Editing Social conflict theory (section)

{{Short description|Sociological theory}}
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'''Social conflict theory''' is a [[Marxist]]-based [[social theory]] which argues that individuals and [[Social group|group]]s ([[social class]]es) within society interact on the basis of [[social conflict|conflict]] rather than consensus. Through various forms of conflict, groups will tend to attain differing amounts of material and non-material resources (e.g. the wealthy vs. the poor). More powerful groups will tend to use their [[power (social and political)|power]] in order to retain power and exploit groups with less power.

Conflict theorists view conflict as an engine of change, since conflict produces contradictions which are sometimes resolved, creating new conflicts and contradictions in an ongoing [[thesis, antithesis, synthesis|dialectic]]. In the classic example of [[historical materialism]], [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] argued that all of human history is the result of [[class conflict|conflict between classes]], which evolved over time in accordance with changes in society's means of meeting its material needs, i.e. changes in society's [[mode of production]].