The History Of The Conflict Perspective essay

The History Of The Conflict Perspective essay The conflict perspective definition and theory The conflict perspective is the major theory in sociology; with its help sociologists can get explanation for things that happened in society and history. The idea of the conflict theory was introduced by Karl Marx, who convinced that social classes (both groups and individuals) interact with each other on the basis on the conflict, but not the agreement. It means that the strongest groups will always use their power to keep less powerful groups under their control. Actually, the conflict is viewed as the main engine of changes in society, because it produces discrepancies that could be solved in creation new conflicts and discrepancies. So, the process is endless, and this is how the human history evolved. Here are the main principles of the conflict theory: the conflict theory keeps an idea that any fighting happens because of struggle between different groups or classes of society; each society group fights with others to get more resources; all groups want to protect their needs and interests, and they block the other groups progress; each groups individuals express their aggressive impulses while being in relationships with others. Being a humanist, Karl Marx wanted people to reach their full potential. Marx supposed that the entire story can be characterized by an economics fight between the rich and poor people. In his theory, Marx explained why and how people were able to separate from animals when they learned that its possible to produce their own means of existence, but not just to use only provided by nature. He set the conflict between classes as the major moving force of all history and supposed that all changes of society are defined by the conflict. Conflict theory in the context of gender If to view gender from the position of the conflict theory, we can say that men are the dominant and powerful gender that used to subordinate women. In most countries, men were those who historically held responsibility and power in their families, and women had to fulfill their own obligations and roles, such as raising children, making housework, cooking food. The German sociologist F. Engels made research on the gender roles and family hierarchy from the perspective of K. Marx. He supposed that relationship between man and woman in family is almost the same as relationship between proletariat and bourgeoisie classes, because women are dependent and have less power and rights than men. Modern sociologists say that nowadays, the family model was changed because many women became breadwinners, so theyve got the power in the structure of family. Such women try to create more democratic atmosphere in their families, though some of them are still responsible for all domestic problems. Human always tries to get power, whether it is politics, or outdoor games, work place or family. Authoritative position is important for all people. There are a lot of different communities and social groups that can have different religions and classes. All these people have quite various values, perspectives and goals. The collision between their values and perspectives causes the conflict between people. The conflict may have different reasons such as owning the land or power, production, or the political power. Its possible to say that people interact with each other using not a cooperation, but competition, and of course it causes a conflict. We know that all people always strive for advantage and power, so it means the conflict between them changes constantly. When we have large communities that compete for anything, it often can lead to significant social changes. So, conflict perspective means all differences between people and groups in the society.