Marxs ideas on Class Structur essays

Marx's ideas on Class Structur essays Sociology 1001 Assessment 2 Marx A 250 - word summary of Marxs conception of class (the basic ideas, their strengths and limitations). Marx, as a sociologist, used the idea of class within his work fairly extensively but often assumed the knowledge of his reader when it came to a definition. The lack of an actual definition of class by Marx, when it was so fundamental in much of his work was strange but he did write about the topic fairly extensively. Marx analysed class in relation to the means of production and the ownership of the capital. He looked at class by dividing the population into who owned property and who was propertyless, the capitalists and the proletariat. However class for Marx wasnt simply a division of income or functional positions in the labour force but he saw classes as a social force with the strength to change society. Marx thought that production was so important in the creation of class because it creates a hierarchy. In production, men not only act on nature but also on one another. He believed that classes were created when production involves a division of labour, which allows surplus production that can be appropriated by a minority group. In short I would take this to mean that classes are created on the back of exploitation. Marxs idea of class does have certain limitations in that there are positions within society that would be classless according to it. Although Marx recognised these groups he argued that they would disappear because they were just left overs from the pre capitalist days. However even now, around 100 years on, there would still be a certain number of, apparently, classless people. Also with the great emergence of the service sector within developed, and even developing, countries production, as Marx knew it, has changed extensively. Marxs idea of class do, however show a great significance ...