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Marx and Weber's Theories of Class Structure in Modern Society

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Marx and Weber's Theories of Class Structure in Modern Society
Karl Marx has given us the most influential overview of how industrialization has affected the modern social formations. According to his industrialization gave us two new classes, which had evolved from the old feudal society. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat (Bradley, 2006: 134-135).

The bourgeoisie in England, the new economically dominant class. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, they tried to strengthen its social and political power. At the local level, they obtained the power in many villages, especially north of the country. They did this through by starting schools and leisure facilities to the people. At the national level, they tried to challenge the old power group, the aristocracy. With the political reforms they tried to take from them the benefits they had gained through having had the political power. Especially important was the fact that, corn law that kept the price of agricultural commodities artificially high, and thus protected landowners from the free market, was abolished. In political terms, was not dissolved landowner class, but the bourgeoisie was to share power with them (Bradley, 2006: 135).

Proletariat or working class, is the second class in modern society formations, according to Marx. Deprived of the opportunity to produce their own livelihoods, they were forced to sell all they possess, their labor, in order to survive. According to Marx, the relationship between these classes both that they were dependent on each other and hostile to each other. Workers needed for the bourgeoisie to find them work, and the bourgeoisie needed workers for a profit. But the relationship was an inherent conflict because of the exploitative nature of these financial arrangements contained (Bradley, 2006: 135).

Like many other community comments from the nineteenth century, Marx thought that the pay no workers were paid, did not represent the value of the goods they created through their work. Through parts of their working hours, a

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