March 14, 2015 [LEWIS A COSER]

Abstract

The objective of the assignment on “The conflict functionalism of Lewis A Coser” is how the
conflict theorist different from each other; what do we understand by conflict and how does
conflict impact on society, how does conflict theory helps in sociology to understand the
social reality; then how Karl Marx, Ralf Daherndorf differ in their thinking and theory; and
how Coser influenced by other social thinkers like Simmel, Parsons, Marx and Weber. And
how the Coser is criticized for his theory of “the conflict functionalism”

Keys Words
Crosscutting influences, absolute deprivation, relative deprivation, rational and transcendent
goals, functional consequences of conflict, internal and external conflict, types of internal
conflict, network density, group boundaries, internal solidarity, coalitions.

Introduction
Lewis Coser was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1913. His family moved to Paris in 1933 where
he studied literature and sociology at the Sorbonne. Because of his German heritage, Coser
was arrested and interned by the French government near the beginning of World War II. He
later was able to get political asylum in the United States and arrived in New York in 1941.
Coser did his Ph.D. work at Columbia University, where he studied under Robert K. Merton.
His dissertation, The Functions of Social Conflict, took conflict theory in a new direction and
was later named as one of the best-selling sociology books of the twentieth century by the
journal Contemporary Sociology. Coser also authored Masters of Sociological Thought,
which became one of the most influential sociological theory books in the English language.
In addition, Coser established the Department of Sociology at Brandeis University; founded
Dissent magazine; served as president of the American Sociological Association (1975), the
Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the Easter Sociological Association (1983);
and is honored annually through the American Sociological Association’s Lewis A. Coser
Award for Theoretical Agenda-Setting. Coser died in July of 2003. Coser after all was a
conflict theorist who was influenced by George Simmel, Marx, Weber and Ralf Dahrendorf
and so on.

The Origins of Conflict

1950s, the parsonian scheme was heavily criticized in functional theory in sociology,
especially due to parsonian emphasize only the conflictual nature of social reality. Soon after
attack, along these lines became ceremonial rituals for sociologists who sought theoretical
redemption for past sins and who held that as conflict theory. It was the 1960s and 1970s the
criticism became much worst, functionalism as looking much the same viewing parson and
other functionalists who overly institutionalized and equilibrating. In the same time, conflict
brought out the alternative revealed considerable diversity. The separation in conflict theory
Amrit Barla, Post Graduate Student, Email-amrit7stars@gmail.com, Contact-09486449902, 1
Department of Sociology, School of Social Science and International studies, Pondicherry University
 March 14, 2015 [LEWIS A COSER]

in evident in conflict functionalism of Lewis A Coser who compared with Ralf Dahrendorf’s
dialectical conflict perspective; he always critical of parsons functionalism for its failure to
address the issue of conflict and he is also critical of Dahrendorf and other dialectical
theorists for underemphasizing the positive functions of conflict for maintaining social
system. And according to Coser Conflict can be defined as “struggle over values and claims
to scarce status, power and resources in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize,
injure or eliminate their rivals.”

Social conflict and the theory of social change

The functions of social conflict in the process of social change deals with some functions of
conflict within social systems, relation to its institutional rigidities, technical progress and
productivity and the relation between social conflict and the changes of social system.

Conflict always prevents the ossification of the social system by exerting pressure for
innovation and creativity. And conflict within and between groups in a society can prevent
accommodation and habitual relations from progressively impoverishing creativity. Conflict
not only generates new norms, new institutions but also stimulates economic and
technological realm. Economic historian look at conflict which result technological
improvement through conflict activity of trade unions through the raising of wage levels.

In his theory, coser gives more attention in the role played by people’s emotions and he
agreed upon Simmel that there are aggressive or hostile impulses in people, and he stress in
close and intimate relationship both love and hatred are present. According to him Close
proximity brings ample opportunities for resentment to develop in which conflict and
disagreement are integral parts of people’s relationship, and not the signs of instability and
breakup. And coser argue, the nature of hostility and conflict varies for sociological reasons
and it leads to change. And coser always concentrates to maintain group cohesion and
concern the functional aspect of the subject. He distinguished conflict are both internal and
external to group through these they establish identity, maintain stability and increase
cohesion.

External conflict: According to Coser external conflict is essential in establishing a group’s

identity in which he followed Simmel and Marx. For marx conflict makes a class self- aware,
and for Simmel conflict sets boundaries between groups within a social system by
strengthening group consciousness and awareness of separateness establishing the identity of
groups within the system. Further coser too distinguished conflict expressing between hostile
sentiments and actual conflict and we would suggest that hostile sentiments are more
essential for group formation than actual conflict. He argues that external conflict can
strengthen a group and makes group members conscious of their identity by introducing a
strong negative reference group to which they contrast themselves, and it also increases their
participation.
Amrit Barla, Post Graduate Student, Email-amrit7stars@gmail.com, Contact-09486449902, 2
Department of Sociology, School of Social Science and International studies, Pondicherry University
 March 14, 2015 [LEWIS A COSER]

Internal conflict: Coser follows Durkheim, Mead and Marx in arguing a group’s opposition
to and conflict with ‘deviants’ makes apparent to group members what they ought to do. In
this sense internal conflict is central to defining a group’s identity, which is embodied in
norms that define correct behavior. And he argues that internal conflict increase a group’s
survival, cohesion and stability. He again follow Simmel by arguing internal conflict is a
crucial safety valve under “conditions of stress preventing group dissolution through the
withdrawal of hostile participants” and if opposition to one’s associates were not possible,
people would, in Simmel’s word, “ feel pushed to take desperate steps opposition gives us
inner satisfaction, distraction, relief.” Finally Coser argued that internal conflict can be
important because “stability within a loosely structured society can be viewed as partly a
product of the continuous incidence of various conflicts crisscrossing it”.

