Table of Contents
Definition of Class Conflict
(noun) According to Karl Marx (1818–1883), the struggle between the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat).
Example of Class Conflict
- The struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; the former regarding their maintenance of power and the status quo, the latter regarding pay, work conditions, and job security.
Class Conflict Pronunciation
Syllabification: class con·flict
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /klAs kAHn-flikt/
- British English – /klAHs kOn-flikt/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /klæs ˈkɑnflɪkt/
- British English – /klɑːs ˈkɒnflɪkt/
Usage Notes
- Plural: class conflicts
- Also called class struggle.
Related Quotation
- “Conflict perspectives argue that society is a continuous power struggle among competing groups, often based on class, race, ethnicity, or gender” (Kendall 2006:37).
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “class” and “conflict” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Collins, Randall. 1975. Conflict Sociology: Toward an Explanatory Science. New York: Academic Press.
- Coser, Lewis A. 1956. The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: Free Press.
- Dahrendorf, Ralf. 1988. The Modern Social Conflict: An Essay on the Politics of Liberty. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
- Grusky, David B., ed. 2014. Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
- Kerbo, Harold Ray. 2012. Social Stratification and Inequality: Class Conflict in Historical, Comparative, and Global Perspective. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1848. The Communist Manifesto.
- Massey, Douglas S. 2007. Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
- Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Mosca, Gaetano. [1896] 1939. The Ruling Class. New York: McGraw-Hill
- Rex, John. 1981. Social Conflict: A Conceptual and Theoretical Analysis. London: Longman.
- Simmel, Georg. [1908] 1955. Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Related Terms
Reference
Kendall, Diana. 2006. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Works Consulted
Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Dillon, Michele. 2014. Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Thorpe, Christopher, Chris Yuill, Mitchell Hobbs, Sarah Tomley, and Marcus Weeks. 2015. The Sociology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Class Conflict
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “class conflict.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 18, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/class-conflict/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
class conflict. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/class-conflict/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “class conflict.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 18, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/class-conflict/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“class conflict.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/class-conflict/>.