Theories of INEQUALITY: MARXISM

In Capitalist societie's, the bourgeoisie class owns the means of production, whilse the proletariat class sells their labour to the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie have power and status, which they use to maintain the society's superstructure - its values, ideologies and norms. In an ideal Marxist, Communist society, everyone would share access to the means of production and social stratification would be non-exsistent. 

According to Karl Marx, western society has passed through a variety of stages, or 'epochs'. Each epoch gradually developed into the next form of society. They consist of the 'Primitive Communism'; where people hunted and most things were owned in common, the 'Ancient society'; where peasant slaves carried out the work, 'Feudal society'; where warlords owned land but peasants worked on it for their masters, and 'Capitalism'; which is based on industrialisation and the creation of wealth through the manufacturing of goods. Marx had hopes that the next stage of historical society would be Communism, where social stratification, created by unequal property relations, was no longer evident. 

The relationship between workers and Capitalists according to Marx, is one of a false consciousness. Workers create wealth for the rich by making goods that can be sold for profit. They earn enough to afford basics such as food and shelter, so they think they are living well. Workers are tricked by ideology, into believing that the Capitalists have their interests at heart, and do not realise they are being used. Marxists argue that if wealth were spread evenly through society, then there would be more than enough for everyone to have a very good standard of living. If workers fully understood this, they would not tolerate Capitalism but work towards their own interests. 

They argue that…