Critical Social Theories - Essay Example

Critical Social Theory Name Institution Date Critical Social Theory Introduction Social class theories have played an essential role in trying to provide an explanation regarding human actions. The quest to understand the human behaviours can be traced back to the time of ancient Greeks. Early Egyptians and Chinese also tried to come up with explanations for human endavours (Thrift & Williams, 2014). Social thinkers have emerged over period of time and this has led to the development of the social theories. Critical social theories have been developed by various scholars over the years and it has provided an understanding on various human aspects. Intellectual development, which was as a result of enlightenment, played an essential role in developing social theories. Social theories have been instrumental in providing explanations with regards to various aspects affecting the people in the society. One of the main social problems that have been affecting the society for a long period of time is the class struggles. Different social classes have been in existence in the society over a long period of time. The rich as well as the poor have also been present in all the societies (Thrift & Williams, 2014). There has been a lot of struggle in the society among the poor people to be rich. The theory of class struggle has been instrumental over the years in f providing an explanation with regards to class struggle. The paper discusses class struggle in reference to the critical social theoretical perspective. Discussion History Property ownership and the economic differences between individuals led to the changes in the social class. The problem of class struggle can therefore be traced and linked to property ownership. The people belonging to different stratum have different goals, status and interest. Opposing interests and goals among the people belonging to different stratum have therefore led to class struggle. The class struggle can also be traced back to the changes in the methods of production. Changes in the methods of production led to the exploitation of the have-nots by the haves. The have-nots in most cases are forced to work for the haves and hence creating class within the society. The haves over the years have put in places measures to ensure that the have-nots continue to exist so that they can continually exploit them. Private ownership of land led to the creation of landowners, feud lords and slaves (Thompson, 2013). This in turn led to the creation of a relationship between master and slave. The oppression in the society can therefore be considered as one of the factors that contributed to the class struggle. The slaves were the poorest people in the society and were compelled to work for the landowners without pay. This infringement of human rights led to the development of slave movements which further fuelled the class struggle. The struggle continued even after the elimination of slavery as most of the poor people ended up becoming peasant farmers and had to contribute with the production process. Class struggle continued even after the emergence of capitalism. Capitalistic system led to the mechanization of the production process. However, it also led to the development of different classes of people. The people who owned the means of production were the upper class while those who worked for the owners of production means were the lower class. The exploitation of the workers continued and hence worsening the situation with regards to the class struggle. The main interest for those who owned the means of production was making profits. However the main interest of the employees was to improve on their living standards and working conditions. The conflicting interest fuelled the struggle between the classes in the society (Sim & Van Loon, 2014). The capitalist system played an important role in improving on the production but it has done nothing to eliminate the class struggle. It is for this reason that the class struggle continues to date. However, the class struggle has currently seen the formation of human rights movements as well as the trade unions for the purposes of dealing with the exploitation. The organization of workers as well as the people from different social classes has seen the fight against injustice and exploitation increasing. The theory of class struggle is a critical social theory that was developed by Marx and it provides important information with regards to the class struggle. This theory provides useful information that is still applicable to date with regards to the issue of class struggle. Theory of Class Struggle According to the theory of class struggle, the history of all societies is can be explained by the history of class struggle (Carnoy, 2014). This theory indicates that the class struggle over the years have been between the exploiter and the exploited. The struggle between the exploiter and the exploited is characterized by constant opposition, uninterrupted fight and restructuring of the society. The theory indicates that the social being of men is what determines their consciousness. In the society, the social standings have become an important measure of where one stands. The powerful class in the society usually makes the laws and the other have to follow the laws. This been the case over the years in all the societies as the ruling class is responsible for making the laws. In some instances, the ruling class has been responsible for making harsh laws that are oppressive to the other people in the society. Such laws are usually aimed at consolidating their grip on power. This can be considered as a class struggle as those who are being ruled usually end up suffering. Power distance has also been created in the society as a result of class struggle. In most societies, the distance between those who are in power and those who are not is quite wide. According to the theory, feudalism in the society was responsible for capitalism which further fuelled class struggle that is still witnessed to date (Carnoy, 2014). The theory of class struggle was developed for the purposes of criticizing the capitalist society. According to the theory, capitalism was responsible for transforming the masses of people into two different groups. It was also responsible for uniting the workers as they faced the same challenges. The theory also highlights that the