Images of Social Organisation

Emile Durkheim is the father of functionalism whose approach critical of conflict

functionalists. And Coser views Durkheim as conservative orientation to the study of society,
an orientation that “prevented him from taking due cognizance of a variety of societal
processes, among which social conflict is most conscious” in which Durkheim looks at
violence and dissent as deviant and pathological to the social equilibrium rather than as
opportunities for constructive social changes. Although Coser seems intent to rejecting the
organicism of Durkheim’s sociology but he in his own work filled with organismic
analogies. And he seems to follow George Simmel’s organicism. Coser goes further and
viewed conflict as a process under conditions, functions to maintain the body social or some
of its vital part and he develop an image of society as follows.

a. The social world can be viewed as a system which has interrelated parts,
b. All social systems reveal imbalances, tensions and conflicts of interests among
various interrelated part,
c. Processes within and between the system’s constituent parts operate under different
conditions to maintain, change, and increase or decrease a system’s integration and
adaptability.
d. Many processes such as violence, dissent, deviance and conflict which are typically
viewed as disruptive to the system can also be viewed, under specifiable conditions,
as strengthening the system’s basis of integration as well as adaptability to the
environment.
From these assumptions Coser articulates set of oppositions about the functions of conflict
for social system and he gives some proposition about the condition in which conflict leads
to disruption and malintegration of social system. Coser looks at how conflict maintains or
reestablishes system integration and adaptability to changing conditions through which coser
analysis emphasized
1. Imbalances in the integration of system its lead to

Amrit Barla, Post Graduate Student, Email-amrit7stars@gmail.com, Contact-09486449902, 3

Department of Sociology, School of Social Science and International studies, Pondicherry University
 March 14, 2015 [LEWIS A COSER]

2. The outbreak of varying types of conflict among these is which in turn, causes
3. Temporary reintegration of the system, which causes
4. Increased flexibility in the system’s structure, increased adaptability to resolve future
imbalances through conflict, and increased capacity to adapt to changing conditions.

Propositions on conflict processes

By using Simmel’s provocative analysis, Coser expands the scope of Simmel’s initial
insights; incorporating propositions from Marx and Weber and the contemporary literature
on conflict. Coser views the conflict perspective in comprehensive of the current literature
and Turner goes on listing down the comprehensive which is of him-

a. The causes of conflict

b. The violence of conflict
c. The duration of conflict
d. The functions of conflict

Functions of conflict for the social whole

1. The more differentiated and functionally interdependent are the units in a system, the
more likely is the conflict to be frequently but of low degrees of intensity and
violence.
2. The more frequent are conflicts, the less is their intensity and the lower is their level
of violence, then the more likely are conflicts in a system.
a. Increase the level of innovation and creativity of system units,
b. Release hostilities before they polarize system units,
c. Promote normative regulation of conflict relations,
d. Increase awareness of realistic issues, and
e. Increase the number of associative coalitions among social units.
3. The more the conflict promotes a, b, c, d and e above, then the greater will be the
level of internal social integration of the system and greater will be its capacity to
adapt to its external environment.

Coser’s Functional approach: An assessment

Coser’s approach has done much to correct for the one-sidedness of Dahrendorf’s analysis,
and he reintroduced Simmel’s ideas into conflict theory; yet Coser’s represented analytical
one-sidedness. Coser begins with statements about the inevitability of forces, coercion,
constraint, and conflict, but his analysis quickly turns to the integrative and adaptive
consequences of such processes. He emphasis on integrative and adaptive functions of
conflict into functional needs and requisites that necessitate or even cause, conflict to occur.

Amrit Barla, Post Graduate Student, Email-amrit7stars@gmail.com, Contact-09486449902, 4

Department of Sociology, School of Social Science and International studies, Pondicherry University
 March 14, 2015 [LEWIS A COSER]

It seems Coser’s technological inspiration appears to have come more from Simmel’s
organic model than Marx’s dialectical scheme. He implies the body social causes conflict in
order to meet its integrative needs, and Coser acknowledged by Coser to cause change in
social system, it is still viewed primarily as a crucial process in promoting integration and
adaptation. For in trying to compensate for the one-sidedness of dialectical theory and
functionalism, Coser presents skewed approach.

The major substantive problem in Coser’s scheme is its functionalism; to correct his problem
it should be redirected to his propositions on causes, violence, and duration of conflict. This
doesn’t provide important questions neutrally and don’t attempt to balance or correct for past
theoretical one-sidedness with another kind of one-sidedness. They display an awareness of
key of conflict in social systems; and with supplementation and reformulation, they offer an
important theoretical lead.

References

1. Abraham.M Francis 2011. Modern sociological theory-An Introduction, Oxford

University Press, New Delhi
2. kundu. Abhijit 2012. Sociological Theory, Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt.Ltd
3. Turner. Jonathan H 2004 The Structure of Sociological Theory, Prem Rawat for
Rawat Publications, Jaipur
4. Jameson. Samuel Haig, "Lewis A. Coser, 'The functions of Social Conflict'" -Annals
of the American Academy of Politics ans Social Science, Vol. 310. Current Issues
5. Ritzer .George, “Sociological theory” Eighth Editon.2011

Amrit Barla, Post Graduate Student, Email-amrit7stars@gmail.com, Contact-09486449902, 5

Department of Sociology, School of Social Science and International studies, Pondicherry University