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Karl marx theories on social class
Intersectionality theories
Karl marx social class theory
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Wealthy elites or the bourgeoisie continued to earn high profits while the poor proletarians continued to take part in labor intensive work in factories. Marx and Smiles both saw this as a major problem in their society. In Marx’s Communist Manifesto, he wrote, “ not only are they [the proletarians] slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois state; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker, and above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself…” What Marx means is that the bourgeoisie is looking down at the proletariats and using them as merely a way to earn profit. In contrast to Marx, Smiles said, “...they [the proletarians] resemble the savage tribes, who know no better, and do no worse.”
The “history of class struggles” would not stop with the Industrial Revolution; the struggle between classes
In the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution caused a massive economic spike from small-scale production to large factories and mass production. Capitalism became the prevalent mode of the economy, which put all means of production in the hands of the bourgeoisie, or the upper class. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels argue that capitalism centralizes all the wealth and power in the bourgeoisie, despite the proletariat, or the working class, being the overwhelming majority of the population. The manufacturers would exploit the common proletariat and force them to would work in abysmal conditions and receive low wages, furthering the working class poverty. “The Communist Manifesto” predicts that as a result of the mistreatment
For example, while someone may “own” the means of production such as a factory filled with machinery, the machinery may, for example, require unionized or specialized labour to operate it, as well as the potential to meet, health and safety, pollution and other requirements to operate the machinery. Thus, “owning” the means of production in not sufficient in itself and requires relinquishing some power and rights to other players in class relations. Wright states, “Such redistribution of rights and powers constitutes a form of variation in class relations.” (2005, 13) Unlike Marx’s original ideology which saw the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat and polar opposites, the relationship is far more complex and involves some elements of give and take within class relations.
The violence erupted from the desperate strikers who were faced head on with the class gap between management, their trade union, the state and themselves. Continued dismissed attempts to negotiate with workers and even by dismissing workers’ demands, here Marx’s words of exploitation of the poor become seen. The rich minority at the top refusing to take care of their employers of a lower class below them awakens the reflexive thinking of the exploited miners. Starting discussions and disputes about unfair and unjust working conditions slowly changed the consciousness of the miners. They now view management as power hungry and selfish and view the trade union as one in the same with management.
Karl Marx has written on this issue,and has analyzed what causes these problems. Firstly, Karl Marx introduces the idea of a “wage slave” a person who primarily makes income from the work they do for others. The increase in factories also came with an increase in these “wage slaves”. The problem arose then, when it came to the corporations. In order to maximize profits the factory workers were paid minimally.
It is argued that social inequality occurs because of the conflict between the upper-class and the working-class, or as Marx defines it, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Based on the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx and Engels, 1848), the divergence emerges because the aim of the Bourgeoisie is to obtain a surplus-value that is produced by the work of the Proletariat. On the other side, the Bourgeoisie provides the Proletariat with the minimum required, such as a place to live and a minimum wage, in order to keep the society under control and avoid a rebellion. However, Marx did predict a revolt of the working-class that would eventually lead to a communist regime. When it comes to applying this theoretical approach to reality, it is evident to notice that no global revolt in regards to capitalism has occurred.
Classism Classism is a concept that is learn through socialization. It is an attitude that causes discrimination against others based on their social or economic class, and sometimes perceived classification. The American class system is composed of: underclass, working poor, working class, lower-middle, upper-middle, and upper class. The way that the classes are structured only benefit groups near the top of the pyramid. The lower class groups (underclass, working poor, and working class) usually are the individuals who experience discrimination based on their economic status, or lack thereof.
In The Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels believe that a communist revolution is imminent. They believe that history has shaped society into a two class social structure: the Bourgeois and the Proletariats. They use the comparison of the oppressor versus the oppressed. Over time the former class shrank while the latter grew to encompass the wide majority of people, which is vital to a revolution. At the time this all took place it probably was imminent that there would be a revolution as you will find out from reading this paper.
The Communist Manifesto, originally titled Manifesto of the Communist Party, was written in 1872 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marx and Engels, both socialists, set out to complexly critique the capitalist system in The Communist Manifesto. The book presents analytical insight into class struggle, the problem with capitalism and the abolition of private property. These are the three main ideas behind the Communist Manifesto that I will be discussing today. It was believed by Marx that class struggle was the foundation and motivation behind all historical developments.
Introduction Liberalism and Communism are two big conflicting ideologies. The spread of these ideologies even caused the Cold War in 1947-1991. The war is called Cold War because the war was not a physical war like World War I and II, but the war was done by spreading both ideologies to other countries. Liberalist countries were led by America, which was also called the West Block, and the followers’ countries were Western Europe and Japan. As for communism, it was held by the Eastern Block, the Soviet Union, and the followers’ were some countries in Eastern Europe, China, North Korea, and North Vietnam.
Greatest Roman Legacy Ever hear of the Roman Empire? One of the greatest, largest and most successful empires in the history of the world. Have you ever though how much the Romans have impacted our lives today? The Romans left legacies behind. These legacies can still be seen in our everyday lives today..
Social classes The identity of a social class derives from its relationship to the means of production; Marx describes the social classes in capitalist societies: Proletariat: "the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live". As Andrei Platonov expressed "The working class is my home country and my future is linked with the proletariat. " The capitalist mode of production establishes the conditions enabling the bourgeoisie to exploit the proletariat because the workers' labour generates a surplus value greater than the workers' wages. Bourgeoisie: those who "own the means of production" and buy labour power from the proletariat, thus exploiting
Marx believed this divide would happen because the workers are dependent on their wages as a means of survival where as one of the employer’s objectives is to lower wages in order to reduce costs. This clash of interests would inevitably bring on a resistance from the proletariats. “Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win” (Marx and Engels 1848) chpt, 4.
This work will look at Marx’s concepts of exploitation and how Marx’s comes to his theory of exploitation. This will include looking at how Marx viewed capitalist society and how this capitalist society was created. This will enable an explanation of exploitation. Karl Marx (1818-1883) is thought of as one of the founding fathers of sociology and his work in the mid nineteen hundreds is still discussed and taught today throughout the world. Marx developed an understanding of the term capitalism, as historic events such as the French Revolution 1789-1799 and the Industrialisation became key to a change in society.