In: Psychology
What leads to conflict in parts of our contemporary society according to Dahrendorf?
In his famous book ,“Class and Class Conflict in an Industrial Society”,a German sociologist, Ralf Dahrendorf has given his analysis of social conflict.By rejecting the Marx’s idea that economically determined classes are the main group of conflicts in society,he himself held that the main source of conflict is authority:where people are struggling by their powers .According to Ralf, power and authority are insufficient resources, and that those who have them hope to maintain the social and political issues,on the other hand,people who have lack of power and authority are expected to attain some portions of them.According to( Dahrendorf, 1959:- 165-166)
“Identification of variously equipped authority roles is the first task of conflict analysis; conceptually and empirically all further steps of analysis follow from the investigation of distribution of power and authority”
He believed that power held by certain persons is valid authority,rather than power implies the coercion of some by others. Dahrendorf put forward the existence of three types of groups: quasi- groups, interest groups, and conflict groups.Dahrendorf felt that, under ideal circumstances, conflict could be explained without making any changes.. The conflict of interest will be inactive most of the time but may become so clear when the legitimate of authority is challenged. when the conflict extremely serious,and it is accompanied by violence,then the change become radical.The apparently endless contest between those in and out of power only become active into class conflict when individuals believe that the only way to fulfil our interests is by doing collective actions and this automatically leads to conflict.When a variety of forms from trade unions going on strike to pressurarize the other groups leads to develop conflicts in degrees.This class unity may equally break up into two parts for competiting between individuals when opportunities for individual advancement improve, on the time of prosperity of democracy.
Atlast ,in his theory of conflict he conclude that " conflict is the part and parcel of social life and that society, rather than ignoring conflict, deals with its normalcy by institutionally regulating it". The conflict has a purpose:
First ,to hold teh society together, power of authority is to force the masses to obey them.
Second,, this struggle for power , is a key mechanism in a democracy for preventing the abuse of power in order to promote individual rights and the rule of law.