MarxianTheory of Class Struggle or Class Conflict

Theory of class struggle

Q. Short note on views of karl marxs on socialist revolution ? 2012
Q. Short note on marxs theory of class struggles? 2013
Q.4. “Equal distribution of wealth”, explain this statement in the light
of Marx’s philosophy.
Introduction

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."
– Karl Heinrich Marx (1818– 1883)

He was the most important of all theorists of socialism. He was not a

professional philosopher, although he completed a doctorate in philosophy.
Classes are obviously of immense importance in Marx‟s view of history. A class
only exists when it is conscious of itself as such and it always implies common
hostility to other social groups. Classes consist of haves and have not's,
proletariat and bourgeoisie, capitalist and workers and feudal lords and vassals
etc. Class struggle exists with particular historical phases of development of
production which lead to the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx(5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German political
philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary
socialist. Marx's work in economics laid the basis for the current
understanding of labor and its relation to capital, and has influenced much
of subsequent economic thought. He published numerous works during his
life time, the most notable being The Communist Manifesto(1848) and Das
Kapital (1867 – 1894).
He was a German born philosopher who lived the majority of his adult life
in London, England. Marx was born on 5 May, 1818, in Trier, a small,
originally Roman, city on the river Moselle. In The Communist Manifesto,
Karl Marx argued that a classis formed when its members achieve class
consciousness and solidarity. This largely happens when the members of a
class become aware of their exploitation and the conflict with another
class. A class will then realize their shared interests and a common identity.
According to Marx, a class will then take action against those that are
exploiting the lower classes. He died on 14 March1883 and is buried in High
gate Cemetery, London.
 I nt ro d u c t i o n

 The Marxist theory of classes and class strugglebelongtothekey

problems bothof theory and political practice, strategy and tacticsof
theworkingclass.
 It makes possible a scientific analysis of each historical stage of social
development, a preliminary condition if the political struggle forthe
victoryofsocialismistohaveeffective leadership.
Definition of Class
Generally class is an economic group and economic inequality is the main
element of class struggle or class conflict. A comprehensive definition of class,
in the spirit of Marx was given by V. I. Lenin-

“Classes are large groups of people differing from each other by the
position they hold in a given historical system social production, by their
relations to means of production, their role in social organization of labor and
thus by their methods of acquiring and the size of the share of social wealth at
their disposal. Classes are such group of people of which one can appropriate
the work of the other, because it holds a different place in a given system
of social economy.”

Criteria of a Class
According to Marx, every class needs two criteria-

1. Relationship to the prevailing mode of production.

2. Consciousness of itself as a group.
 THE ESSENCE OF MARXIST THEORY
AND CLASS STRUGGLE
 Marx regards classes and class struggle as a historicalphenomenon
whichtookplaceata givenstageofhistoricaldevelopment. It resulted in a
socialist revolution and the dictatorshipoftheproletariat,conditionsfor
the extinction of classes and the creation of classless society.
 Class struggle, or class warfare or class conflict, is tension or
antagonism in society. It is said to exist because different groups
of people have different interests. Looking at society this way is a
feature of Marxism and socialism. Social sciences group people
with similar social features into classes. Most of these features
are economic. According to Marxism, there are two main classes
of people. The bourgeoisie controls the capital
and means of production, and the proletariat provides the labor.
The Idea o f Class Conflict is
central t o Marxian Thought
 Marxian sociology is often called “The
sociology of class conflict”.
 The idea of class war emerges from the
theories of
 Dialectic materialism
 Materialistic interpretation ofhistory
 Surplus value
 Main Promise
“The history of the hitherto existing society is the history of the
class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord
and serf, guild- master and journey man, in a word, oppressore
and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another,
carried on uninterrupted, now hidden and open fight, a fight
that each time ended in a revolutionary reconstitution of society
at large, or in common ruin of the contending classes.”
The communist manifesto, 1848
 War between Classes
 Marx says that according to the relentless law of
history, a particular class owns and controls the means
of production, and by virtue of this exploits the rest of
the people.
 The capitalist class makes use of the state as an
instrument of oppression and exploitation.
 Thus at every stage there are broadly two
classes:
 The Exploiters (the owners of means of production)
 The exploited
Core Elements of Class Struggle
1. Overall, there are six elements in Marx's view of class conflict.

