Hello,

Lewis Coser subscribes to the notion of Conflict Theory. Conflicts in social processes serve as a warning to society when some parts of society have more resources than other parts, threatening survival of the system and creating conflicts within the system.Imbalances in resources and power put a strain on the system and must be corrected before the problems plaguing the system become worse.Thus, society is treated like a diseased organism in need of treatment.

Ralf Dahrendorf argues that conflict occurs between groups who have authority versus those who do not which is viewed as a modernized version of Marxian conflict theory. He contends that classes are found in both professional and other group affiliations since class is defined according to how much authority one has.

Best Wishes.