karl marx was called the advocate of conflict theory.
karl marx was called the advocate of conflict theory.
who is called the advocate of conflict theory?
karl marx
social conflict is the struggle between segments of society over valued resources. from the perspective of social conflict theory, in the west, by the nineteenth century, a small population had become capitalists. capitalists are people who own and operate factories and other businesses in pursuit of profits. in other words, they own virtually all large-scale means of production. however, capitalism turned most other people into industrial workers, whom marx called proletarians. proletarians are people who, because of the structure of capitalist economy, must sell their labor for wages. conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class, gender and race conflict, and contrast historically dominant ideologies. it is therefore a macro level analysis of society that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change. karl marx is the father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of the four major paradigms of sociology. other important sociologists associated with this theory include harriet martineau, jane addams and w. e. b. du bois. this sociological approach doesn't look at how social structures help society to operate, but instead looks at how "social patterns" can cause some people in society to be dominant, and others to be oppressed. however, some criticisms to this theory are that it disregards how shared values and the way in which people rely on each other help to unify the society.
sociological theory
in developing his conflict theory, dahrendorf recognized consensus theory was also necessary to fully reflect society. consensus theory focuses on the value integration into society, while conflict theory focuses on conflicts of interest and the force that holds society together despite these stresses. in the past, structural functionalism was the commanding theory in sociology, until the conflict theory came along as its major challenger. however, both structural functionalism and the conflict theory have received major criticisms. in fact, dahrendorf asserted that there has to be consensus to have conflict, as he said that the two were prerequisites for each other. the opposite is also true, he believed –– conflict can result in cohesion and consensus. however, dahrendorf did not believe the two theories could be combined into one cohesive and comprehensive theory. instead, dahrendorf's thesis was "the differential distribution of authority invariably becomes the determining factor of systematic social conflicts". "in the end, conflict theory should be seen as a litte more than a transitional development in the history of sociological theory. although the theory failed because it didn't go far in the direction of marxian theory, it was still early in the 1950s and 1960s for american sociology to accept a full-fledged marxian approach. however, conflict theory was helping in setting the stage for the beginning of the acceptance by the late 1960s".
ralf dahrendorf