The central interest of sociology is the study of people in groups, of people interacting with each other and finding the common thread. Sociology is considered to be a science in that sociologists utilize data collection methods and the scientific methods of hypothesis in an attempt to predict human behavior. Karl Marx and Max Weber both had a major impact on Sociological theories. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher and economist, who was not a self-proclaimed sociologist.
Although Marx did not consider himself a sociologist, he had a profound impact on historical and contemporary sociological thought. Max Weber (1864-1920) was a German sociologist and scientist who also had a profound impact on sociology. Both of these men will continue to be in Sociological teachings for many years to come. Weber had a major influence on the Conflict Theory.
The Conflict Theory is one of the major sociological models for understanding the social world. The Conflict Theory has three components: The first component is that conflict is a common and ongoing feature of society. In fact conflict is the most basic feature of social life. The second component is that society is made-up of various social groups who have conflicting values and interests. Finally, the third component states that all societal conflict occurs between dominant and subordinate social groups who are in competition over resources. The “conflict perspective”, was developed in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and is primarily associated with both Karl Marx and Max Weber.
Karl Marx used two groups in the conflict theory. The Capitalist class owns and controls the means of production, while they also see the distribution of the goods or services. The Capitalist class is also known as the dominant group. His second class, the working class, are the people who provide the labor necessary to produce the goods and services. The dominant Group is the capitalists and the subordinate group is the working class. Max Weber also asserted that society is an “arena” of conflict and struggle” over resources between dominant and subordinate groups. But unlike Marx, Weber argues that there are many “status” groups in a society which possess varying degrees of social power. So according to Weber there are many groups, unlike Marx who believed there were two groups, the capitalist and the working group.
Weber believed that power played a role in politics, ethnicity, gender, and religion.
In conclusion, it was over a century ago, that Karl Marx created the Conflict Theory. The basis of the conflict theory proves to be true. We in America and else where have dominant and subordinate groups. The dominant groups have power and wealth while the subordinate groups are just working class citizens contributing to the wealth of the capitalists. But this is a capitalist society so who can expect anything different. As I stated earlier, the basis of Marx perspective is true. But Weber’s perspective is obviously true as well as more specific. They are basically powerless and apart of many subordinate groups.