society has placed a lot of importance on property. Anyone who owns a huge amount of property is considered to be in the upper class. However, those who own little or no property are considered to be on the lower class. This division has led to constant struggle among the individuals to own property. The theory indicates that the economic power is usually converted in to political power. This gives the people who are economically powerful the control in the society and the other classes. According to Marx, there are only two classes in the society and each member of the society belongs to one of the tow classes (Resnick & Wolff, 2013). This has led to the polarization of the society and hence creating hostilities among the two classes. The exploitation of workers is mainly responsible for the generation of profits. The workers in most instances are paid poorly and they have to work for a long period of time. The exploitation of the workers has also been responsible for the growth of poverty in the society. Capitalism has led to the alienation of the workers with most of them being forced to work in inhumane conditions. The revolutions that have been witnessed in most countries are also attributed to the class struggle. However dictatorship has also emerged in the society to counter revolution. Practice application In the current society the class struggle in evident in different aspects of life. The political class in most countries around the world are the in the upper class while the common man is in the lower class. The rich in the society have greater influence over the poor in the society. Most of the people in the ruling class are the rich people. Authoritarian systems have emerged in different countries as a result of the class struggle (Goldstein, 2012). Most of the authoritarian regimes usually manipulate the system in order to ensure that the local people are unable gain any power. This has resulted to extreme poverty in most of the countries with such regimes. In some societies, strict penalties are usually imposed against those who try to challenge the ruling class. The presence of such oppressive regimes has led to the development of human rights movements which aims at ensuring that justice prevails in the society. The exploitation of the workers is also one of the vices that are evident in the society. Most of the multinationals have established their manufacturing plants in the developing countries where it is easy to exploit the workers. The workers are usually subjected to poor working conditions as well as low pay. The need to make profits has greatly contributed to this form of exploitation. Trade unions have also emerged as a result of the class struggle. While most of the workers support the trade unions most of the employers do not. The status of individuals in the modern society is also determined by what they own. Those who own a lot of property are considered rich while those who do not are considered poor. The people of high status in the society support the status quo while low class people oppose it and hence creating a constant struggle. The class struggle has seen divisions in most of the societies. The people of high status usually live in certain suburbs which has a lot of facilities. The people of low statues usually live in the neighborhoods without little or no facilities including the slums. The class struggle in the modern society has also seen the gap between the rich and the poor widen. The number of rich people in the society is far less than that of the poor. However, the rich people control the political as well as the economic systems in most of the countries (Hill, 2015). The differences in interests and goals between the two classes have also seen the poor people revolting against the system. The most common being the revolution in Tunisia where the common people organized a revolution that toppled the authoritative regime. The structure of most capitalist societies in the world has been destroyed by the revolutions. As a result of the class struggle, corruption which is a social evil has increased in the society. Most of the people engage in corruption in order to acquire more property and change their status. Critique of the perspective The perspective of class struggle highlights most of the social aspects that is talking place in the society. However, it has faced some criticism based on its analysis of the social issues related to class struggle. The perspective has been criticized on its perception of capitalism. The class struggle theory indicates that capitalism is likely to fail as a result of revolutions. However, this has not happened despite a number of revolutions taking place. Some of the societies that were not capitalistic have also failed to eliminate the class struggle. Class struggle was still witnessed in the Soviet Union and China which were communist countries. Soviet Union collapsed while other capitalist countries continued to flourish and is currently among the developed countries (Mouffe, 2014). The theory has also been criticized for its lack of foreseeing the large scale development of the labour sector. Currently, the labour unions as well as the government have put in place measures to promote the health and safety of the employees. This is unlike the past when there were no such measures. In the developed countries the levels of poverty has greatly declined. This is as opposed to the theory which highlights that the levels of poverty may end up increasing as a result of exploitation of the workers. However, large scale poverty is still witnessed in some of the capitalistic countries. The theory has also been criticized for misjudging the levels of alienation that is present in the society. The theory mainly highlights two social classes which is the rich and poor. However, this is not the case in the modern society. There has been an emergence of the middle class which is neither rich nor poor (Barker, 2013). The conception of two classes on the extreme sides is therefore false. In today’s society, revolution has not been the only method that has been used to settle disputes in terms of the class struggle. Most of the labour issues have been solved through collective bargaining without the any violence. This therefore dispels the facts that had been heighted in the theory with regards to the use of revolution to promote changes in the society. Dialogue is