SOC 101 week 2 assignment: The Theory of Karl Marx

The Theory of Karl Marx

SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology (ACK 1141A)

Instructor:

The Theory of Karl Marx

Karl Marx: Conflict Theory The most influential socialist thinker from the 19th century is Karl Marx. Karl Marx can be considered a great philosopher, social scientist, historian or revolutionary. Marx proposed what is known as the conflict theory. The conflict theory looks at how certain social interactions occur through conflict. People engage in conflict everyday to gain more power then others in society. Karl Marx is known for studying the conflicts that occur between different classes. Karl Marx has introduced some radical ideas and theories to society through his writings.

As the industrial revolution moved forward in society, so did the widening gap between class structures. Karl Marx studied the differences arising between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat people. The bourgeoisie are interested mainly in developing a capitalist society, using advanced methods of production. The bourgeoisie are the capitalist who own the factories the products made in the factories, and controlled all the trade. The Proletariats or working class people have gained nothing in society but the thrill of their own labor. The Proletariats feel that they are treated badly by the middle class society. They receive only enough in life to survive and have no chance of achieving a higher, class status. The bourgeoisie or middle class people in society were exploiting and degrading the Proletariat people. The Proletariats helped to improve production in society, which developed capitalism and helped it to grow faster. The Proletariats where not getting the wages they deserved for the labor that was accomplished.

Capital gain was being made for the labor the working class provided, but there was still no way of improving status in society. The middle class was taking over and the rich were staying rich and the poor continued to be poor. Marx wanted the working class to stand up to the bourgeoisie and cause a class conflict. The idea was that if the working class revolted against the middle class then a classless society would be the result. The proletariats wanted capitalism to change creating a socialist society and eventually flourishing into communism. Karl Marx came up later with a theory of a classless society to help the working class fight back. Marx came up with many radical ideas to change the way society was preceding socially which, caused him to be banished from his native land in Germany and then from France, finally he ended up in England. (Compton’s Encyclopedia, 121) Karl Marx believed that social conflict was needed for society to function. He showed people not to be scared of conflict but rather to except it as a way of life.

Karl Marx believes that people have a “class consciousness” which means that people are aware of differences between one another and that it causes a disconnection between groups of people. People mostly look at material objects for a sense of class status. If you are well-off in life then you have many material objects and if you are unfortunate then you have very little. People need to be sophisticated in order to move up in society, which is why the working class people rarely have a chance to be very successful. Karl Marx realized that the working class deserved more then they were receiving and he tried to help the situation. Marx wanted the well-to-do people and the unfortunate to become more economically equal in status. Karl Marx also discusses the economic issues that the working class faces with change. With capitalism growing there is a greater need for production in the factories. More products need to be produced and at a faster rate.

The capitalist made enough income to build machines to take the place of human labor. This meant that less of the working class would have jobs and that more people would be unfortunate. Marx believed that in the end this idea of replacing machines with human labor would soon become a huge loss. He believes that eventually other countries will catch up with the technology and it will end up costing more for the machines then human labor. Marx was wrong because more machines where being used and less people were hired to work. Also the wages where lowered because of the lack of labor needed, which had been replaced by machines. The Communist Manifesto was the published work of Marx and his friend Engle’s. In this collaboration they identify the class struggle as the primary dynamic in history. The manifesto was written to influence the working class to stand up to the Bourgeoisie. It tells the truth about the class differences and what Marx believes should be changed. Marx hopes that by writing the communist manifesto for the people he will generate a revolution and the working class people will defeat the bourgeoisie.

In the end of the Communist Manifesto Marx’s States “Workers of all countries, Unite!” Karl Marx had very radical and interesting theories on class and social interaction. He is one of the great social scientists of his time. His published works are extremely important when studying history or when understanding past social conflicts. Today sociologist will look at the conflict theory for studying differences, for example, the power effort between men and women. Although not all of what Marx believed was true his writings still influence many people and made a differentiation in society. From a similar point of view (Karl Marx 1818–1883) argued that it is anxiety and conflict that encourage us to think and act in a different way. Conflict theory assumes that the institutions and exchanges within society foster inequality and competition, and when they are challenged, then beneficial social change can result. Marx thought it wasn’t enough to understand why society functions as it does; it was significant to use our logical knowledge to create social change (Marx, trans. Bottomore, 1964). Society, according to Marx, was run by a handful of elites, called bourgeoisie, who had access to wealth, prestige, and power within society. The mass of people work for the elites and are called proletariats. The bourgeoisie are the people in charge of production who determine what should be done and how, while proletariats are the people who do the work. Proletariats are expendable; if they do not want to do the work required by the bourgeoisie, they may be fired or replaced. The proletariats may feel alienated at their jobs and be frustrated because they do not get to reap the benefits of what they produce.

As examples, laborers who built the U.S. railroads, many of whom were Chinese, were paid exploitative wages. They didn’t make much money for all their hard work—but the owners of the railroad did. The owner of a professional football team may make a large salary, but the janitors who clean the football stadium do not. Three reasons for choosing Karl Marx I personal can relate to a lot of things that was said such as, I see sociological imagination as then influence society has on an individual and I am a product of that, the sociological imagination opens up the ideas and present the struggle to area like the united states where life is increasing better and I can relate to that, I described the life I live and how it compare to the people I am around everyday and I can relate to that.

Reference:

Introduction to Sociology

San Diego, CA:

Bridgepoint Education ,Inc

Yvonne Vissin

Discovery Series

(Compton’s Encyclopedia, 121)

Grusky, David B. 2001

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