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A Project Work In SOCIOLOGY

CONTRIBUTIONS OF MARX IN CONFLICT SOCIOLOGY

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. UTTAM KUMAR PANDA

FACULTY: - SOCIOLOGY

SUBMITTED BY: PRANAV KHANDELWAL

SEMESTER 2
ROLL NO. 94
SUBMITTED ON:
9th APRIL, 2013

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements..3
Introduction..4
Objectives.5
Methodology....6

History of Conflict Theory...7

Marx and conflict theory..9

Essential Aspects of Marxian Theory of Class Conflict.12

The Failure of Marxism..14
Major Findings15
Conclusion..16
References..17

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Almighty who gave me the strength to accomplish the project with sheer hard
work and honesty.
I would like to sincerely like to thank my Sociology teacher Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda for
giving me this topic and guiding me throughout the project. Through this project I have
learned a lot about the aforesaid topic and this in turn has helped me grow as a student.
My heartfelt gratitude also goes out to the staff and administration of HNLU for the
infrastructure in the form of our library and IT lab that was a source of great help in the
completion of this project.

PRANAV KHANDELWAL

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

Introduction
A facsimile reproduction from the original manuscript of Das Kapital by influential German
philosopher and economist Karl Marx. This monumental work is the central dogma of
Marxist economics.

The 19th century German philosopher and social commentator who is regarded as the
founder of modern communism. He collaborated with Friedrich Engels in the writing of The
Communist Manifesto (1848) which envisaged the classless society, and then enlarged his
theories in his best known work Das Kapital. In these volumes he explained the labour
theory of value, that the worker is more important than the capitalist who exploits his labour.
Karl Marx argued that property is upheld by the state, making property struggles into
political struggles between owners and renters, capitalists and workers, and other groups.
Material conditions determine the ability of any of these groups to organize effectively
politically. These material conditions are also what enable one group to propagate their views
to others in society. Because the owners clearly have an advantage in material wealth, their
views are spread more easily.
For Marx, the conflict clearly arises because all things of value to man result from human
labor. According to Marx, capitalists exploit workers for their labor and do not share the fruits
of these labors equally. This exploitation is what allows the owning classes to dominate
politically and to impose their ideology on the workers of the world.
Not everyone has shared Spencer's vision of societal harmony and stability. Chief among
those who disagreed was the German political philosopher and economist Karl Marx (1818
1883), who observed society's exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful. Marx argued
that Spencer's healthy societal organism was a falsehood. Rather than interdependence and
stability, Marx claimed that social conflict, especially class conflict, and competition mark all
societies.

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The class of capitalists that Marx called the bourgeoisie particularly enraged him. Members
of the bourgeoisie own the means of production and exploit the class of laborers, called the
proletariat, who do not own the means of production. Marx believed that the very natures of
the bourgeoisie and the proletariat inescapably lock the two classes in conflict. But he then
took his ideas of class conflict one step further: He predicted that the laborers are not
selectively unfit, but are destined to overthrow the capitalists. Such a class revolution
would establish a class-free society in which all people work according to their abilities and
receive according to their needs.
Unlike Spencer, Marx believed that economics, not natural selection, determines the
differences between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. He further claimed that a society's
economic system decides peoples' norms, values, mores, and religious beliefs, as well as the
nature of the society's political, governmental, and educational systems. Also unlike Spencer,
Marx urged people to take an active role in changing society rather than simply trusting it to
evolve positively on its own.

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

Objectives

To throw light on the evolution of conflict theory.

To highlight the contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology.
To study different essential aspects of the Marxian Theory of Class conflict

Research Methodology

This research is descriptive and analytical in nature. Secondary and Electronic resources
have been largely used to gather information about the topic.
Books and other references have been primarily helpful in giving this project a firm
structure. Websites, journals and articles have also been referred.
Footnotes have been provided wherever needed to acknowledge the source.

