LEE WAI YAN (L)

FATIN KHAIRANI KHAIRUL AZAM

NUR AINA ABDULLAH
MARYAM AZINUDDIN
NUR EZZATY ASMARANI
RAJA SUNIRA HASLINDA RAJA
SULAIMAN

 Conflict theory: power is the core of ALL social

relationships
Marxism: much like conflict theory but power is
gained
through economics
characterized by an economic struggle
between the haves and have-nots.

Alternative to functionalism
Macrosociological theoretical perspective
Resentment and hostility are constant
elements of society
Power differences among social classes
Special interest groups fight over scarce
resources of society

Interest groups fight to gain advantages over

others

 Competition puts society off-balance

until dominant group gains control
and stability through power

 Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Humanist: wanted all individuals to reach
their full human potential
Believed humans make their own history
(historical method)
Controlling material production division of
labor formation of economic social classes
Class struggle

Trying to combine material and ideal factors/

structural and cultural factors

Society was a two-class system:

Bourgeoisie (owners of the means

of production)
Proletariat (workers)

 Class differences have a lot to do

with possession of personal property
Believed the exploited would become
conscious and unite communism
elimination of class struggle
Main ideas behind communism are
stated in the communist manifesto

Agreed with Marx (economics played a

central role in power distinction).
Believed in Two other factors:
Social prestige (status)
o Example: someone could be poor and still hold a lot
of power because of social prestige Mother
Theresa

Political influence
o Example: Politician who has great power, but does
not earn a big salary

 Weber defined power as the ability to impose

ones will on another, even when the other
objects
Authority: legitimate power; used with consent
of the ruled
Distribution of power and authority = basis of
social conflict
HOWEVER: if subordinates believe in the
authority= avoided conflict
If authority is not recognized as a legitimate= conflict

People with power want to keep it

People w/out power want to seek it
3 types of authority:
Rational-legal
Traditional
Charismatic

 Wanted to develop a mathematics of

society
Collection of statements about human
relationships and social behavior

Disagreed with Marx that social classes

are formed horizontally
There are differences in power and
opinions within each group.

 Concepts and contributions:

Rejects organic theory
Saw society as the sum of individual
interaction
The most important relationship is between
leaders and followers, superior and
subordinates
o Superiordinate and subordinate have a reciprocal
relationship

 Believed social action always involves

harmony and conflict, love and hatred
Secrecy: people who hold secrets are in
a position of power.
Some groups are formed around secrets
and are known as secret societies
are usually in conflict with the greater
society
initiation creates hierarchy

Ideas of Marx, Weber, and Simmel

resurfaced in America in the 1950s
through two German Sociologists:
Lewis Coser
Ralph Dahrendorf

 Defined conflict as a struggle over

values and claims to scarce status,
power and resources in which the aims
of the opponents are to neutralize,
injure, or eliminate their rivals.
Conflicts between intergroups and
intragroups are part of social life

Conflict is part of relationships and is

not necessarily a sign of instability
Conflict serves several functions:
leads to social change
can stimulate innovation
during times of war threat, can
increase central power

Explored sixteen propositions of

conflict through functions
Thought that conflict= boundaries
between different groups unity
between individual members of that
group and determines boundaries of
power

 Social order is maintained by force

from the top
Tension is constant
Extreme social change can happen at
any time
there cannot be conflict unless
some degreee of consensus has
already been established
Once reached, conflict temporarily
disappears

 Work centered around power

Several dimensions of inequality (like
Weber)
Power can be independent from
economic class
Version of conflict theory-closer to
Webers than Marx

Concept of power elite, rather than ruling

class=difference between Marx and Mills
There is a triangle of power:
Military
Industry
Politics
White-collar world kept power elite on top

 There are three types of power:

1.Authority: power justified by the beliefs
of the voluntarily obedient
2.Manipulation: power wielded unknown
to the powerless
3.Coercion: the final form of power,
where the powerless are forced to obey
the powerful

 power and status are fundamental

relational dimensions at the micro level
of social interaction and perhaps at the
macro level as well
Collins believes there are certain goods
that every group wants to pursue
wealth, power, and prestige

Concluded that coercion and the

ability to force others to behave a
certain way are the primary basis of
conflict (p.96)

 Had a stratified
approach to
conflict that had 3
basic principles
and 5 principles of
conflict analysis

Individual
actions

Social
Structure

 Maintains that what social order does, is

the result of power elites coercion of
masses
Those without power seek social change
Two class system by Marx
Contemporary conflict theorists dont limit
power to just economics, but also look at
other issues

 Three criticisms of conflict theory:

Ignores other ways (i.e. non-forceful
ways in which people reach
agreements
Sides with people who lack power
Focuses on economic factors as the
sole issue for all conflict in society
o This primarily is for Marxs approach

 Differences in power are in all types

of interaction
Power used to be physical, but now,
its legal and economic