AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN THE WORK PLACE: A MARXIST INTERPRETATION
This research examines the concept of affirmative action in the American work place within the context of the Marxist interpretation of conflict theory. A brief discussion of conflict theory and the Marxist interpretation of the theory is followed by an analysis of the affirmative action concept within the context of the theory interpretation.
Conflict theory is a sociological proposition offered as an alternative to structural functional theory (Heller, 1987, p. 3). Proponents of conflict theory contend that structural functional theory either neglects the empirical fact that conflicts of value and interest or inherent in all forms of human society or treats such conflicts in only a secondary context (Dahrendorf, 1987, p. 417).
The conflict paradigm describes social life as a struggle among competing individuals and groups (Babbie, 1992, p. 57). The Marxist interpretation of the conflict paradigm is made within the concept of class struggle. Early Marxism defines classes as wage laborers, capitalist, and land owners (Tucker, 1978, p. 441). Later Marxist interpretations, however, recognized that some degree of blurring frequently occurs between these classes. Such blurring between classes provides a basis for the analysis of the affirmative action concept within the context of the Marxist interpretation of conflict theory, as dominant gender, racial, and ethnic population groups may be regarded as the owners or at least the possessors of a valuable societal resource the better paying jobs in a society. "The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that . . . the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it" (Marx and Engels, 1848, p. 39).
Affirmative Action and Conflict Theory
Conflict associated with the rise of work place dive...