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Marx's theory of class
Sociology of class conflict and inequality
Karl marx theory of social class
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Marx's theory of class
Sociology of class conflict and inequality
Karl marx theory of social class
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The dominant classes in society accumulate wealth off of expropriating the labor of society. One German economist Karl Marx has said, “The ideas of the ruling class are, the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class, which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas.” Karl Marx shows that when you are considered a higher class, which means you produce the resources need by society, you control what happens to society.
To begin, the scholars Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Pierre Bourdieu all had different views of social inequality. One of these views best explains the current level of social inequality in today’s society. First, Karl Marx believed that social relations depended on who controlled the primary mode of production. He also believed that there were two classes, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat. He also wanted a classless society because he believed that liberalism was a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class) because this class exploited the proletariat (the working class).
The bourgeoisie is the modern capitalist class, while the proletarian is the class of working laborers. Marx’s view of the bourgeoisie was particularly one-sided. He believed that the bourgeoisie only ambition was acquire wealth and power through the means of production. Also he believed that the bourgeoisie would exploit any and all resources at his disposal which included the labor class of the proletarian. Marx view the proletarian as the creation of the bourgeoisie.
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.
Marx, through his communist manifesto, believed that “modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist”, taking society from one epoch of social stratification and forced labour to Capitalism, under which the inequality between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat grew and became more evident. On the other hand, Durkheim saw industrialisation as a mainly positive occurrence which, along with the division of labour, provided the necessary institutions are in place to maintain it, as it causes society to change and develop and thus “civilization develops because it cannot fail to develop” (Durkheim: 1933: 337). Yet despite differences in their views of the effect, both Marx and Durkheim used the process of industrialisation to explain how society progresses and how society is held together or broken, with Durkheim, in particular, looking at just how much the structure of society changes as the division of labour progresses (Morrison:
Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx both had interesting theories about societies. Durkheim and Marx found it important to understand society integration. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx have played profound roles in the understanding of Sociological theory. Sociological theory can be used to explain many things including how society is held together. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx had different ideas on what held society together but in ways their ideas were also similar.
Hannah Toliver Mrs. King English I 3 November 2015 What is a perfect society? Today’s government is said to be more tolerant and opened minded.
“In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations” (Manifesto, 1848). In the Communist manifesto, Marx discusses the class type of his time, bourgeois and proletariat. The bourgeois were the higher class who exploited the proletariats. They constantly strived to expand their power and wealth in society.
I. Summary of the theory The Division of Labor in Society is a book written, originally in French, by Emile Durkheim in 1893. It was Durkheim’s first major published work and the one in which he introduced the concept of anomie or the breakdown of the influence of social norms on individuals within a society. At the time, The Division of Labor in Society was influential in advancing sociological theories and thought.
These classes are identified as proletariats and bourgeoisie, the proletariats sell labor to get money and the bourgeoisie are the middle and upper classes with political and economic power. During this time, proletariats were experiencing exploitation, not getting paid enough for the amount of work they completed, “In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality” (Edles 62). In a sense, conflict theory can relate to class consciousness on a certain level. According to Marx, “class consciousness is an awareness on the part of the working class of its common relationship to the means of production” (Edles 26). In other words, class consciousness is being able to understand where one stands in a social class; to understand the different levels of a social class; Marx hoped for change for the
Bourgeoisie, which gains the power, defines superstructure “including all social and legal institution, all political and educational systems, all religions and all art” (Bressler, 162), and articulate the ideology which is based on profits of bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie ideology leads to alienation of individuals, especially proletariats. This bourgeoisie ideology creates the clash between the two classes. Marx supported the working class and their victory over dominant class. Marxism believes in providing equal opportunity to the working class as that are available to the
Emile Durkheim, born in 1858 was an eminent proponent of Sociology from France, considered to be one of the greatest in his field alongside Karl Marx and Max Weber. Durkheim aimed to study society taking an evolutionary approach, keeping in mind that society is composed of individuals. However, it was not essentially the aggregate sum of each individual’s behaviors, actions and thoughts. Durkheim endeavored to understand transformation of society, from traditional to modern, where solidarity changes from mechanical to organic because of the phenomenon of ‘division of labour’.
Capitalism, according to Karl Marx is divided into two major social classes: the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie, which is the minority of the class system, own the means of production such as land, machinery, factories and raw materials whereas the Proletariat, which is the majority of the class system, having no means of their own production and have to work to earn wage for a living. Karl Marx has his own theory that history is made up by class struggle which he mentioned in his book – Manifesto of the Communist Party: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1848) and had predicted that the Proletariat would lead a revolution to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. Karl Marx believed that there will be intrinsic conflict like exploitation, alienation of labour and commodity fetishism between both of the classes.
CHAPTER 3 CLASS STRUGGLE Generally class struggle means conflict between the upper class and lower class the idea of Class struggle is long-used mostly by socialists and communists, who define a class by its relationship to the means of production such as factories, land, and machinery. From this point of view, the social control of production and labour is a fight between classes, and the division of these resources basically involves conflict and causes damage. Societies are socially divided based on status, wealth, or control of social production and distribution, and in this division of class conflict arises. It is important to know Karl Marx theory on class struggle; he viewed the structure of society in relation to
Class conflict, Marx believed, was what encouraged the evolution of society. To quote Marx himself, The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one