currently being used in most instances for the purposes of solving the labour disputes. Strikes which have ended up in violence have also been witnessed in the communist societies. The theory of Marx mainly puts a lot of focus on the agricultural sector as opposed to the other industries (Barker, 2013). Some of its aspects cannot be implemented in the other industries. The equal distribution of profits is not sustainable in other sectors and such a move will only worsen the living conditions of the workers and individuals. The elimination of capitalism is not possible as had been indicated by Marx in his theory. It is also impossible to eliminate exploitation of the employees profitability is what keeps the economy running. The working conditions can however be improved for the benefits of the employees who work for long hours. Influence of Other Theories The delivery of services in the community has been influenced by the social class theory as well as other theories that tend to address the problems of class struggle. Dahrendorf’s class and class conflict theory tries to avoid some of the empirical errors that were made in the class struggle theory by Marx. According to the theory, two approaches to society have been identified which includes the utopian and the rationalist (Lukacs, 2014). The theory emphasizes on the equilibrium of values and consensus stability. The equilibrium of values plays an important role in terms of delivery of services. It ensures that the services are delivered equally among the members of the society regardless of their status. This plays an important role in ensuring that the class struggle is reduced in the society with regards to the delivery of services. The process of solving conflicts within the society can also be carried out through a process of dialogue. This plays an important role in bring together the employers and the employers. It therefore ensures that the tension is reduced and hence reducing the class struggle. Exercising authority in an impartial manner is also useful during the delivery of service. Although the ownership of property gives absolute command to the owner, it does not give authority to exploit others as had been highlighted by the theory of social struggle. The lack of such authority therefore plays an important role in ensuring that the exploitation in the society is reduced. The classes in the society will always exist as long as there are those who hold superior positions than the others in the society. During the process of delivering the services, such issues have to be considered. However, it is important to ensure that the view of everyone is heard before action is taken. In most cases, the citizens will always be asked to provide their views with regards to a certain issue during the service delivery. The use of such views can improve on the service delivery and it also improves on the confidence of the citizens regarding the system. The social struggle theory also indicates that the citizens are likely to engage in a revolution in their quest for change and justice (Rojek, 2013). High quality services are usually delivered to the citizens in order to avoid a revolution. This is the same for the employees as most of the organizations have to ensure that they are well remunerated so as to avoid any form of industrial action. The theories are also useful in terms of providing a better understanding of the social classes during the delivery of services. This is because it creates a distinction of the have-nots and the haves. It therefore influences the allocation of resources in order to ensure that a balance is created in the community. The understanding of the society is thus impacted positively by the theories leading to a better delivery of services. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the social struggle has been a problem in the society for a long period of time. The ownership of property is one of the factors that contributed to the socials struggle. The problem of social struggle can be traced back of the ancient times. It is evident that the social struggle theory is against capitalism and it blames it for fuelling social struggle. The theory indicates that the struggle is mainly between two classes; the rich and the poor. Revolution is one of the tools that has been heighted and can be used to bring about changes. It is evident that the modern society is still facing some of the challenges as a result of the class struggle. The struggle has seen the emergence of a gap in the society between the have-nots and the haves. The levels of exploitation have also increased as a result of capitalism in the society. It is, however, evident that the perspective of social change theory has received some criticism. Its prediction of capitalism has not been correct. Capitalism has been able to address some of the problems in the society. It is evident that communism has also failed to address the problem of class struggle. The theories, however, provide important information that can be used during the delivery o service to the community. It is evident that the errors that were made by Marx needs to be corrected in order to fully address the problem of class struggle. References Thrift, N., & Williams, P. (2014). Class and Space (RLE Social Theory): The Making of Urban Society. London: Routledge. Thompson, J. B. (2013). Ideology and modern culture: Critical social theory in the era of mass communication. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Sim, S., & Van Loon, B. (2014). Introducing critical theory: A graphic guide. Icon Books. Carnoy, M. (2014). The state and political theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Resnick, S. A., & Wolff, R. D. (2013). Class theory and history: Capitalism and communism in the USSR. London: Routledge. Goldstein, P. (2012). Post-Marxist theory: an introduction. NY: SUNY Press. Hill, D. (2015). 14 Education, Neoliberalism, Neoconservatism, and Class Struggle in Britain and Europe. Colonized Schooling Exposed: Progressive Voices for Transformative Educational and Social Change, 6, 182. Mouffe, C. (2014). Gramsci and Marxist Theory (RLE: Gramsci). London: Routledge. Barker, C. (2013). Class struggle and social movements. Marxism and social movements, 39-61. Lukacs, G. (2014). 2 Class Consciousness. Ideology. Rojek, C. (2013). Capitalism and Leisure Theory (Routledge Revivals). London: Routledge. Read More