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It is logical to assume that for as long as human beings have existed in organized societies, social inequality has presented itself within these societies as an obstacle to overcome, an instrument to exploit, or at the very least, a reality to accept. To understand the different approaches that Karl Marx, Max Weber, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore took to studying social inequality we must first understand the term “social inequality.” As defined by Charles Walker Social inequality refers to “the ways in which socially-defined categories of persons (according to characteristics such as gender, age, ‘class’ and ethnicity) are differentially positioned with regard to access to a variety of social ‘goods’, such as the labor market and other sources of income, the education and healthcare systems, and forms of political representation and participation.” Karl Marx, Max Weber and Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore acted at times as sociologists, economic theorists and above all, social critics, each explaining in different ways through their writings the origins and functions of the social inequality that had grown extensive in the modern, industrial, and capitalist societies during the 1800-1900’s. The resulting ideas reveal very different approaches for dealing with social inequality.

Karl Marx, more than any other theorist, directed his fury at the capitalist system and its inherent taste for exploiting the working class. The structures of capitalism, for Marx, were responsible for creating virtually all of the problems of modern life. Thus according Marx philosophy according to Conley in his article on “Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism”: class struggle is based on economic interest which is the driving force in social change. Marx divided the capitalist society into two classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. According to Conley the bourgeoisie played a revolutionary part in advancing society to date. “The...