Question

What do you make of Karl Marx’s contributions to sociology? What perceptions of Marx have you been exposed to in your society, and how do those perceptions influence your views?

Answer 1

Karl Marx is a German philosopher, sociologist, economist and political theorist. He is one of the most important sociologist who fought the capitalistic societies that brought class structure and tortured the working class. Marx classified the society into two, one who controls the production means the labor and capital while the other the labor who works for the capitalist. Marx always felt that there is a discrimination in the way wealth is distributed among the capitalists and the labor class. Das Kapital or The Capital is one of the great work by Karl Marx that set the tone for the Communist and sociological perspectives. Conflict theory is yet another contribution by Karl Marx. He suggested that the society is in a permanent conflict for the limited resources available where consensus is maintained by domination and power rather than consensus. I agree with the Marxian view that people with power and money dominate people who work for them by exploiting their labor. Today, the class is still maintained and those who are in the upper class maintain their own set of values and customs. They are not ready to mingle with other people thus segregating and discriminating them based on their economic status. Only if this is changed and people are treated equally, the society will progress.