- The German political philosopher and economist, Karl Marx presented the theories about society, politics and economics, collectively understood as Marxism
- Marx believed that social interdependence, and stability is an illusion, it’s a class conflict, struggle and competition which mark all the societies
- His key concepts were about the social class structure, his criticisms of capitalism and communism as an alternative
- Marx travelled through Europe during the mid and later half of the 19th century where he saw much poverty and inequality. The more he travelled the more he explained what he saw through unequal access to resources and ownership of property, wealth.
- Some of his books are Das Capital (1897) and Communist Manifesto (1848)
KEY IDEAS OF KARL MARX
A. Capitalist society is divided into two classes
* The bourgeoisie (capitalist/haves/elite/ruling class)
- Who own and control the wealth of a country.
- These control the productive forces
- Consisted of land, factories and machines that could be used to produce goods that could then be sold for a profit.
* Proletariat (haves not/working class)
- The majority, or the masses, can only gain a living by selling their labor power to the bourgeoisie for a price.
B. The bourgeoisie increase their wealth by exploiting the proletariat
C. Those who have economic power control all other institutions in society
D. Revolution and communism
The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles
