Karl Marx and Max Weber are two key figures of sociology. Both brought about key components of Capitalism and social class that helped influence what Capitalism and social class are seen as in today’s society. Marx and Weber had different views on the points, but this did not stop the expansion of both their ideas. Today, their differences are seen in some ways, but Marx’s Capitalisic view is known more than Weber’s. Marx had a very large influence on Capitalism and his views on Capitalism are focused more on the material nature rather than how culture and ideas shape behaviors. There are many factors that play into Capitalism that both Marx and Weber pointed out, but both had different ideas of how society would play into the Capitalist system. Both Marx and Weber also had their own ideas on how class should be separated and labeled. Marx viewed class on how a person could work and what a person would be able to contribute to the workplace while Weber viewed class on other factors in a person’s life besides where a person is at in the chain of command instead of how much a person could work or how much money a person could bring in. Their ideas, along with those of others, have shaped what society is today and how people understand class and Capitalism.
Karl Marx had the idea that Capitalism had changed society. With that idea he was right. Capitalism was one of the main focuses of Marx along with the ideas of communism and class structures. According to Marx, Capitalism is driven by profit which ties people to Capitalism because it is economic based. Thus causes issues as if one does not earn enough or work hard enough, they cannot rise up the ranks. According to Marx, the objects that tie people to Capitalism are mainly economic and nothing else. Marx had an idea called the Commidification of labor. According to this, people are able to be worth what they can sell their labor for in the Capitalist markets. Means of production are things like land, oil wells, or railroads (Dillion, 2020). The people who benefited most from this were the bourgeoisie, the people with the power. They profited off the workers, the proletariats, who were just wage workers trying to meet the demands of the company (Dillon, 2020). Marx argued that this exploitation of the proletariats helped maintain the constantly growing gap between the wage workers and the Capitalists (Dillon, 2020). One of the few theories to come from Marx was historical materialism. Marx saw that history was the progressive expansion of material or economic forces in society. Marx focused on the material conditions of society and how these conditions determined social structure (Dillion, 2020). After a certain point, Capitalism would fall after the endless pursuit of nothing but profit. With the divide between the wage workers and Capitalists, some would soon notice the difference and this would create class consciousness. This was where the wage workers would notice the difference and their exploitation. This would soon cause the wage workers to revolt against Capitalism, further proving Marx’s theory of the downfall (Dillon, 2020). After Capitalism, Marx thought communism would come next. This would abolish private property and would change everything (Dillon, 2020). With Capitalism still being around, the division of labor was thought of. This is where people master one skill, factory work, agriculture, or services, and said people can contribute to Capitalism in different ways (Dillon, 2020). Marx saw this idea creating alienation. This is the dehumanizing of an individual and society because they are not able explore different ways to benefit society (Dillon, 2020). Marx saw that there were four different types of alienation. Alienation from the products being produced, workers in the production process, workers from their species being, and individuals from one another (Dillon, 2020). With all of these ideas, Marx thought the workers would never be in control. The individual is never done with work and work becomes all the individual is.
Max Weber had different ideas than Marx. Weber believed in Capitalism and also studied the inequality of workers, but most of his attention was focused on cultural and non-economic motivations (Dillon, 2020). One of Weber’s main ideas was Rationalization, the rise of a specific and peculiar rationality dominant in Western industrial societies (Dillon, 2020). Weber saw ideal types of rationality. These types were, practical, formal, substantive, and theoretical. Formal rationality focused on and guided calculability, efficiency, predictability, nonhuman technologies, and maximum control. Substantive rationality focused on methodical conduct of life, but the end is oriented by a larger set of values (Dillon, 2020). Weber’s other main idea was The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber focused more on the cultural origins of Capitalism rather than the material origins. To do this Weber had to understand the historical reformation, which included studying Martin Luther and his disciples like John Calvin (Dillon, 2020). The Protesrant Ethic entailed that Protestants were more likely to have business occupations than catholics. The spirit of early Capitalism was distinguished by hard work and frugality, not greed or self indulgence (Dillon, 2020). This was shown by people like Martin Luther who rejected the structure and order of the church. This brought the emergence of protestantism. This also brought about predestination which was the idea that one’s salvation is already determined and will not change (Dillon, 2020). Calvinism also brought about asceticism which were signs of salvation. If a person was hard-working, self-denying, and working in the service of God then they would be saved. These ideas made it possible for Capitalism to flourish. Weber also had a view on the ideal bureaucracy. Bureaucracy to Weber was a main institutional carrier of culture (Dillon, 2020). His idea was that work was divided into specialized tasks and that power was not based on the person. This made it easier on workers and made the system flow better. Weber believed that over time formal rationalization would extend and the Capitalist and bureaucrat would be the main carriers of formal rationality.
