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The Pros And Cons Of Class Oppression According To Mindiola

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Marxism provides oppressed people, Chicanos, a theory for the cause of their contemporary condition and a plan of action to eliminate that oppression According to Mindiola; racism is not the consequence of class position but a major determinant of class placement in American society. Marxian theory defines class exploitation as a characteristic of a capitalist society, and the racial affiliation of Chicanos determines their occupational placement within the working class. Ultimately, their position leaves them vulnerable to a certain degree of class exploitation as demonstrated by their wages and working conditions. Mindiola contends that by imposing a racialized theory on Chicano-Anglo relations, blurs class divisions that exist within both groups (558). There can be people within the classes that are better off than others, so not all face a common struggle. Furthermore, the author mentions some positives, but the negatives of nationalism outweigh the positive one. The negative aspect holds that nationalism keeps the Chicano and Anglo working class divided along racial and cultural lines …show more content…

We can see that they possessed somewhat of privilege compared to other Chicanos for they owned small businesses and at times were hand-selected to serve as public officials by the power-holders. In the Marxist tradition, a class is a group of people in a society with a similar relationship to the process of production. Each society possesses a certain class structure based on the production of goods. In contemporary United States society, Marxists identify three major class: Capitalists, the workers, and the petty bourgeoisie. The Marxist classification tends to group people together by their interests. The people’s interests are determined by their relationship to the process of

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