Social Conflict Theory Assignment PDF

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Assignment Instructions:
Conflict is an inherent feature of all societies. Drawing from conflict theory, critically
analyze this statement. Support your arguments with relevant examples...

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University of Nairobi

Conflict as an Inherent Feature in the Society

Name: Registration Number: Course: Sociological Theories I Course Code: CSO 201 Due Date: 22nd October 2018

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In sociology, conflict is defined as the process or situation in which more than one individual or groups of individuals to threaten each other purposes, to curtail the interests of each other, more so to the extent of destroying or injuring each other (Carter, 2014). Gillin and Gillin define conflict as the social process in which people or groups of people seek their objectives and goals by directly challenging the antagonist by violence or threat of violence (Gillin, 1942). Horton and Hunt also provide a different definition of conflict as the process through which individuals seek to monopolize rewards by eliminating or weakening the competitors (Hunt, 1980). Conflict may be organized or unorganized, enduring or transitory, spiritual or intellectual. However, regardless of the type of conflict, the process of conflict involves individuals or conflicts struggling against one another for the achievement of the same objective. Based on the definitions and description of conflict is a constant in the society and thus inherent. This paper provides a critical review of the claim that conflict is an inherent feature of all societies by drawing from the conflict theory. According to the conflict theory, society is basically a competition for limited resources. The theory by Karl Marx states that conflict and tensions are a result of uneven distribution of resources, status, and power between individuals and groups in the society. In this context, power is used to describe the control of material resources, accumulated wealth, institutions that make up the society, and politics. Power in the society also describes an individual’s social status relative to others which are determined by the social class, religion, sexuality, gender, and race, among other factors. The social conflict theory claims that there are different social classes within any society and these social classes are categorized into two major groups: the wealthy and the poor (Aron, 2017). According to Marx’s theory, the wealthy in the society are found to use their power to oppress the poor and that sparking a conflict in the society where the two social classes exist. The oppression may occur with brute force or at other times it may occur through economics. Oppression of the poor by the wealthy through economics is the reason why some social theorists believe that money is always the root of social disorder. An example of the conflict caused by the economic expression of the poor is in the renter versus the landlord case. The renter continuously pays an increasing amount of money to the landlord but the renter gets any value or profit from their transaction thus making the relationship unfair for the renter. Another

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example that comes to mind is the general laborer example: the laborer works within a factory and makes an earning from the payment he gets for the work done. This scenario may seem fair until you take into consideration that the owner of the factory pays the laborer minimum wage in order to make and increase the profit. This is utter exploitation of the lower class by the upper class that leads to an inherent conflict in the society (Carter, 2014). According to Karl Marx, conflict is guaranteed in the society as long as all the valuable things in society resulting from human labor. He argues that capitalists exploit workers by having them labor in their money making venture but fail to share the fruits of these labor equally. The exploitation widens the gap between the poor and the wealthy and therefore the wealthy take advantage of their wealth and the desperation of the poor to impose their ideology on the poor. These impositions do not help diminish the conflicts in the society but rather deepen them as the struggle for the poor to move up the social class ladder and the wealthy struggle to remain high on the ladder increases the competition for the limited resources in the society that cause the conflicts (Carter, 2014). Another form of conflict theory is the one coined by Max Weber who included an emotional aspect of the conflict in Karl Marx’s theory. In the family setup, which is a key aspect of any society, there is constant conflict among the members of the family. For example, whenever there is a new baby born as an addition to the family, the older siblings have to fight for the now-scarcer resources of attention and time from the parents. As the governing body of the family unit, the parent is in conflict as they struggle to make the appropriate adjustments to fit the scarcer resources of time and attention among their children. As the children grow older, other forms of conflict start to emerge as the scarce resource becomes autonomy; independence versus dependence. The negotiation of family resources between the parents and the children especially when goods are high-cost and high-value creates a lasting conflict within the family unit (Morgan, 2014). In marriage, another element of the society, conflicts are an inherent feature as between the two partners in marriage, one partner’s needs may fail to be met. The scarce resources in a marriage may include appreciation, autonomy, intimacy, or even sex. These needs and wants need to be renegotiated and may involve shifting personal behaviors to accommodate the needs and the values of the partner. Marriages are seen to be a social arrangement that benefits men

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more than women and thus allows men to maintain a position of power over women. The patriarchal culture that characterizes most marriages contributes to inequality between the sexes. The culture defines the roles and responsibilities of partners in a marriage where women are seen to have more household responsibilities than men. For example, even when both partners have professional careers, it is the responsibility of the woman to do the household chores and take care of the children. Such inequalities lead to conflict within the family unit (Morgan 2014). Feminists use the conflict theory to explain the position of women in society. They argue that women have been traditionally oppressed in society in a bid to have men benefit from the positions of power, status, and wealth. Their argument is that the competition for the limited resources in the society led men to resolve to relegate women to domesticity. It is for this reason that men cannot be trusted to allow women into positions of power to women as by so doing, they would conflict with the inherent nature of men. Feminism is an example of the noneconomic conflict that exists permanently in society (Sturgeon, 2016). Another example of the non-economic conflict that exists within the society is the conflict between religions. Different religious groups and denominations constantly compete over spiritual resources. Religion offers people a sense of meaning and peace; a feeling of belonging to a group; and a relief from the belief that a higher power is watching over them. According to Karl Marx, religion is a tool that helps to maintain the status quo in any society as it makes the lower classes content with the promises of great rewards in the life after death (Aron, 2017). The problem, however, is that different people in the society subscribe to different religious beliefs and who all belief that their faith is right and their god is the true god. Thus religion becomes a source of conflict that stirs a divisive power rather than a cohesive power within the society. For example there is a constant conflict between the Protestants and Catholics in the Kenyan society, there are clashes between the Muslims and the Jews in the Middle East, numerous Terrorist attacks by the Muslims on Christians, and the ethnic cleansing of the Bosnian Muslims, just to mention but a few, are examples of religious conflicts in the society. From these examples, one can see that religion is in conflict with itself with wars and battles on this hand and piety and contemplation on the other hand. The religions that advocate for tolerance and share many ethical and moral principles are found to be in conflict with each other. The conflict

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in religion is bound to persist as long as ethnocentrism or the belief that one’s religious group is superior to the other groups still exists (Johnstone, 2015). There are many forms of conflict within the society which are all caused by different reasons and factors. Most of the factors that cause conflict in the society are the core elements that make up the society, elements such as; family, marriage, religion, gender, and social status. The conflict theory claims that conflict is as a result of competition for the scarce resources in the society. Therefore, as long as resources remain scarce within the society and the core elements that make up the society remain the major causes of conflict, then conflict is an inherent feature for all societies.

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References Aron, R. (2017). Main currents in sociological thought: Montesquieu, Comte, Marx, Tocqueville and the sociologists and the revolution of 1848. Routledge. Carter, B. (2014). Capitalism, Class Conflict and the New Middle Class (RLE Social Theory). Routledge. Johnstone, R. L. (2015). Religion in society: A sociology of religion. Routledge. Gillin, J. L., & Gillin, J. P. (1942). An introduction to sociology. Macmillan. Horton, P. B., & Hunt, C. L. (1980). Sociology McGraw-hill. Inc. New York UDS. Morgan, D. H. J. (2014). The family, politics, and social theory (RLE social theory). Routledge. Sturgeon, N. (2016). Ecofeminist natures: Race, gender, feminist theory and political action. Routledge....