Conflict Theory: A Sociological Analysis

In any subject theory plays a significant role. It can be seen that theory provides an insight into the concept. A theory is a system of ideas that is use to explain something based on general proposition. In the subject matter of sociology, theory also plays a vital part.

Attaching a date to the establishment of sociological theory is not possible as people have always been developing and initiating theories of social life since early history. It is futile to trace the beginnings of sociological theory of those eras because of the thinkers of that time thought of themselves as sociologists. It is in early 1800s, after the Enlightenment that we find thinkers being associated with the discipline.

Political revolutions like the French Revolution

Organismic analogy is the basic datum of functionalism which conceptualized the society as a whole, constituting of functional parts. The functionalist attempts to explain the society in terms of the system’s needs, while at the same time it stresses on the role of structure of a society in shaping human behavior. All the facets of society need to integrate and function together as a whole in order to enhance cohesiveness and equilibrium. Talcott Parsons rigorously argued about integration – with respect to cohesive societal forces and about how structure would lead to that.

Another significant school of thought is Conflict theory. It emerged as a criticism to the unified view of society proposed by the functional theorists. Conflict theory appeared within the areas if inequality, systematic exercise of power and the structural causation of conflict. Lewis Coser introduced the idea of functional role of conflict in ensuring social order. He theorized on the role of conflict in society to consolidate a loosely structured social

In the modern times, although these issues remain, the core issues are shifting. For example, globalization, terrorism, environmental crisis, gender and multi culturism, etc. To address these issues and find the appropriate solutions, modern theorists have came up with theories that are relevant in this time and which can bring about a change in the current times. Their studies are also rooted in the works of Classical theorists. Classical theorists’ works have persisted throughout the history of society, developing into three broad sociological traditions of enquiry: Functionalism (Durkheim), Conflict Theory (Marx) and Social action (Weber). It cannot be denied that classical theorists and modern theorists both have contributed a lot to the enhancement and enrichment of the discipline of sociology. They have provided a clear understanding of the issues and problems of the past and current