The Enlightenment The 17th century was torn by witch-hunts and wars of religion and imperial conquest. Protestants and Catholics denounced each other as followers of Satan, and people could be imprisoned for attending the wrong church, or for not attending any. All publications, whether pamphlets or scholarly volumes, were subject to prior censorship by both church and state, often working hand in hand. Slavery was widely practiced, especially in the colonial plantations of the Western Hemisphere, and its cruelties frequently defended by leading religious figures. It was inevitable that sooner or later many people would begin to grow tired of the repression and warfare carried out in the name of absolute truth. In addition though …show more content…
Marx seen the economy as the basis of society and called this the infrastructure, he saw the institutions of society such as the political system, the education system, the mass media, religion and even family as developing out of the economic system which he called the superstructure which was shaped by the base (infrastructure), the means of production (everything required to produce), machines, factories, land and raw materials all owned by the bourgeoisie. The Marxist theory of historical materialism understands society to be determined by the relationships which people enter into with one another to fulfill their basic needs, for instance to feed and clothe themselves and their families. In general Marx identified five successive stages of the development of these material conditions in Western Europe. • Primitive communism- early human societies (hunter gatherers) • Slavery- considered to be the beginning of "class society" where private property appears. • Feudalism- monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through agreements with regional leaders. • Capitalism- an economic system based on private ownership of capital • Socialism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital and derives its wealth through exploitation. Marx saw that each stage or epoch created a new class or invention that would
Marx begins his analysis of social order with the historical development of materialism that results in the industrial capitalist society. For him, the history of society depends on the understanding of “real process of
Historical materialism plays a key role in deliberating the relations between economic production and everything else that falls in society. Later in the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx discusses the concept of religion and how it ties into this image of capitalism. According to Marx, capitalism is the worst situation any society can be placed with in. Religion plays another big role in instigating materialism in such a society. Karl Marx adopted the concept of creating a division of labor which works in a classless society, in order to determine which individual is capable of what job. The transition between communism and capitalism involves the financing of personal relations such as the relation of man and nature. The Proletariat, or also known as, the people go hand in hand with the Bourgeoisie in a capitalist society. The justification of exploitation, globalization, homogenization of culture, urbanization and political centralization all are consequences of capitalism which Karl Marx warns capitalist societies
At the time Marx started writing his theories, the Industrial Revolution was taking place. Feudalism had been done away with, and the people who had been living on the common land allowed to them by lords were forced to leave. Without land or a livelihood that had previously been found in farming, people flocked to the cities to find work. With the Industrial Revolution also came an advance in technology. Ambitious people with enough capital goods and money started factories and soon came to be known as capitalists. An economy based on capitalism, a system that revolves around private ownership of the means of production, typically by a select few, was born. With the flood of newcomers to the cities, there were more than enough people to work the factories, so the capitalists did not have to take into account the workers opinions for fear of losing laborers. Marx felt that this allowed the capitalists to exploit their workers and not pay them what their labor should be worth. He also felt that capitalism was a system that thrived off of havoc and
Karl Marx believed societies evolved through different stages: feudalism, capitalism, and socialism. He suspected social change to be strongly linked with the economy; class struggle caused by 19th century capitalism. With the decline of the aristocracy and the industrial revolution Marx believed more opportunities would be available for the poor, but that was not the case, instead the aristocracy were "replaced ' ' by capitalists. The wealthy
In their materialist reading of history, Marx and Engels proclaim that with the necessity for survival driving history/ and man to the development of social interaction and thus the establishment of the economy, staged progressions will come forth as a result. To Marx the economy will ultimately be responsible for all aspects of society. It will be from the development, and circumstance stemming forth from such development of the economy, that the stages of history will progress. And as such to Marx and Engels Capitalism will be a stopping point upon this staged progression route of history. In this way it is concluded that Capitalism is a mode of production stemming from the economy [means and relations of production], which in itself is a result of the history of materialism [the innate struggle for survival and the social relations built upon this struggle].
He believed that the society was too economically driven which resulted in men becoming “an appendage of the machine … losing all individual character and all charm for the workman”(Lecture Marx 1/25/17 slide #14). This had led to an alienation of labor and commodification of labor. Individuals started making products and working only for the economic purposes rather than for the emotional joy of creativity and innovation. The technological uses were advanced to reach the maximum efficiency of mass production and Proletariats were used as tools or as hands to keep the production going.
Karl Marx believed that the ultimate end of society is an imminent and significant, consisting of happiness, which can only be achieved via organized collectivism. Reality is controlled by financial necessity (historical materialism). In practical application, this theory means that the
Together these comprise the mode of production; Marx observed that within any given society the mode of production changes, and that European societies had progressed from a feudal mode of production to a capitalist mode of production. In general, Marx believed that the means of production change more rapidly than the relations of production (for example, we develop a new technology, such as the Internet, and only later do we develop laws to regulate that technology). For Marx this mismatch between (economic) base and (social) superstructure is a major source of social disruption and conflict.
Weber destabilizes the relationship between base and superstructure that Marx had established. According to Weber, the concept of historical materialism is naïve and nonsense because superstructures are not mere reflections of the economic base. ("The Protestant Ethic" and "The Spirit of Capitalism (1904-5) Weber agrees that the economy is one of the most faithful forces in modern life. However there are other social and legal factors which exhibit power and thus influence society. These factors help define bureaucratic society or Weber's concept of modern society which operates through the rational administration of labor. According to Weber, the condition of modern society is disenchantment, which, through rationalization (division of
Marx, through political involvement, witnessed the third social stage of development known as capitalism. In this Marx came to see the world system as a whole and recognized the many evils of capitalism. Marx saw capitalism as the worst stage of human and social development, for its foundation lay in the oppression of the working class.
Karl Marx’s view of society was based around the economy. All other social structures according to Marx, such as religion, family values, and politics stem from the base, the economy. Religion played no part at all in Marx’s sociological views. He is known as an atheist. He believed that religion was nothing more than a burden on society. “The
Karl Marx class structure he proposes isn’t one found in income or wealth but rather who owns the means of productions. The bourgeoisie own the means of production and the proletariat who provide the labor to utilize the means of production. Marx references that the “dominate ideas of any era are the ideas of the ruling class”. In the age of where nobility reigned in much of Europe the merchants began over time to shift the ideas of the ruling class by becoming the revolutionary class and promoting change with such voices as Adam Smith, john Locke, Jean Jacques Rousse. In the communist manifesto Marx’s lays out the best reasoning to why the bourgeoisies play such a historic role in revolution when it has gotten the upper hand, it has put an
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)
Karl Marx is known for studying the conflicts that occur between different classes. Marx theory focuses on class relation and societal conflict. According to Marx, history would consist of various era of modes of production. He states that “these modes of production are: slave society, feudalism, capitalism, and then socialism and communism.” (Theories of Stratification, 2014 ) Marx's theory of class focuses on the relations of production, involving exploitation and domination, between a class of owners of the means of production and a class of non-owner workers. For Marx, classes are defined and controlled by the relations regarding work, ownership of property or labour and possession and the means of production.
Marx argued that it is this ownership which leads to the most essential fact of materialist theory of history which is the division of society into economic classes.[1](Morrison, 1995). Marx saw societies as social systems which could be divided into two parts: the economic base and the superstructure. The economic base contained a particular mode of production as well as the economy and class relations. It is also the foundation upon which superstructures of political, legal, and social institutions are built. The economic base is also the basis of various forms of consciousness and knowledge.