Theories of inequality: Marxist

Marxist Theory of Inequality

The Marxist Theory proposes a conflict perspective on society, asserting that social stratification arises from capitalist economic systems, benefiting the ruling class (bourgeoisie) while exploiting the working class (proletariat).

Conflict Theory and Class Relations

According to Marx, class conflict is the driving force of societal change. The working class and the ruling class have fundamentally opposing interests, leading to social instability.
Marx argued that the bourgeoisie control the means of production (land, factories, technology) and exploit the proletariat (working class), who sell their labour in exchange for wages.

False Consciousness and Class Consciousness

False consciousness is a concept where the working class fail to see their true exploitation due to the manipulation of the ruling class through ideologies, education and media.
Class consciousness, in contrast, is when the working class become aware of their exploitation, leading to the potential for collective action and revolt against the bourgeoisie.

Capitalism and Alienation

Marx believed that under capitalism, the proletariat experiences alienation, feeling disconnected from their labour as they have no control or ownership over what they produce.
Furthermore, the capitalist system promotes competition and individualism, causing social isolation and fracturing community bonds.

Commodity Fetishism

Commodity fetishism is another major concept, where the social relationships between people are seen as relationships between things (commodities). This disguises the exploitation of labour involved in producing goods.

Revolution and Communism

Marx predicted the proletariat would eventually rise up in a revolution to overthrow the capitalist system, replacing it with a communist society where everyone shares in the ownership of the means of production.
In the ideal communist society, there is no private property, no exploitation, and hence no social classes or inequality.

Critiques of Marxist Theory

Critics argue that Marx’s theory is too simplistic, ignoring other sources of stratification such as gender, race, and disability.
It also assumes that the working class will inevitably develop class consciousness and revolt, which has not occurred on a global scale as he predicted.

Implicit in Marxist Theory

Implicit in Marxist theory is the challenge to consider how economic systems create and maintain social inequalities, and how these can be resisted or changed.