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Conflict theory is an important method of social control. Some people benefit from the rules more than others. It evolved from early ideas about social struggles over limited resources and power, closely associated with Karl Marx in the 19th century.

Conflict Theory suggests that individuals and groups are constantly competing for limited resources.

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Jane Elliot conducts an experiment where her 3rd-grade students are able to learn about discrimination. She divides her class up based on eye color - blue eues or brown eyes. On the first day of the experiment, her blue eyed students were treated as the superior individuals and her brown eyed students as the inferior. The next day, the roles were reversed. This experiment shows how quickly her students can internalize prejudice and how their change in attitude affected their performance in the classroom. This documentary helps highlight the affects of bias, learned behaviors, and systemic racism.

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A Class Divided (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

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Conflict Theory and It's Relevancy to The Experiment

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Conflict Theory and It's Relevancy to The Experiment

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In order to better understand what exactly Conflict Theory is, I would like to discuss its connection to the experiment.

The core idea of Conflict Theory is that society is in a constant state of competition. It is a way of seeing conflict and inequality as the driving forces of societies structure.

Society is known to be divided into classes based on availability to resources. The main classes being Bourgeoisie which are the capitalist or owners and the Proletariat people being the workers, being in less control. There is an obvious power imbalance between the two. In relation to the experiment, Jane Elliot divides her class into two separate social divisions. This can be compared to power and inequality. The conflict theory discusses how society is characterized by groups that compete. She shows how there is a dominant group (firstly the blue eyed people) and an inferior group (brown eyed people) that experience discrimination. Similar to how the dominant groups in society can maintain their power by keeping the inferior groups inferior. We can also see the relevance of social change through conflict. Conflict theorists suggest social change may happen when the inferior groups challenge the structure of society and its norms. Elliots experiment shows awareness of the already existing social order and the effects of it for both groups by making her students feel the discrimination firsthand.

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Conflict Theory when applied to sex, gender, and identity

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Conflict Theory when applied to sex, gender, and identity

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Since we know conflict theories main idea is that society is structured around power imbalances, we can make the connection that gender is also related to this. It is structured around men being dominant group and having power over women that are the inferior group. Men have also historically had control over resources that posit them to keep their dominance in society.

When discussing gender inequality, socialization plays a crucial role. through experiences individuals go through in life, we learn to internalize gender roles that reinforce societies structure around power imbalances. Children learn these gender roles from a young age and quickly learn the different expectations for boys and girls. An example of this learnt power imbalance would be the common pjrase "boys will be boys". This phrase is used to justify any negative behaviors and other forms of aggression that boys do. The phrase suggests that this bad behavior is an unchangeable way and just part of male nature.

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Conflict Theory and Audre Lorde's - The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House

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Conflict Theory and Audre Lorde's - The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House

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Audre Lorde's essay, "The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle The Masters House" focuses on many factors related to conflict theory such as power imbalances, the importance of challenging the system, and recognizing intersectionality.

With competing social groups being driven by power imbalances, Lorde highlights in her essay just how easy it is for society to apply or conform these imbalances. For example, she discusses how traditional feminists movements still fall victim to these imbalances through white women knowingly or unknowingly minimizing voices of women of color. This point is basically what she means in her essay title; "systems of oppression cannot be dismantled using the same tools, methods, or perspectives which created them."

Conflict Theory highlights how important it is to challenge oppressive systems. In Lorde's essay, she highlights the importance of challenging the dominant white system. She calls for oppressed groups to recognize their strengths and use them rather than conforming to the typical white dominated system.

Her work is also deeply rooted in the concept of intersectionality. Conflict theory and intersectionality both analyze social inequalities. Lorde's work recognizes that oppression is not something done and created from an individuals own choices but is instead shaped by their identity and how social imbalances have an affect on them.

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Conflict Theory & Swarns - The Uneven Scales of Capital Justice

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Conflict Theory & Swarns - The Uneven Scales of Capital Justice

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Swarns talks about how race and class are critical factors of who ends up in "death row". In other words, it talks about how racial factors have a big influence when discussing the death penalty. This writing goes into depth about how social inequalities are so deeply rooted in our system and gives an example of one of these systems specifically. essentially, race and class play significant roles when determining who is bale to escape the death penalty vs who serves it.

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The Importance of Understanding Conflict Theory today

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The Importance of Understanding Conflict Theory today

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With all the information and examples given, we can tell that conflict theory is still of importance as it has been for years. As a society, we should all try to recognize that if we had a better understanding of what divides us as a society and help people use a sociological view of looking at things so we could see that the root of most societies problems don't just lead back to an individual but to the systems themselves. There would also be a better understanding of the root of injustice.