CONSENSUS PERSPECTIVE VS SOCIAL CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE Essay

CONSENSUS PERSPECTIVE VS SOCIAL CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE - Essay Example Members of society are constrained by social facts through their way of thinking, acting and feelings (Ritzer, 23). Moreover, belief and moral codes are passed from one generation to another as they are shared by individuals who make up the society. He says that collective conscience and social stability can only be achieved through consensus that consists of â€Å"common beliefs and sentiments. Without this consensus, social solidarity could be impossible as human being will not integrate with each other† (Ritzer, 25). Durkheim argues that collective conscience restricts individual to behave in accordance with the societal norms. His argument is based on the fact that the society is composed of various parts or institutions which are integrated to form it in order to produce social order. According to consensus; contract comes as a result of the consensus or the meeting of minds. Of any contracting parties without consensus there is no contract and hence it continues to be important and very essential to most of the approaches to contract law (Ritzer, 24). Apparently, most of the participants in the development of this theory tend to think that the growth and the history of consensus theory give a greater knowledge of the foundations of modern contract law. In addition they view the history consensus theory as a testing ground for dissimilar conceptions. The social conflict perspective is one of the major sociological models of understanding the social world. Mainly, this perspective has got three components. First, is that it has conflict which is common and continuing in the society. Second, is that the society is comprised of several classes of populace who have contradictory values and interests. Third, is that the conflict that is present in the society occurs between the dominant and the subordinate who have stiff competition over scarce resources. In this perspective, Karl Marx uses two groups to explain the