Explain sociologist Karl Marx's perspective on class position and class relationships

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

According to sociologist Karl Marx, class position and the extent of our income and
wealth are determined by our work situation, or our relationship to the means of
production. Marx stated that capitalistic societies consist of two classes—the
capitalists and the workers. The capitalist class (bourgeoisie) consists of those who
own the means of production—the land and capital necessary for factories and mines.
The working class (proletariat) consists of those who must sell their labor to the
owners in order to earn enough money to survive. According to Marx, class
relationships involve inequality and exploitation. The workers are exploited as
capitalists maximize their profits by paying workers less than the resale value of what
they produce but do not own. Continual exploitation results in workers' alienation—a
feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from oneself. I n
Marx's view, the capitalist class maintains its position at the top of the class structure
by control of the society's superstructure, which is composed of the government,
schools, churches, and other social institutions that produce and disseminate ideas
perpetuating the existing system of exploitation. Marx predicted that the exploitation
of workers by the capitalist class would ultimately lead to class conflict—the struggle
between the capitalist class and the working class. According to Marx, when the
workers realized that capitalists were the source of their oppression, they would
overthrow the capitalists and their agents of social control, leading to the end of
capitalism. The workers would then take over the government and create a more
egalitarian society.