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Karl Marx And Max Weber: Social Status And Class

1868 Words8 Pages

Throughout this sociological investigation, a critical examination of Karl Marx and German sociologist, Max Weber, will be invited in conversation to explore their conceptualisation of social status and class. One will note that throughout this investigation, the concepts of social status and class will be compared by a means of investigating how they are attained, maintained and challenged with reference to specific examples that place these concepts in their respected contexts.

According to Max Weber, the term class may be conceptualised as ‘’a group of persons occupying the same class status’’ (Weber, 1947: 424). Max Weber states that class status ‘’is applied to the typical probability that a given state of provision of goods, external …show more content…

They may also monopolize opportunities for the accumulation of property through unconsumed surplus or profit. The positively privileged property class may monopolize opportunities to accumulate capital by saving, hence, the possibility of control over the executive positions within a business, for example the CEO or Financial Director. This class my even monopolize the privileges of socially advantageous kinds of education so far as these involve expenditure (Weber, 1947: 425).
However, with respect towards the property class, there are certain elements that challenge this idea. One of these elements in particular is the propertyless class. One may note that the definition of the term propertyless class may be conceptualised as the ‘’class interests that are negatively privileged with respect to property belonging typically to one of the following types:’’
1. They themselves objects of ownership, thus in essence they are unfree.
2. They are considered to be outcasts or …show more content…

One has been socialized into believing that a prestigious and ‘’respected’’ occupation entails that you carry the title white collar. The white collar worker is seen to be one who dresses in formal attire which may include a tie and utilises a computer to conduct their daily tasks in a private office. Many people associate the idea of a white collar worker being more skilled and well educated, which entails attending a form of tertiary education. Examples of white collar workers or individuals who are seen to have a prestigious occupation include doctors, lawyers, bankers and accountants.

One may note that the blue collar work force are seen to have a lower social status in terms of occupational qualifications as the task at hand may be seen as manual and thus there is not a large extent that is involved in completing the daily tasks. An example of this would be factory workers at an assembly plant. The work has no thought process and is very repetitive and thus allowing no room for creativity to spawn.

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