2. Classes are authority relationships based on property ownership.

3. A class defines groupings of individuals with shared life situations, thus

interests.

4. Classes are naturally antagonistic by virtue of their interests.

5. Imminent within modern society is the growth of two

antagonistic classes and their struggle, which eventually absorbs all
social relations.

6. Political organization and Power is an instrumentality of class struggle,

and reigning ideas are its reflection.

7. Structural change is a consequence of the class struggle.

Primitive Communist Society:

In this society there are no class and no private property. There was absence of sense of
deprivation for which the class for itself concept was not emerged. As a result the class
struggle has not been emerged in the Primitive Communist Society.

Ancient Society:
In this society the means of production and the relations of production were changed. As a
result, class was emerged and sense of deprivation was identified that helped to emerge
the class for itself concept. From that time, class struggle was emerged between the master
and the slave. In this stage, agriculture and cattle rearing started. Certain people were the
owner of the land and certain people were slaves. For example, in Rome patricians, knights,
slaves were emerged as different class.

Feudal Society:
In this society big landlords were the owners of the land and slaves produce everything but
they were not the owners of the land. They were under the control of their feudal lords. In
this society, two classes, the landlords and the others were emerged and massive economic
exploitation that created class struggle to emancipate the others from the landlords. In 19th
century the Britain, Germany, Portugal are the prominent example of this society.
Capitalist Society:
Because of class conflict, the feudalist society was abolished and the capitalist society has
been emerged. In this society, two classes have been emerged, bourgeoisie and
proletariat. In this society the bourgeoisie class is highly benefited rather than the
proletariat class. Bourgeoisie is the class of modern capitalist who control over the means
of production. And the proletariat as no control over the means of production.
Bourgeoisie puts importance on the accumulation of profit for which the few getting
richer and the proletariat becoming poorer because of much exploitations
Economic exploitation and inhuman working condition leads the increasing alienation of
the proletariat.
• Fighting against bourgeoisie.
• Revolutionary class.
• Enlightenment and progress of proletariat.
• Invisible victory of the proletariat.

Communist Society:
Communist society is the last step of class struggle. When fully communist country has
established, no class struggle will be present because every person enjoys same
opportunities in a communist society. So, no class struggle and no class will be in
communist society.
Essent i al Aspect s of Theor y
Marx developed histheoryofclassconflictinhisanalysis andcritique ofthe
capitalistsociety.The mainingredientsofthistheoryofconflict have been enlisted
by Abraham and Morgan as described in this session.
 1 . The Development o f the P r o l e t a r i a t
Marxist analysis of society identifies two main social groups-

1. Labor (the proletariator workers) includes anyone who earns

their livelihood by selling their labor power and being paid a
wage or salary for their labor time. They have little choice but
to work for capital, since they typically have no independent
way to survive.

1. Capital (the bourgeoisie or capitalists) includes anyone who

gets their income not from labor as much as from the surplus
value they appropriate from the workers who create
wealth. The income of the capitalists, therefore, is based on
their exploitation of the workers (proletariat).
 Accentuation (to stress) of capital is the essence of
capitalism. Capital is gained according to Marx, from the
exploitation of the masses of population of the working
class. As the Bourgeoisie develops there is a
corresponding development in the proletariat.
According to Marx the Bourg. Is defined as those
who own capital Proletariat does not own capital
Under competitive conditions .the Bourg Devour
themselves The Proletariat then overthrows the
Bourg In a revolution.
2. Importance o f Property

 According to Marx, the most distinguishing feature of

any society is its form of property.
 Individuals behavior is determined by his relations
toproperty. Property divisions are the crucial
breaking lines in the class structure. Classes are
determined on the basis of individual’s relation to
the means of production.
 3.Identification of Economic and
Political Power and Authority

 From a marxian perspective, political power emerges from

economic power. The power of the ruling class therefore stems
from its ownership and control of the forces of production. The
political and legal systems reflect ruling class interests. The political
power and ideology thus seem to serve the same functions for
capitaliststhatclass consciousnessservesfortheworkingclass.
 4. Po l a r i zat i o n o f Classes
 In the capitalistsociety,therecould be only two social
classes:

 TheCapitalistswho own themeans of productionand

distribution and
 TheWorking classes who own nothing buttheirown labor.

