Karl Marx

• What are the two best-known works of Karl Marx?

  The Communist Manifesto and Capital
• What does Karl Marx argue creates social stratification?


  The economic system and the relationship between people and that system
• What term does Marx use to describe the ongoing conflict throughout history?

  Class struggle
• How does Marx define social classes?

  By their relationship to the means of production
• What are the means of production according to Marx?

  Factories and mills
• Who does the bourgeoisie represent in Marx's theory?

  The ruling class that owns the means of production
• What does Marx argue about the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat?

  The bourgeoisie exploits the proletariat
• What is surplus value according to Marx?

  The gap between the real value of work and what workers are paid
• What term does Marx use to describe the low wages of the proletariat?

  Wage slaves
• How did the bourgeoisie acquire ownership of the means of production?

  By accumulating capital during the industrial revolution
• What was a key aspect of Marx's analysis of the proletariat?

  The proletariat was much larger than the bourgeoisie
• What are the two main ways Marx identified that the proletariat is controlled?


  State power and ideology
• How does the state maintain control over the proletariat according to Marx?

  By working in the interests of the bourgeoisie and using its power
• What role does ideology play in the control of the proletariat?

  It creates the illusion that inequality is inevitable or fair
• What does Marx predict will happen to capitalism?

  It will eventually cause its own downfall
• What do critics of Marx argue about capitalism?

  It has created great wealth and benefits for the working class
• What do critics point to as evidence of social mobility in capitalism?

  People from working-class backgrounds can reach the top through hard work and talent