CONFLICT THEORY

GROUP 2 POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

(VIDEO REPORTING)
CONFLICT THEORY
• Theory Conflict theorists like Karl Marx and Christopher Hurn posit
that the key to understanding social life and human history is through
class struggle. In their view, class struggle is brought about by
competition over scarce resources in the society, that is too many people
are Competing over few resources available. The focus of conflict
theorists is to analyze how social actors compete and how they use their
power to control, dominate, and exploit groups in the society.
• Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology and social psychology
that emphasize a materialist interpretation of history, dialectical method
of analysis, a critical stance toward existing social arrangements, and
political program of revolution or, at least, reform.
EXAMPLES OF CONFLICT THEORY
• Global capitalism’s effect on inequality and power.
• Play inequalities between genders and races.
• The 2008 financial crisis, in which large companies and banks received government
bailouts.

Conflict theory states that tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and
power are unevenly distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts
become the engine for social change. In this context, power can be understood as
control of material resources and accumulated wealth, control of politics and the
institutions that make up society, and one’s social status relative to others (determined
not just by class but by race, gender, sexuality, culture, and religion, among other
things).
MARX’S CONFLICT THEORY
• Conflict theory originated in the work of Karl Marx, who focused on
the causes and consequences of class conflict between the bourgeoisie
(the owners of the means of production and the capitalists) and the
proletariat (the working class and the poor). Focusing on the
economic, social, and political implications of the rise of capitalism in
Europe, Marx theorized that this system, premised on the existence of
a powerful minority class (the bourgeoisie) and an oppressed majority
class (the proletariat), created class conflict because the interests of the
two were at odds, and resources were unjustly distributed among
them.
MARX’S CONFLICT THEORY
• Within this system an unequal social order was maintained through
ideological coercion which created consensus—and acceptance of the
values, expectations, and conditions as determined by the bourgeoisie.
Marx theorized that the work of producing consensus was done in the
“superstructure” of society, which is composed of social institutions,
political structures, and culture, and what it produced consensus for
was the “base,” the economic relations of production
MARX’S CONFLICT THEORY
• Marx reasoned that as the socio-economic conditions worsened for the
proletariat, they would develop a class consciousness that revealed
their exploitation at the hands of the wealthy capitalist class of
bourgeoisie, and then they would revolt, demanding changes to
smooth the conflict. According to Marx, if the changes made to
appease conflict maintained a capitalist system, then the cycle of
conflict would repeat. However, if the changes made created a new
system, like socialism, then peace and stability would be achieved.
EVOLUTION OF CONFLICT THEORY
• Many social theorists have built on Marx’s conflict theory to bolster it, grow
it, and refine it over the years. Explaining why Marx’s theory of revolution
did not manifest in his lifetime, Italian scholar and activist Antonio Gramsci
argued that the power of ideology was stronger than Marx had realized and
that more work needed to be done to overcome cultural hegemony, or rule
through common sense. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, critical
theorists who were part of The Frankfurt School, focused their work on how
the rise of mass culture mass produced art, music, and media—contributed to
the maintenance of cultural hegemony. More recently, C. Wright Mills drew
on conflict theory to describe the rise of a tiny “power elite” composed of
military, economic, and political figures who have ruled America from the
mid-twentieth century.
EVOLUTION OF CONFLICT THEORY
• Many others have drawn on conflict theory to develop other types of
theory within the social sciences, including feminist theory, critical
race theory, postmodern and postcolonial theory, queer theory, post-
structural theory, and theories of globalization and world systems. So,
while initially conflict theory described class conflicts specifically, it
has lent itself over the years to studies of how other kinds of conflicts,
like those premised on race, gender, sexuality, religion, culture, and
nationality, among others, are a part of contemporary social structures,
and how they affect our lives.
APPLYING CONFLICT THEORY
Conflict theory and its variants are used by many sociologists today to
study a wide range of social problems.
Examples include:
• How today’s global capitalism creates a global system of power and
inequality.
• How words play a role in reproducing and justifying conflict.
• The causes and consequences of the gender pay gap between men and
women.
VIEWS OF CONFLICT THEORY OM
EDUCATION AND SCHOOLING
1. Education reinforces the cultural mechanisms for perpetrating oppression and exploitation of the poor and
other marginalized groups in the society (e.g. Indigenous people, the unschooled, and the women).
2. Education promotes foreign worship instead of being an instrument to develop nationalism, identified, and
culture;
3. School biased is social institution favoring the elite (rich) with the curriculum reinforcing of presser
structures of society;
4. School does not provide equal educational opportunities but perpetuates the existing inequality in the society;
5. School mirrors and reinforces The inequality and gender stereotyping in the society;
6. School is an arena of competition and struggle over scarce resources like money, power, position, and honor;
7. School is punitive rather than a humanizing agency; and
8. School resembles the prison cell (with school administrators and teachers acting as wardens and police
officers, respectively) strictly enforcing policies on wearing uniforms and identification card, cutting classes,
attendance to school activities, and the like.
CONFLICT THEORY VIEW ON
EDUCATION
• The conflict perspective emphasizes that education reinforces
inequality in the larger society. The symbolic interactionist perspective
focuses on social interaction in the classroom, on school playgrounds,
and at other school-related venues.
CONFLICT THEORY IN EDUCATION
EXAMPLE OF APPLYING CONFLICT THEORY:

• With the exception of some funding from the government, public

schools receive their funding from property taxes. This can be an issue
because it means that richer neighborhoods may have better schools.
IMPLICATION OF CONFLICT
THEORY TO EDUCATION
• Conflict theory Education promotes social inequality through the use
of tracking and standardized testing and the impact of its “hidden
curriculum.” Schools differ widely in their funding and learning
conditions, and this type of inequality leads to learning disparities that
reinforce social inequality.
• Conflict theory argues that the tenacity of education as upholding
social disparity and conserving the influence of those who dictate
society. … Fairly, they consider that the educational system
strengthens and preserves social disparities, which from dissimilarities
in race, class, ethnicity, and gender.
CRITICAL THEORY IN EDUCATION
• Theory in education is about questioning how our educational system
can best offer education to all people. It offers opportunities and
understanding of the different perspective of disadvantaged members
of society
CONFLICTS APPEAR AT SCHOOL
• In the school system, inter-personal conflict occurs between teacher
versus teacher and students versus students. A frequent cause of inter-
personal conflict in the school system is personality clash. When two
teachers distrust each other’s motives, dislike one another or for some
other reason cannot get along.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF CONFLICT THEORY
• Advantage - Strengthens One of the primary strengths of conflict
theory is that it acknowledges the role of oppression and seeks to
balance the scale through advocacy and resources. It points out the
inconsistencies in resources amongst those who have power or
resources and those who do not.
• Disadvantage – Lack of Research; The is a lacking presence of the
study of conflict theory in mainstream research. Much of the scientific
research performed on conflict dealt primarily with individual conflict
rather than interpersonal conflict. For this reason, there may not be a
scientific basis for upholding the conflict theory.