Conflict Theory Culture

Cultural Conflict Theory: Examples of Sociological Theories

You must have your own ways of thinking about culture through your taste in music, food, dance, and fashion; as well as your views on technology and social norms. Sociologists do too.

They look at all aspects of culture and try to decipher what they mean for individuals and communities. They analyze material items and non-material cultural concepts to arrive at general conclusions.

Three primary branches of sociological thought have considered culture: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.

• Functionalists believe that everything in society, culture included, has its own unique role. For the whole of society to function correctly, all institutions and individuals must fulfill their roles in the best way possible. Culture’s role, argues functionalists, is to create social cohesion through shared values and norms between people of a society.

• Symbolic interactionists reject the generalist approach of functionalists to sociology. They focus on human interactions and small-scale events to determine patterns and trends. They believe culture is created through face-to-face interactions and individualistic interpretations of those interactions.

• Conflict theorists divert from both of the views mentioned above. Let us look at the conflict theory of culture in detail below.

Conflict Theory of Culture

Conflict theorists argue that society and culture are inherently unequal. Power is unequally distributed between social groups depending on factors such as class, gender, race, and age. A society’s culture does not represent all social groups equally, and the accepted value system privileges some people while hurting others.

Cultural diversity is more and more valued in the West. Cultures of different ethnicities and classes are being represented in increasingly equal measures.

Nevertheless, cultural values and norms still benefit men over women and White people over people of color. Similarly, upper-class people benefit much more from the culture taught through education, work, and the media, than the working class.

Karl Marx on Culture

Conflict theory's critical focus is economics, specifically, the power structure around production and consumption.

Karl Marx, the founder of conflict theory, was especially concerned about the power imbalance within capitalism. He argued that the capitalist way of production determines capitalist culture - one that is focused on maintaining and enriching the upper class endlessly at the expense of the working class.

Fig. 1 - Marx was the founder of conflict theory.

This means that the class struggle between the owners of production (upper class) and the proletariat (working class) is present not only in the field of work but in other dimensions of life, too, such as culture.

Marx pointed out that the US and all other capitalist countries have perpetrated the ‘American dream’; the idea that anyone from any walk of life can strive and achieve material success. Conflict theorists believe this is false because certain social groups benefit from the system much more than others.

What makes the spread of the concept of the American dream even worse is that it makes people believe that if they fail in work and life, it is their own fault. Similarly, if someone succeeds, it’s believed to be only due to their own merit rather than outside factors.

Religion and Culture

Religion and culture both help to spread the aforementioned culture of capitalism through beliefs, norms, and behaviors.

Religion, which teaches obedience and the acceptance of one’s fate, encourages the working class to silently endure their struggles instead of rising against their oppressors and exploiters.

The American dream creates false hopes in people of underprivileged groups, who then put all their energy into working hard and making it on their own rather than revolting collectively against the system.

The culture of capitalism spreads the myth of meritocracy and thus blames the individual for their hardships in life if they fail. It spreads these beliefs not only at national but at international levels, too, arguing that less developed nations are so because they failed to catch up with the industrial revolution and the technological advancement of the West.

Conflict theorists claim this culture to be harmful and in need of reform.

Feminism and Culture

Feminist scholars and activists often speak up against the over-sexualized portrayal of women in the media, which teaches children about the roles women are 'meant' to fulfill in American society.

Magazines, films, TV, and advertisements have been portraying women as either housewives or objects of male sexual desire, neither of which acknowledges them as complex, multi-faceted, powerful human beings.

Similarly, people of color have been portrayed in an overwhelmingly stereotypical way in the US as uneducated, exotic, or savage, just to mention a few examples.

Fig. 2 - Women were portrayed in stereotypical ways in the media.

Culture and the Dominant Ideology

Conflict theorists agree with functionalists that each society has a standard, dominant culture. However, while functionalists believe in the inevitability and even necessity of this ‘dominant’ culture, conflict theorists are more critical of it.

Conflict theorists claim that, in most cases, the common culture helps the ruling classes and social groups to maintain the status quo and their privileged positions. By doing that, they often subordinate other existing cultures in society.

Karl Marx already discussed the concept of culture, but a Hungarian and an Italian Marxist scholar introduced the concept of ‘dominant ideology’ being perpetuated through culture. The ideas of Georg Lukacs and Antonio Gramsci reached American audiences only in the 1970s, but then they became very influential for scholars and average people alike.

According to Gramsci and Lukacs, the dominant ideology is transmitted to the public through different cultural channels. It travels through socialization, first of all, then through education, religion and the media.

Since people are told about cultural concepts, like the American dream ideal, from a very young age, they inevitably believe them, act and justify their actions according to them and thus maintain the social structure as it has been; ruling classes, White people and men controlling wealth and property and the working classes, people of color and women in subordinate positions.

Culture Clash

When two different sets of cultural values and beliefs contradict each other within a society, this refers to a culture clash.

Culture clashes have happened multiple times in human history, and societies have resolved them differently. In some instances, the dominant ideology and culture simply overbore the more minor, more radical, and foreign cultural traits. In other cases, the less dominant culture brought change and even complete transformation.

Same-sex marriages were unthinkable just a couple of decades ago in America. Now they are legal in all states.

Neither of the examples mentioned above was easy to achieve. The followers of the traditional culture fought hard to maintain traditional family values and marriage patterns. Even those who had no strong opinion on the issues might have sided with the then-dominant culture simply out of habit.

However, the advocates of change eventually succeeded, and their cultural values and practices are now supported by government policies.

Criticism of the Conflict Theory of Culture

Conflict theorists are criticized by many, especially by functionalists who want to keep the traditional cultural values and by symbolic interactionists, who are not satisfied with the methodological approach of Marx and his followers.

Despite the criticism, the conflict theory of culture is still very influential. Social inequality still exists in America and many other countries. Many systems and institutions require overhaul, and the conflict theorist approach to change is still favored.

They, after all, point out that people must remember that they are in control of their own decisions and are not restricted by traditions and family upbringing. People can transform value systems and entire cultures in order to make them more representative of the growing diversity of societies.