Popular uprisings of citizens seeking governmental change have occurred this year in Bosnia, Brazil, Greece, Iran, Jordan, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and most recently in Hong Kong. Libya and Syria are two such countries the multifaceted nature of the conflict, with several groups competing for their own desired ends, makes creation of a peaceful resolution more challenging. Unfortunately, the change process in some countries reached the point of active combat between the established government and the portion of the population seeking change, often called revolutionaries or rebels. Some nations, such as Tunisia, have successfully transitioned to governmental change others, like Egypt, have not yet reached consensus on a new government. The Arab Spring exemplifies oppressed groups acting collectively to change their governmental systems, seeking both greater liberty and greater economic equity. Political differences over budget issues, for example, led to the recent shutdown of the federal government, and alternative political groups, such as the Tea Party, are gaining a significant following.

struggle within the system, by trying to achieve the outcomes they prefer. Modern-day conflicts are still driven by the desire to gain or protect power and wealth, whether in the form of land and resources or in the form of liberty and autonomy. In this pattern of change through conflict, people tend to gain greater personal freedom and economic stability (1848). Marx saw a historical pattern in which revolutionaries toppled elite power structures, after which wealth and authority became more evenly dispersed among the population, and the overall social order advanced. Nearly all conflicts in the past and present, however, are spurred by basic desires: the drive to protect or gain territory and wealth, and the need to preserve liberty and autonomy.Īccording to sociologist and philosopher Karl Marx, such conflicts are necessary, although ugly, steps toward a more egalitarian society. Conflicts also arose among competing groups within individual sovereignties, as evidenced by the bloody French Revolution. Vikings attacked continental European tribes in search of loot, and, later, European explorers landed on foreign shores to claim the resources of indigenous groups. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)Įven before there were modern nation-states, political conflicts arose among competing societies or factions of people. Conflict Theory in Action Although military technology has evolved considerably over the course of history, the fundamental causes of conflict among nations remain essentially the same.

William Domhoff (2011) elaborates on ways in which the power elite may be seen as a subculture whose members follow similar social patterns such as joining elite clubs, attending select schools, and vacationing at a handful of exclusive destinations. Mills believed the power elite use government to develop social policies that allow them to keep their wealth.

Wright Mills (1956) elaborated on some of Marxâs concepts, coining the phrase power elite to describe what he saw as the small group of powerful people who control much of a society. Marx believed that conflict between groups struggling to either attain wealth and power or keep the wealth and power they had was inevitable in a capitalist society, and conflict was the only way for the underprivileged to eventually gain some measure of equality.Ĭ. Philosopher and social scientist Karl Marx was a seminal force in developing the conflict theory perspective he viewed social structure, rather than individual personality characteristics, as the cause of many social problems, such as poverty and crime. Conflict theory focuses on the social inequalities and power difference within a group, analyzing society through this lens.

Structural functionalism theory summary