Section-1

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History of Conflict Theory
The ideas that make up the foundations of conflict theory can be traced back to early
philosophy. Han Fei Tzu (280 - 233 BC) and other ancient Chinese philosophers taught that
men are innately weak and lazy. This assumption leads to the obvious conclusion that the
only way men can be controlled, then, is through punishment. Those who have the power to
punish can control society, as the fear of the power of punishment keeps men in check.1
Polybius, a Greek philosopher (205-125 BC), focused his studies on the Roman Republic. He
believed that people were like herds of animals. Weaknesses lead man to form communities
in which the strongest and bravest person became the leader. He believed societies change
and transition into a monarchy and that monarchies are based on justice and legitimate
authority. Monarchies have an obligation to keep peace in society. However, the same
problems with men will be exhibited in their kings, leading to corrupt and unjust monarchies.
The result: tyrants and tyranny. Tyranny is, however, self-limiting. Once it becomes
unbearable, the elite in society will figure out ways to over throw the monarchy. Society will
be in support of these new leaders because they give more liberty and equality. This cycle
will repeat itself because the new leader will take some of the liberty and sense of equality
away from the people. Polybius believed the only way to stop this cycle is to form a
government that combines the best elements from monarchies, aristocracies, and democracy,
like the Roman government during his time. 2
Many philosophers had similar ideas about conflict and society. They believed that conflict
was a necessary part of society. Conflict, as a sociological theory, was formalized in the 19th
and 20th Centuries, building upon the ideas of people like those mentioned above. Many
sociologists have contributed to the development of conflict theory, including Max
Gluckman, John Rex, Lewis A. Coser, Randall Collins, Ralf Dahrendorf, Ludwig
Gumplovicz, Vilfredo Pareto, and Georg Simmel. However, Karl Marx is often credited as
being the father of conflict theory.
Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 1883) was a German philosopher, sociologist, historian,
political economist, political theorist and revolutionary socialist, who developed the socio1Martindale, Don. 2010. The Nature and Types of Sociological Theory. Routledge.
2

Idib

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

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political theory of Marxism. His ideas have since played a significant role in both the
development of social science and also in the socialist political movement. He published
various books during his lifetime, with the most notable being The Communist Manifesto
(1848) and Capital (18671894), many of which were co-written with his friend, the fellow
German revolutionary socialist Friedrich Engels. Marxs dedication to social change led him
to focus most of his work on revolutionary class conflicts in industrial societies. Karl Marx
died a poor man but his work and ideas have influenced the modern world.3
Marx saw conflict as primarily resulting from class conflicts within industry and the
economic segment of society. Max Weber (1864-1920) proposed that power, prestige and
property also added to social conflict and that such conflict was found in all aspects of society
(e.g., politics, gender, and religion).
C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) also contributed to modern conflict theory. According to Mills,
one of the results of conflict between people with competing interests and resources is the
creation of a social structure. Social structure refers to the relatively fixed institutions and
norms of society that heavily influence, consciously or not, peoples' everyday behavior (e.g.,
getting your license at a department of motor vehicles reflects the fact that social structure
dictates who gets to grant licenses, how, when, and to whom). However, control over the
social structure is largely in the hands of the elite (wealthy), who generally oppose the
interests of the non-elite.

Section-2

3 Wolff, Jonathan. n.d. Karl Marx. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

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Marx and Conflict Theory
It is important to recognize that Marx viewed the structure of society in relation to its major
classes, and the struggle between them as the engine of change in this structure. His was no
equilibrium or consensus theory. Conflict was not deviational within society's structure, nor
were classes functional elements maintaining the system. The structure itself was a derivative
of and ingredient in the struggle of classes. His was a conflict view of modem (nineteenth
century) society.
The key to understanding Marx is his class definition. 1 A class is defined by the ownership of
property. Such ownership vests a person with the power to exclude others from the property
and to use it for personal purposes. In relation to property there are three great classes of
society: the bourgeoisie (who own the means of production such as machinery and factory
buildings, and whose source of income is profit), landowners (whose income is rent), and the
proletariat (who own their labor and sell it for a wage).
Class thus is determined by property, not by income or status. These are determined by
distribution and consumption, which itself ultimately reflects the production and power
relations of classes. The social conditions of bourgeoisie production are defined by bourgeois
property. Class is therefore a theoretical and formal relationship among individuals.
The force transforming latent class membership into a struggle of classes is class interest. Out
of similar class situations, individuals come to act similarly. They develop a mutual
dependence, a community, a shared interest interrelated with a common income of profit or of
wages. From this common interest classes are formed, and for Marx, individuals form classes
to the extent that their interests engage them in a struggle with the opposite class.
At first, the interests associated with land ownership and rent are different from those of the
bourgeoisie. But as society matures, capital (i.e., the property of production) and land
ownership merge, as do the interests of landowners and bourgeoisie. Finally the relation of
production, the natural opposition between proletariat and bourgeoisie, determines all other
activities.
As Marx saw the development of class conflict, the struggle between classes was initially
confined to individual factories. Eventually, given the maturing of capitalism, the growing
disparity between life conditions of bourgeoisie and proletariat, and the increasing
homogenization within each class, individual struggles become generalized to coalitions
Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

