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Karl Marx Social Class Essay

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“Law, morality, [and] religion are to him so many bourgeois prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgeois interests” (Marx, 1848). In order to fully understand the gravity of the Marxist theory of law, one must grasp the terminology used in the German political pamphlet. The “Proletariat,” which will be referenced later, is what we in modern times would call the working class and what Marx referred to as the “producing” class. According to Marx, their livelihood depends on their ability to work manual labor. On the other end of the spectrum lies the “Bourgeois” society. This social class is composed of those owners who possess the means of production by way of private property. The Marxist theory suggests that this class division is the driving factor behind societal conflict and disorder, …show more content…

In the years leading up to the publication of the Communist Manifesto, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Urbanization, child labor laws, and safety regulations were eventually created as a result of the revolution, yet the working conditions that caused these reforms were appalling by modern standards (Chappine, 2017). Working hours were long. Normal shifts ranged from 12-14 hours per day, and workers often cleaned their machines during their mealtimes. This does not include any extra time laborers had to work during busy periods. The wages provided were exceptionally low for all, but women and children were paid even less than their male counterparts. The workload was not a reflection of this discrepancy, either. Furthermore, discipline was harsh to any exhausted employees. Punishments included being hit with a leather strap and children getting their ears nailed to tables. Accidents and illnesses were commonplace during the “industrial revolution,” as well (BBC, 2017). It is no wonder that Karl Marx sharply drew the lines between the proletariat and the

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According to Document 1, factory workers usually worked between 11 to 13 hours per day and only received minimal breaks. Also, the author states that two of his sisters became crippled due to them working in the factories in poor conditions. Also, he states that other men he worked with had stunted growth in limbs. This shows that factory jobs had bad working conditions for their employees and employees weren’t provided with any health care benefits, which resulted in many employees having health complications. Also, most employees were required to work over-hours, but weren’t paid for this time.

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Prior to the advent of labor unions, workers suffered under the oppressive treatment at the hands of those who employed them. At the dawn of the industrial revolution, factory workers faced long hours with few, if any, breaks, poor air quality, and no days off. Many workers were women, children, and newly-arrived immigrants who were subjected to low wages and, in some extreme cases, even sexual abuse. Young women, like those in the Lowell System, were under strict control by their employers who watched their every move. Once industrialization occurred more and more people moved from the country to the city in search of factory work; these too were left to the control of their employers.

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The life of an industrial worker was very hard. Workers had to work long shifts and get paid very little. Some worked ten to twelve hours a day, six days a week, and made less than one dollar per hour. Along with long hours and little pay, there was no regulation for breaks, safety, or age. Due to this, one in eleven workers died on the job.

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Marx argues that due to division of labor and class struggle, “man comes to objectify himself through this mere one-dimension he has created and identifies with” (Marx p.475). The class struggle resulted from division of labor created an inequality where some will own the means of production, and the lower class who provides or sells their labor or “self” to survive working for those owners of means of product. This two groups are simply explained as bourgeoisies and proletariats by Marx. As the industrialization and society modernizes, the inequality will prevail observably. Marx argues that the proletariats will revolt against bourgeoisies and lead to the fall of capitalism and rise of communism.

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Thoughtful analysis of Marx Capital Volume 1, has allowed me to see a number of commonalities and differences in the expressions of class struggle seen in the world today. As a result of expanding global enterprise the struggle between the interests of the worker and the interests of the capitalist can be witnessed at multiple levels of the production process. My experience working in both general manufacturing and food service has provided great insight into the struggle between the employee and the boss on a minute to minute playing field. In the brief period of time I have sold my labor power, I’ve become increasingly aware of the exploitation of the worker as dictated by Capitalism, as well as witnessed it in distinctly different working environments. Understanding Marxian theories in context of the growing industrialization of nineteenth century is undoubtedly important in connecting those concepts to what the worker faces today.

