Conflict and Social Change: Three Sociological Traditions
Conflict and Social Change: Three Sociological Traditions

Summary/Abstract: To a considerable number of sociologists, conflict is of utmost importance in explaining social evolution. The present paper deals with three established orientations, which constitute the unavoidable point of departure for any contemporary approach of conflict and social change: Durkheim treats social conflict as a symptom of a dysfunction; Weber and Simmel consider it as a normal social relation, while Marx sees social conflict as the driving force of the entire society. Despite their diversity, these explanations share a quasicommon characteristic: the priority granted to certain factors – demographic, technical or economic — in explaining social evolution is guided by value judgements. That is why the normative dimension is never completely absent from sociological theories, when considering either social conflict, or social change.

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