“Society Is an Arena for Inequality That Generates Conflict and Change.” Discuss This Statement Using Four Well Developed Examples from Within Your Own Society.

One of the lines of a renowned song that Peter Tosh (1974), famous Jamaican song writer and singer penned was ‘there can be no peace without justice; what we need is equal rights and justice.’ More than thirty years since that song was written, the people in the Jamaican society are still crying out for justice. One might be led to believe that as the general standard of living improves with time, inequality would slowly become less evident. However, although things are improving, evidence of inequality is still prominent in our Jamaican society. The people that are failing to realize that there is still inequality are the fortunate ones. They rise well above the poverty line, and usually live relatively economically sound lives. They are the people who are supplied with our society's benefits. Those that are in pursuit of social change, and constantly bring attention to issues of equal rights and privileges, are often the people who do not have them. They are the ones who suffer daily from different levels of inequality.
According to conflict theorists, “Society is an arena for inequality that generates conflict and change.” This statement suggests that cultural systems do not address human needs equally, thus allowing some people to dominate others. It emphasizes struggle over limited resources, power, and prestige as permanent aspects of societies and a major source of social change. Karl Marx (1818-83), a renowned theorist, studied social conflict for a great portion of his life with an attempt not only to understand society, but also to reduce the social inequality in it. A conflict analysis of our own Jamaican society reveals characteristics of social inequity in many different forms, with the prominent areas being Education, Class, Gender, and Race.
Education is defined as, ‘the acquisition of knowledge and the learning of skills.’ It is, as we know, one of the most effective avenues for ensuring employment and an increase in income, which adds up to... [continues]

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