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Marx gathers seven criticisms towards capitalism and categorizes people as being either Bourgeoisie or Proletariat. The bourgeoisie are the rulers in a capitalist system, the corporate elite. The proletarians are the working-class people. In the first criticism, Marx points out the economic greed and inequality of a capitalist system, a system that possesses the resources to provide but won’t give because the owners of that system do not want to suffer profit losses. The second criticism states that the proletariat, the working-class are the reason the system have the necessary resources but are not given the privilege to own or afford the same, if any, luxuries the bourgeoisie own.

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Marxism divided society into two parts the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. The bourgeoisie were those who controlled the worlds natural, economic and natural resources and depend on the proletariat for survival. Whereas the proletariats form the majority of the world’s population, living in substandard conditions, while performing all the manual labor that pay for the luxury enjoyed by the rich. But unfortunately they are also the last to recognize this class

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If Marx had stopped with demonstrating the historical inevitability of class society along with the growth of productive forces, his work could have been even used to legitimize class exploitation and class rule. But Marx did not stop with this. His outstanding contribution lay precisely in demonstrating that class societies in human history are neither natural nor eternal, and that each class society contained the seeds of its dissolution and overcoming by a new, higher level of human development, and that the dynamic through which this process takes place is that of class struggle. Marx’s unique contribution was to identify the key class - the key historical agent – that would overthrow a prevailing class society to lead the new society that replaces it. Thus was Marx able

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Marx begins this chapter by pointing out the fact that there have always been complicated hierarchy’s in society even as far back as ancient Rome we could see the clear differences between classes. He claims that society is splitting up into two even more clear cut classes, with great hostility toward each other, he call these the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. He goes on to say that the discovery of America etc. lent a hand to the rise of the bourgeoisie in that there was a rapid increase in the means of exchange and trade. He says that the feudal system no longer sufficed for the wants of the ever growing market. (Engels, 1996)

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In the end, the proletariats will have full control of their own lives through the implementation of global revolution, which he believes will result in a classless society. In the last hundred years, the working population has developed to produce another layer: middle class. Marx explained this idea in his writing, “a second and more practical, but less systematic, form of this socialism sought to depreciate every revolutionary movement in the eyes of the working class, by showing that no mere political reform, but only a change in the material conditions of existence, in economical relations, could be of any advantage to them” (Tucker 496). This is a devastating truth of the capitalistic system that the revolution of working class is very difficult to implement. This can be related to relationship between human perception and social

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The relationship between classes is not compatible due to the emerging dominant class or the bourgeoisie. Due to this supreme division, the proletariat class will oversee a revolution that will destroy all ownership of private property the classification of different levels of society. Marx is in favor of this movement because he believes that capitalism is

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The Proletariat absorbs professions that would previously have belonged to the middle class, as their individual labour is no longer sufficient to sustain their livelihood- they do not have the means to compete with large industry and so, with capitalists, the Bourgeoisie (Marx, 2011, p. 28). Marx therefore describes the establishment of a two-class system as a consequence of the industrialisation that has swept through the Western countries. These classes are directly opposed to each other. The ruling elite profit from this system, while most are plunged into poverty (source). The poverty that has been induced as a result is not natural (Marx, 2000, p. 81), and implicitly, neither is

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According to Edwards et al. (2006) Marx thought that within capitalism there would be an increased divide between the bourgeoisie class and the proletariat class in the future. The proletariats are lower of the two classes, the people who have to work for wages in order to survive. The bourgeoisie are the people in society who controlled and owned the means of production in a capitalist system.

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Marx perceives that power in capitalist society is largely held by the bourgeoisie and laws are imposed the ideology of the bourgeoisie (Mwanzia, 2017). The American Criminologist, Richard Quinney further developed Marx’s work and fulfills the superstructure law part of the society. According to Quinney (1974), the creation of laws reflects and secures the interests of those who have power - the bourgeoisie. He stated that the representatives of law include police, prosecutors, and judges, which all serve as the military force to protect the ideology of the bourgeoisie (Quinney, 1974). Because of this structure, laws in the capitalist society heavily assist the economic system rather than the interests of the members of the capitalist class (Hudson, 2003).

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Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.

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