Ralf Dahrendorf (1929-2009) was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, and politician whose contributions to social theory, especially his perspective on social conflict, have had a lasting influence on sociology. Dahrendorf's conflict perspective, often regarded as a reformulation of classical Marxist thought, diverged from traditional views by focusing on structural aspects of social conflict and recognizing the role of institutional frameworks in shaping power dynamics. Dahrendorf’s Conflict Theory Dahrendorf’s work emerged as a response to the dominance of structural functionalism in post-World War II sociology. The functionalist perspective, particularly as proposed by Talcott Parsons, emphasized stability, consensus, and equilibrium within social structures, often underplaying the inherent conflicts present in societies. Dahrendorf critiqued this approach, arguing that it ignored the reality of social conflict and power struggles, which he believed were central to und...