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SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS 113

phenomena in the economies of the South and, on the other hand, control and award
and the North seem to be the growth of social resources such as income, wealth, prestige,
inequality and of poverty during the last two influence, etc. Theoretical approaches insist
decades. In the South, development is neces- on processes of societal life that lead to insta-
sary because of the fact that the most important bility and conflicts within the different
needs of huge population groups are not sat- sectors of a society. Change is considered to
isfied. In the North, an improved life quality be taking place due to a dialectical relation-
of the whole population should be privileged, ship of important structural elements of a
not only a quantitative growth. Sustainable society (values, ideologies, power relations,
development was defined by the Brundtland distribution of resources, etc.) and elements
Commission as a development that satisfies that are in competition with these arrange-
the needs of the present without compromis- ments. The result is societal change. Power
ing the capacity of coming generations relations of a society in economic, political
(cf. McMichael, 2004: 250). Perhaps it is and cultural systems are tackled, but normative
necessary to reverse priorities: the economy elements, such as rules or attitudes, are not
might be transformed in order to become an considered.
instrument. Consistent with this choice Marx, one of the earliest theoreticians of
would be that economic and financial criteria conflict, studied the capitalist ‘revolution’,
would no longer be societal priorities. which he described as a historical phenome-
Projects for sustainable human development non that contributed to providing the ‘prole-
would then tackle problems such as the tariat’ with opportunities to realize human
spread of wealth and an improving quality liberty and self-determination in order to
of life. control historical processes. This idea had
two important consequences: first, according
to Marx, relations of production determine
the distribution of professional and financial
THE NOTION OF CONFLICT possibilities, the influence on enterprises
and the interest structure of a society. The
In the 1960s, a growing scientific literature second conclusion is that an improvement
was convinced that conflict, defined as oppos- of material conditions will be linked to the
ing social classes, allowed social change to institutionalization of democratic forms of
emerge. In the 1990s and at the beginning of interaction.
the twenty-first century, some scholars have Marx saw two causes for societal conflicts:
begun to stress that the absence of social structural contradictions and antagonistic
change has led to conflict situations that can class relations. The structural contradictions
be found in several African countries, such as were seen in the negative consequences of
the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, the social division of labour and the link
but also in the Balkans. between productive forces and relations of
production. Marx and Engels considered the
division of labour the main factor that caused
contradictions between individual and socie-
Conflict theories of the 1960s
tal interests. These contradictions, according
A common feature of all conflict theories of to Marx, should increase, because of struc-
this period is the assumption that change is tural contradictions between ‘base’ (Basis)
explained by contradictions or elements that and ‘superstructure’ (Überbau). The changes
generate tensions in all societal systems. in the base (the productive forces) would
The reasons for these conflicts are linked to simply further changes in the societal super-
elements of the social structure that, on structure (laws, political institutions, educa-
the one hand, determine or sanction norms tional programmes, family structures, etc.).