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across factories. Increasingly class conflict is manifested at the societal level. Class
consciousness is increased, common interests and policies are organized, and the use of and
struggle for political power occurs. Classes become political forces.
The distribution of political power is determined by power over production (i.e., capital).
Capital confers political power, which the bourgeois class uses to legitimatize and protect
their property and consequent social relations. Class relations are political, and in the mature
capitalist society, the state's business is that of the bourgeoisie. Moreover, the intellectual
basis of state rule, the ideas justifying the use of state power and its distribution, are those of
the ruling class. The intellectual-social culture is merely a superstructure resting on the
relation of production, on ownership of the means of production.
Finally, the division between classes will widen and the condition of the exploited worker
will deteriorate so badly that social structure collapses: the class struggle is transformed into a
proletarian revolution. The workers' triumph will eliminate the basis of class division in
property through public ownership of the means of production. With the basis of classes thus
wiped away, a classless society will ensue (by definition), and since political power to protect
the bourgeoisie against the workers is unnecessary, political authority and the state will
wither away.
Overall, there are six elements in Marx's view of class conflict.

Classes are authority relationships based on property ownership.

A class defines groupings of individuals with shared life situations, thus interests.

Classes are naturally antagonistic by virtue of their interests.

Imminent within modern society is the growth of two antagonistic classes and their
struggle, which eventually absorbs all social relations.

Political organization and Power is an instrumentality of class struggle, and reigning

ideas are its reflection.

Structural change is a consequence of the class struggle.

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Marx's emphasis on class conflict as constituting the dynamics of social change, his
awareness that change was not random but the outcome of a conflict of interests, and his view
of social relations as based on power were contributions of the first magnitude. However,
time and history have invalidated many of his assumptions and predictions. Capitalist
ownership and control of production have been separated. Joint stock companies forming
most of the industrial sector are now almost wholly operated by non-capital-owning
managers. Workers have not grown homogeneous but are divided and subdivided into
different skill groups. Class stability has been undercut by the development of a large middle
class and considerable social mobility. Rather than increasing extremes of wealth and
poverty, there has been a social leveling and an increasing emphasis on social justice. And
finally, bourgeois political power has progressively weakened with growth in worker oriented
legislation and of labor-oriented parties, and with a narrowing of the rights and privileges of
capital ownership. Most important, the severest manifestation of conflict between workers
and capitalist--the strike--has been institutionalized through collective bargaining legislation
and the legalization of strikes.
These historical events and trends notwithstanding, the sociological outlines of Marx's
approach have much value. His emphasis on conflict, on classes, on their relations to the
state, and on social change was a powerful perspective that should not be discarded. The
spirit, if not the substance, of his theory is worth developing.

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Section-3
Essential Aspects of Marxian Theory of Class Conflict
Marx developed his theory of class conflict in his analysis and critique of the capitalist
society. The main ingredients of this theory of conflict have been enlisted by Abraham and
Morgan4, which may be briefly described here
1. The Development of Proletariats: The capitalist economic system transferred the
masses of people into workers, created for them a common situation and inculcated in them
an awareness of common interest. Through the development of class consciousness, the
economic condition of capitalism united the masses and constituted them into a class for
itself.5
2. Importance of Property: According to Marx, the most distinguish feature of any society
is its form of property. An individuals behavior is determined by his relations to property.
Classes are determined on the basis of individuals relation to the means of production.
Property divisions are the crucial breaking lines in the class structure
3. Identification of Economic and Political Power and Authority: From a Marxian
perspective, political power emerges from economic power. The power of the ruling class
therefore stems from its ownership and control on the forces of production. The political and
legal system reflects ruling class interests. In Marxs words: the existing relations of
production between individuals must necessarily express themselves also as political and
legal relations.
4. Polarization of Classes: In the capitalist society there could be only two social classes:
1. The capitalist who own the means of production and distribution, and
2. The working classes who own nothing but their own labour.
5. The Theory of Surplus Value: The workers produce more wealth in the form of food,
manufactured goods and services than is necessary to meet their basic needs. In other words,
4 Quoted in Gokhales Political Science, Pg: 423-424
5 Abraham and Morgan, pg- 37

