Thesis

Thesis 08

Theory of class struggle

Capitalism has two phases

  expanding phase - contradictions are not visible

  declining phase - contradictions are visible

C has in built dynamism to bring its downfall

* There are two elements of C

  1. Objective condition will generate class consciousness-eco conditions

  2. Political action by preliterate

So eco. contradiction will generate class consciousness and this will generate political action.

The classes are the ultimate units of history

classes are historical contingencies.

What constitutes class

            1. Ownership of the means of production.

            2. Degree of freedom enjoyed by the class

            (Preliterate has freedom to sell his labor whereas the slave does not)

A class is a gp of people in a given society who find them selves in the same position with regard to two things

            1. Ownership / ownership of property essential for production

            2. personal freedom enjoyed or deprived of by these gps.

Evolution of class

Class comes about as the result of L <=> of evolution

            1.class in itself - is not bad because no awareness

            2.class for itself- this is united. This is aware of 

                                It stands in opposition to others

                         It is an enemy c becomes mobilized

History of human kind is the history of class struggle.

Why only two classes

1.Only two have contradictory images as to soc and how it should be

2.definite political power/motivation.

Bourgeois  ... are subservient in feudalism

            ... become thesis in capitalism

            ... dev forces of production - is eco dev.

They have double role in history

            1.They dev forces of procution

            2.overthrow feudal aristocracy to bring capitalism.

Proletariat

            -It is subservient class in capitalism but not privileged one

            -They Constitute antitheses in capitalism

 It's role

            to be antithesis of capitalism Vs Bourgeois

            it is a class c prod surplus labor by l sale of its labor.

when Individual ownership to property will cease then the proletariat will cease. salvation is the free of pvt ownership.+-----------------------------+

Only one class means                       +--+Bourgeois change |soc but Y||

            1.It is a classless soci              |  do not change themselves      |

            2.It is the paradigm of humanity      | -If one is not free to n |whole|             3.y will demand abolition of pvt pro  |   humanity is not free.        |

            4.g is how you want to bring equality.|  -redemption of one is |       |                                             |   redemption of other classes  |

                                           +--------------------------------+

Marx recognized more than two classes but only two deserved attention, There is one more middle class. They are

1.Peasants, small manufactures, independent artisans

2.Merchants, Shopkeepers

3.Salaried persons, working in factory etc.

4.Professionals - Doctors, clergy, military etc

They are involved in a struggle. Bur once the struggle intensifies they will join with proletarian.

Class struggle is the unit of history

                                                   +-----------------+

Nature of Class struggle                           | In capitalism   |

Violent - Younger Marx                             | Prolet = antithe|

Non violent                                        | Bourgeo  thesis |

                                                   +-----------------+

Although violent revolution shortens the pairs of transition yet there is no one prescribed means to effect a social change

It varies with every country and situation.

Communism in two phases                 Prolet -> capture power

+----------------+   +----------------+  +-----------+  +----------------+

|capture of power|   |Period of social|  |dismantling|  |to erect new str|

|by prolet       |<->|transformation  |->|the old str|->|i.e. communism  |

+----------------+   +----------------+  +-----------+  +----------------+    

Social satisfaction

          It refers to the division of society into diff strata which are unequal in power prestige and money

            The classification

                        1.The caste system in India

                        2.class system all over

                        3.estate system  =>Aristocrat     |this is defined by

                           =>clergy         |hereditary

                           =>serfs/artisans |relationship to land and church

Caste There are 3000 - 4000 castes. Varna is four fold sys. Caste is completely different. Some say Caste could have come from inter marriages of Varnas. Others say it is a theory imposed on the existing caste sys.

chs of caste  1. status unit -> from birth

                            2. occupational unit

                            3. ritual unit

                            4.endogamy unit

class sys      Marx gave this idea; Bourge + Prolet

He said ownership /lack of it of means of production determines the class. Marx has two historically assigned roses, others have no historically assigned roles - eg middle class

class-in-itself => they have the same relationship to means of production

class for itself awareness of problems etc.

Karl Marx offered uni diredtional concept of class. Max weber proposed multi dimensional concept of class. He said stratification is multi dimensional.

