in jobs they dislike, daydreaming about the
weekend and we even have sayings for the various work days: Monday Blues, Hump Day
Wednesday, Thank God It’s Friday, Happy Hour, etc. In reality, who really benefits?
Food for Thought: Marx argued that if capitalism and its pursuit of profit over people
was removed from the culture, people would naturally express themselves through labor.
So the work would indeed get done – just think about what people do for hobbies…art,
woodworking, gardening, cooking, car restoration, fashion design, etc. How many hours
can you sit idly before you get the itch to do something? When you actually engage in
something you love to do, doesn’t time just fly by?
Pop Quiz
What is the difference between the bourgeoisie and proletariat classes?
Why is the bourgeoisie class not defined by its wealth? How is it defined?
How do conflict sociologists explain social change?
Why is the Industrial Revolution an important period to conflict sociologists?
What is the difference between false conscious and class consciousness?
Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations.
R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.