Of course, this is unlikely in practice, and thus few actors make decisions completely rationally. The consensus theory emphasizes that the social order is through the shared norms, and belief systems of people. 22.2 Public Sociology and Improving Society. In this video we outline and evaluate the consensus and conflict theories in Sociology. Weber (1978) argued that there are two types of rationality involved in decision-making processes. Hostility arises out of non-rational decision-making, which is impulsive and often at odds with the actions rational analysis (such as prospect or utility theory) may suggest. Consensus theorists support the idea that everyone in society has a shared, communal goal which they work together in harmony to achieve. Marx theorized that the work of producing consensus was done in the "superstructure" of society, which is composed of socialinstitutions, political structures, and culture, and what it produced consensus for was the "base," the economic relations of production. As conflicts continue and actors inflict harm on each other, participants may become motivated by desires beyond reaching their original goals, such as inflicting as much harm on the perceived enemy as possible (Bartos and Wehr, 2002). Conflict theory also has its problems. This view remains popular today, in part because many sociologists object to what they perceive as the overly deterministic view of human thought and action and passive view of the individual inherent in the sociological perspective derived from Durkheim. Herbert Blumer (1969), a sociologist at the University of Chicago, built on their writings to develop symbolic interactionism, a term he coined. Consensus Theory: the Basics. The American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1951) noted that in the creation of a social arrangement, actors have to decide whether the relationships among themselves are: affective or affectively neutral; self or collectively oriented; universalistic or particularistic; specific or diffuse; ascription or achievement-oriented. Conflict theory would take a very different but no less helpful approach to understanding armed robbery. The consensus theory in sociology is the logical antithesis of the conflict theory. Using conflict theory: Cambridge University Press. mile Durkheim was a founder of sociology and largely responsible for the sociological perspective as we now know it. Some critical sociologists, such as Ralf Dahrendorf, see conflict as not only endemic and functional but capable of sustaining the social order in itself. The aristocracy throughout Europe feared that revolution would spread to their own lands, and intellectuals feared that social order was crumbling. Lvi-Strauss, C. (1949). According to LeFebvre and Franke (2013), for example, participants with higher levels of individualism tended to favor rational approaches to decision-making, while those with higher levels of collectivism tended to value staying loyal to the interests of their ingroups. This system of seemingly natural male control is referred to as patriarchy. Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly, as conflict theory would suggest. 2 0 obj Ones alignment with individualism or collectivism can also have a great impact on styles of decision-making in conflicts. Tong, R. (2009). Unlike in the consensus theory, this theory does not give prominence to shared norms and values or consensus of people. Foundations of social theory. Utilitarianism emphasizes that people act in their self-interest by calculating whether potential behaviors will be more advantageous than disadvantageous. Postwar German sociologists, such as Habermas (1981), tended to stress open dialogue and communication in the working out of conflicts. As one function, fear of crime ironically strengthens social bonds by uniting the law-abiding public against the criminal elements in society. The consensus theory pays little importance to social change as they focus more on retaining the society as it is through consensus. Examples of Conflict Theory Note: Conflict theory can be applied to many sociological topics such as: Applying their views to crime, they felt the criminal justice system in Europe at the time was far harsher than it needed to be to deter criminal behavior. endobj Conflict theories emphasize looking at the history and events in a society in terms of structural power divisions, such as social class. However, conflict theorists view the society in a different manner. In short, Weber argued that conflict emerges over a struggle for as much dominance over other groups as resources permit. Press. This desire to separate institutions emerged in response to the fascism and extreme movements arising out of the early-mid 20th century. Strivings of the Negro People. Explaining why Marx's theory of revolution did not manifest in his lifetime,Italian scholar and activistAntonio Gramsciargued that the power of ideology was stronger than Marx had realizedand that more work needed to be done to overcome cultural hegemony, orrule through common sense. This theory highlights the integration of the values of a group of people. x[]o8}G{QM Coming from Engineering cum Human Resource Development background, has over 10 years experience in content developmet and management. DuBois is a classic sociologist who, after earning a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895 (the first Black man to do so), went on to an extremely