Marx

• Who did Marx see social stratification as?

  A mechanism that allows a privileged few (the bourgeoisie) to exploit the many (the proletariat)
• How did Marx believe the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat?

  By employing them in their factories and rewarding them unfairly for their work.
• How did Marx believe the system of stratification arose?

  From the relationship of social groups to the means of production.
• Why did Marx believe the gap between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat ever grew?

  Workers were being easily replaced due to developing technology which led to workers feeling alienated, isolated, and undervalued.
• What did Marx believe the free market did?

  Distorted reality and created a positive image of capitalism as normal and natural.
• As the gap between the bourgeoisie and proletariat grew and the differences between the two became more extreme (polarisation) what did Marx believe would happen?


  A revolution would be sparked by the proletariat leading to a 'classless' communist society.
• What are the main three criticisms of Marx?

  1. He places too much emphasis on economic factors causing inequalities in society when many other important factors should be considered e.g gender, and ethnicity.
  2. Marx believed capitalism was going to collapse instead, Capitalism has actually proved to be quite stable, more stable than communist regimes.
  3. New Right Theorists believe Marx focuses too much on the negatives of capitalism and ignores the positives and opportunities for social mobility.
• The proletariat didn't own the means of production what did Marxists believe this mean?

  They had no choice but to work in order to survive