Conflict theories

Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology and social psychology that emphasize a materialist interpretation of history, dialectical method of analysis, a critical stance toward existing social arrangements, and political program of revolution or, at least, reform. Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast historically dominant ideologies. It is therefore a macro-level analysis of society.

Part of a series on
Sociology
History Outline Index
Key themes Society Globalization Human behavior Human environmental impact Identity Industrial revolutions 3 & 4 Social complexity Social construct Social environment Social equality Social equity Social power Social stratification Social structure
Perspectives Conflict theory Critical theory Structural functionalism Positivism Social constructionism Symbolic interactionism
Branches Aging Architecture Art Astrosociology Body Criminology Consciousness Culture Death Demography Deviance Disaster Economic Education Emotion (Jealousy) Environmental Family Feminist Fiscal Food Gender Generations Health Historical Immigration Industrial Internet Jewry Knowledge Language Law Leisure Literature Marxist Mathematic Medical Military Music Peace, war, and social conflict Philosophy Political Public Punishment Race and ethnicity Religion Rural Science (History of science) Social movements Social psychology Sociocybernetics Sociology Space Sport Technology Terrorism Urban Utopian Victimology Visual
Methods Quantitative Qualitative Comparative Computational Ethnographic Conversation analysis Historical Interview Mathematical Network analysis Social experiment Survey
People East Asia 1900s Fei Xiaotong South Asia 1800s G.S Ghurye 1900s Irawati Karve M. N. Srinivas Middle East 1400s Ibn Khaldun Europe 1700s Auguste Comte Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès 1800s Émile Durkheim Harriet Martineau Karl Marx Georg Simmel Herbert Spencer Ferdinand Tönnies Max Weber 1900s Michel Foucault Jürgen Habermas North America 1800s Jane Addams Ernest Burgess W.E.B. Du Bois George Herbert Mead Thorstein Veblen 1900s James Coleman Patricia Hill Collins Erving Goffman Paul Lazarsfeld Charles Wright Mills Robert K. Merton Theda Skocpol Dorothy E. Smith
Lists Bibliography Terminology Journals Organizations People Timeline By country
Society portal WikiProject Sociology
v t e

Karl Marx is regarded as the father of social conflict theory,^{[citation needed]} which is a component of the four major paradigms of sociology. Certain conflict theories set out to highlight the ideological aspects inherent in traditional thought. While many of these perspectives hold parallels, conflict theory does not refer to a unified school of thought, and should not be confused with, for instance, peace and conflict studies, or any other specific theory of social conflict.