Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender1 SOC4044 Sociological Theory: Karl Marx

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender2 Karl Marx References Ashley, David, and David Michael Orenstein Sociological Theory: Classical Statements. 2d ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Coser, Lewis A Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context. 2d ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. Turner, Jonathan H., Leonard Beeghley, and Charles H. Powers The Emergence of Sociological Theory. 4th ed. Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender3 Karl Marx z zBorn in Germany zHis father was a Jewish lawyer who converted to Protestantism prior to Karls birth in order to be allowed to hold public office zHis mother was Dutch and came from a prosperous family zAttended the University of Bonn--later, transferred to the University of Berlin where he graduated (Ashley and Orenstein 1990: )

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender4 Karl Marx social conflict Society, according to Marx, comprised a moving balance of antithetical forces that generate social change by their tension and struggle…For him, struggle rather than peaceful growth was the engine of progress; strife was the father of all things, and social conflict was the core of historical process. (Coser 1977:43)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender5 Karl Marx zTo Marx the motivating force in history is the manner in which men relate to one another in their struggle to wrest their livelihood from nature. zFirst order of business--to take care of primary needs (eating, drinking, habitation, clothing). zMan is a perpetually dissatisfied animal--when primary needs are met, this leads to new needs--and this production of new needs is the first historical act. zThe social change is driven materially, economically- -not ideologically….that comes later and is based on the change in economics and the material focus of society. (Coser 1977:43-44)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender6 Karl Marx reflection zThe genesis and acceptance of ideas depend on something that is not an idea. Ideas are not prime movers but are the reflection, direct or sublimated, of the material interests that impel men to their dealings with others. stimulus of social change innovations in technology stimulus of changemode of economic production zThe mode of economic production is the stimulus of social change….andinnovations in technology are often (not always) the stimulus of change in the mode of economic production. (Coser 1977:44-45)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender7 Karl Marx The sum total of the relations of production, that is, the relations men establish with each other when they utilize existing raw materials and technologies in the pursuit of their productive goals, constitute real foundations upon which the whole cultural superstructure of society comes to be erected. By relations of production Marx does not only mean technology, though this is an important part, but the social relations people enter into by participating in economic life. (Coser 1977:45)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender8 Karl Marx social class...the social relations people enter into by participating in economic life… create an economic category/social phenomenon known as social class.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender9 Karl Marx The division of society into classes gives rise to political, ethical, philosophical, and religious views of the world, views which express existing class relations and tend either to consolidate or to undermine the power and authority of the dominant class. (Coser 1977:46-47)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender10 Karl Marx The Characteristics of All Societies zHuman beings, unlike other animals species, produce sustenance from the environment to live and thereby make history. ySocial theory had to deal with more than just ideas. It had to be grounded in the existence of living human individuals, who have material needs that must be satisfied through production. (Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998: )

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender11 Karl Marx zPeople create new needs over time. yNeed creation occurs because production (or work) always involved the use of tools or instruments of various sorts, and these tools are periodically improved, yielding more and better consumer goods. yThus, Marx said the processes of production and consumption always feed back on each other in a cumulative fashion, so that as one set of needs was satisfied, new ones emerged.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender12 Karl Marx I need an iPod. Uhmm…I cannot decide which color will match my lifestyle.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender13 Karl Marx zProduction is based on a division of labor, which in Marxs writings always implies a hierarchical stratification structure, with attendant exploitation and alienation. yThe division of labor means the tasks that must be done in every societyplacating the gods, deciding priorities, producing goods, raising children, and so forthare divided up. yIn some form or another, Marx argued, exploitation and alienation occur in all societies characterized by private ownership of the means of production.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender14 Karl Marx zIdeas and values emerge from the division of labor. yPut differently, ideas and values results from peoples practical efforts at obtaining sustenance, creating needs, and working together. yAs a result, ideologies usually justify the status quo. xIdeologies are systematic views of the way the world ought to be, as embodied in religious doctrines and political values. Thus, Marx argued, religious and political beliefs in capitalist societies state that individuals have a right to own land or capital; they have a right to use the means of production for their own rather than the collectivity's benefit.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender15 Karl Marx yMarx believed the values (or ideologies, to use his word) characteristic of a society are the tools of the dominate class because they mislead the populace about their true interests. xThis is why he described religion as the opium of the masses. He reasoned that religious belief functioned to blind people so they could not recognize their exploitation and their real political interests. xReligion does this by emphasizing that salvation, compensation for misery and alienation on earth, will come in the next world. In effect, religious beliefs justify social inequality.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender16 Karl Marx: Marxs View of the Stages of History (Turner, Beeghley, and Powers 1998:116)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender17 Karl Marx Alienation zFor Marx, the history of mankind has a double aspect: It was a history of increasing control of man over nature at the same time as it was a history of increasing alienation of man. zAlienation may be described as a condition in which men are dominated by forces of their own creation, which confront them as alien powers. (Coser 1977:50-51)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender18 Karl Marx One way to illustrate alienation is by comparing two modes of production. A craftsman (not a famous artist) who produces pottery by digging the clay out of the ground, molding it, glazing it, firing it, selling it--has a sense of connection the outcome of his/her labor. Whereas, someone who works in a heavy equipment factory (such as Caterpillar) may spend 40 years making a very unique gear assembly that is only one part of the whole and this person will never own a piece of heavy equipment for personal use and most outsiders would not have a clue as to what you have spent your life producing. The material standard of living is most certainly higher for the laborer at Caterpillar, so this efficiency has produced more goods for the average man/woman…but there is a sense of disconnect with the outcome of his/her labor.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender19 Karl Marx The Sociology of Knowledge Marx analyzed the ways in which systems of ideas appeared to depend on the social positions--particularly the class positions-- of their proponents. (Coser 1977:53)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015 © by Ronald Keith Bolender20 Karl Marx Social Change zMarx insisted that men make their own history. Human history is the process through which men increasingly transform nature to make it better serve their own purposes. And, in the process of transforming nature, they transform themselves. inequality zIn their struggle against nature, and to gain their livelihood through associated labor, men create specific forms of social organization in tune with specific modes of production. All these modes of social organization, with the exception of those prevailing in the original stage of primitive communism, are characterized by social inequality. zIn the struggle to deal with this inequality (exhibited by the development of classes)--social change is an effort to develop some form of equilibrium--as sense of less inequality. (Coser 1977:55-57)