Sociology Optional

UPSC
Paper – I
Unit – 4
Sociological Thinkers
(D) class struggle
1.4.1.4
•By – Abhishek Bhal
 class struggle
• What is a Class?
A group of people sharing common relations to labour and the means
of production.
• Ex. Masters – Slaves, Lords – Serfs, Capitalists – Workers.
• Features of Class:
– Members share common economic interests.
– Members are conscious of those interests.
– Members engage in collective action to further those interests.
– Interests of one class differ from those of another.
 class struggle
• Class In-Itself and Class For-Itself:
• Class In-Itself:
– Members don’t have class consciousness.
– Members don’t have class solidarity.
– Members are not fully aware of their social & economic situations.
• Class For-Itself:
– Members have class consciousness.
– Members have class solidarity.
– Members are fully aware of their social & economic situations and
take collective action to change these.
 class struggle
• When do Classes emerged in society?
“Classes emerge when the productive capacity of society expands
beyond the level required for subsistence”.
• This occurred with the advent of Agriculture.
• Few people were able to produce food for whole society.
• Thus other people were free to pursue other specialized tasks such as
clothing, pottery, ironsmith etc.
• This led to exchange of goods and trading developed.
• Exchange of goods & trading led to the concept of Private Property.
• Private property is the root cause of class division in society.
class struggle
 class struggle
• Class Struggle and Social Change:
• “The history of all societies up to the present is the history of the
class struggle”.
• For Marx class struggle was the driving force for social change.
• Basic contradiction and conflict lead to struggle between different
classes.
• This struggle results in a new society with new mode of production.
 class struggle
• Class Struggle in Capitalism:
• Capitalism consists of two classes:
– Bourgeoisie : Capitalists, owners of means of production
– Proletariat : Workers, owners of their labor only
• In capitalism there is struggle between Bourgeoisie & Proletariat.
• Capitalists want to maximize their profits by exploiting the workers.
• Workers want to get fair compensation for their labor.
class struggle
 class struggle
• Class Struggle and Revolution:
• According to Marx class antagonism and conflict in capitalism will
lead to socialism through revolution.
• Classes and class conflict will be abolished.
• Concept of private property will be replaced by communal
ownership.
• Distribution of produce will be according to needs of members.
• This stage is called Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
• This stage will later on convert into a stateless society which will be
Communism.
 class struggle
• Criticism of Marx’s idea of Class Struggle:
• According to German sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf
there has been considerable changes in capitalism
since Marx’s time.
• Thus Marx’s theory of class struggle may not be
applicable to modern day capitalism.
 class struggle
• Major changes in modern capitalist society:
– Decomposition of capital:
• Separation of ownership and control. Ex. Share market equity
– Decomposition of labor:
• Differentiated occupational groups based on different skills.
• Ex. Unskilled, Semi-skilled, Skilled
– Institutionalization of class conflict:
• Labor market has become a recognized legal institution.
• Labor unions, minimum wage, and other labor laws.
THANKS!

•By – Abhishek Bhal