SOC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: January 30, Proletariat, Bourgeoisie

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1101
• Professor: Willow Scobie

Document Summary

Government, law, religion, law ow from the in uence of the way we produce things. People (workers) who have common relationship to the means of production. How they earn their living = their class production. Two main classes: bourgeoisie - industrialists, capitalists, owners of the ways people make money, proletariat - working class, sell their labour to the bourgeoisie. What about professionals, doctors, lawyers, priests: marx argued they were also the proletariat. Not only do the two classes exist but their relationship is fraught with tension, struggle, and exploitation. Self realization through work - people want to work, be busy, create things, do something. It is capitalism that inverted the world of work and turned it against workers, making them no longer want to work but have to be forced to work. Most important changes were brought upon by capitalism. Features: private ownership, pro t is incentive, free competition, use of cheap labour, driven by expansion and investment for wealth.