Functions of Social Conflict

by Coser, Lewis A.

• ISBN13: 9780029068106
• ISBN10: 002906810X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1964-11-01
• Publisher: Free Press

Summary

Lewis Coser presents an examination of the concept of social conflict and its use in empirical sociological research in this “lucid, comprehensive essay in social theory” (American Journal of Sociology).

The positive values of conflict for all societies come to light in this study that reveals how conflicts fulfill social functions such as the maintenance of group boundaries and the prevention of the withdrawal of members of a group. Lewis Coser is critical of the view that conflict is dysfunctional and works to demonstrate its inadequacies.

In a series of basic propositions distilled primarily from the theories of Georg Simmel, Coser clarifies the function of social conflict. Beyond this, Functions of Social Conflicts extends these propositions and relates them to psychoanalysis and empirical research theories.

Author Biography

Lewis Coser was a German-American sociologist and the 66th president of the American Sociological Association. He earned his PhD in sociology at Columbia University and founded the sociology department at Brandeis University.

Table of Contents

Preface	7	(4)
Acknowledgments	11	(4)
Introductory	15	(18)
Conflict and Group Boundaries	33	(6)
Hostility and Tensions in Conflict Relationships	39	(28)
In-Group Conflict and Group Structure	67	(20)
Conflict with Out-Group and Group Structure	87	(24)
Ideology and Conflict	111	(10)
Conflict--The Unifier	121	(18)
Conflict Calls For Allies	139	(12)
Conclusion	151	(8)
References	159	(24)
Index	183