SOCY1002 Lecture 11: Technologies and Social Change
SOCY1002 Lecture Notes
[Lecture Eleven]
Technologies and Social Change
WHAT GENERATES SOCIAL CHANGE?
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
• He is mostly known as he created the idea of communism -he created a path for a change
towards communism
• But above all, Marx created a system of thinking to help understand social change
• “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”
• Before Marx there were observations regarding inequalities and differences between social
classes – e.g. health issues in poverty
• What did Marx bring in regards to these observations about the inequalities:
- He established that there is conflict between social classes and these relationships
establish social change and there is a struggle between the proletariat and the
bourgeoisie
- He notes that there are between 4-7 classes, not just the proletariat and bourgeoisie
• Marx noted that classes are distinct because of the differences in their positions in the mode
of production
• He generally distinguished between 6 classes:
1. Bourgeoisie – class of people who own the capital – possess the mean of production
2. Proletariat – owns the labour power/ability to work – don’t process anything but are
the working force in the mode of production
3. Landlords – most of the people who possess most of the land in the 19th century – e.g.
the land
4. The middle class – work and possess some of the modes of production – e.g.
shopkeeper who owns their own shop but works in it as well
5. Lumpenproletariat – the most precarious people – they don’t have as many jobs as the
proletariat
6. Farmers – own a little bit of the land and work on the land
• Each group has different interests in regards to the working conditions
• Marx focused on the bourgeoisie and the proletariat as they are the groups that are most aware
of their interests and are struggling for these interests
• According to Marx the use of technology was to increase the Bourgeoisie’s dominance over
the lower classes
Max Weber (1964-1920)
• According to Weber – if capitalism is possible it is because of a certain mindset has
beforehand has allowed its emergence
• Capitalism has emerged and is changing as people are raised in a certain mindset which
encourages this type of life
• Weber believed that some set of ideas shape people’s disposition to live in certain ways
• He believed that there were 3 types of authority:
1) Traditional authority – e.g. in monarchy’s there is a respect of tradition
2) Charismatic authority
3) Rational-legal authority (bureaucracy)
Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904) – The Laws of Imitation
