Conflict Theory

WHAT

SO WHAT

Recomended Readings

StrengthsandWeaknesses

Conflict Theory

• Seven Theories of Human Society by Tom Campbell

• Exploring Karl Marx Conflict Theory in Education: Are Pakistani Private Schools Maintaining Status Quo? Volume 38 of the Bulletin of Education and Research

Karl Marx’s conflict theory is playing out now and has serious consequences for schooling, teachers, and teaching. Conflict Theory’s Implications for Schooling

• The wealthy have never paid their fair share of taxes.
• The middle class is disappearing meaning their taxes are as well.
• The upper class will have even more influence over how the government allocates funds.
• Education is not the first priority for the upper class or governments so funding cuts will continue to increase.
• Support for social programs such as a universal basic income is growing but it is unlikely the upper class will allow it to be comprehensive enough to avoid social unrest.

Conflict Theory’s Implications for Teaching

• Teaching will have to show value to the upper class.
• The upper class attend private schools so the only value for them is in producing skilled docile workers.
• The pressure to teach practical marketable skills, “soft” people skills, and skills with entertainment value such as music and sports.
• Core subjects and critical thinking skills will be devalued.

Conflict Theory’s Implications for Teachers

• Increased number of students dealing with issues resulting from poverty.
• Stress of creating healthy learning environments with dwindling resources.
• Students will be difficult to motivate when they face a bleak future.
• Parents will not support teachers unless education leads to employment.

Strengths:

• Conflict theory recognizes that changes in society are natural and inevitable when one group is dominating another.
• He speaks to the power individuals have when they come together for a common cause.
• His theory is realistic in that it could happen and looks like it is happening. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Canadians to acknowledge the unsustainability of the inequality in our economy.

Weakness:

• Karl Marx does not take into consideration human nature. Human nature is self-serving and therefore it would be very difficult for everyone to unite in support of this cause. It is easy to divide desperate people.
• Similarly, we have seen examples of conflict theory in the modern day such as the Occupy Wall Street movement, #MeToo movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement. However, have things changed? It seems to me that these issues occur in spurts like water from a hose with a kink in it. They gather a lot of attention for a short while and then fizzle out as the masses lose interest or a new story gains notoriety. In order for conflict theory to hold true such movements would need to create a lasting change in society.

Conflict Theory was created by Karl Marx in the 19th century. This theory was a way of studying society by focusing on inequalities among different groups. Marx saw society as composed of two groups at the time, the working-class (the lower-class have nots) and the capitalists (the upper-class haves). The working class only had their labour to sell while the capitalists owned everything else. Marx felt that the capitalists would relentlessly seek to increase their profit by decreasing the wages of the working class and increasing productivity until the working class eventually realized they were being exploited. This class consciousness would unite them in an effort to overthrow the capitalist status quo. Marx believed that an unequal society was not sustainable and would eventually lead to conflict because one group would fight to keep the status quo while the other would desire change. These two groups would continue to struggle against each other until some compromise happened. For example, this could mean the rise of a middle class rather than having only a upper and lower class; however, Marx proposed that a cycle of struggle would repeat until all unrest was eradicated in a communist society.