Primordialism

An ethnic conflict is a conflict between ethnic groups often as a result of ethnic nationalism. They are of interest because of the apparent prevalence since the Cold War and because they frequently result in war crimes such as genocide. Academic explanations of ethnic conflict generally fall into one of three schools of thought: primordialist and modernization. Intellectual debate has also focused around the issue of whether ethnic conflict has become more prevalent since the end of the Cold War, and on devising ways of managing conflicts, through instruments such as consociationalism and federalisation.

Primordialism is the argument which contends that nations are ancient, natural phenomena. Primordialism can be traced philosophically to the ideas of German Romanticism, particularly in the works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Gottfried Herder. For Herder, the nation was synonymous with language group. In Herder's thinking, language was synonymous with thought, and as each language was learnt in community, then each community must think differently. This also suggests that the community would hold a fixed nature over time.

Primordialism encountered enormous criticism after the Second World War, with a few scholars of nationalism coming to treat the nation as a community constructed by the technologies and politics of modernity. Though largely rejected by most theorists of nationalism, some of its ideas have found parallels in ethnosymbolism.

Modernization theory is a theory used to explain the process of Modernization within societies. The theory looks at the internal factors of a country while assuming that, with assistance, "traditional" countries can be brought to development in the same manner more developed countries have. Modernization theory attempts to identify the social variables which contribute to social progress and development of societies, and seeks to explain the process of social evolution. Not surprisingly, modernization theory is subject to criticism originating among communist and free-market ideologies, world systems theorists, globalization theory and dependency theory among others. Modernization theory not only stresses the process of change but also the responses to that change. It also looks at internal dynamics while referring to social and cultural structures and the adaptation of new technologies. Historically, the idea of modernization is relatively new. Its basic principles can be derived from the Idea of Progress, which emerged in the 18th century Age of Enlightenment with the idea that people themselves could develop and change their society. French philosopher Marquis de Condorcet was involved in the origins of the theory with the concept that technological advancements and economical changes can enable changes in moral and cultural values. Condorcet was the first to make the economic-social development connection and that there can be continuous progress and improvement in human affairs. With that said, new advancements and improvements would need to keep pace with a constantly changing world. Furthermore, he encouraged technological processes to help give people further control over their environments, arguing that technological progress would eventually spur social progress.

In addition to social structure and the evolution of societies, the German sociologist Émile Durkheim developed the concept of functionalism which stresses the interdependence of the institutions of a society and their interaction in maintaining cultural and social unity. His most famous work is The Division of Labour in Society, which described how social order was to be maintained in a society and how primitive societies might make the transition to more economically advanced industrial societies. Durkheim suggested that in a capitalist society, with a complex division of labour, economic regulation would be needed to maintain order. He stressed that the major transition from a primitive social order to a more advanced industrial society could otherwise bring crisis and disorder.

Durkheim furthermore developed the idea of social evolution, which indicates how societies and cultures develop over time—much like a living organism—essentially saying that social evolution is like biological evolution with reference to the development of its components. Like organisms, societies progress through several stages generally starting at a simplistic level and then developing into a more complex level. Societies adapt to their surrounding environments, but they interact with other societies which further contribute to their progress and development.

Modern sociology evolved in part as a reaction to the problems associated with modernity, such as industrialization and the process of 'rationalization'.