 Though Marx had repeatedlyreferredto the intermediate

state such as the “small capitalists”, “thepettibourgeoisie”
and the“lumpen proletariat”, he was of thefirm belief thatat
the height of conflict these would be drawn into the ranks
of the proletariat.
 RaymondAron has termedthis process as
“proletarianisation”.
 5 . The theory o f Surplus Value
 Marx believed that the capitalists accumulate profit through the
exploitationoflabor.
 In fact, the relationship between the capitalists and workers is not
only one of dominance and subordination, but also of
exploitation. Theworkersproducemorewealthintheform offood,
manufactured goods ad services than is necessity to meet their
basicneeds.
 In other words, they produce “Surplus Wealth”. But they
do not enjoy the use of the surplus they have created.
Instead, those who own the means of production are able
to seize this surplus wealth as “profit” for their own use.
According to Marx, this is the essence of exploitation and
the main source of conflict between the classes.
 6. Pauperization

 Exploitationoftheworkerscanonlyaddtotheir misery and poverty. But

thesameexploitationhelps the richto becomericher.. Ineverymodeof
productionwhichinvolvesthe exploitationofmanby man,majorityof
people, the people who labor, are condemned to toil for nomorethan
the barest necessities of life. According to Marx,povertyistheresultof
exploitation not of scarcity.
 7 . A l i e n ati on = se parati on
 Theprocess ofalienationis centraltoMarxian theory ofclass
conflict.
 Theeconomicexploitationand inhuman working conditions
leadtoincreasing alienationofman.
 Alienationresultsfrom alackofsense ofcontrol over the social
world.
 Thesocialworldconfrontspeopleas ahostile thing, leaving
them “alien” in the very environmentthattheyhave
created.
 Thesituationofalienationripens themood of theworkerfor
aconflict.
 8 . Class solidarity and
Antagonism
 With the growth of class consciousness among the working class,
theirclass solidarity becomes crystallized.
 Theworkingclassbecomes internally more homogeneous and this
would help to intensify the class struggle,
 Because of this class feeling and solidarity, theworkers are ableto
form unions against the bourgeoisie.
 They club together in order to keep up the rate of wages.
 They form associations in order to make provisions before hand for
occasional revolts.
 Here and there contests break out into riots
 9. Revolution
 When the class struggle reaches its height, a violent
revolution breaks out which destroys the structure
ofcapitalistsociety.
 This revolution is most likely to occur at the peakof
aneconomiccrisiswhichispartofthe recurring
booms and repressions characteristic ofcapitalism.
 Marx has asserted,unlikeotherwarsand
revolutions,thiswouldbeahistoricone.
 10.The Dictatorshi p o f the P r o l e t a r i a t
 Marx feltthattherevolutionwouldbeabloody one.
 This revolution terminatesthecapitalistsociety and leads to
the social dictatorship of the proletariat.
 Sincetherevolutionresultsintheliquidationof the
bourgeoisie, they will cease to have nay power and will be
reduced to the ranks of the proletariat.
 Thus, theinevitablehistoricalprocess destroys the
bourgeoisie.
 The proletariats, then establish their social dictatorship.
 Marx, “those communists who were out to destroy
personal liberty and who wish to turn the world into
one large barrack or into a gigantic warehouse.”
Nature:
According to Marx,
1. the dictatorship of the proletariat is
democracy because it implies control by the vast majority.
(2) It would be a class government, not oppressive. It belongs to
theoppressed classes.
(3) It will be human and use force for the
benefit of the majority.
(4) It will seize capital from the bourgeoisie
(5) Centralise all instruments of production.
11.Inauguration o f the Communist society

 After attaining the success in the revolution, the

workers in course of time, would create a new
socialistsociety.
 In this new society, the means of producing and
distributing wealth would be publicly and not
privatelyowned.
 This new socialist society would be a classless and a
castelesssocietyfreefrom exploitationof allsorts.
 In this society, nobody owns anything but everybody
owns everything. Each individual contributes according
to his abilityand receivesaccording to his needs.
Conclusion

 It is clear that at every stage in history, there

is war between the classes.
 Between the classes, there is endless
antagonism and hatred.
 Class conflict is the severest form of class
antagonism.