According to Marx however, industrialization was splitting society as whole into only two classes,—the bourgeoisie and proletariat. As he explained, “the lower strata of the middle class—small trades-people, shopkeepers, handicraftsmen—sink gradually into the proletariat, partly because their diminutive capital does not suffice for the scale on which modern industry is carried on, and is swamped in the competition with the large capitalists, partly because their specialized skill is rendered worthless” by the mechanization inherent to industrialization. Marx further argued that these two camps were extremely hostile because the bourgeoisie (who were capitalists exploiting the factors of production to maximize profit) institutionalized the oppression of the proletariat.
Critical Thinking Questions:
1. Explain modern Europe’s social class structure according to Karl Marx.
2. How does industrialization lead to only two social classes?
3. Remembering Marx’s definition of history, explain the characteristics of the relationship between these two classes?