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Conflict Theory
Rise of Conflict Theory
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Based upon Marxist ideals and thoughts
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Revitalized in the 1950’s by many
American sociologists
What is Conflict Theory?
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Conflict theory generally surrounds the idea that
most struggles in society happen because of
conflicts between different social classes or
groups
Each group struggles to attain more resources and
because resources are scarce, they must struggle
with other groups
Groups try to protect their own interests, therefore
blocking the progress of other groups
Conflict cont.
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Individuals have aggressive impulses and
these impulses are expressed in all
relationships, especially close relationships
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Love and Hate
Outside influences influence our emotions
and cause conflict with those around us
From conflict comes social change
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American Revolution
Civil Rights (1960’s)
Conflict as a Binding Element
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We often mistake conflict as always being a
dividing factor, it can instead have quite the
opposite reaction
When two groups are pitted against one
another, the bonds between members of each
group within itself become much closer
Examples
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Iowa vs. Iowa State
September 11th
Political Elections, Republicans vs. Democrats
Violence, Conflict, and Change
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Violence can often bring about change
Some individuals believe violence is an
accomplishment and therefore create as much as
possible
Violence can also point out problems that might
not be obvious
 Prison violence and prison rights
Violence can bring about public activism and
force change through public attitudes
 Violence in the South during the Civil Rights
Movement
Lewis Coser (1913-2003)
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Born in 1913 to a family of Jewish
bankers…living in Berlin
Left Germany in 1993 for Paris
 Worked odd jobs and pursued
higher education
Enrolled at the Sorbonne
(University of Paris)
Coser was pushed towards
sociology by his comparative
literature teacher, Professor Jean
Marie Carré
Connecting the Functions of Social
Conflict
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Social conflict creates boundaries between different groups,
which creates a strong unity between the individual group
members of a group.
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Social conflict promotes cohesion and promotes coalitions
and associations with outside groups.
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Social conflict creates an increase in cohesion inside a group
and among several groups which would not normally unite.
Social Change
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Coser explained that a society does not die the way biological
organisms do, nor is there a precise birth.
In Continuities in the Study of Social Conflict, he discussed
his theory of social change.
Change within a system is very slow and marginal.
Change of a system involves a more radical change, such as
the creation of new institutions within the system. (a new
economic or political system)
New things can be added, or old things can be eliminated,
and this process can continue indefinitely.
Social change may result from external forces, or from
changes within the system.
Violence
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Violence and conflict are often linked, which can lead to
social change.
It serves three social functions.
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Violence as achievement, the more violence people cause the
more they achieve in their own minds.
It’s a danger signal. If a number of people turn to violence then
clearly there is a problem with the social system.
Violence is a catalyst. This catalyst function can start the
process of correction in solving a social problem, or it can
cause an increased level of violence.
Social Theory and Methodology
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Coser’s Masters of Sociological Thought was once a
textbook used in grad and undergrad social theory courses.
It gave great insight into the work of many theorists, but
students found it hard to read because it jumps around a lot.
He always emphasized the need for a balanced assessment
of theoretical trends, which need time to grow.
In the pursuit of the knowledge of sociology and sound social
theory, Coser recommended utilizing a number of
methodological techniques.
Selected Propositions
1. Group-Binding Functions of Conflict
 Conflict serves as an important agent in establishing
full ego identity, autonomy, and differentiation of
personality from the outside world.
 A group is bound together by the individual
members’ similarities and the reinforcing of group
awareness of such similarities.
 Conflict helps to create and maintain group cohesion
 A high level of conflict comes with a high level of
group cohesion.
 Each group relies on conflict for its identity.
 Therefore, conflict is essential to a society.
Selected Propositions
2. Conflict and Hostile Influences
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Social conflict cannot be accounted for by drives, impulses, and
isolated instances of behavior; rather, it is explained by a pattern of
interaction.
Aggressive behavior is related to a group’s structure of interactive
relations.
The structural variable linked to direct aggression is the degree of
group cohesion.
Coser defined direct aggression as “aggression expressed toward
members of the group”
Therefore, high group cohesion leads to high amounts of
aggression.
Selected Propositions
3. Hostility in Close Social Relationships
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Love and hate are intricately linked.
This idea is most accurately linked to close, intimate relationships
rather than all social relationships.
The closer the relationship, the greater the investment, which leads
to suppressed, rather than expressed, hostile feelings.
The suppressed feelings are due to the fear of putting the
relationship in danger.
