ANTH 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Enculturation, The Communist Manifesto, Pierre Bourdieu
Class and Inequality:
● Karl Marx: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat:
○ Karl Marx made observations about class and inequality during the transition
from agriculture to industrial equipment in the early 1800’s (the Industrial
Revolution)
○ During the Industrial Revolution, people were moving from rural areas and farms
into cities to work in factories, because that is where the money was. These
factories began to divide people into classes. The workers were no longer
establishing relationships with those who bought the product.
○ During this time, factories provided most of the jobs that were available.
Working in a factory awarded one with miserable conditions. Working in the
factories was very dangerous, and safety was not of concern. Child labor was
popular
○ The miserable conditions, dangers of the job and child labor prompted Karl Marx
to write about the current conditions, study them and become a prominent
activist
○ Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto, which focused on two classes- the
Bourgeoisie (upper class, wealthy) and the Proletariat (lower class, poor)
○ The Bourgeoisie owned the land, factories and raw materials. They owned “the
means of production”
○ The Proletariat were “the mode of production”. They were how goods were
produced, and the human labor behind the production. The mode of production
also had to do with the relationships between the people, their product and the
relationships between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats
○ The proletariats were taken advantage of. They did not own anything to do with
the production and only provided human labor
○ This method of class during the Industrial Revolution is simplified from what it is
now. Today, these classes and relationships are more complex. There are many
intermediate roles between the two extremes
○ Karl Marx was very concerned about how those who weren’t as well off were
offering their labor but not getting a lot in return
○ Besides writing about what he saw going on, Karl Marx also proposed a solution
which became very controversial. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx explained
that he thought that the Proletariats should resist the Bourgeoisie. He thought
that they should make an enforced form of economic egalitarianism
○ Marx’s propositions were very controversial, but influenced people around the
world. Many people felt inspired by his ideas and revolted against the upper
class. As we can see today however, these revolutions failed, partially due to the
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Document Summary
Karl marx made observations about class and inequality during the transition from agriculture to industrial equipment in the early 1800"s (the industrial. During the industrial revolution, people were moving from rural areas and farms into cities to work in factories, because that is where the money was. These factories began to divide people into classes. The workers were no longer establishing relationships with those who bought the product. During this time, factories provided most of the jobs that were available. Working in a factory awarded one with miserable conditions. Working in the factories was very dangerous, and safety was not of concern. The miserable conditions, dangers of the job and child labor prompted karl marx to write about the current conditions, study them and become a prominent activist. Karl marx wrote the communist manifesto, which focused on two classes- the. Bourgeoisie (upper class, wealthy) and the proletariat (lower class, poor) The bourgeoisie owned the land, factories and raw materials.
