Essay On Social Inequality

1392 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Inequality and social class

Social inequality has been one of the controversial worldwide issues for many years. Social inequality can be viewed as differential treatment among individuals due to their socially defined characteristics including race, gender, economic class or ethnicity. In modern societies, “class” is used to show the social inequality’s structure. (Crompton, R., 1993) Class is a popular label to differentiate people by their lifestyles and materials they are using which are the obvious forms of inequality in life. (Carchedi, G., 1989) In fact, there are various general definitions of class while analysts have been looking for more precise meaning, the best and accurate definition. Karl Marx and Max Weber, two major classical theorists, accounted for the social class from different points of view which generated impressive insights to the modern thinkers and guided certain allocation of social categories. In this essay, their studies on theories of class will be discussed respectively followed by an investigation of their applications in the contemporary society in Hong Kong.
Karl Marx: all histories are “the history of class struggle”
Generally speaking, class can be perceived as “social groupings that differ mainly in their command of economic or material resources, such as money, wealth, or property” (Coleman and Rainwater, 1978; Bell and Robinson, 1980; Grabb and Lambet, 1982; Lambet et al., 1986, see also Rothman, 1993: 106; Kelley and Evans, 1993, cited in Grabb. E.G, 2007, pp.3). Karl Marx (1818-1883) aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of transformation of capitalist society (Crompton R. 1993). His class theory lies on the premise “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engel...

... middle of paper ...

...e chances
Unlike Marx, Weber believed that class situation represent different ‘life chances’ while Marx claimed that differences in class results from exploitation. Weber believed that taking life chances can help individual to achieve higher status. In Weber’s understanding, roles in social hierarchy are clearly defined which are fulfilled by selected individuals if their merits are considered as qualified to move up the hierarchy. Thus, everyone can change their hierarchy by taking life chances.
Class, Status and Power
Another main distinction between the two writers is that Weber denies the inevitability of class conflicts and Marxist view on class is a primary source of differentiation in society. Instead, Weber stated “classes” and “status groups” are significant factors that influence the distribution of power within a society. (Gerth and Mills 1948: 181)

Show More
Related

  • Social Stratification in 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' by Karl Marx and Max Weber's 'Class, Status and Party'

    478 Words  | 1 Pages

    Social Stratification in 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' by Karl Marx and Max Weber's 'Class, Status and Party'

    Read More

  • Mead And Marx's View On Human Nature

    1311 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marx believes there is a true human nature, that of a free species being, but our social environment can alienate us from it. To describe this nature, he first describes the class conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariats. Coined by Marx, the bourgeois are “the exploiting and ruling class.”, and the proletariats are “the exploited and oppressed class” (Marx, 207). These two classes are separated because of the machine we call capitalism. Capitalism arises from private property, specialization of labor, wage labor, and inevitably causes competition.

    Read More

  • The Decline of Aristocracy in The Communist Manifesto

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    The decline of aristocracy in The Communist Manifesto began with Karl Marx’s statement, “The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles.”1 Marx recognized the ideals of the social rank, which has influenced every society throughout history. The two social classes described by Marx were the Bourgeoisie, or the upper class, and the Proletariats, or the lower class. Before the Bourgeoisie came to social power, landowners and corporate organizations ran the society. Marx believed that the severe separation of the two classes greatly troubled society and that the two classes must coexist as one with each other.2

    Read More

  • Cultural Anthro - Karl Marx

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx looks at human societies as a whole, and asks how they reproduce themselves, and as a result, change. For Marx a fundamental question about any society is whether it can produce more than it needs to reproduce itself, that is, a surplus product. Karl Marx believed that the middle class is based upon economic factors and rooted in solely that perspective. Many people have examined his work closely arguing that economic factors could not possibly be the only definition o...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Weber And Emheim Durkheim

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Introduction Three thinkers form the foundations of modern-day sociological thinking. Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Each developed different theoretical approaches to help us understand the way societies function, and how we are determined by society. This essay will focus on the contrasts and similarities between Durkheim and Weber’s thoughts on how we are determined by society. It will then go on to argue that Weber provides us with the best account of modern life.

    Read More

  • Karl Marx's Analysis Of Social Class

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marx’s analysis of social class is that there will always be a divide between the haves and the have not’s. He separates them into two classes the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie signifies the capitalist class, while proletariat signifies the working class. Max Weber’s defines class as “a group of people who have a similar level of economic resources”(p.244). He identifies two main elements of class, material resources, and skill knowledge in the marketplace. In contrast to Marx’s view on class Weber believed that class was not just based solely on ownership of means of production, but could also be based off ownership of other resources and the amount knowledge one has. Pierre Bourdieu’s view on class is that it is based on the concept of cultural capital meaning, “our tastes, knowledge, attitudes, language, and ways of thinking that we exchange in interaction with others”

    Read More

  • Wealth and Poverty: Karl Marx

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    Karl Marx, a German philosopher, saw this inequality growing between what he called "the bourgeoisie" and "the proletariat" classes. The bourgeoisie was the middle/upper class which was growing in due to the industrial revolution, and the proletariats were the working class, the poor. These two classes set themselves apart by many different factors. Marx saw five big problems that set the proletariat and the bourgeoisie aside from each other. These five problems were: The dominance of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat, the ownership of private property, the set-up of the family, the level of education, and their influence in government. Marx, in The Communist Manifesto, exposes these five factors which the bourgeoisie had against the communist, and deals with each one fairly. As for the proletariat class, Marx proposes a different economic system where inequality between social classes would not exist.

