1. Chapter 10:Conflict Theory

2. Rise of Conflict Theory
Based upon Marxist ideals and thoughts
Revitalized in the 1950’s by many American sociologists

3. 一.What is Conflict Theory?
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

4. Conflict cont.
Individuals have aggressive impulses and these impulses are expressed in all relationships, especially close relationships
Love and Hate
Outside influences influence our emotions and cause conflict with those around us
From conflict comes social change
American Revolution
Civil Rights (1960’s)

5. Conflict as a Binding Element
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

6. Violence, Conflict, and Change
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
Violence can bring about public activism and force change through public attitudes

7. What is conflict
What is conflict?

8. Definitions of social conflict
Social conflict is a struggle over values or claims to status, power, and scarce resources
The aims of the conflict groups are not only to gain the desired values, but also to neutralize, injure, or eliminate rivals.
Social conflict encompasses a broad range of social phenomena: class, racial, religious, and communal conflicts; riots, rebellions, revolutions; strikes and civil disorders; marches, demonstrations, protest gatherings.

9. Theory of Social Conflict
A comprehensive theory of social conflict encompasses:
The structural sources of social conflict, relying on stratification, social change, and macro-sociological theories.
Conflict-group formation and the mobilization for collective action of challenging groups and their targets. For this topic, theories of collective action, social capital, recruitment, participation, commitment, and internal structure are useful.
The dynamics of conflict: processes of interaction between conflict groups; the forms of conflict; its magnitude, scope, and duration; escalation and de-escalation; conflict regulation and resolution; conflict outcomes.

10. There are numerous causes of conflict at all levels
Communication failure
Leadership Personality
Value differences
Cultural differences
Ethnic differences
Civilization
Goal differences
Technology differences
Military built-up
Lack of cooperation
External support
Group cohesion
Economic competition
Military competition
Competition over natural
resources such as water, forests,
oil, gems etc

11. Major Proposition of Conflict Theories
Society is not a system in equilibrium but a nebulous structure of imperfectly coordinated elements
Change and conflict are continuous and normal; inherent predilections to change vary in scope, nature, intensity and degree
Every society experiences at every moment social conflict
Every element in a society contributes to its change
Every society rests on constrain of some of its members by others
Social universe is the setting within which the conflict of life are acted out

12. Marx and conflict theory
Karl Marx
Focussed on economic conditions under capitalism.
Society is product of economic production.
Productive forces: technology, energy, resources.
Productive relations: owner-worker; worker-worker.
Class is a power relationship.

13. Karl Marx ( )
“There must be something rotten in the very core of a social system which increases in wealth without diminishing its misery, and increases in crime even more than its numbers.”
Marx, K. (1859). Population, crime and pauperism.Collected Works, (16).

14. Friedrich Engels ( )
Portrayed crime as a function of social demoralization- a collapse of people’s humanity reflecting a decline in society. The brutality of the capitalist system turns workers into animal-like creatures without a will of their own.

15. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Social relations
Are determined by productive relations and the means of production.
Capitalism
Encourages exploitation of workers in pursuit of profit (surplus value).
Workers rise up against the owners.
Crime is a product of misery, inequality and social demoralization.

16. Society Laws Capitalism
Is composed of have and have-nots, rulers and ruled.
Laws
Reflect the interests of the dominant class.
Capitalism
Encourages egoism and criminality by equating status with property.

17. Punishment Economic inequality Crime
Only crimes of the poor are punished.
Economic inequality
Intensifies personal problems and crime.
Crime
Will virtually disappear with equal distribution of property.

18. The justice system operates to protect the rich and powerful by:
how crimes are defined.
how laws are enforced.
how law-breakers are punished.

19. Power relations Conflict is rooted in the competition for power.
Power provides the means to influence public opinion for private gain.
Those in power use the law to criminalize those without power (e.g. minority groups).

20. Table 10.1 summarizes Marx's assumptions about the social world and the key forces behind conflict and change in societies.

21. Ⅰ. The more unequal is the distribution of scarce resources in a society, the greater is the basic conflict of interest between its dominant and subordinate segments,
Ⅱ. The more subordinate segments become aware of their true collective interests,the more likely they are to question the legitimacy of the existing pattern of distribution of scarce resources.
Ⅲ Subordinates are more likely to become aware of their true collective interests when
A, Changes wrought by dominant segments disrupt existing relations among subordinates.
B. Practices of dominant segments create alienative dispositions.
C. Members of subordinate segments can communicate their grievances to one another, which, in turn, is facilitated by
1. The ecological concentration among members of subordinate groups.
2. The expansion of educational opportunities for members of subordinate groups.
D. Subordinate segments can develop unifying ideologies, which, in turn, is facilitated by
1. The capacity to recruit or generate ideological spokespeople.
2. The inability of dominant groups to regulate socialization processes and communication networks among subordinates.
Ⅳ, The more that subordinate segments of a system become aware of their collective interests and question the legitimacy of the distribution of scarce resource. the more likely they are to join in overt conflict against dominant segments of a system, especially when
A. Dominant groups cannot clearly articulate, nor act in, their collective interests,
B, Deprivations of subordinates move from an absolute to a relative basis, or escalate rapidly,
C, Subordinate groups can develop a political leadership structure.
Ⅴ. The greater is the ideological unification of members of subordinate segments of a system and the more developed is their political leadership structure, the more likely are the interests and relations between dominant and subjugated segments of a society to become polarized and irreconcilable.
Ⅵ.The more polarized are the dominant and subjugated, the more will the conflict be violent.
Ⅶ.The more violent is the conflict, the greater is the amount of the structural change within a society and the greater is the redistribution of scarce resources.

