Sociological Theory

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Conflict Theory

The emergence of conflict theory in sociology, in a way, was in reaction to structural functionalism. The dominance of the functional theories during the 1950s and 1960s created an image of society which is stable and integrated. Any challenge to an existing order was viewed as an aberration or deviance. Value consensus was considered as the cornerstone of society, and hence, conflict used to be discarded as originating outside the social system. As against such a conservative bias in functional theories, many sociologists alternatively focused on the concept of power and distribution of power in social structure. Conflict theories emerged as a counter to the consensual view of society proposed by the functional theorists. The ...