For centuries, sociologists have analyzed social stratification, its root causes, and
its effects on society. Theorists Karl Marx and Max Weber disagreed about the nature of class,
in particular. Other sociologists applied traditional frameworks to stratification.
Karl Marx
Karl Marx based his conflict theory on the idea that modern society has
only two classes of people: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie
are the owners of the means of production: the factories, businesses, and equipment needed to
produce wealth. The proletariat are the workers.
According to Marx, the bourgeoisie in capitalist societies exploit workers. The owners
pay them enough to afford food and a place to live, and the workers, who do not realize they
are being exploited, have a false consciousness, or a mistaken sense, that they are well off.
They think they can count on their capitalist bosses to do what was best for them.
Marx foresaw a workers’ revolution. As the rich grew richer, Marx hypothesized that
workers would develop a true class consciousness, or a sense of shared identity based on their
common experience of exploitation by the bourgeoisie. The workers would unite and rise up in a
global revolution. Once the dust settled after the revolution, the workers would then own the
means of production, and the world would become communist. No one stratum would control the
access to wealth. Everything would be owned equally by everyone.
Marx’s vision did not come true. As societies modernized and grew larger, the working
classes became more educated, acquiring specific job skills and achieving the kind of financial
well-being that Marx never thought possible. Instead of increased exploitation, they came under
the protection of unions and labor laws. Skilled factory workers and tradespeople eventually
began to earn salaries that were similar to, or in some instances greater than, their
middle-class counterparts.
Max Weber
Max Weber took issue with Marx’s seemingly simplistic view of
stratification. Weber argued that owning property, such as factories or equipment, is only part
of what determines a person’s social class. Social class for Weber included power and prestige,
in addition to property or wealth. People who run corporations without owning them still
benefit from increased production and greater profits.
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