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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The continuing relevance of Marx has been dramatically demonstrated by the current crisis of contemporary capitalism. Marx had made several important observations about the laws of motion of capitalism. He had made the point that as capitalist competition progresses, centralization and concentration of capital would inevitably occur. This would lead to ever increasing monopolization. Competition among capitalists and the class struggle between labor and capital would lead to increasing mechanization, which would constantly create and replenish a reserve army of labor, an expanding pool of workers who would go in and out of employment. An increasing proportion of them would become permanently unemployed. These processes of capitalist accumulation would concentrate wealth and income in fewer and fewer hands, while inequalities will increase enormously. Marx made the
Income inequality comes from competitions between companies once that are flourishing and able to pay its workers higher salaries than others. People are working because they need money and many people are not choosing profession they are very inspired by or have great skills for, but rather the job that is bringing more money. Marx would not agree with this idea, he wanted people to use their skills to help community to expand and each person to have an impact on
Karl Marx’s class theory lies upon the premise that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." He meant by this that ever since the inception of modern human society, people have been always divided into classes which are in conflict with each other due to class interests. An argument against class interests is that they are not given ab initio, they arise out of exposure of people occupying different social positions in varying social contexts. Karl Marx and Engels divided the masses into three broad classes, the proletariats, the petty bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie.
For Marx, he considered class in relation to the means to production. He saw a shift from a feudal society on agriculture, where the land owning classes are classified from the peasant class. Scribes, information dealers, intelligencia and civil servants, who did not contribute to the production in the economy, are considered of no use and ar classless. On the other hand, Weber saw class on several layers (Bartle, 2007). Such differences can be understood in a sociological perspective.
The capitalist or also called the bourgeoisie, exploit their workers by only paying them as much as necessary to scratch a living. The workers are not aware of their invidious position as they take the ideologies, norms and values which the capitalists promotes, for granted. Marx predicted a revolution of the workers. He believed that the proletariat will become aware of its misery and will unite to overthrow the capitalists and capitalism. Out of this revolution, an egalitarian communist society will develop.
Marx advocated revolution by the Proletariat against the Bourgeoisie to reduce income and social class inequality. However, Smith felt that the Invisible Hand and the division of labour would eventually bring the poor out of poverty, but may not entirely resolve the income inequality or equal distribution of
He argues that with all the pressures of class conflict and the imbalance of capitalism there is no way that this pattern can continue without a major revolution. Marx compares capitalism to anarchy, in the sense that there is no organization within which only causes chaos. The common pattern of capitalism is a boom followed by a bust, and that bust leads to recession and social unrest. This sort of fickle economy, Marx believes, will furthermore contribute to the downfall of capitalism. This socialist revolution would, “abolish private ownership of key elements of economy and change nature of relationships from ones based on marriage and property.”
Marx saw the early technological rise as a possible collapse of capitalism, as well as the balance of power unfairly weighed against the working class. However, Marx is quick to point out that without the working class a capitalist society would inevitably collapse, bringing about economic and social change; suggesting communal ownership as a more equitable outcome. Marx believed that in time with the possible dissolve of capitalism, economics would evolve around communal ownership (Hall, Lieberman, 2007 p44). This is seen in modern society, through the application of technological advances for employment, education, and entertainment purposes, which may in the future disband the need for a human workforce. However, it is the same workforce that provides the capitalist with the purchase… it is therefore necessary for the workforce to maintain a level of humanisation seen through Freire’s methods of Dialogical conscientisation’ which are enhanced by Buber’s dialogical
Marx believed that the current capitalist society is separated into two classes, the Proletariat society, and Bourgeois society. The Proletarians, as perceived by Marx, are part of the working class that only possess one significant material value, that is the ability to work, or labour power. The Bourgeoise, on the other hand, is the societal class that owns the means of production and hence rule over the Proletarians. As I quote from Marx’s book, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1988, p. 473)
Yet, some events have weakened his theories. For instance, there was a gradual increase in workers income. This undercuts the theory that profits results from exploiting labor since the rise of income means that workers are getting a higher percent of profits. Marx’s class theory and his work are considered to be one of most fundamental and important contributions to economy and
It is argued that social inequality occurs because of the conflict between the upper-class and the working-class, or as Marx defines it, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Based on the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx and Engels, 1848), the divergence emerges because the aim of the Bourgeoisie is to obtain a surplus-value that is produced by the work of the Proletariat. On the other side, the Bourgeoisie provides the Proletariat with the minimum required, such as a place to live and a minimum wage, in order to keep the society under control and avoid a rebellion. However, Marx did predict a revolt of the working-class that would eventually lead to a communist regime. When it comes to applying this theoretical approach to reality, it is evident to notice that no global revolt in regards to capitalism has occurred.
This idea of social creation based on class conflict, economic repression, and the series of epochs creates the overarching theory of Marxism. The emphasis on the economic relationship in regards to human philosophy becomes the fundamental differing shift in historical approaches. The focus on the laboring class, a subject often left out of past historical dialogues makes Marxism an important school of theory in historical writing. By creating the stages of societal development that each eventually end in its collapse, Marx in such creates his
Marx believed that the class struggle forced social change. Marx’s theory is based on a class system
Class conflict, Marx believed, was what encouraged the evolution of society. To quote Marx himself, The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one
His ambition for universal equality, collective justice, and classless society transfixed me. I never thought that a classless society could be possible; however, my understanding of his work leads me to envisage the possibilities of a classless society. Marx’ work demonstrates a man who genuinely wants societal change. “The goal of sociology would not simply be to scientifically analyze or objectively describe society, but to use a rigorous scientific analysis as a basis to change it” (Little & McGivern, 2013,
In the Communist manifesto, a well known quote of Marx, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” This is introductory to the first part of the pamphlet and a conclusion to Marx’s theory about class struggle. Marx’s highly structured on how the class struggle emerges and affects the development of a society. The development of a society from the old and from the new is the result of the conflict of classes in the society.