productive career with extensive publication, research, theorizing, and activism. In all of these respects, says Randall Collins (1994, p. 181), Durkheims view represents the core tradition of sociology that lies at the heart of the sociological perspective. (Original work published 1848). According to this perspective, the society upholds the necessity to maintain the status quo and if an individual goes against what is accepted and shared by the majority that person is considered as deviant. For Marxists, the appearance of consensus is an illusion; it conceals the reality of one class imposing its will on the rest of society. As the term symbolic interactionism implies, their understanding of this encounter arises from what they do when they interact and their use and interpretation of the various symbols included in their interaction. Starting first in Europe and then in the United States, the Industrial Revolution led to many changes, including the rise and growth of cities as people left their farms to live near factories. Coercion - the use of the army, police, and other government agencies to force other classes to accept the ruling class ideology. Weber, M. (1978). Conflict theory is a general term coving a number of sociological approaches, which appose functionalism, and which share the idea that the basic feature of all societies was the struggle between different groups for access to limited resources. However, as Collins demonstrates, neither of these is necessarily true. These are just some of the structural constrains that prevent workers from joining together in what Marx calledclass consciousness, or a common group identity as exploited proletarians and potential revolutionaries. <> In the United States and many other societies, shaking hands is a symbol of greeting and friendship. The purpose of this study is to explain the growth and popularity of consensus theory in present day sociology. Their aspirations are no longer limited by societys constraints and thus cannot be fulfilled. Some sociologists, such as Crouch (2001), categorize conflict theories across two axes: momentous vs. mundane and exceptional vs. endemic. If we break a bone in one of our legs, we have trouble walking; if we lose sight in both our eyes, we can no longer see. Collins (1971) attempts to explain employment discrimination against women as the result of a sexual stratification system constructed from the perspectives of Freud and Weber. updated 2017. Unlike functionalist theory, conflict theory is better at explaining social change, and weaker at explaining social stability. Because profit is the main goal of capitalism, the bourgeoisies interest lies in maximizing profit. For example, although suicide is generally . It ascribes most of the fundamental. Oxford: Pergamon. Durkheim used suicide to illustrate how social disorder can result from a weakening of societys moral cocoon. This is known as social solidarity. t0-0;bvuXI;{%%9!HGKby'^==>BRJR8+mu|D}|wN\nlYz%{?HV_?Lz=wQV{uFTZRQjuZJcUgDZ Golding, W. (1954). Race conflict paradigms will be examined later in the course in the module devoted to race and ethnicity. 2. Collins, R. (1994). All rights reserved. In this arrangement, proletarians have only their labor to sell, and do not own or control capital. People construct their roles as they interact; they do not merely learn the roles that society has set out for them. In many ways, conflict theory is the opposite of functionalism but ironically also grew out of the Industrial Revolution, thanks largely to Karl Marx (18181883) and his collaborator, Friedrich Engels (18201895). This general framework reached fruition in the writings of mile Durkheim (18581917), a French scholar largely responsible for the sociological perspective as we now know it. Small tribal societies tend to adopt communal values, and large societies tend to adopt system values (Bartos and Wehr, 2002), which in themselves can lead to goal incompatibility (conflict) between societies. One form of non-rational decision-making that sociologists consider to drive conflict is hostility. Whereas the functionalist and conflict perspectives are macro approaches, symbolic interactionism is a micro approach that focuses on the interaction of individuals and on how they interpret their interaction. The president of the United States had to negotiate the risks of reacting too strongly (nuclear war) with the drawbacks of responding weakly (increasing the influence of the Soviet Union). According to him, there are two classes in all so cieties, the haves and the have-nots. Consensus and conflict perspectives Modern and Postmodern perspectives. Those in groups also tend to form their own group identities, where they tend to value themselves more highly than others value them (Where, 2002). Although many variations of feminist theory exist, they all emphasize that society is filled with gender inequality such that women are the subordinate sex in many dimensions of social, political, and economic life (Tong, 2009). In this system, according to Collins (1971), women can be acquired as sexual property and thus subjugated to the role of menial servants (Levi-Strauss, 1949). Both men thought that people act rationally and decide before they act whether their behavior will cause them more pleasure or pain. We look at these institutions in later chapters. Out of control: Visceral influences on behavior. 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