THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

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completed by student)

ACADEMIC YEAR: _____2010/2011___________ SEMESTER: 1

COURSE CODE: SOCI1002 TITLE: Introduction to

Sociology

NAME: __Claudia Nicole Campbell______________ ID: _309200662_____

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Signature: …Claudia N. Campbell……….

Date: October 15, 2010

The conflict perspective views society less as a cohesive system and more as an arena
of conflict and power struggles. Compare and contrast the main tenets of the
functionalist and conflict perspectives.
The development of society is dynamic in nature. There are different ways to explain this
dynamism such as the Functional and Conflict perspectives. The Functionalist and
Conflict perspectives are macro sociological approaches to the study of society, i.e.
focusing on the structures of society and the relationship among groups and these
structures. In this essay the writer proposes to discuss the perspectives identified above
according to their proponents Auguste Comte and Karl Marx respectively. Having
examined both theories I intend to posit that the Conflict perspective seems to have more
traction with regards to societal trends in post modern society. Comte’s Functionalist
school of thought is that society is comprised of distinct inter connected parts that
function together as one entity. In contrast, the Conflict perspective was birthed from the
worldview of its founder Karl Marx. Unlike the functionalist school of thought Marx’s
Conflict perspective viewed society less as a cohesive system and more of an arena of
conflict and power struggles.

Auguste Comte, a French thinker in search of an effective theory of society in light of the
social upheavals that took place in Europe in the late 18th century founded the
Functionalist perspective. Sociologists who endorse this perspective postulate that
institutions such as the family and education teach individuals the norms and values of
society. Functionalists embrace a concept referred to as ‘value consensus’ which is a
term used to describe individuals sharing of social order and stability. It is the argument
of Functionalist that value consensus creates a balance in society in the event that a
disruption occurs which would have caused the balance (equilibrium) to move. While
value consensus is a notable strength of Functionalism; it tends to ignore issues which
constantly disrupt the balance in society such as divisions based on power, conflict, social
class, race, ethnicity and gender. The Functionalist perspective is lacking in this regard as
it does not account for how diversity can and more often than not will generate conflict.

In contrast to the Functionalist perspective, Conflict theorists see the society as being just
that, in a state of conflict. This view of society came into being at a time when Europe
was in the throes of the Industrial Revolution and Karl Marx, a German Jew who lived in
England postulated that the society is divided into two main groups, the powerful
(bourgeoisie) and the powerless (proletariat). Marx argued that the ‘forces of production’
which is a technical component of production that includes (a) the technology, (b) raw
material, (c) scientific knowledge and (d) technical organization of the production
process were owned by the bourgeoisie while the ‘relations of production’ which is the
social relationships people enter into to produce goods are the only bargaining tool
owned by the proletariat. Apropos to the imbalance in the ownership of resources
Conflict theorists opine that social arrangements will tend to benefit some groups at the
expense of others. It is argued that ‘the perspective highlights power struggles as the
dominant trait of societies, giving little attention to social unity … ‘. It is my considered
opinion however that the Conflict perspective is more in keeping with the reality of a post
modern society.

An example of Conflict at work in society is the Mexican Maquildaora Porgramme which

was established through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). American
based firms employ Mexican women to work on assembly lines in factories and pay them
low wages. The rational given for this employment practice is the women’s manual
dexterity, patience and tolerance for monotonous work. It is important to note that the
women cannot demand higher wages and better working conditions because the
employers can easily replace them from a large pool of Mexican workers. In Jamaica the
Freezone Era of the late 1980s to early 1990s saw women being employed under similar
working conditions including bodily searches entering and exiting the factories. They
were not entitled to vacation, sick or adequate maternity leave. The ‘class consciousness’
Marx alluded to came to the fore as unlike their Mexican counterparts, the Jamaican
women united and arranged demonstrations and eventually abandoned their jobs en
masse. The reaction of the Jamaican women forced the Freezone companies to leave
Jamaica. I remain convinced that the Conflict Perspective does provide a more adequate
explanation of societal phenomena.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Berkley, Bennie, Vashti Deochan, and Denise Gaspard-Richards.2005.Social Sciences

Course Material: Introduction to Sociology. “The Sociological Perspectives 1 -
Macro Sociology”. 2nd ed. Edited by Dianne Thurab-Nkhosi. University of the
West Indies, Open Campus.
___________. 2005. Social Sciences Readings. “Conflict Perspectives”. In Vol. 1 of
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______________. 1998. An essay on “US Employers Preference for Female Labour:
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Haralambos, Michael, and Martin Holborn. 1995.” Theories of Society”. In

Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. 4th ed. Edited by Josephine Warrior.
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