Ahead of the 2024 General Election, people face a
conflict-prone political situation. A trend has been seen where people seem to
be divided because of different political choices. For example, there are
scattered memes with hate narratives against presidential candidates predicted
to run in the 2024 elections. Why is the democratic party in Indonesia always
prone to conflict?
This conflict is familiar when viewed from the perspective
of conflict theory proposed by Karl Marx. Marx held that social conflict is an
indisputable social fact, so it inevitably "exists" and
"exists" in society. This view is contrary to the theory of
structural-functionalism. The basic assumption of the structural-functional
theory is that all elements or elements of life in the midst of society should
be able to function so that society can carry out its functions properly. While
the assumption of conflict theory is the opposite, it views society as a social
system consisting of parts or components with different interests. One piece
will try to conquer other members to fulfill their interests or obtain the most
significant importance. In other words, society needs this conflict to achieve
its goals.
Based on the theory of conflict proposed by Marx, what is
meant by social conflict is the conflict between individuals or groups in
social life, along with its segments, especially in the struggle for valuable
assets. Thus, the form of social conflict can vary between individuals,
individuals, and groups, and even at a greater level between nations. Marx said
that the potential for conflict goes, but the most potential is in the economic
field. This is because there is a distribution of welfare, prestige/status, and
even distribution of political power in this field.
This is understandable in the case of conflicts that always
occur ahead of elections; the economy is the main trigger. Listen to
conversations in coffee shops and how discussions around presidential
candidates intersect with their discourses around the distribution of welfare, prestige/status,
and even the unequal distribution of political power.
With Marx's conflict theory, we can unveil value systems,
belief patterns, and forms of public consciousness as something that portrays
and strengthens the position of the 'ruling class.' Although, in his view,
cultural orientation is not entirely determined by economic class structure, it
is strongly influenced and forced by that structure. Marx's emphasis on the
importance of the material condition, as seen in the form of society, limits
the influence of culture on the individual consciousness of its perpetrators.
There are several aspects of social reality that Marx
emphasized, which cannot be ignored by any theory, among them the recognition
of the existence of class structure in society, conflicting economic interests
among people in different classes, the significant influence of economic class
position on one's lifestyle and the form of consciousness and various
consequences of class conflict in causing changes in social structure. Thus,
people's appetite ahead of the 2024 elections for their Presidential candidates
intersects with this trend. This appetite can be the same as the taste of power
relations, and vice versa, and in turn, one of the two will lose
competitiveness in the conflict of interest.
In this context, Marx is more inclined to see cultural
values and norms as ideologies that reflect the efforts of dominant groups
(read: those with power relations) to justify their continued domination.
Furthermore, they seek to express a range of different and conflicting
interests that the emergence of a consensus of values and norms may deceive.
Where consensus on values and standards exists, conflict theorists suspect that
agreement reflects the control of the dominant group in society over various
communication media (such as educational institutions and mass media
institutions), in which individual consciousness and ideological commitment to
the interests of the dominant group are established.
Does the current discourse around open or closed
proportional electoral systems relate to this trend? So naturally, this
discourse must trigger conflict because of differences in tastes and interests.
If Marx reads every speech or policy, there must be a veil of interest, and
contrary to structural-functional theory, conflict theory sees conflict and
conflict in social systems must always exist. Consequently, society will only
sometimes be in order. The competition in this theory is necessary for creating
social change.
Karl Marx argued that structured forms of conflict between
individuals and groups arise primarily through establishing personal
relationships in production, either through economic or educational systems.
Eventually, personal relations in production replaced communal selection of the
productive forces. Consequently, society is divided into social classes based
on those who have and those who do not have productive forces. Be the dominant
class about the subordinated courses in economic exploitation. So, the 2024
election will again determine which will be the next dominant and the following
production map in terms of economy and education.
