Compare and contrast Karl Marx's and Max Weber's views of stratification. Which of these views is most closely related to the conceptualization of socioeconomic status (SES) used today?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

According to Karl Marx, social position revolved around one important factor: ownership of the means of production. In essence, there were capitalists who owned the factories and other means of producing goods, and there were workers who sold their labor in order to survive.
Max Weber identified three aspects of social structure: class, status, and power. Class refers to our position relative to the economic sector, such as proprietor, wage laborer, or renter. Status refers to social position in the context of characteristics such as education, prestige, or religious affiliation. Power describes our political affiliations and connections.
Weber's ideas led to a conceptualization of U.S. social class as a continuum of socioeconomic status (SES), rather than as a set of discrete categories that we can easily distinguish from each other.