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SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS 115

only power and its consequences for social conflicts found in fully mature capitalist
change, but also how social interests, needs societies, but the solution involves the reduc-
and the power structure of a society are inter- tion of society to obedience rather than gen-
dependent as they are modified and strength- eral liberation’ (1950: 134).
ened. Coser could thus develop a typology of The relations between different groups
social conflicts that included international which are in competition for their share of
and internal conflicts between and in groups, income and can be distinguished from one
and those conflicts that vary according to another by their power and by the political
their degree of violence. In addition, he and economic means that they can utilize
included conflicts that take place directly (for often become conflictual. The two principal
example a strike) or indirectly (for example sources of conflict in a modern society are,
through competition); moreover, he consid- according to Aron, on the one hand, unequal
ered conflicts that include real participants or conditions in the means at the disposal of a
their substitutes. given group in competition for income and,
The history of industrial society is charac- on the other hand, the problem of an eco-
terized by a multiplicity of forms of conflict nomic recession that may affect industrial-
(among them conflicts between employers ized societies. Change takes place when
and employees) that have changed from interest groups are formed and when they
violent direct conflicts to organized conflicts enter into open competition.
via labour unions. While the Marxist theory While it is possible to analyze types of
of societal change predicted a widening of conflicts, as well as their causes and conse-
industrial conflicts in the political sphere, quences at the level of social groups or soci-
theoreticians influenced by Weber’s notion eties, it is also possible to tackle the
3
of power believed that modern Western sociological analysis of conflicts at an inter-
industrial society was able to regulate eco- national level. Aron’s book Peace and War
nomic conflicts politically, by fixing laws on (1963) is a good example of the importance
employer–employee relations, for example, of the vocabulary of conflict theory for the
and by elaborating schemes for assuring a analysis of relations between states, when
minimal wage and for social security. Other power, violence, types of war and peace
conflict theoreticians explained the weaker are discussed. Aron saw two alternative inter-
effects of class conflict by the weak link pretations of war as a means to regulate rela-
between differences of interest and real con- tions between states that insist on their
flict behaviour. They pointed out the plural- national interest. Whether there is peace
ism of interests according to social positions through law (for example by interstate
and social life-worlds (Dahrendorf, 1969) or treaties and international committees) or
the stabilizing effects of some conflicts peace through government (for example
(Coser, 1967a). In their efforts to explain through the construction of a world empire
conflicts, however, functionalists underlined or simpler, through zones of influence)
the far-reaching disappearance of divergent depends on
interests between classes, a fact that was
1 the extent of power that participant nations can
empirically proved by the existence of a
have at their disposal,
multiplicity of social classes and groups, the
2 the interest that the participants display, and
delimitations of which presented empirical-
3 the role that these elements have while produc-
methodological riddles. ing or changing these constellations.
In a classic article, Aron (1950) examined
conflicts of interest that arise in pluralistic Together with further indications of the
societies, but he criticized the Marxist notion integrative functions of conflicts (Coser,
of a society without classes. He wrote: 1967a) and conflictual characteristics of
‘In one way a classless society resolves the norms (Dahrendorf, 1964; Lockwood, 1964),