SOC231H5 Study Guide - Bourgeoisie, Productive Forces, For Marx
Document Summary
Provide a critical account of marx"s concepts of class and class struggle for understanding inequality, social change and globalization. Marx"s concept of class and class struggle are important in understanding his perspective on inequalities and social change. Marx describes a simplified model of class: one either owns or does not own the means of production . So you are either a capitalist or a worker. Marx is not suggesting that only 2 classes exist, but he is illustrating 2 points: 1. That level of development of the productive forces will determine the nature of its social form, and 2. That the economic base will determine the social superstructure of a society, and that the superstructure and consciousness of a society will change as the economic base undergoes change. To understand marx"s conception of society, one must understand marx"s triad model of industrial capitalism. Marx defines the economic base as consisting of 2 things: 1.
