Theories of Social Conflict
Some
conceptual on theory
Center
difficulties in the of social conflict 1
Conflict Resolution, University ofMichigan
CLINTON F. FINK
for Research
I. THE CASE FOR A GENERALIST APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF CONFLICT
The quest for scientific knowledge about social conflict has a long and complex history, closely interwoven with the entire history of social science. In many disciplines and from many viewpoints, great bodies of data have been collected, and countless generalizations, hypotheses, and theories have been constructed to account for social conflict phenomena. During the past dozen years, the problem of integrating this knowledge has received considerable attention, especially in the pages of new multidisKahn and Boulding, 1964; McNeil, 1965; Ciba Foundation, 1966; Stagner, 1967), and numerous theoretical works by representatives of several disciplines. Since theory is the principal means of integrating scientific knowledge, the construction of a general theory of social conflict is considered by some writers to be a desirable step. A typical argument in favor of general theory was offered in the first issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution:
If intellectual progress is to be made in the study of international relations [it] must be made an interdisciplinary enterprise, drawing its discourse from all the social sciences, and even further.... Our belief in the fruitfulness of an interdisciplinary approach in this area is based on the conviction that the behavior and interactions of nations are not an isolated and self-contained area of empirical material, but part of a much wider field of behavior and interaction.... Conflict, which is perhaps the key concept in international relations, ... is a phenomenon studied in many different fields:
...
ciplinary journals (Journal of Conflict
Re-
solution, 1957-; Journal a f Peace Research, 1964-), multidisciplinary symposia (International Sociological Association, 1957; is part of the
conceptual on theory
Center
difficulties in the of social conflict 1
Conflict Resolution, University ofMichigan
CLINTON F. FINK
for Research
I. THE CASE FOR A GENERALIST APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF CONFLICT
The quest for scientific knowledge about social conflict has a long and complex history, closely interwoven with the entire history of social science. In many disciplines and from many viewpoints, great bodies of data have been collected, and countless generalizations, hypotheses, and theories have been constructed to account for social conflict phenomena. During the past dozen years, the problem of integrating this knowledge has received considerable attention, especially in the pages of new multidisKahn and Boulding, 1964; McNeil, 1965; Ciba Foundation, 1966; Stagner, 1967), and numerous theoretical works by representatives of several disciplines. Since theory is the principal means of integrating scientific knowledge, the construction of a general theory of social conflict is considered by some writers to be a desirable step. A typical argument in favor of general theory was offered in the first issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution:
If intellectual progress is to be made in the study of international relations [it] must be made an interdisciplinary enterprise, drawing its discourse from all the social sciences, and even further.... Our belief in the fruitfulness of an interdisciplinary approach in this area is based on the conviction that the behavior and interactions of nations are not an isolated and self-contained area of empirical material, but part of a much wider field of behavior and interaction.... Conflict, which is perhaps the key concept in international relations, ... is a phenomenon studied in many different fields:
...
ciplinary journals (Journal of Conflict
Re-
solution, 1957-; Journal a f Peace Research, 1964-), multidisciplinary symposia (International Sociological Association, 1957; is part of the
References: (June 1957), 122-34. ofHuman Conflict. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1965. and Defense: A General New York: Harper, 1962. CARVER, THOMAS N. "The Basis of Social , Conflict," American Journal ofSociology 13 (1908), 628-37. "The Forms of Human Conflict." In T. N. Carver, Essays in Social Justice. Cam- Conflict Glencoe, 1964. "Pacifism from a SociologView," Journal of Conflict Resolution, 3, 1 (March 1959), 67-84. "A Structural Theory of Aggression," Journal of Peace Research, 1, 2 (1964), 95-119. Social Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2, 2 (June 1958), 170-83. Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959. . Gesellschaftund Freiheit Munich: R. Journal ofPeace Research, 2, 3 (1965a), 228-57. "Institutionalized Conflict Resolution: A Theoretical Paradigm," Journal Research, 2, 4 (1965b), 348-96