22. MAX WEBER AND CONFLICT THEORY
According to Weber, the stratification of society was based on a broader range of factors, including
....wealth
....power
....prestige
And one could have any one of these to be in a “higher” class.....

23. Conflict and Radical Theories
Examine structural causes of crime
Crime and law enforcement are often political acts rooted in group or class conflict
Causes of crime are seen as rooted in conflict that stems from inequality

24. Conflict vs. Radical Theories
Conflict theories
Max Weber
Georg Simmel
Inequality based on differences in wealth, status, ideas, religious beliefs etc.
Differences result in formation of interest groups that struggle with each other for power
Conflict is pluralistic

25. Dimensions of inequality
Max Weber
Dimensions of inequality
Power
Wealth
Prestige
Conflict is most likely when these 3 kinds of stratification coincide
Conflict is also likely when access to these positions are highly restricted

26. Table 10.2 Weber's Abstracted Propositions on Conflict Processes
Ⅰ. Subordinates are more likely to pursue conflict with superordinates when they withdraw legitimacy from political authority.
Ⅱ. Subordinates are more likely to withdraw legitimacy from political authority when
A. The correlation among memberships in class, status group, and political hierarchies is high.
B. The discontinuity or degrees of inequality in t he resource distributions within social hierarchies is high.
C. Rates of social mobility up social hierarchies of power, prestige, and wealth are low.
Ⅲ. Conflict between superordinates and subordinates~ becomes~ more likely when charismatic leaders can mobilize resentments of subordinates.
Ⅳ. When charismatic leaders are successful in conflict, pressures mount to routinize authority through new systems of rules and administration.
Ⅴ. As a system of rules and administrative authority is imposed, the more likely are conditionsⅡ-A,Ⅱ-B, andⅡ-C to be met, and hence, the more likely are new subordinates to withdraw legitimacy from political authority and to pursue conflict with the new subordinates, especially when new traditional and ascriptive forms of political domination are imposed by elites.

27. Table 10.4 Simmel's Abstracted Propositions on Conflict Processes
Ⅰ. The level of violence in conflict increases when
A. The parties to the conflict have a high degree of emotional involvement, which, in turn, is related to the respective levels of solidarity among parties to the conflict.
B. The membership of each conflict party perceives the conflict to transcend their individual self-interests, which, in turn, is related to the extent to which the conflict is about value-infused issues.
Ⅱ The level of violence in conflict is reduced when the conflict is instrumental and perceived by the conflict parties to be a means to clear-cut and delimited goals.
Ⅲ Conflict will generate the following among the parties to a conflict:
A. Clear group boundaries.
B. Centralization of authority and power.
C. Decreased tolerance of deviance and dissent.
D. Increased internal solidarity among memberships of each party, but particularly for members of minority parties and for groups engaged in self defense.
Ⅳ. Conflict wig have integrative consequences for the social whole when
A. Conflict is frequent, low in intensity, and low in violence, which, in turn, allows disputants to release hostilities.
B, Conflict occurs in a system whose members and subunits reveal high levels of functional interdependence, which, in turn, encourages the creation of normative agreements to regulate the conflict so that the exchange of resources is not disrupted.
C. Conflict produces coalitions among various conflicting parties.

28. Dahrendorf West German Very critical of functional theory
Thought functional theory was “utopian”
Presented a perfect society
Too conservative
Tried to incorporate a dialectical view
Conflict leading to change
Use Marx, Weber, and Simmel

29. His World Post-war Germany
Split between a capitalist West and a communist East
No new societal movements or conflict
Mass movements like Fascism or Socialism not present
A non-ideological age
“struggles” over technical issues no the very nature of society
Both East and West dominated by large organizations

30. ICA Imperatively Coordinated Associations
Derived from Weber and legal rational authority
Power with an ICA based on position in the ICA
Power is power of others
A source of conflict

31. Quasi Group Those who are ruled in the organization ICA
Not aware of their common postion
Sounds like Marx and class
Common objective interest
Need to move to class consciosness
Class based on power not economics

32. Social Change Conflict is over authority in ICA
Results in new distribution of authority within the ICA
Many ICAs in a society
Marx’s concept of two classes become many classes but two per an ICA

34. Why limited conflict Takes form Simmel Differs from Marx
We belong to many ICAs
They are overlapping and limited
Differs from Marx
Marx had only two major classes and they covered all of society
Differs from Weber
Authority and power in an organization

35. Lewis Coser An American Sociologist A Functional conflict theorist
Seems like a conflict
But tried to bring conflict into a general functionalist perspective
Deeply influenced by Simmel

36. Main Points Conflict not given enough attention in functional thought
Conflict need not be “pathological”
Conflict can lead to adaptation and social order
Not a dialectical theorist
Still put an emphasis on consensus

42. Conclusion A major change in course in sociology
From consensus to conflict
Away from functional thought
But perhaps too much emphasis on conflict