Social Stratification in 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' by Karl Marx and Max Weber's 'Class, Status and Party'

Social Stratification in 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' by Karl Marx and Max Weber's 'Class, Status and Party'

Social stratification is the ranking of members of society in a way

that some of its members are regarded as superior and others as inferior.

This theory is certainly debated in present time and was debated as far

back as 1776 when Karl Marx presented his theory in his "Manifesto of

the Communist Party". In the 1880's, Max Weber combatted that document

in his own "Class, Status and Party."

Karl Marx believed that social standing or rank was based solely on

class position. For example, an owner of a business was regarded far above

a worker in that same business. Class position would also influence the

amount of political power one had as well as the prestige that one enjoyed.

Weber, however, argued that there were three parts to social

stratification: class, status and power. He stated that class was relative

to how much money a person had and how much property that person owned.

Status was split into two categories, "h...