social class inequalities Flashcards
EXPLANATION 1
Social class has historically faced divisions of power
Social class has historically faced divisions of power
- Marx
Social class has historically faced divisions of power (Marx)
- Historical materialism
- Surplus value
- Throughout all history, material goods are gained through labour: ‘forces of production’ e.g. whether that is hunting, picking fruit.
- we started to co-operate with each other and enter into social relations of production
- Marxism is an economically deterministic theory
- Capitalist societies exploit wage labourers
- The proletariat sell their labour to the bourgeoisie so they can have money to live
- The proletariat wages do not reflect the value of the products they make
Their wages are at the subsistence level - As this is a fundamentally oppressive system, as time goes by the ownership of the means of production becomes more concentrated
- more people become part of proletariat and less people become part of the bourgeoisie
Historical materialism
- marxism
- the idea that all human beings have material needs for food, shelter etc and need to work to meet these needs
economically deterministic theory
- Marx
- the relations of production (what essentially form the economy) provide the foundations of all other social structures
- It is for this reason that we refer to the economy as the base of the infrastructure of society that determines all other features in society
Surplus value
the differences between the value of the products and the wage paid to the bourgeoisie which creates the profit for the bourgeoisie
EXPLANATION 2
The ruling class uses ideological control to maintain their superior position
The ruling class uses ideological control to maintain their superior position
Marx
The ruling class uses ideological control to maintain their superior position (Marx)
- all other institutions in society make up the superstructure to support and reinforce the base (economy)
- dominance and subordination of the proletariat is essential to the relations of the production in capitalist societies
- Political and legal systems will support ruling class power by creating laws that will protect the interests of capitalists
- cultural and religious beliefs and values of society will support ruling class domination
- Mass media will spread messages that encourage working class people to spend their money on consumer commodities that lose value instantly
- Therefore, capitalism will be seen as reasonable and rather than exploitive ad oppressive which is known as false class consciousness
- In this way, beliefs and values will disguise and distort the true nature of society and class inequality will continue
EXPLANATION 3
Class inequality is justified through hegemony
Class inequality is justified through hegemony
gramsci
Class inequality is justified through hegemony (Gramsci)
- principles of exploitation, oppression, class conflict and class struggle remain highly relevant
- to create change, individuals need more than just an economic reaction to impoverishment
- The working class must generate ideas among themselves to counter ruling class rule
- Ruling class rarely need to use force to exert power because they rue through persuasion
- Hegemony describes the ruling class as it is where the upper class use the working class in order to try to promote their ideas (i.e. through education and the media).
- encourages enough working class to side with the ruling class and the capitalism system to ensure the stability of an economic system
- involves using institutions like the media and the education system to control peoples minds
- this hegemony that the ruling class built is never complete
Many of the working class have dual consciousness meaning that they work within capitalism and therefore contribute to it.
They are also aware of the inqualitiws and injustices it creates
EXPLANATION 4
Power is becoming more concentrated in society
Power is becoming more concentrated in society
- westergaard
Power is becoming more concentrated in society (Westergaard)
- the bourgeoisie will become more concentrated over time
- The amount of people with power is getting smaller
- There is little evidence of class divisions disappearing
- This was due to the way that the capitalist system operates
- gradual process of production being expanded and technology rendering the workforce will create a polarisation of the classes
- The rich will get richer and the poorer will get poorer
- ONS calculated that the richest 10% households hold 43% of all wealth
