Karl Marx Conflict Theory

Some Americans would consider this year’s inauguration to be their most daunting holiday, for it was the day that our new President, whose political agendas greatly concern the rights of many who live in this country (and humanity in general), came into power. However that being said, this same person unexpectedly brought about an unprecedented social movement. Americans are uniting throughout the nation to stand for equality of gender, race, sexuality and religion altogether. This is typically how movements and revolutions arise, from a social, political, or economic threat. Karl Marx’s journey through oppression in mid-18th century Europe brought him to question that common social issue we call inequality. His Communist Manifesto is a prime example of a socio-political movement, only it focuses primarily on the inequality between rich and poor and less with religion or gender (although the two are still part of the subject matter). And much like how our new President triggered a counter response from his nation, so too did the capitalist economy face from its working class.

Conflict theory aims to explain the universal phenomena of social division, mainly among the rich and poor. Marx believed that all social problems were the result of class division. Fundamentally, there are two classes, the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and the proletariat (workers). In Marx’s view, powerful groups or in this case, the capitalists who owned factories, would exploit the lower working class for their own interest, rather than the greater economic good. In a broader perspective, the rich will selfishly take advantage of the poor and in doing so, will maintain social order. Marx lived in a time where he was able to observe this first hand. It was the beginning of the industrial revolution, and there were uprisings all throughout Europe. Factory owners soon gained power because naturally in that society, “property or wealth accords an aspect of authority,”(page 6 Authority of Power) this can invite a conditioned submission. Capitalists abused this power and continued to overtask workers in horrible conditions and workers began demanding their rights and freedom. For Marx, this new social movement was up his ally; he was a student of Hegelian philosophy and focused his studies on the relationship between state and society. One of Marx’s favorite Hegelian quotes is, “Man is ruled by the things that he himself created.” In essence, people can only free themselves of oppression if they abolish the authority that creates it. And so Marx sided the workers and published the Communist Manifesto with his friend Engels; it was a political critique of the class divided society.

In the Intro to Sociology textbook it states that Marx beleived, “social change is prompted primarily by economic influences.” (page 14) This became apparent when the merchant class overthrew the once feudal society of Europe.  It is stated that “feudal societies of Europe were based on peasant production under the class of wealthy lords.” (page 393 Intro to Sociology) Nobles would then eventually run out of money and turn to the merchants for help. This shift in social and economic change became known as ‘capitalism’. The emergence of the industrial factories called for a lot of labor, and so peasants fled from villages and migrated to the city. Although this seemed like a promising opportunity for peasants to gain some sort of income, they were nevertheless under the threat of deprivation. Capitalists were viewed as an oppressive power by the working class. In the Anatomy of Power, author John Galbraith elaborates on the ‘instruments of enforcement’ during the industrial capital revolution and states, “Employers can exploit workers, but workers under pressure of stark and painful need can exploit themselves.” (page 109) Galbraith also concluded that ‘compensatory power’ was the dominant tactic for winning submission. So not only do the capitalists need workers to gain their personal profit, but workers also depend on the labor as means for livelihood. Essentially, the two classes were interdependent of each other.

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