{"id":5855,"date":"2020-01-23T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T10:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=5855"},"modified":"2023-10-27T12:03:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T06:33:02","slug":"explain-the-transition-from-class-in-itself-to-class-for-itself-according-to-karl-marx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/explain-the-transition-from-class-in-itself-to-class-for-itself-according-to-karl-marx\/","title":{"rendered":"Explain the transition from class-in-itself to class-for-itself, according to Karl Marx."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nRelevance: Sociology: Paper I: thinkers<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Model Answer format-<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie leads to alienation. once the members become aware that they are being exploited they become a \u2018class for itself\u2019 instead of simply a \u2018class of itself\u2019 and rise up in revolution. This Class consciousness thus leads to class conflict. These struggles advance society to become classless and egalitarian where the private ownership of production and property was abolished\u2026all would be proletarian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Karl Marx distinguished between a \u2018class in itself\u2019 <\/strong><\/span>and a \u2018<\/span>class for itself<\/span>\u2019<\/strong>. A class in itself is simply a \u2018social group <\/strong><\/span>whose members share the same relationship to the means of production\u2019 .Karl Marx argued that a social group only fully becomes a class when it becomes a \u2018class for itself\u2019. At this stage, its members have \u2018class consciousness\u2019 <\/strong><\/span>and \u2018class solidarity<\/strong>.\u2019<\/span> Class consciousness means that \u2018<\/span>false class consciousness\u2019 <\/span><\/strong>has been replaced by a full awareness of the true situation, by a realization of the nature of exploitation. Members of a class then develop a \u2018common identity, recognize their shared interests and unite\u2019, so creating class solidarity<\/strong>.<\/span> The final stage of class consciousness and class solidarity is reached when members realize that only by \u2018collective struggle\u2019 <\/strong><\/span>can they overthrow the ruling class, and take positive steps to do so.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>According to Karl Marx, the following aspects of capitalist society<\/span> <\/strong>would eventually lead to the \u2018proletariat class developing into a \u2018class for itself\u2019:<\/p>\n

a) Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. The \u2018conflict of interest\u2019 between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat cannot be resolve within the framework of a capitalist economy. The basic conflict of interest involves the exploitation of workers <\/strong><\/span>by the bourgeoisie or capitalists.<\/p>\n

b) This first contradiction would be highlighted by a second which is the contradiction between social<\/span> production and individual ownership<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span> As capitalism developed, the workforce was increasingly concentrated in \u2018large factories\u2019 where production was a \u2018social enterprise\u2019. Social production also makes it easier for workers to organize themselves against the capitalists. If facilitates communication and encourage a recognition of common circumstances and interests.<\/p>\n

Karl Marx further outlined the factors which would hasten the transition and eventually leat to the \u2018polarization\u2019 of the two main classes in the capitalist society.<\/p>\n

a) The increasing use of machinery will result in a homogeneous working class<\/strong><\/span>. Since \u2018machinery obliterates the differences in labour\u2019, members of the proletariat will become increasingly \u2018\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

b) The difference in wealth between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat will increase as the accumulation of capital proceeds. Therefore though the real wages and living standards of the proletariat may rise, its members will become poorer in relation to the bourgeoisie. This process is known as<\/p>\n

c) The competitive nature of capitalism would mean that that only the largest and most wealthy companies will survive and prosper. Thus the petty bourgeoisie, the owners of small businesses, will sink into the proletariat. This process of proletarianization<\/span> <\/strong>would lead to capital being concentrated in few hands. These three processes, will result in the polarization of the two major classes.<\/p>\n

As a result of the transition from being a \u2018class-in-itself\u2019 to a \u2018class-for-itself\u2019 and the consequent polarization of the two classes, Karl Marx argued that a \u2018proletarian revolution\u2019 would soon follow and the \u2018communist utopia\u2019 of his dreams would be a reality. However Marx\u2019s conception of class-in-itself and class-for-itself has been questioned on the basis of \u2018empirical studies.\u2019<\/p>\n

According to V. Lenin, <\/strong><\/span>workers left to themselves would create only a \u2018trade union consciousness,\u2019 seeking limited social and economic reforms, and not a true revolutionary awareness.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Westergaard<\/strong>,<\/span> in his study of Britain society argues that though class inequalities are on the rise, yet there appears to be \u2018less class consciousness\u2019. Political parties responsible for articulating and mobilizing class interests are riven with internal disputes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Post-Modernists, Pakulski and Waters <\/strong><\/span>in their book, \u2018The Death of Class\u2019 <\/span><\/strong>claim that not that social inequality is disappearing, but class based division is loosing it\u2019s significance and more cleavages are appearing in society.<\/p>\n

    Therefore Karl Marx\u2019s conception of the two categories of \u2018class-in-itself\u2019 and \u2018class-for-itself\u2019 though is an important contribution in \u2018theoretical formulation\u2019<\/strong><\/span>, in terms of understanding the class-system and class-relations, but is not equally supported by empirical reality.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Relevance: Sociology: Paper I: thinkers Model Answer format- \u00a0 Karl Marx distinguished between a \u2018class in itself\u2019 and a \u2018class<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,115],"tags":[392],"class_list":["post-5855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sociology-optional","category-sociology-optional-paper-i","tag-union-public-service-commission-upsc"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19605,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5855\/revisions\/19605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}