    Read More

  • Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel: The Relationship between Society and the Individual

    3473 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the Communist Manifesto it is very clear that Marx is concerned with the organization of society. He sees that the majority individuals in society, the proletariat, live in sub-standard living conditions while the minority of society, the bourgeoisie, have all that life has to offer. However, his most acute observation was that the bourgeoisie control the means of production that separate the two classes (Marx #11 p. 250). Marx notes that this is not just a recent development rather a historical process between the two classes and the individuals that compose it. “It [the bourgeois] has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, and new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie ...

    Read More

  • How Class Influences Identities

    393 Words  | 1 Pages

    Weber's theory also identified economic category as important in defining class structures, but rather than focusing on class divisions he focused on the individual and their opportunities. Weber picks out the significant thing here, that both classes will meet in a market. The ruling or privilege class as purchaser of labour and as a vendor. The working or vulnerable class as someone who must sell his services or starve.

    Read More

  • Marx's Theories

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    While Marxist ideology dismisses the individual’s role in society and contends that the economic superstructure governs everything, Weber and Simmel each present a more nuanced interpretation of the social world. The work of these two theorists acknowledges individual agency and examines forces outside of the economy that impact individuals. In the following paper, I discuss how the social forces described by Weber and Simmel complicate Marx’s conception of the class structure. Moreover, I contend that the theories of Weber and Simmel illustrate how distinctions and divisions can arise within Marx’s broadly defined social classes. Ultimately, these divides within the proletariat impede the development of class consciousness and prevent the overthrow of capitalism.

    Read More

  • Essay On Inequality In America

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    The historical context of inequality in the United States can be can be traced back to the American South and the times of the Civil War. The slave trade, Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment largely contribute to the inequality presented of the African American population.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Class Status Party By Max Weber

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    This review can be seen in the example of someone who owns a small, local business not being seen as belonging to the same class as someone who owns a nationwide corporation, despite both people owning property. They are not seen as belonging to the same class because the large corporation makes a greater impact on society than the small, local business, and generates a larger income. Those who do not own property are differentiated in the same way by Weber, except this time he analyzes them based upon what kinds of services they offer and if they themselves participate in receiving services. In his final piece about class, Weber mentions class struggle. Class struggles are where people in the same class situation react, in large numbers, in ways that are an advantageous way to materialize and achieve their interests. Weber calls the factors that bring about class struggles, and determine class situations, markets. There are three types of markets that he mentions; the labor market, the commodities market, and the capitalistic market. The labor market is where people sell labor for money, the commodities

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Karl Marx and Max Weber

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Weber, on the other hand, tried to look at the macro-sociological phenomenon in his explanation. Weber felt that there is just more than one explanation for the causes of change. Marx’s perspective was not based on the conflict of ideas, but rather on the conflict of classes. This conflict is the result of a new mode of production. According to Marx, history would consist of epochs of modes of production.

    Read More

  • Essay On Income Inequality

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    Income inequality continues to increase in today’s world, especially in the United States. Income inequality means the unequal distribution between individuals’ assets, wealth, or income. In the Twilight of the Elites, Christopher Hayes, a liberal journalist, states the inequality gap between the rich and the poor are increasing widening, and there need to have things done - tax the rich, provide better education - in order to shortening the inequality gap. America is a meritocratic country, which means that everybody has equal opportunity to be successful regardless of their class privileges or wealth. However, equality of opportunity does not equal equality of outcomes. People are having more opportunities to find a better job, but their incomes are a lot less compared to the top ten percent rich people. In this way, the poor people will never climb up the ladder to high status and become millionaires. Therefore, the government needs to increase all the tax rates on rich people in order to reduce income inequality.

    Read More

  • Marx 's Theory Of Class Conflict

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Marx class is determined by property associations not by revenue or status. It is determined by allocation and utilization, which represent the production and power relations of class. Marx’s differentiate one class from another rooted on two criteria: possession of the means of production and control of the labor power of others. The major class groups are the capitalist also known as bourgeoisie and the workers or proletariat. The capitalist own the means of production and purchase the labor power of others. Proletariat is the laboring lower class. They are the ones who sell their own labor power. Class conflict to possess power over the means of production is the powerful force behind social growth.

    Read More

More about Essay On Social Inequality

Open Document