1. classes - this is based on property and wealth differences. They affect                  life chances.

2. status gps- they are based on power differences. they affect life styles

3. Parties - this is based on power differences

criticism ;upper class man need not necessarily belong to one could be educated but have no money

Two Theories

conflict theory Acc to this it is not ownership but control of the means of production is to be taken into account. These people agree with Karl Marx that certain stratification is necessary. But should it be this much. Conflictists say the stratification should be

1.subject to distortions

2.people of replacability; How easily one can be replaced gives the worth of the person. they say this will help to motivate people (marxists do not agree

This is subject to manipulations. They place a sort of artificial difficulty to replace them.

Functionalist theory: Wibert moore and Davis.

These people will say to that inequality is necessary and good.

1.Not all functions are equally important. Some are more vital

2.It requires great competence, longer training and superior skills to build more important position.

3. If all are rewarded eqully people will be demotivated.

Modern theory; Modern refers to recent past. It is transiton from tradition to modernity. This method proposes diagnosis. i.e. what are the causes ofand why?

a) Lack of growth: Rich people say that there is not mobility among poor with regard to works. The social organisation of the poor people are bad. This is rich people's answer.

b) Lack of distribution: The solution is classless society. This is Marxist view

First world requests the third world to change all these.

1. Social organisation  2. Economic organisation   3. Political organisation  4.  cultural organisation  5. Mentality

Dependancy Theory

The core countries are practising neo colonism through TNC, MNC, IMF, WORLD BANK. devt of core countries affecdt the peripherty very much. Perifery are eternally dependent for military technology etc.

                        First world: The one has passed from tradn to modernity

                        Third world: The one struggleing with Tradition

There is no harm in changing tradition for example Japan. They have adopted their own tradition and they have developed tremendously.

Social stratification refers to the division of society into a hierarchy of layers that are unequal in erms of power, wealth and prestige. A class is gp of people in the soc who find themselves same with regard to two things.

            1. Ownership of property essential for production.

            2. Personal freedom enjoyed by these groups

basically social stratification was aimed at smooth functioning of the society. But in The course of time inequality was generated and the soc is marred with conflicts and struggles. One main contributing factor is caste and division of labour. To avoid this marx proposes his "classless soc" theory, where thigs will be produced only acc to the need and ownership belongs to all. He proposed this because the birth of proleteriat generate a new struggle to overthrow Bourgeoise and a new class of oppressors woul emerge. So he proposes classless soc. His view and Budha's attitude to caste seems to be the same.

            Buddha says superiority or inferiority should be based on one's action and not on birth. Bn is the one who does not sin and Bn comes not by birth but by deeds. So individuals behaviour is given more important thatn an association with a gp. Ambedkar sys the society should be changed by fraternity, equality, and liberty. He says caste system is the root cause of all evcil. Religion supports caste system. So it should be eradicated. He encourages iner caste marriages with a view to establishing an equal soc. He says education is a must to improve people's thinking.

            Ranade says what makes man fully social is consciousness and social nature. both are closely linked. He saysindividual is more important  and only when an individual is free the whole society is free.

            Dayanand wanted to keep fourfold varnas but caste must be removed. He wanted theoretical equality with out disturbing the existint inequality. He visualised a sys  where the tradition elite of the country.

Now in detail

            In social stratification (ss) we have four types

1.slavery

2.estate sys

3.caste sys  -segmental divisions of soc in various strata by birth

                           -involves 4 fold varnas

                           -restrictions on food and social intercourse

                           -civic and religious priviledges and disabilities

                           -marriage -> endogomy

Class: Popularised by marx. This challenges the industrial slic. The most used criterion is economic status or power. It is less rigid because of mobility and classes.

Two theories of SS Both are theories  centered around whether inequality is necessary?

Functional theory S says inequality is necessary because not all uns are equally important. some are more important than others. If all are rewarded equal, then it will promote laziness. soc is sys of status, roles. more imp fns are require greater training and competence.