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

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they produce surplus wealth. But they do not enjoy the use of surplus value they have
created.
6. Pauperization: Exploitation of the workers can only lead to their misery and poverty. But
the same exploitation helps rich to become richer. As Marx said, the wealth of the
bourgeoisie is swelled by large profits with corresponding increase in the mass of poverty; of
pressure; of exploitation of the proletariats.
7. Alienation: The economic exploitation and inhuman working conditions lead to increasing
alienation of man. Alienation results from a lack of sense of control over the social world.
8. Class Solidarity and Antagonism: With the growth of class consciousness among
members of the working class, their class solidarity becomes crystallized. They form
associations in order to make provisions beforehand for occasional revolts. Here and there
contests break out into riots.
9. Revolution: When the class struggle riches its height, a violent revolution breaks out
which destroys the structure of the capitalist society. This revolution is most likely to occur at
the peak of the economic crisis which is a part of the reoccurring booms, and repression
characteristic of capitalism.
10. The Dictatorship of the Proletariats: Marx felt that the revolution would be a bloody
one. This revolution terminates the capitalist society and leads to the social dictatorship of
proletariats. Thus, the inevitable historical process destroys the bourgeoisie. The proletariats,
then establish their social dictatorship.
11. Inauguration of the Communist Society: After attaining the success in the revolution,
the workers in course of time, would create a new socialist society. This new socialist society
would be a classless and casteless society free from exploitation of all sorts. The state which
has no place in such a society will eventually wither away. In this society nobody owns
anything but everybody owns everything. Each individual contributes according to his ability
and receives according to his needs.

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Section-4

The Failure of Marxism

Marxism is dead. This is acknowledged almost everywhere, with the exception of
university campuses and among stodgy Old Leftists and uninformed media pundits. The
[Marxist] dream is dead, wrote Samuel Edward Konkin III. The institutions move on,
decadent zombies, requiring dismemberment and burial. The gravediggers of capitalism
approach their own internment.
Marxism failed on many fronts, perhaps on all fronts. Most fundamen- tally, though, its
failure was economic. Marxs map of reality his class theory was fatally flawed,
and economics was the measure by which his philosophy could be checked with reality.
The failure of its economics led inevitably to Marxisms failure to live up to its political
and historical predictions.Wrote SEK3:
Remember well that Marx outlined history and brooked no significant wandering from
the determined course. Should History not unfold according to the determined pathway
scientifically obtained, all Marxist theoretical structure crumbles. ...
Marxism failed to produce a workable model of reality. On the other hand, it has won
the hearts and souls of billions in the past century. In order to bury Marx, it is necessary to
deal with his apparent success, not his failures. His strong points must be over- come, not
his weak, if [radical Rothbardians, agorists] hope toreplace his vision as the prime
inspiration of the Left.

Section-5
Major Findings

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Major Intellectual Contributions:

1. Elaboration of the conflict model of society, specifically the theory of social change
based upon antagonisms between social classes;
2. The insight that power originates primarily in economic production; and
3. His concern with the social origins of alienation.
4. Marxs vision was based on an evolutionary point of departure. Society was
comprised of a moving balance of antithetical forces that generate social change by
their tension and struggle.
5. Determine factors behind the differences in peoples wealth, power, and social
statusWhat is produced

How it is produced

How it is exchanged

Section-6

Conclusion

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From the above study it can be concluded that Marxs vision of life after the socialist
revolution is sketchy. It appears that the division of labor would not be eliminated; only
limited. Man will work in the morning, fish in the afternoon, and read Plato at night.
Industrial forces will be harnessed to provide for human needs rather than profit. It is here
where the state withers away, here where from each according to his abilities, to each
according to his needs applies. It could be described as a sort of second coming without
Christ. Clearly, Marxs hopes, dreams, and values have unduly affected his analysis and his
vision.

Section-7
References

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BOOKS

Marx, K. (1964b). Early Writings. (T. B. Bottomore, Trans.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
Marx, K. (1964). Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy.
Marx, K. (1847/1999). The Poverty of Philosophy. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from

Marx/Engels Internet Archive:

Marx, K. (1845/1999). Theses on Feurback. Retrieved March 19, 2008, from

Marx/Engels Internet Archive:

Giddens, Anthony (1971). Capitalism and Modern Social Theory An analysis of the
writings of Marx, Durkheim and Weber, Cambridge University Press.

WEBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/povertyphilosophy/index.htm(last

visited on 15/03/13)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/index.htm
15/03/13)

Contribution of Karl Marx in conflict sociology

(last

visited

on