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Social Class And Pierre Bourdieu's Conflict Theory

1462 Words6 Pages

Social class contains a lot of significance in social sciences because it sets the basis for social stratification in which people are grouped into a set of hierarchical social categories. These categories further lead up to class conflicts and social problems which we see in society today. Since the main aim of social sciences is to explain the cause and effect of any social issue, sociologists tend to first explain the definition of class and their interpretation of the term followed by its effects in a society. Among these sociologists there were two very influential personalities who developed their work to explain the definition and the formation of the social class. Karl Marx, being an economist, believes that these social classes are a direct result of economic factors. Pierre Bourdieu, on the other hand, extended his work beyond economics and touches upon other aspects of life to provide comprehensive explanation of class phenomena in the society. Thus my paper will seek to explain the class from these two sociologist’s view point and also I will explain the factors that lead to the formation of the working class according to these social theorists. Marx, in his conflict theory, argues that inequalities of power, wealth and status in the society are all the consequences of social stratification. In his opinion, there are two classes in the society, one possessing immense power and wealth, the ‘Bourgeoisie’, and the other who have minuscule or no wealth at all,

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