Class struggle

Class struggle is class conflict looked at from a Marxist, libertarian socialist, or anarchist perspective. To Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle" (Communist Manifesto, 1848). (The bracketed word reflects the footnote that Engels added later, noting that pre-class societies existed.)

Related Topics:
Class conflict - Marxist - Libertarian socialist - Anarchist - Karl Marx - Frederick Engels - Communist Manifesto - 1848

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Marx's notion of class has nothing to do with hereditary caste, nor is it exactly social class in the sociological sense of upper, middle and lower classes (which are often defined in terms of quantitative income or wealth). Instead, in an age of capitalism, Marx describes an economic class. Membership of a class is defined by one's relationship to the means of production, i.e., one's position in the social structure that characterizes capitalism. Marx talks mainly about two classes that include the vast majority of the population, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Other classes such as the petty bourgeoisie share characteristics of both of these main classes (see below).

Related Topics:
Caste - Social class - Sociological - Capitalism - Petty bourgeoisie

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