As hostility continues to be suppressed, these emotions accumulate
and intensify.
This intensity could lead to direct aggression.
Therefore, the love-hate phenomenon found in intimate
relationships helps to support Coser’s contention that the high
instances of direct aggression are found in highly cohesive groups.
Selected Propositions
4. Impact of Conflict on Group Structures
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Close relationships may exhibit tendencies toward the
suppression of conflict.
If conflict occurs despite suppression, it tends to be disruptive
toward the relationship because of the intensity expressed.
This intensity is attributed to the total involvement of the
personality and the accumulation of hostility.
Therefore, it is accurate for the participants to fear conflict
because of the effects it might have on the relationship.
Selected Propositions
5. Conflict with Another Group that Defines Group
Structure
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When conflict occurs between groups, the members of each group
become more cohesive.
Groups in conflict expect their individual members to be entirely
involved.
A group engaged in continued struggle tends to be intolerable of
individual deviations within the group.
A member of a threatened group may be allowed only limited
departures from group unity.
Those who choose to deviate must either volunteer or be forced to
withdraw from the group.
C. Wright Mills (1916-1962)
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Mills was an American
sociologist who tied many
of the theories on conflict
to the American society
and economy
In a time of suppressed
speech because of the
Cold War, Mills was
outspoken and often
targeted because of his
criticism on American
society
C. Wright Mills (1916-1962)
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Born in Waco, Texas into a middle-class Catholic household.
Father was an insurance broker, mother was a homemaker.
By 1939 he had earned both his bachelors and masters from
the University of Texas.
Went to the University of Wisconsin to work on his doctoral
studies where he worked with Hans Gerth.
Together they worked to introduce the works of Max Weber
to an English-speaking audience.
After earning his Ph.D. he moved to New York City to teach
at Columbia University in 1945.
Died in 1962 from his fourth heart attack.
Mills and the Conflict Theory
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Deeply influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx.
Helped introduce American sociologists to Marxism through
his edited anthology, The Marxists (1962).
Didn’t describe himself as a Marxist, but he did see clear
differences between his ideas and those of Marx.
The New Men of Power (1948) is a study of the American
labor movement.
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Wrote that the working class is not a class capable of
overthrowing capitalism.
Mills and Marx
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Mills was clearly influenced by Marx, but clearly
identified differences between himself and Marx
Mills saw major struggle between several
classes, but that the major problem stemmed
from those in power not just in politics, but in
business and the military
Mills did not believe in communism or
socialism, but in democracy and social criticism
Power
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To Mills the most critical element was power
All desired to have power, but only a few
controlled it; the “elite”
Most citizens acknowledged this surrender of
power and authority
3 Types of Power
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Authority
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Manipulation
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US Government today
Puppet government
Coercion
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Totalitarianism, Stalinism
Power Elite
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Power triangle, or “tripartite elite”
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Military, Industry, Politics
The individuals in control of all three were set up to stay in
control and work together to keep this power
In each element those in power directly control
others
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General in command of several thousand troops, they do
what is said
Corporate power, those who work do what they are told and
believe what is said or else they fear losing their jobs
Those in political power hold the interests of constituents in
the balance as well as have the support of the other
elements and those in their control
White Collar Worker
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Mills observed that a new class was emerging in
the late 1950’s and early 1960’s
These were professionals, but not in full control
Instead of creating a new power control this class
was more apt to follow what was told and worry
about keeping up appearances
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New house, car, husband, wife, kids, clothes
Still at the mercy of those in charge
The Sociological Imagination
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Reveals how our private lives are influenced by the social
environment and the existing social forces
Troubles occur within the character and range of an
individual; they have to do with the self and areas of social
life that the individual is directly aware of
Issues form the larger picture of institutions in a historical
society
With this reasoning, the sociologist acknowledges that
social forces, often outside the control of the individual,
affect the individual, affect the individual’s life for both good
and bad
Ralf Dahrendorf
Ralf Dahrendorf (1929)
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Born in Hamburg, Germany
Father was a Social Democratic politician and a member of the
German Parliament
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Had political differences with the Nazis and the Communists
Lost his job in 1933 when the Nazi’s came to power
Ralf would later be involved in opposition to the Nazi regime and
was sent to a concentration camp but escaped when the German
guards battled with the Russian army
He is still actively participating in political groups that fight injustice
In 1952 he earned his first doctorate in philosophy and then later
earned his doctorate in sociology from the London School of
Economics
Widely respected in both Europe and North America
Ralf Dahrendorf
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Conflict Theory:
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Believe that social order is maintained through coercion
by those at the top (in Mills’ case, the power elites)
Tension is a constant in society and radical social change
is likely at any point in any given society
Sociological theories can be divided into two parts:
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Concentrate on issues of consensus
Concentrate on issues of conflict
There cannot be issues of conflict unless some
consensus has already been established
Disagreed with Marx about economic forces being the
sole determinant of conflict; instead he thought unequal
distribution of political power was a major contributor to
conflict
Power and Authority
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Dahrendorf maintained that those who have power and
authority hope to maintain the status quo, while those who
lack them hope to obtain some portion of them
Power implies the coercion of some by others but also said
that in some organizations power meant legitimate authority
Had same view of definition as Weber: power is essentially
tied to the personality of individuals, whereas authority is
always associated with social positions or roles
Dahrendorf was most interested in studying authority
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When someone has authority in one setting, that authority does
not extend to other social arenas: a boss holds legitimate
authority at work but outside of the work setting they cannot
legitimately tell people what to do.
