ESSAY ON MARX AND CLASS
Karl Marx was essentially an enlightenment thinker who wanted to revolutionise society and had
adopted a historical materialist approach in looking at class struggle and the composition of society.
In discussing Karl Marx and his central ideas, the context to his writings is pivotal; his early writings
were rooted in the late 18th century, a time of outbursts of social and political change, stemming
from the French revolution, 1789 (Giddens, 1971). Throughout his work, Marx touches upon few
main themes; the conception of the progressive ‘self-creation’ of man, the notion of alienation, the
abolition of the state, historical materialism and the theory of revolutionary praxis.
At the earliest stage, there were no perceived classes, and everything was shared (primitive
communism); the notion of a presupposed ‘class’ or position in society came about with the
development of an industrial society in which the division between the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie became evident (Engles, 1888). The Proletariat is a ‘class which has radical chains’, living
in artificial poverty- the outcome of the contemporary organisation of industrial production. Marx
holds that Capitalism, the division between classes, is the means of the bourgeoise keeping control of
the means of production and keeping the proletariat unaware and unable to do anything about it; it
is ultimately a ‘swindle’.
Society is controlled by the Capitalist ideology which pushes the notion that everyone is free and
uses social institutions such as religion, which Marx described as the ‘Opium of the people’, as
control mechanisms, keeping people in a state of ‘false-class-consciousness’, to stop the proletariat
from challenging the oppressive nature of society. Marx notes the distinction between the Base, or
infrastructure, and the superstructure. The base is the economic level of society, owned by the
bourgeoise, and the superstructure, which is made up of societal ideas and beliefs, is built on top of
it. Not only do the ruling class control the ideals and norms of society, they also possess the means of
production in a capitalist society, one with surplus value.
Furthermore, class is a significant focus of Marx throughout his writings; he describes an alienated
condition in which individuals feel powerless, where life seems meaningless and people feel isolated
from each other. Humans true nature is based on the capacity to create things to meet our needs
and alienation is the result of the loss of control of all labour, and under capitalism, this reaches its
peak due to workers being completely separated from production and being reduced to an unskilled
labour. This process is described further by Giddens (1971): “material objects which are produced
become treated as on par with the worker himself”. Ultimately, the consumerist ideology pushed by
capitalism means that the more goods a worker produces, the cheaper a commodity becomes and
the increase in the value of the world of ‘things’ directly relates to the devaluation of the human
world. The alienation of the working class is founded in the disparity between the productive power
of labour and the lack of control the worker is able to exert over the objects which he produces.
Class is essentially a collection of people that are in the same economic and social position and
according to Marx, under capitalism, the proletariat are in a condition of property-less slave labour,
with the ruling class owning property and in control of the means of production. There is a need for
revolutionary class action in order to achieve social consciousness and bring about fundamental
change, moving towards communism, which will allow for the “the expansion od particular potentials
and capabilities of individuals” (Giddens, 1971). Marx holds that the state of communism, brought
about through revolutionary means, will be the necessary move from the realm of necessity to the
realm of freedom.
Karl Marx was essentially an enlightenment thinker who wanted to revolutionise society and had
adopted a historical materialist approach in looking at class struggle and the composition of society.
In discussing Karl Marx and his central ideas, the context to his writings is pivotal; his early writings
were rooted in the late 18th century, a time of outbursts of social and political change, stemming
from the French revolution, 1789 (Giddens, 1971). Throughout his work, Marx touches upon few
main themes; the conception of the progressive ‘self-creation’ of man, the notion of alienation, the
abolition of the state, historical materialism and the theory of revolutionary praxis.
At the earliest stage, there were no perceived classes, and everything was shared (primitive
communism); the notion of a presupposed ‘class’ or position in society came about with the
development of an industrial society in which the division between the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie became evident (Engles, 1888). The Proletariat is a ‘class which has radical chains’, living
in artificial poverty- the outcome of the contemporary organisation of industrial production. Marx
holds that Capitalism, the division between classes, is the means of the bourgeoise keeping control of
the means of production and keeping the proletariat unaware and unable to do anything about it; it
is ultimately a ‘swindle’.
Society is controlled by the Capitalist ideology which pushes the notion that everyone is free and
uses social institutions such as religion, which Marx described as the ‘Opium of the people’, as
control mechanisms, keeping people in a state of ‘false-class-consciousness’, to stop the proletariat
from challenging the oppressive nature of society. Marx notes the distinction between the Base, or
infrastructure, and the superstructure. The base is the economic level of society, owned by the
bourgeoise, and the superstructure, which is made up of societal ideas and beliefs, is built on top of
it. Not only do the ruling class control the ideals and norms of society, they also possess the means of
production in a capitalist society, one with surplus value.
Furthermore, class is a significant focus of Marx throughout his writings; he describes an alienated
condition in which individuals feel powerless, where life seems meaningless and people feel isolated
from each other. Humans true nature is based on the capacity to create things to meet our needs
and alienation is the result of the loss of control of all labour, and under capitalism, this reaches its
peak due to workers being completely separated from production and being reduced to an unskilled
labour. This process is described further by Giddens (1971): “material objects which are produced
become treated as on par with the worker himself”. Ultimately, the consumerist ideology pushed by
capitalism means that the more goods a worker produces, the cheaper a commodity becomes and
the increase in the value of the world of ‘things’ directly relates to the devaluation of the human
world. The alienation of the working class is founded in the disparity between the productive power
of labour and the lack of control the worker is able to exert over the objects which he produces.
Class is essentially a collection of people that are in the same economic and social position and
according to Marx, under capitalism, the proletariat are in a condition of property-less slave labour,
with the ruling class owning property and in control of the means of production. There is a need for
revolutionary class action in order to achieve social consciousness and bring about fundamental
change, moving towards communism, which will allow for the “the expansion od particular potentials
and capabilities of individuals” (Giddens, 1971). Marx holds that the state of communism, brought
about through revolutionary means, will be the necessary move from the realm of necessity to the
realm of freedom.
