Using Conflict Theory

Using Conflict Theory presents how and why conflict erupts, and how it can be managed.

Otomar J. Bartos (Author), Paul Wehr (Author)

9780521791168, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 July 2002

232 pages, 24 b/w illus. 1 map 7 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.48 kg

'Bringing this wide array of material together succinctly is difficult, but the authors succeed … the book is clearly written and speaks directly to the reader, offering suggestions about how to pursue conflicts constructively; it should prove accessible to college students. This is a useful introduction that would serve as a good text for various courses relating to social conflicts and which could be complemented by other theoretical work and by details accounts of particular conflicts.' Journal of Peace Research

Human conflict - from family feuds, to labor strikes, to national warfare - is an ever-present and universal social problem and the methods to manage it, a challenge for everyone, from average citizens to policymakers and social theorists. Using Conflict Theory will educate students about how, under what conditions, and why conflict erupts, and how it can be managed. It is a unique classroom book blending theory and practical application and the first to bridge for students the science of social theory and the art of practice. The authors extract from classical sociological theory (Marx, Dahrendorf, Weber, Durkheim, and Parsons), and interpret for the student how these theoretical perspectives have contributed to understanding social conflict (its sources, the causes of escalation and de-escalation of violence, the negotiations process). The perspectives of contemporary theorists (such as Randall Collins, James Coleman, Joseph Himes, Hubert Blalock) are also brought to bear on these questions.

1. Introduction
2. Understanding conflict
3. Development of incompatible goals
4. Application to the civil rights struggle
5. Emergence of overt conflicts
6. Application to a university conflict
7. Escalation and de-escalation
8. Application to conflict in Bosnia
9. Making conflict work economically
10. Understanding and managing conflicts.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Sociology & anthropology [JH]