Firstly, those privileged through property or education. Secondly the petty-bourgeoisie (the self-employed and managers), then the white-collar worker technicians which is the lower middles class. Lastly, the manual workers, being the lower class. These four different groups are Weber’s way of defining class in terms of market position. Weber believed it was linked to the type of job people could get, Weber thought differently to Marx about this, as marx believed it was due to owning factories or other resources, and weber thought it was due to skills and qualifications.
Social class may also refer to any particular level in such a hierarchy.” Sociologists have given a threefold classification of classes which consists of upper class, middle class and working class. Social class, in regards to sociology usually refers to the primary system of social stratification. Social stratification is “the presence [in society] of distinct social groups which are ranked one above the other in terms of factors such as prestige and wealth.” (Haralambos and Holborn.
According to Marx – in a capitalist society, the economic relationship of exploitation requires ideologies in the superstructure to cover up inequality – they are not innocent/neutral because they justify inequality and serve the interest of powerful groups. Marx argued that the organisation of production in a society shapes the nature of society – refers to this as base/superstructure. The base of the infrastructure is the economy – determines the ideas of society and superstructure – social, cultural, political and ideological parts of society. All history can be divided into five epochs/period; primitive consumerism – everything is shared, in class
Max Weber, compared to Karl Marx, didn’t only focus on classes. He said that some people have more power than others. He separated the power in three forms: Economical (class), Social (status) and Legal (party). These forms of power follow different logics but could be interconnected. Individuals are unequal in the three areas.
The class struggle’s which Marx refers to above is that of the Bourgeoisie, who own the means of production and the proletariat, who sell their labour. Marx believed that the two classes are based on a contradiction, this ascends from the fact that the workers who make the commodities do not get the profit that is made. Instead the profit goes to the Bourgeoisie, over time
Durkheim sees anomie as responsible for the world’s disorder of economics- the lack of morality and regulation resulted in overpowering the weak; thus, he feels that only norms can prevent the abuse of power and calls for regulation and equal opportunity from birth- the greater the equal opportunity the less need for restraint. Marx looked at how capitalism separated humanity by making work a simple means of individual existence. In addition he describes society in terms of class and economic conflicts. Marx saw proletariat or people of a working class as being underneath the bourgeoisie or the capitalist of a modern society. Marx looked at how alienation of production of commodities by workers also leads to alienation of social life.
Structural theories such as functionalism and Marxism are macro (large scale), and deterministic: they see society as a real thing existing over and above us, shaping our ideas and behaviour – individuals are like puppets, manipulated by society. Social action theorists use qualitative research methods to gather an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and the reasons behind such behaviour. This method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where and when, for example, covert or overt participant observations and unstructured interviews. Structural approaches use methods that are scientific, as they want quantitative data (e.g. questionnaires and surveys).
How does Weber's view on social class differ from that of Marx? A: Weber’s view was that social class had three dimensions of stratification: class, status, and party. Marx’s view was that social class has a two-class system. 7. Describe the World System of stratification as developed by Immanuel Wallerstein.
It wasn’t until shortly after his death that Karl Marx’s ideology began to significantly influence socialist movements. Although relatively unknown during his lifetime he has become one of the fundamental economic and sociological figures of the modern era. Many of his theories and insights into the way society functions are still relevant in the expanding capitalist society that exists today. Marx was very critical of capitalism and the division in society between the bourgeoisie and proletariat classes, attempting to highlight the injustice and exploitation of the working class by the wealthy upper and middle class. Marx predicted that capitalism within a socioeconomic system would inevitably create internal tensions between social classes leading to its demise and replacement by a new system, communism.
Classical Sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920), recognizes several interlinked relational patterns that lead to stratification; whereas Marxists reduce all inequality to economics (the differences in access to and use of wealth—all of one’s financial assets—between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat), Weber expands stratification into three related yet distinct components: Class, Status, and Party. “We may speak of a ‘class’ when (1) a number of people have in common a specific causal component of their life chances, in so far as, (2) this component is represented exclusively by economic interests in the possession of