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Conflict Theory

existing institutions ..."1

The abstract expressionists were hardly a threat to the power groups controlling society in the United States after World War II, but they did express an element of conflict between those power groups and the community of artists which were in conflict with the "official doctrine" of those groups. Certainly, in the late 1940s and early and mid-1950s, the official doctrine was that the world was at peace, the evils of Fascism had been conquered and destroyed, and reality consisted of happiness, prosperity, and harmony in the United States. This was the doctrine to which the groups in power in the period after World War II in the United States were trying to impose on the people of the United States. If those powers had been able to control the artists at work in abstract expressionism, they would have instructed them to conform to the official doctrine and to create works in which peace, prosperity, happiness and harmony were portrayed. As we read in Broom and Selznick, " In all societies, though in varying degrees, expressive symbolism is sustained and enriched by aesthetic activityàThe arts help celebrate occasions that are significant to the group. The artist is a specialist in creating symbolic representations that convey the spirit of a culture or an age."2

Of course, the arts are a special case in the study of society through conflict theory, because, unlike many other groups, artists, if they are doing their job properly in terms of offering society alternative visions of reality, often deliberately offer visions that defy and contradict the prevailing order. However, what makes the emergence of abstract expressionism such a fascinating case is that the period was marked by such conservatism, while the movement itself was so radical---even in relation to other schools of art.

With respect to the statement from Broom and Selznick (in footnote 2), it is clear that there could be a vast di...

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Conflict Theory. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:07, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1686765.html