Marx and Weber Social Class Essay

     Marx describes the problem in great detail in the first chapter. He feels there is a problem between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians. The bourgeoisie were the oppressed class before the French Revolution and he argues that they are now the oppressors. The proletarians are the new working class, which works in the large factory and industries. He says that through mass industry they have sacrificed everything from the old way of religion, employment, to a man’s self worth and replaced it with monetary value. He is mad that the people of ole that use to be upper class such as skills man, trades people, & shopkeepers, are now slipping into the proletarians or working class. He

"We see, therefore, how the modern bourgeoisie is itself the product of a long course of development, of a series of revolutions in the modes of production and of exchange." (Marx, 424). In this sense, the bourgeoisie have the ability to change since they themselves are products of revolutions. In other terms, the bourgeoisie are an always changing class that has found ways to stay in power through political hegemony over the proletariat class. Marx conjures the proper preconditions for a successful rebellion but again contradicts himself through his own ideologies. Although Marx believes that capitalism will be responsible for the proletariat rebellion it is the same system that will estrange man from each other and thus prevent a successful revolt.

Marx viewed society as a conflict between two classes in competition for material goods. He looked at the history of class conflicts and determined that the coming of the industrial age was what strengthened the capitalist revolution. Marx called the dominant class in the capitalist society the bourgeoisie and the laborers the proletariat. The bourgeoisie owned or controlled the means of production, exploited laborers, and controlled the goods produced for its own needs. He believed that the oppressed class of laborers was in a position to organize itself against the dominating class. He felt that it was the course of nature, that is, it is the way that society evolves and that the communist society would be free of class conflict, "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." (Marx & Engels 1948, 37)

He believed that society was shaped by the economic system and it defined people’s place within society. He identified that there were two social classes; the bourgeoisies also known as capitalists and the proletariat also known as the working class. He believed that we lived in a capitalist society; this is where industrial development e.g. machinery has allowed the bourgeois to exploit production for their own gain, whilst the rest of society are wage-labourers (they own little or no capital).The bourgeoisies are a dominant group who owned factories and the employments. He believed that they were exploiting the proletariats as they were being paid less than they should be especially for the long hours they were working. The bourgeoisie were

Karl Marx came up later with a theory of a classless society to help the working class fight back. Marx came up with many radical ideas to change the way society was proceeding socially which, caused him to be banished from his native land in Germany and then from France, eventually he ended up in England. (Compton's Encyclopedia, 121) Karl Marx believed that social conflict was needed for society to function. He showed people not to be scared of conflict but rather to except it as a way of life. Karl Marx believes that people have a "class consciousness" which means that people are aware of differences between one another and that it causes a separation between groups of people. People mostly look at material objects for a sense of class status. If you are wealthy in life then you have many material objects and if you are poor then you have very little. People need to be educated in order to move up in society, which is why the working class people rarely have a chance to be very successful. Karl Marx realized that the working class deserved more then they were receiving and he tried to help the situation. Marx wanted the wealthy people and the poor to become more economically equal in status. Karl Marx also discusses the economic issues that the working class faces with change. With capitalism growing there is a greater need for production in the factories. More products need to be produced and at

All human societies have been class based in some way, shape or form and, interpreting this in the most basic way, it can be said that in every known human society there has been a fundamental division between two broad social groups, the buorgeoisie that own and control the means of production, and the proletariat who own nothing but their ability to sell their labour power (that is, their ability to work) in return for wages. The anger and dissent over the differences in social classes has never wavered

Most societies throughout the world have developed a notion of social class. It refers to hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups within society. How these social classes have been determined has been a common topic among social scientists throughout time. Two individuals have headed this long standing debate, Karl Marx and Marx Weber. Karl Marx, on the one hand, ideas about class are still influential in many cultures around the world. On the other hand Max Weber is considered one of the fathers of modern thought and one of the most influential persons in the world of intellect. Despite their clear similarities, such as both coming from a European protestant background, they have

Although the relationship between the classes was based highly on economic standards set by society, Marx described the class relationships as social exploitation rather than an object of the labor market.5 Marx’s class relationship is described “in these two ways the worker becomes a slave to his object: firstly he receives an object of labor, that is he receives labor, and secondly, he receives the means of subsistence.”6 Marx believed that the Bourgeoisie would eventually lose its power to the working class, which would rebel against its exploitation and eventually bring about the creation of a middle class.

After taking into consideration the criticisms of both Marx and Weber, the more satisfactory account of class comes from Weber. Firstly, Weber is writing in hindsight of Marx. Weber was writing 60 years after wrote his account of class therefore it is easier for Weber to consider Marx’s faults and improve them to make them more relevant to modern societies. ***reference****It is unrealistic to consider class on it’s own in modern societies, because as Weber proves, status and party are hugely influential for ‘the lives of individuals and for the dynamics of institutions’ (Olin Wright 2005: 21). Dorling writes ‘Social class in Britain is clearly no longer neatly defined by occupation’ which is the way that Marx determines one’s class. Giddens (2009) uses the example of people from aristocratic families. They are considered to be of a high class and status even if they have no job and little money.

This allows us to raise our brows to the problems with socialism, and where the government is failing us. Marx used the concept of “class consciousness” to refer to a subjective awareness held by members of a class regarding their common vested interests and need for collective political action to bring about social change.

Marx believes that class conflict is the main forces to push human society development. He thinks there are two different classes in this world one is capitalism and another is communism. Marx thinks in the social basic contradiction movement contains the two pairs of contradictions; the contradiction

In everyday discourse, class has become synonymous with division, order, and socioeconomic status. For Weber, a class may be best defined as a set of individuals occupying a similar class situation. A class situation refers to the opportunities or chances individuals have in a society whereby these chances are relatively determined by where they stand in the market, what sorts of income they have access to, and if they own any form of property (p. 133). Weber would argue that four different classes emerge from this class situation. The first are the privileged folk

Karl Marx ‘s conflict theory focused on the class conflict (bourgeoisie and proletariat). The rising of capitalism in the society which cause economic, social, and political significant. Marx stated that the more powerful minority class oppresses the majority class and created class conflict. As the interests of the two were at odds, the resources were inequitable distributed among the two classes. Moreover, the inequitable social order was developed; values, expectations and conditions were determined by the more powerful minority class, i.e. the capitalists (Collins & Sanderson, 2008).

Conflict and Struggle. At several points, Marx notes how the class defines itself, or is a class only as it acts in opposition to other classes. Referring to the emergence of the burghers or bourgeoisi e as a class in early capitalist Europe, Marx notes how

According to him, these struggles are perpetuated by the state and economic conditions such as capitalism which produces oppressed classes. He contended that capitalists will destroy engage in brutal competitive struggles with each other, thereby giving an opportunity to the exploited laboring classes to rise up against capitalism and overthrow it so that they replace it with communism. In communism, there would be no classes and economic benefits would be shared equitably.8