Class Theory
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Dahrendorf viewed the industrial revolution as the beginning of the
time when class became used as a tool for social analysis
To create a general theory of class you must have:
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The Theory of Class Formation: which must connect the relationship of
“real phenomena” class and “theoretical phenomena” class with real
patterns of social structure
The Theory of Class Action: is concerned primarily with patterns of
class conflict and the regulation of class conflict
Industrial Conflict:
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New type of conflict
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The interest of the workers is often in conflict with the interest of
management
Homo Sociologicus
 Longest essay in a collection of ten written by Dahrendorf, believed that
sociologists should be as rational as possible and they should find the
laws of society
Randall Collins
Randall Collins (1941)
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Born in Knoxville, Tennessee
Father was a professor of German literature at
Maryville College
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Joined Army Intelligence during WWII and later became a
career diplomat
Received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in
1963, his master’s degree from Stanford in 1964,
and his Ph.D. from the University of California at
Berkeley in 1969
Currently teaching at the University of
Pennsylvania
Sociology as a Science
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Collins defined sociology as a science, but with the goals of
generalizing explanations, practicality, ideological evaluations,
and aesthetic interpretation.
 Criticized how different sociologists antagonize one another
and said that for sociology to make progress as a discipline
sociologists need to find a sprit of cooperation
 He also thought that sociology will never develop the
research technologies of natural science or will never have
the rapid discovery mode of natural sciences
 Collins also indicated that calling natural sciences
“natural” indicated an authoritarian and elitist outlook
from scientists of those fields
Conflict Theory
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“Whatever else may be going on in social life, human
actors are deeply involved in relational issues of control
and dominance (power) and of acceptance and positive
association (status)”
Three basic principles to Collins’s conflict approach:
 People live in self-constructed subjective worlds
 Other people may have the power to affect, or even
control, an individual’s subjective experience
 People frequently try to control the actions of others,
who oppose such attempts of control; result is often
interpersonal conflict
Collins believed that sociology should be aimed at solving
concrete problems in the world: planning and evaluation
Important Concepts
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Theory of stratification: all people will pursue their own best
interests to the extent of the resources available to them
Interaction ritual chain theory: people behave differently
depending on the group that they are in because all social
encounters can be ranked by their degree of ritual intensity;
people who have a highly vested interest in the group will
carry out ritualistic behavior more intensely
Geopolitics: the importance of military technology and
organizations to politics
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Predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union with this model
Believed that there is enough room in the field of sociology
and all areas of research and rival positions only lead to
further explanation and knowledge of the social world
Three Primary Criticisms of Conflict
Theory
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Conflict theory tends to ignore the many areas in
which most people arrive at the same consensus
about important values of life. Both the rich and the
poor usually tend to admire hard-working,
courteous people.
Conflict theorists tend to side with the people that
lack social power: critics say that this violates
scientific objectivity
The focus on economic factors is the sole criteria
for all conflict in society. However, most conflict
theorists today do take into account gender, race,
ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and other factors
that lead to conflict.
Relevancy of Conflict Theory
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Power relationships exist everywhere
Physical power has given away to “legal” and “economic”
power
 Physical power does, however, still exist within the
contexts of gangs and prison populations
 Now instead of a physically strong person taking a
physically weaker person’s land as before, the owner of
the land is the person who has legal claims towards the
land
“Most of the people, most of the time, act in their best
interests”. Therefore there will always be conflict, and a
good reason that Conflict Theory will always be relevant!