Conflict theory They say inequality is not necessary. 'differential rewarding for motivation' is a cultural product. what happens in a fly? people are not rewarded equally. Parents work without regards. So inequality is not necessary. Here the conflict in how to decide which job is better and lower? Soc does not reward people acc to imp. Amitab bachan is paid more. Does it mean that he is more important.

Marxism and class struggle: It Proposed to have classless soc. The means of production and distribution of items are controlled by a few individuals but has worked for it. So he proposed a classless soc where all will own right to produced goods.

            He based his theory on basic str and super str. Basic str is economy. It xonsiests on modes of production. It determines super str. For Marx everything is determined by eco. It is the deciding factor. Basic str determines super str and super str serves the interest of basic str. Hence basic str is both efficient and final cause.

                               

                                                       Dynamics of mode of production/ eco/ base str

                                                                                            |

         +-------------------------------------------------------+

forces of|Production (F.P)                Relations of  roducti n|(R.P)

              |                                        |       

     +---------------------+               +------------------------+

means|of             labour|power      work|relation       ownership|relation

production                 |               |                        |

     |                     |               |                        |

   +----------------+      |               |                        |

ins|rument    object|    aggregate of  Division of labour   controll over

of labour     of labour  both physical who does what,when   and access to

{factories,   {Raw mate} and mental    where                productive forces  tools, etc}              abilities                          and distribution

                                                            of products

The class struggle begins in R.P. The relationship is ownership relationship. As time goes on F.P becomes larger and R.P smaller. This generates class struggle. The five stages of its history are

                                                1. Primitive communism

                                                2. Slavery

                                                3. Feudalism

                                                4. Capitalism

                                                5. Communism

Basic str and super nstr and its relation         F.P = Forces of production

Basic str has F.P and R.P                         R.P = Relations of Productn

F.P includes a> Means of prodn, tools obj of labour, raw material

                           b> Labour power of both mental and phy capabilities.

R.P includes a> Work relations

                           b> Ownership relations - sb who has power

F.P such as T.V, Computers change the relation; So as F.P advances there arises a contradiction which is a fundamental contradiction

Since F.P is self expanding and constatnly revolutionlise themselves they become bigger and bigger.

This first revdn gives rise to 2nd with in R.P

c in R.P      One section wants change | Class struggle comes from here. This

                            One section opposes      | gives rise to calss division and rev

Stages of History

1. Primitive Communism                  Changes in R.P brings change in super

2. Ancient Slavery                      str. THis new super str brings a new

3. Feudalism                            change in R.P once again this <=> on

4. Capitalism

5. Socialism

Modernism (continued)

After II world war many countries come into fence so modern theory is more effective.

Analogy (cake)

- first world say that the cake is too small but consumers are more

- second world people say that cake is alright. But they are unequally cut.      Capitalists take more and proliteriat have less.

-Third world people say that the cake is stolen away.

Third world say to the rich people that they are exploiting our deipendaency. They provide some facilities and put many conditions.

This is world capitalists theory.

Chs of the dictatorship of the proleteriate.

            1. It suggests democratic republic. It is democratic for majority and dictator of minority

            2. There would still lbe classes

            3. It involves some kind of organised force.

            4. Proleteriate state is not based on economic strength

            6. The Proleteriate is transitory phenomenon.

Two sets

Dictatorship                          Dictatorship

 Socialism                              Communism

 Communism

Socialism	Communism
- Consolidation of new str            - Still there would be landmark of      capitalism                          - eco rewards would be acc to           labour                              - It recognises no class diff         - It will be a dictatorship of prol	- arrival of   history                - All resources will be put together                               - not acc to wants but acc to needs   - Socialised prodution will ve          accompanied by social enjoyment       of income.                          - Abolition of division of labour  - complete humanism. There is no class conflicts. Authentic hn fence possible.

In communism

            1. Revolution of conflict x Man and his own self

            2.    _{"              "}    x Man and Nature

            3.    _{"              "}    x Man and Man

            4. There won't be any state

Alienation separates products from the producer. One produced the owner has full contrast. So Communism

Criticism

1. Base Str determines super str - sys  Karl Marx.

   But both of them are important

2. He leaves out middle class

3. He assumes sophisticated Proleteriate and important Bourgeoise.