Capitalism is “a historically specific way of organizing commodity production; produces profit for the owners of the means of production; based on structured inequality between Capitalists and wage-laborers whose exploited power produces Capitalist profit” (Dillon, 2020). This definition came about with Karl Marx. Marx had a very material view on Capitalism while Weber had a more cultural view on Capitalism. According to Marx, Capitalism would be driven by profit. People would be tied to Capitalism by economic ties and nothing else. Weber on the other hand, viewed that Capitalism came from hard work and asceticism, his views came from the reformation. Weber believed if you worked hard and were not greddy then a person would get what they deserve rather than only devoting their life to work. Work to live instead of live to work. Under Marx’s view of Capitalism there were the wage workers and the owners of the means of production, the proletariats and the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie profited off the proletariat’s work (Dillon, 2020). If they worked enough they would be able to live, and that was about it. People were only worth what they could work and after a certain point the wage workers believed they would profit, but this would never happen (Dillon, 2020). Whereas with Weber, people were split into what they worked the best on and no one person was in command. This made it easier for people to move up and no one person was over profiting from another. Politics did not really come into play with Weber (Dillon, 2020). With each person at an equal stance, it did not matter how much power one person had over the other. This is not true with Marx. The more power one person had the farther up the chain one could go or if they had enough political stance then they did not even have to do a lot to get profit.
Marx and Weber also had differing views on class and how it is structured. Marx believed in the two classes, the working class and the Capitalists, while Weber had an open mind on class. Unlike Marx, Weber saw multiple sources of social inequality. He noticed factors like economic resources, societal status, and political power whereas Marx saw if one had power then there was profit (Dillon, 2020). Weber believed that individuals who had similar life chances were a class group whereas Marx only viewed how much one could work. This made it to where Weber’s class view had multiple classes and not just two (Dillon, 2020.) Status was not as important to Weber as it was Marx. Status was independent of economic class and economic resources did not guarantee honor or power to Weber (Dillon, 2020). Political groups also wanted to distribute power in society. Some ways legit or not. Marx believed if someone had power then they could use it to their benefit and no one else’s. This was one of the key differences in Marx’s and Weber’s thinking.
Capitalism is alive and booming more than ever today. Marx believed that Capitalism would end in his lifetime, but he was wrong. Today a lot of people depend on Capitalism to get what is needed. A lot of people also do not believe in Capitalism or that Capitalism has failed (Raghu, 2018). The recession of 2008 showed that Capitalism can cause issues. There were not enough jobs for the people in the U.S. and it showed (Raghu, 2018). Marx had written in “Das Kapital” that the Capitalist economy would only lead to the concentration of wealth in the hands of those that had power. This was shown to be right in a report from “Oxfam” in 2018. The world’s richest one percent of people hold 82% of the wealth. With technological automation the supply of jobs dried up. Manufacturing activities decrease and the virtual economy of real estate, banking, credit, interest take over (Raghu, 2018). Weber’s concept of class is still relevant today. With power not being the most important thing, people are able to live a different life. Weber believed that class had more to do with things like education or occupation and political affiliations and other concepts combined to make class (Cole, 2019). Weber’s thoughts on power and social stratification led to the complex formulations of socioeconomic status and social class. His book “Economy and Society” was also able to help push this into today’s thinking (Cole, 2019). Both men were able to help create what we know in society today.
Marx and Weber both had different beliefs on similar subjects. Both had their own points on Capitalism and class that helped shape both of those to what people see today. Marx believed that if one had enough power then they would have wealth. Power and status was more important than the amount of work one could do. The working class was exploited for profit and the working class lived to work. With Weber, hard work paid off. If people worked hard enough they could get somewhere else in life and enjoy it. There were multiple classes and not just the working class and the Capitalists. Today, there are still multiple classes and how you work can benefit in the long run. The harder one works the higher they can go in life. Society is at a spot where some people are ridiculously wealthy and some are dirt poor, but a lot of people are in between the two.
References
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Raghu, B. (2018, November 29). Is Marxism still relevant in the 21st century after 200 years?
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