A framework for understanding societal change as the result of continuous conflict (thesis vs. antithesis) between opposing social forces (e.g., ruling class vs. working class, tradition vs. progress, centralization vs. decentralization), which leads to a new, synthesized state that itself contains new contradictions. It views history not as smooth progress, but as a chain of revolutionary tensions where each resolution births the next conflict.
Example: The Theory of Social Dialectics explains the Industrial Revolution: the thesis (feudal agrarianism) was challenged by the antithesis (emergent capitalist industry), leading to a violent synthesis (the industrial capitalist society). This new synthesis then immediately created its own antithesis: an organized industrial proletariat, leading to the next dialectical conflict (class struggle).
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 4, 2026
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