Conflict Theory

I really enjoyed reading through chapter one and watching the content module videos and learning about all the different theories and actions developed and taken by different sociological thinkers. That being said, I feel the theory that is the most influential is the conflict theory.

I feel that Karl Marx’s ideas on economic inequalities and Max Weber’s ideas of competition over political power and social power being combined can really sum up conflicts of both past and present. Looking on a global scale throughout history I think its safe to say that all conflicts that arose between different peoples were over resources or political and social power. Conflict theory is not just about warfare either. Think of the United States for example. Yes we have had plenty of wars and people can argue whether they were fought over acquiring resources or ridding the world of evil, either way it lines up with conflict theory. However, there were many conflicts in the US that didn’t involve all out war even though at points they may have been violent. For example, the women’s suffrage movement and civil rights movement were about portions of the US population not being treated fairly and those people took action. Even today we see examples of the conflict theory taking place in our society among women, African Americans, and the LGBT population, the rich vs. poor, and many more. The conflict theory is a part of our world and has led to many social changes in the past whether it shaped the world or just a country.

I also do not feel that the change has to be abrupt in order to fall into the conflict theory. As long as there is some sort of continuing struggle for change of power or social status then that in itself is the conflict theory. There will also be times of stability but it seems as though there is always inequality somewhere. I feel that even if somehow everyone was given equal resources such as food, money, housing , etc. there will still be conflict. People will always look different from one another or think differently and that in turn can cause conflict in itself. Erasing those things would erase human individual identity