Marx vs. Weber
Karl Marx and Max Weber both have strong sociological perspectives on the concept of class in capitalist society. Each theorist uses their own method to make inferences about the social world, and because of this, they come to very divergent conclusions. Marx and Weber both argue that an individual’s class position is predictive of the stratification and type of conflict that arise between classes within society. However their main point of contention exists in their definitions of class and to what extent the capitalist mode of production is the determining factor of an individual’s class position. Marx uses his materialist conception of history to provide the framework for his concepts. This method is defined by looking at changes in material conditions over time to explain larger social and economic shifts.
Conversely, Weber uses Versheten or “sympathetic understanding” to outline his concepts. This method is defined by looking at individual subjective motives for actions and to use those to extrapolate causes for larger economic events.
According to Marx, class structure and conflict are intrinsic to capitalist society as, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx, 1848, pg. 246). Using his materialist theory of history, he demonstrates that the nature of all societies is shaped by their modes of production.
Marx (1859) writes, “The economic conditions of existence of the three great classes into which modern bourgeois society is divided are analyzed under [capital, landed property, and wage labor].” Marx defines capitalist society through its own unique mode of production: production for the sake of accumulating capital, which is reinvested in further production. This is how he is able to differentiate between feudalism
- where agriculture was the basis of economy and the land was the means of production - and capitalism.
1
Different from Marx, Weber implicitly treats society as the
Conversely, Weber uses Versheten or “sympathetic understanding” to outline his concepts. This method is defined by looking at individual subjective motives for actions and to use those to extrapolate causes for larger economic events.
According to Marx, class structure and conflict are intrinsic to capitalist society as, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx, 1848, pg. 246). Using his materialist theory of history, he demonstrates that the nature of all societies is shaped by their modes of production.
Marx (1859) writes, “The economic conditions of existence of the three great classes into which modern bourgeois society is divided are analyzed under [capital, landed property, and wage labor].” Marx defines capitalist society through its own unique mode of production: production for the sake of accumulating capital, which is reinvested in further production. This is how he is able to differentiate between feudalism
- where agriculture was the basis of economy and the land was the means of production - and capitalism.
1
Different from Marx, Weber implicitly treats society as the
References: Marx, Karl. Friedrich, Engels. 1848. Manifesto of the Communist Party. Retrieved November 1, 2013 Marx, K. 1867. Preface to the First German Edition. Das Kapital. Retrieved November 1, 2013. of Capitalism Retrieved on November 1, 3013 (http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/weber/protestant-ethic/ch05.htm) Weber, Max. 1922 “Class, Status and Party” in Economy and Society Retrieved on November 1, 3013 (https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/mod/resource/view.php?id=737840)