Class-Marx versus Weber
The word "class" can be something of a confusing term. Its definition seems self-evident. In its conventional, common usage, the term "class" means an individual's social status and/or membership in a particular economic stratum. The paradigm of society as a class system is used by many social theorists to both analyze and prescribe remedies for societal inequalities. Yet "class" often means quite different things in the context of a particular author's theory. The most famous exponent of the idea that all of society, indeed all of history can be understood as a class conflict is, of course, Karl Marx. Still, when reading a philosopher, his or her meaning of "class" cannot be taken for granted. This is evident in a comparison of economists Karl Marx and Frederick Engel's definition of class with sociologist Max Weber's reinterpretation of the term. Weber attempted to refine Marx and Engel's definition to account for different perceptions of class, the impact of education, and above all the possibility of social mobility as components of 'class.' Karl Marx posited that a class struggle had always existed between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. The struggle that was seemingly intrinsic only to capitalist, industrial society c
Weber would argue that class could be founded upon non-economically related issues. Social class was determined by the potentiality of mobility, spanning from the most privileged, to propertyless but still powerful 'intelligentsia,' Marx's petty bourgeois, and working classes (Cueno, 2008). For example, according to Weber, someone with the same income who had a high school education, lived in a small town, and ran his own business, would be of a different sort of class than a college professor in an urban location, despite the fact these two individuals were in the same tax bracket. ould be traced back to an age-old struggle between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' of all societies. The worker rented his or her body and was used as a tool by a land or factory owner who did nothing, except enjoy his or her superior status as an owner. The reason that Marx's revolution did not occur on a world-wide basis, R. Society is divided by even more complex cultural markers of class than ever before, and these markers often differ from nation to nation, depending on the ability of members of all classes to aspire to live better than they do at present. Class was determined by an individual's exclusion or inclusion in the institution of property ownership. A better-paid proletariat worker was still exploited, even if society might esteem a certain type of manual labor more than another, and a higher income might enable the worker to consume more goods that garnered him or her greater social prestige. Moreover, people's perceptions of the ability to move up within the class system have improved, rightly or wrongly, and they have begun to identify with the classes 'above' them, rather than those standing besides them (Rummel 2008). The work of the poor financed the labor of the wealthy, and owning property generated more wealth for the 'haves. The increased cultural homogenization of the proletariat that had been produced in urban locations would intensify their sense of commonality. This view seems less extreme if one considers Marx's specific definition of class in terms of ownership. Writing in the early 1900s, Weber took a more sociological gloss upon the issue of what constituted 'class. The common culture and interests of class would coalesce and give rise to a revolution lead by the have-nots.
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