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.
Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat” (Marx and Engels 1848). Social class, therefore, is based upon economic criteria and conflict occurs between those who own the means of production (bourgeoisie) and the wage-labourers (proletariat). As well as having economic control over the proletariat, the bourgeoisie also have the power to determine the superstructure; the ruling class can distort perceptions of the world and hide the true nature of social relationships and the exploitation of the proletariat and, above all, promote bourgeoisie interests. Marx defines production as workers selling their labour for wages in order to exchange money for commodities that will meet their most basic needs. As Marx
It is useful for highlighting why, in the working class, those who cannot achieve in education, they then therefore suffer from status frustration and in this process turn to other people who also cannot achieve in this institution. Thus, explaining why deviance subcultures exist. This theory of status frustration is said to focus too much on utilitarian crime which is committed for material gain, but what it does not say much about is the explanation for why people commit non-utilitarian crimes like vandalism and assault. Cohen realised this and backed up this explanation by talking about alternative status hierarchy. When working class boys find that they cannot perform well in mainstream education, they look at the values of not only the education system, but the values in modern society and turn them upside down, by valuing the opposite.
In Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale, the Chaucer's choice in genre—the fabliau—presents the unusual circumstances behind the social status of millers in Chaucer’s time. The Miller tells a fabliau, which would have been considered a genre written for (and written by) the aristocracy, and often used to scorn and disparage the middle class (Lewis 244-245). Because of the nature of their profession and the wealth they often accrued as a result, the social stature of millers were difficult to identify; however, Chaucer’s Miller is arrogant and considers himself to be part of the upper class (Lambdin & Lambdin 272). The Miller attempts to elevate himself to—or at least emulate—the upper class by telling a tale that would have befitted someone of higher social rank than he would have been considered during Chaucer’s time. Chaucer presents the state of social limbo that millers were in by stressing the Miller’s sense of entitlement in comparison to the true nature of his work and the reason for his presumed wealth—theft and dishonesty.
Comparisons between the classes usually turn out to be “deficit” accounts of lower-status families. Culture of poverty, underclass Cultural explanations obscure or ignore the social and material realities of class. Rodman: “lower class family traits” are actually solutions to problems faced by lower class people Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID): families experience short-term spells of poverty as result of dramatic changes (divorce, sudden unemployment, serious illness) Structural Explanations of Class Examine the ways in which social class shapes the networks of relationships between families, individuals, and institutions. Focus on relationships of power between class groups The key to social
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
In one side there is the working class fighting for his rights, and on the other side middle and upper class seeking their profits. As a result, frictions occur among the classes leading to a Democratic revolution. The industrial revolution has an important effect on America, but it is also a threat that creates frictions among classes
What efforts were made to improve the lot As defined by the famous 1800's revolutionary socialist, Karl Marx, the working class are individuals who sell their labor power for wages and who do not own the means of production. He argued that they were responsible for creating the wealth of a society. He asserted that the working class physically build bridges, craft furniture, grow food, and nurse children, but do not own land, or factories. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx argued that it was the destiny of the working class to displace the capitalist system, abolishing the social relationships underpinning the class system and then developing into a future communist society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." The history of the working class has been set by the vast surplus of production available from industrialization creating better living standards.
People tend to assume the existence of race as an inferior fact yet it exists as a major problem within the community. As evident from the history of many nations, the ethics of race continues to increase coldly as generation passes. This, supremely, interferes with the development of various projects (Appiah and Gutmann
In this theory, there is almost always a struggle for power with the wealthy usually winning while the poor loose and therefore have less resources. The idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer due to oppression by the rich. Karl Marx is associated with conflict theory. 2. Sociologists use two levels of analysis.