A society can be looked at from different perspectives and using different theories as coined by renowned socialists. There are different lenses through which a society and its structures can be studied. The three main sociological perspectives are conflict theory, functionalism, and symbolic interactionalism. All these three theories/perspectives explain and account for the prevailing social structure. However, the conflict theory is going to be explored in this paper to explain how explain how race and social class can be embedded in different social institutions. According to the conflict theory, the pervasive inequality in society can be caused by the glaring inequality in gender, race, social class, class superiority, and ethnic hostility, among other factors. Max went on to claim that the glaring inequality in the above factors has the potential to cause conflict in society, thereby leading to significant inequality in most social institutions and, by extension, society as a whole. Karl Max, who is the father of this theory, felt that capitalism was to blame for the polarization and breakdown of society. Accordingly, the conflict theory portends that capitalism leads to a breakdown in society since it potentially polarizes society into classes. Hence, in a capitalist society, two main social classes will arise. One of these social classes is the bourgeoisie, who are the owners of the means of production. These people are at the top of the social ladder and are inclined to rule the others. These people are economically and control major factors of production like land industries and have political power. For this reason, these people are at the helm of most social institutions. They have headed these institutions because they have the requisite economic power and political influence to control these institutions. Then, there is another social class, which is at the bottom of the pyramid. This social class is called the proletariat, who are responsible for the provision of labor services and do not enjoy the ownership of any means of production.
It is vital to appreciate that the proletariat, or the working class, is oppressed by the class that owns the means of production by being paid low wages for their labor services. The bourgeoisie or the ruling class are scared of the security of their social class. They fear that through revolution, they can be dislodged from that social class by having their means of production taken away by the subjects. This is why this class of people in society will do whatever is at their disposal to capture various social institutions firmly. The fear here is that when the proletariat is allowed to control these social institutions, they may change the status quo by dislodging the ruling class from their positions through conflict and taking away their factors for production. This is only when explained by the conflict theory as coined by Karl Max. Max argues that it is the social inequality and stratification that have given rise to social clashes, as the bourgeoisie has struggled to maintain the status quo (Turner 7). Max further explained that it is capitalism that ensured that the social classes proliferated since it led to unequal distribution of resources, thereby ensuring that some were perpetually poor while others were perpetually rich. With the proliferation of social classes, as explained by the conflict theory, different social institutions had to be led by the bourgeoisie to maintain their superior social status.
Race and racial inequality are embedded in different social institutions like the US. According to the conflict theory, racial inequality has the potential to cause racially-borne tensions. Through racial capitalism, the ownership of means of production is placed in the hands of the majority race, with the minorities left to languish in poverty and to provide cheap labor. Racial capitalism ensures that social and economic value is derived from racial identity (Leong 1). This racial capitalism explains why the non-whites or the minority communities in the US were related to the bottom of the social pyramid while most whites who owned factors of production became filthy rich and controlled various social institutions since they had the requisite economic and political influence needed to stamp their control in such social institutions. This further embedded race and racial inequality in these institutions. For example, through the racial inequality that was pervasive in the US society, blacks were relegated to inferior jobs in which they were paid poor wages. In contrast, the whites were in control of all the necessary social institutions like law enforcement institutions, judiciary, and schools, among others.
African Americans and other minority races were severely disenfranchised because of the so-called racial capitalism that ensured that social and economic value was linked to racial identity, with the majority white race enjoying economic and social value. There needed to be mounted spirited effort by legislative bodies at the time to ensure that the rights of African Americans were inscribed in law and to avoid disenfranchising them. This was not possible as most legislative bodies were made up of the majority of whites who were only preoccupied with stamping their control in American society. The flagrant disentrancement of Africans and other minority races took place without any meaningful action since those who could take action were not concerned with the affairs of these minorities. Capitalism, particularly, contributed to the poverty of minorities like African Americans since it led to unequal distribution of resources (Koepke 1). The white race, with historical advantage, owned nearly every means of production, leaving other minority groups to provide cheap labor, thereby exacerbating poverty among African Americans and other minority groups.
In conclusion, the conflict theory deeply explains why racial inequalities and social class have been embedded in different societies. The theory explains why and how capitalism led to the engravement of racial inequality and social classes in various social institutions. Capitalism led to unequal distribution of resources in society, thereby causing conflict in the society as the proletariat class fought against oppression.
Works Cited
Koepke, Deanna Jacobsen. “Race, class, poverty, and capitalism.” Race, Gender & Class (2007): 189-205.
Leong, Nancy. “Racial capitalism.” Harv. L. Rev. 126 (2012): 2151.
Turner, Jonathan H. “Sociological theory today.” Handbook of sociological theory. Boston, MA: Springer US, 2001. 1-17.
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