In this article, I will write about some core concepts Marx identified. Class and Class Consciousness
What is a Class?
According to Marx, all the people who share the same relationship with the current mode of production are in the same class. The land, capital and machinery owning class are the bourgeoisie and the skill, tool owning class is proletariat. There is also a second dimension to class: Consciousness. Unless they realize their commonness, the fact that they belong to one side of the game and develop a mutual solidarity, they cannot become a class. They need to have the consciousness of the class, the realization about their relationship with the means of production and the need to wok together. The current day unions are all examples of class consciousness driven unity.
What is the importance of class consciousness?
Unless there is consciousness or the same feeling of victim-hood in the proletariat, the dominant class or the bourgeoisie will continue to exploit the proletariat. Unless they are conscious of the common suffering, they will get played one against the other.
What role does class play int he society?
Marx says, the entire evolution depends on which class you are born into. Your economic class determines your social class. If you are in the Bourgeois, you will have an upbringing, mental outlook and conditioning that will justify somethings. If you are born in a proletariat family, your morals, values and norms, education, ethics, religion and everything that determines your thought is controlled by your social setting.
For example, being a proletariat, you are all taught to respect elders and authority. Your religion teaches fearing god and doing the right things and conforming to a way of life. The society will shame and brand as deviants who do not subscribe. The whole societal structure around you ensures that you serve and don't defy.
If you belong to the bourgeois, you determine the mores of the society through cultural hegemony. You set trends, consume conspicuously, create envy and condition aspiration.
As you can see, these were strong ideas. Lets see if they resonate in today's world in the next article.
What is a Class?
According to Marx, all the people who share the same relationship with the current mode of production are in the same class. The land, capital and machinery owning class are the bourgeoisie and the skill, tool owning class is proletariat. There is also a second dimension to class: Consciousness. Unless they realize their commonness, the fact that they belong to one side of the game and develop a mutual solidarity, they cannot become a class. They need to have the consciousness of the class, the realization about their relationship with the means of production and the need to wok together. The current day unions are all examples of class consciousness driven unity.
What is the importance of class consciousness?
Unless there is consciousness or the same feeling of victim-hood in the proletariat, the dominant class or the bourgeoisie will continue to exploit the proletariat. Unless they are conscious of the common suffering, they will get played one against the other.
What role does class play int he society?
Marx says, the entire evolution depends on which class you are born into. Your economic class determines your social class. If you are in the Bourgeois, you will have an upbringing, mental outlook and conditioning that will justify somethings. If you are born in a proletariat family, your morals, values and norms, education, ethics, religion and everything that determines your thought is controlled by your social setting.
For example, being a proletariat, you are all taught to respect elders and authority. Your religion teaches fearing god and doing the right things and conforming to a way of life. The society will shame and brand as deviants who do not subscribe. The whole societal structure around you ensures that you serve and don't defy.
If you belong to the bourgeois, you determine the mores of the society through cultural hegemony. You set trends, consume conspicuously, create envy and condition aspiration.
As you can see, these were strong ideas. Lets see if they resonate in today's world in the next article.
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