Sociology, Philosophy – Marxist Conflict Theory
Egalitarian Class Struggle, Racism, Sexism, The Communist Manifesto
Sep 6, 2009
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) was a highly influential political philosopher, sociologist, and revolutionary that is responsible, alongside colleague Friedrich Engels, for The Communist Manifesto, as well as the Conflict approach to sociological theory.
Karl Marx and Conflict Theory in Sociology
Conflict theory is a notion deeply rooted in the concepts of class struggle, economic slavery and repression, and the power relationships between those who own the means of production in a capitalist society (the bourgeoisie and to a lesser extent, the petty bourgeoisie) and those who are simply tools to be used in the production of greater capital (the proletariat – or workers).
Conflict theory can also extend to other struggles existent in society – racial tension between blacks and whites, sexism primarily exerted toward women, religious punishment against a minority group of believers, and so on.
Conflict theory in sociology normally refers to the deeply realized social stratification present in post Industrial Revolution societies. The extortion of the working class – or the proletariat – by the bourgoisie – the capitalist (investor) class – is the crux of economic conflict theory. Workers are paid as little as the market will allow, and without regulation, this pay is often extortionate, a pittance in contrast to the profit that the bourgeoisie are making from this labour.
Ownership of the Means of Production, Alienation
From a broad philosophical angle, consider the following :
The worker toils to produce goods and services and reaps a reward of subsistence while the capitalist works very little and takes the remainder of the transaction. As long as the worker is kept in a subservient, submissive position – unable to take control of the means of production and to negotiate the terms of sale of his or her own labour – the proletariat continues to be exploited, and remains in constant conflict against the capitalist class.
The worker is thus removed from his work, he is alienated (distanced) from his own craft, his livelihood, his role in society.
The worker is much more susceptible to alienation – a disconnect with society – because they are no longer directly in control of their labour, the produce from the sweat of their brow – but rather an unrecognized cog in a much larger assembly line, far removed from the results of their trade and hard work.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
Originally published in 1848, The Communist Manifesto is arguably one of the most politically and socially important works in human history.
A collaborative project between Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto laid out a groundwork of themes and notions that would, theoretically, produce a classless society alongside the downfall of bourgeoisie capitalism.
The Communist Manifesto called for the abolition of private land ownership, rather suggesting land be publicly owned, a heavily progressive income tax, free education for children in public schools, abolition of child labour, and centralisation of credit and the means of communication and transport amongst other items of note.
Following the “generally applicable” ten dictates laid out in The Communist Manifesto, the chapter closes with the following passage, considered by many to be prophetic and undoubtedly representative of Marxist philosophy:
"When, in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose its political character.
Political power, properly so called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another.
If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organise itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class.
In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all."
Other Articles Related to Sociology, Philosophy, and Social Issues
Interested in reading up on sociological theory? Perhaps an article referring to Robert Merton's Social Strain Theory or even Cooley's Theory of the Looking Glass Self might help pass the time.
Those interested in more populist literature might do well to read a literature review of John Steinbeck's "The Pearl," concerned with class struggle and human greed.
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