Conflict approaches see conflict as the main attribute of society .This does not mean that members of society are constantly in conflict. Relatively it means that there are basic conflicts of interest in society with some groups gaining at the expense of others.
Functionalism-
Functionalism sees society as a social system based on consensus. It begins from the assumption that society has certain basic needs which must be met if it is to survive. First and foremast is the need for social order-for a smooth-running, well-ordered society in which social life is predictable and people know what is expected from them.
Social order requires a certain degree of cooperation and social solidarity. This is made possible by shared norms and values. This in turn requires some means of socialisation to ensure that norms and values are learned, plus mechanisms of social control to ensure that norms and values are conformed to. In particular, value consensus is seen as essential since without it people would be pulling in different directions and the result would be conflict and disorder.
Consensus from a consensus perspective, successful business people deserve high rewards. They have made important contributions to society by building up efficient and productive companies and providing employment. High rewards motivate them and everybody benefits from their success.
Conflict from a conflict perspective, the wealth and lavish lifestyles of the rich and powerful are paid for by exploiting workers. Wealth is produced by the workers but their wages are small change compared with the extremely generous salaries, bonuses and dividends which business owners pay themselves.
Marxism-
A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status.
The relative importance and definition of membership in a particular class differs greatly over time and between societies, particularly in societies having a legal differentiation of groups of people by birth or occupation.
In the well-known example of socioeconomic class, many scholars view societies as stratifying into a hierarchical system based on economic status, wealth, or income.
Using wealth as a dimension, many have used a bi-partite model to view societies, from ancient history to the present day:
- An Upper Class of the immensely wealthy and/or powerful
- A Lower Class of the poor and/or weak
Karl Marx defined class in terms of the extent to which an individual or social group has control over the means of production.
In Marxist terms a class is a group of people with a specific relationship to the means of production. Marxists explain history in terms of a war of classes between those who control production and those who actually produce the goods or services in society
. In the Marxist view of capitalism this is a conflict between capitalists (bourgeoisie) and wage-workers (proletariat). For Marxists classes are antagonistically opposed to one another. This antagonism is rooted in the situation that control over social production is necessarily control over the class which produces goods and the exploitation of workers by the bourgeoisie.
The most important transformation of society for Marxists has been the massive and rapid growth of the proletariat in the last two hundred and fifty years. Starting with agricultural and domestic textile labourers in England, more and more occupations only provide a living through wages or salaries. Private enterprise or self-employment in a variety of occupations is no longer as viable as it once was, and so many people who once controlled their own labour-time are converted into proletarians. In the modern society groups which in the past subsisted on stipends or private wealth -- like doctors, academics or lawyers -- are now increasingly working as wage labourers. Marxists call this process "proletarianisation," and point to it as the major factor in the proletariat being the largest class in current societies in the rich countries of the "first world."
There is a basic conflict of interest between capitalists and the proletariat. Workers produce wealth in the form of goods yet a large part of that wealth is taken in the form of profits by the capitalist class. Thus one group gains at the expense of the other.
Feminism-
Where Marxists see the class system as the main source of conflict in society, feminist sociologists see the gender system- they see the social divisions between men and women as the main conflict of interest in society.For this reason, feminist theory is sometimes seen as an example of conflict theory. There are many versions of feminism. The account which follows is brief and partial. It presents some general points with which most feminist sociologists would agree.
Feminists often start from the following observations. In practically every known human society there is a division of labour based on gender-there are men’s jobs. And in most cases, men’s jobs bring higher rewards- in terms of status or prestige, in terms of power, and in terms of pay. Even when men and women have the same jobs, men still ten to receive the highest rewards.
As a result, there is a system of social inequality which benefits men at the expense of women.
Patriarchy is the system of gender inequality which tends to permeate the whole of society- it is not simply limited to occupational roles. For example, it may be reflected in religious beliefs which see men as superior to women, or in marriage vows which state that the duty of a wife is to serve her husband.
The term patriarchy is used to describe a social system based on gender inequality. It describes a system in which male dominance is present in peoples working and family lives, and is reflected in social norms and values, roles and institutions.In this sense, patriarchy has been defined as ‘ the combination of economic and cultural systems which ensures male supremacy’-therefore feminist believe society is male dominating and women have no authority.
