Social Conflict and the Theory of Social Change Lewis A ...

1 Social Conflict and the Theory of Social ChangeLewis A. CoserThe British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 8, No. 3. (Sep., 1957), pp. URL: British Journal of Sociologyis currently published by The London School of Economics and Political use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtainedprior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content inthe JSTOR archive only for your personal.

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3 For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact Jul 13 15:25:02 ,morespecificallywithitsrelationtoinstit utionalrigidities,technicalprogressandpr o-ductivity, centralobservationofGeorgeSorelinhisRefl ectionsonViolencewhichhasnotasyetbeenacc ordedsufficientattentionbysociologistsma yserveusasa :Wearetodayfacedwitha ,bytheiruseofviolence,restoretothemiddle classsomethingofitsformerenergy.!Sorel' (whichSorelcallsviolence,usingthewordina veryspecialsense) 'scalltoactionwasaddressedtotheworkingcl assanditsinterests,heconceivedittobeofge neralimportanceforthetotalsocialsystem; ,hefelt, ,thetensionbetweenwhatisandwhatsomegroup sfeeloughttobe, ,wealthandstatus,havebeenproductiveofvit ality;noteforexamplethecontrastbetweenth e'frozenworld' ,ineffect,theapplicationofJohnDewey'sthe oryofcon-sciousnessandthoughtasarisingin thewakeofobstaclestotheinter-actionofgro ups.

4 'Confli< , '2 Conflictnotonlygeneratesnewnorms,newinst itutions,asI havepointedoutelsewhere, " ,'goadingmanagementintotechnicalimprove- mentandincreasedcapitalinvestment'.Verym uchthesamepointwasmaderecentlybytheconse rvativeBritishEconomistwhichreproachedBr itishunionsfortheir'moderation'whichit declaredinpartrespon-sibleforthestagnati onandlowproductivityofBritishcapitalism; 'humanrelations' 'humanrelations'approachstresses,the'col lectivepurposeofthetotal organization'ofthefactory, ,understandingand'unity' ,withitsinstitutionalizationofscienceasa ninstrumentformakingandremakingtheworld, wasmadepossiblewiththegradualemergenceof a ,' stableindustry.

5 'loInthemodernWesternworld,justasintheme dievalworld,vestedinterestsexertpressure forthemaintenanceofestablishedroutines; , ,aswellasitsapplicationandutilization,is furtheredthroughtheever-renewedchallenge tovestedinterests, ,theclashofconflictinginterestsandvalues ,nownolongerconstrainedbytherigidityofth emedievalstructure, 'spontaneous'processeswasrequiredinmilit aryandpolitical, ,methodicalanddisciplinedbehaviour12aros eatroughlythesameperiodinwhichtheunitary medievalstructurebroke 'trialthroughbattle'areunpredictableinth eiroutcome, ,'peoplemaybeunfittedbybeingfitinanunfit fitness', :'Thecustomaryistakenforgranted.

6 Itforms"consciousness".'14 Agroupora systemwhichnolongerischallengedisnolonge rcapableofa ,weddedtotheeternalyesterdayofprecedenta ndtradition, 'Onlyahitchintheworkingofhabitoccasionse motionandpro-vokesthought.' ,thoughapparentlydysfunctionalforhighlyr ationalizedsystems, 'occupa-tionalpsychosis'alwaysthreatenin gthebureaucraticofficeholder, , polemicagainstProudhon:Feudalproductiona lsohadtwoantagonisticelements,whichweree quallydesignatedbythenamesofgoodsideandb adsideoffeudalism, , ,enthusiasticoverthevirtuesofchivalry,th edelightfulharmonybetweenrightsandduties ,thepatriarchallifeofthetowns,theprosper ousstateofdomesticindustryinthecountry,o fthedevelopmentofindustryorganizedincorp orations,guildsandfellowships,infineofal lwhichconstitutesthebeautifulsideoffeuda lism,hadproposedtothemselvestheproblemof eliminatingallwhichcastashadowuponthislo velypicture-serfdom,privilege.

7 Anarchy-whatwouldhavebeentheresult?Allth eelementswhichconstitutedthestrugglewoul dhavebeenannihilated, ,conflictleadsnotonlytoever-changingrela tionswithintheexistingsocialstructure, ,therelationsbetweenserfandlord(be-tween burgherandgentry, 'scontentionthatthenegativeelement,theop position,conditionsthechangewhenconflict betweenthesub-groupsofa systembecomessosharpenedthatata ;ifintheanalysisofthesocialstructureofa systemtheseelementsareignored,iftheadjus tmentofpatternedrelationsistheonlyfocuso f200 SOCIALCONFLICTANDSOCIALCHANGE attention, , ,inMarx'sview, ,infact,saysMarx,bethefirstbirthpangofa newonetocome; 'matters-of-fact'ofa'givenstateofaffairs 'whenviewedinthelightofMarx'sapproach,be comelimited,transitory.)

8 Theyareregardedascontainingthegermsofa , ,thepatternsofsocialmobility,ofascribing andachievingstatusandofallocatingscarcep owerandwealth,aswellasthedegreetowhicha specificformofdistributionofpower, ,withinanysocialstruc-ture,thereexistsan excessofclaimants overopportunitiesforadequatereward, ,ofcourse,a present,ora presentanda futuresocialsystem;societiesdonotdiethew aybiologicalorganismsdo, ;butfromonepersp~c ,describingthefunctionofearthquakes,rece ntlystatedadmirablywhatcouldbeconsidered thefunctionofconflict.' 'swayofmaintainingitsequilibrium,a ,themoreviolentthequake,andthemorefreque nttheshifts,themo~efrequentaretheshocks.

9 '20 Whetherthequakeisviolentornot, ,ortheymaybechangesinthestruc-turalrelat ionsbetweenlandandwater, , ,capitalism, ,forex-ample,mayundergoconsiderablechang ewithin-videtheeffectsoftheBlackDeathont hesocialstructureofmedievalsociety;andev enanabolitionofserfdommaynotnecessarilyb esaidtomarktheendofanoldandtheemergenceo fanewsystem, 'itisnecessarytodistinguishclearlybetwee ntheprocesseswithinthesystemandprocesses ofchangeofthesystem',asProfessorParsonsh aspointedout,21anattemptshouldbemadetoes tablisha ,itsbasicinstitutionsanditspre-vailingva luesystemhavebeendrasticallyaltered.

10 (Incaseswheresuchachangetakesplaceabrupt ly,as,forexample,theRussianRevolu-tion, ,however, ,bymutualadjustment,anditisonlyoveraperi odoftimethattheobserverwillbeabletoclain lthatthesocialsystemhasundergonea basictransformationinitsstructuralrelati ons.)Inconcretehistoricalreality, (orthesumtotal) ' newsystemwilldependontherigidityandresis tancetochange, ,however, ,whichallowtheopenanddirectexpressionofc onflictwithinthemandwhichadjusttotheshif tingbalanceofpowerwhichtheseconflictsbot hindicateandbringabout, ,conflictsanddisturb-anceswithina systemwhichleadtoa re-establishmentofequilibrium,andconflic tswhichleadtotheestablishmentofnewsystem sandnewtypesofequilibria, 'VestedInterests'.