![]() Hence, the members of the upper class tend to work to maintain such structure. This is characterized by the enjoyment of more power and resources of the privileged classes. Inequalities of power is inherent in the structure of societies and human relationships. This paves way for radical changes instead of gradual evolutions. Rather than cooperation, competition is the default status of human interactions.ĭue to the conflict between social classes, revolutions arise. Members of the society constantly compete for both tangible and intangible resources. The following are the four primary assumptions of conflict theory (Chappelow, 2020): He specified the conflict between the people who have a majority of the resources and the poor or working class who are the majority of the people who only have a minority of the resources. This was first proposed by Karl Marx, a German philosopher and sociologist. Furthermore, Parsons emphasized that value consensus is the basis for a society’s order.Ĭonflict theory suggests that due to the competition for resources, the society is in a state of perpetual conflict. ![]() Just like body parts, institutions have their functions and boundaries. Regarding Parsons, he viewed society as a human body he had an organic analogy. In addition, Durkheim suggested that too much freedom, characterized by unclear morals, leads to anomie, a state of confusion. ![]() Also, individuals need to feel that they are a part of something bigger than themselves to create a sense of solidarity. The people are heavily influenced by the mores, laws, beliefs, customs, language, and other cultural elements. Durkheim proposed that the society shapes the individual and social solidarity is essential. Two of the key functionalist thinkers are Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, and Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist (Thompson, 2016). Also, value consensus, as evidenced by the people’s agreement of norms and values, is essential in fostering cooperation towards progress. This means that there is a social structure which fundamentally influences the members of the society and that a stable social structure defines a successful society. In line with this, functionalism is described as a structural consensus theory. If families malfunction, the whole society’s stability and productivity will be affected. The family is also expected to pay taxes which are financing the government’s projects for the society. For instance, the family, which is the smallest unit of the society, functions to rear law-abiding citizens who can also work for other institutions such as education, healthcare, and economy. Hence, if one unit or institution malfunctions, the whole society is affected. The society as composed of interdependent components which exist to fulfill vital roles. It focuses on the macro-level since it views society as more than the sum of its parts. Sociologists who work from the conflict perspective study the distribution of resources, power, and inequality.Functionalism, or the functionalist perspective, is one of sociology’s major theoretical perspectives it proposes that each individual contributes to the society’s overall performance and stability (Crossman, 2020). William Domhoff believes in a similar philosophy as Mills and has written about the “power elite of America”. Examples of the “elite” would be government and large corporations. People are then impacted by the creation of social structures, and the usual result is a differential of power between the ” elite ” and the “others”. In his work, he believes social structures are created because of conflict between differing interests. ![]() Wright Mills is known as the founder of modern conflict theory. Broader social structures and organizations (e.g., religions, government, etc.) reflect the competition for resources and the inherent inequality competition entails some people and organizations have more resources (i.e., power and influence), and use those resources to maintain their positions of power in society.Ĭ. Competition, rather than consensus, is characteristic of human relationships. Competition over scarce resources is at the heart of all social relationships. According to the conflict perspective, society is made up of individuals competing for limited resources (e.g., money, leisure, sexual partners, etc.). Whereas functionalism understands society as a complex system striving for equilibrium, the conflict perspective views social life as competition. The conflict perspective, or conflict theory, derives from the ideas of Karl Marx, who believed society is a dynamic entity constantly undergoing change driven by class conflict.
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