Marxism theory applied to social class Flashcards
what are the three classes?
upper class middle class working class
what’s an objective measure of class?
definitions of class focus on things that can be measured about a person’s life, such as their occupation.
what’s subjective measure of class?
definitions of class focus on things that cannot be measured, such as the social class that the person thinks they are in. EG a person with a lot of money may still consider themselves working class. They may live in a working class area and have working class friends, in other words the class that a person THINKS they belong to is likely to affect the way they act.
What were Kark Marx’s most important ideas and what did he write about?
(1818-1883) he wrote about many aspects in society, such as economics politics and philosophy. Important ideas= capitalism and the class system
what are the four modes of production that marx identified?
primitive communism
antiquity
feudualism
capitalism
describe primitive communism?
known in the time of the “cavemen” and later hunter gatherer societies and characterised by sharing.
describe antiquity?
known in early civilised society and characterised by the master/slave relationship
describe feudalism?
known in the Middle Ages based on lord/servant relationship
describe capitalism?
known in modern times and and based on capitalist/ worker relationship.
What is mode of production?
when societies organise their lives and economies in different ways. The mode of production in one era is transformed into another.
What were the two major divisions in society that marx identified?
Bourgeoisie (ruling class)
proletariat (working class)
Describe the bourgeoisie?
those who owned the means of production. people in this class had power in society because they could dictate how wok was carried out and how raw materials was used. They also had the ability to exploit and oppress others who were non owners.
Describe the proletariat?
These were the non owners. People in this class owned nothing and the only way they could survive was to sell their labour. This meant they were at the mercy of those who employed them.``
describe the relationship of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
because B owns the means of production, they can therefore exploit and oppress the P who have no choice but to work under stipulated conditions set by the owners.
how is production important in explaining class stratification?
In the production process profit can only be made if the worker is paid less than what they are worth. In other words, if the labour to make a chair is £20 the capitalist can only make/increase profit by paying the worker less than this sum.
what are the costs of production?
exploitation occurs and intensifies because the capitalist system continually seeks to increase profit. This means B must find ways of increasing their production and lowering their costs. only achievable by making the worker produce more for less money.
what are the strengths of marxism
draws attention to importance of conflict as the “motor history”
revolutionary change requires that the forces of production on which the new order will be based have developed in the old society eg transition from feudalism to capitalism.
what are the weaknesses of marxism
marx saw the superstructure as determiend by the economic infratructure and human consequences shaped by economic forces independent of human will. Marxism often presented as a crude positivism
marx argued that human beings were the writers of their own “human destiny”
what is the infrastructure of society?
the economic base is characterised by capitalist investment and the drive for profits.
what is the superstructure of society?
its made up of social and cultural institutions such as thre system of laws, the education system, and the mass media, which are shaped by and support the requirements of the economic base.
