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Marx argued that there were two basic social classes in industrial society: the class of owners
of the means of production (whom he called the bourgeoisie or capitalists) and the class of
non-owners (whom he called the proletariat or working class). The proletariat, since they
owned no means of production, had no alternative means of livelihood, but to work for the
bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie exploited the proletariat, making profits out of them by keeping
wages low and paying them as little as possible instead of giving them the full payment for
their work.
1
BROWNE, K (1997). Social Stratification, An Introduction To Sociology: Second Edition, Polity
Press: Cambridge, pgs. 15-26.
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Unit G322: Section A
TV Drama and Representation
Exploitation, Class
Class Conflict, And Revolution
Marx predicted that the working class would become poorer and poorer and society would
become divided into two major social classes:
The exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie, Marx believed, would eventually lead to
major conflict between the poverty-stricken proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
The proletariat would struggle against the bourgeoisie through strikes, demonstrations, and
other forms of protest. The proletariat would then develop class-consciousness – an
awareness of their common working-class interests and their exploitation – until eventually
they would make a socialist revolution and overthrow the bourgeoisie.
Communism
After the revolution, the proletariat would nationalise the means of
production (which were formally the private property of the bourgeoisie) by
putting them in the hands of the state. The means of production would,
therefore, be collectively owned and run in the interests of everyone, not just
of the bourgeoisie. Capitalism would be destroyed and a new type of
society would be created, which would be without exploitation, without
classes, and without class conflict. This equal, classless society Marx
called Communism.