Karl Marx And Weber's Theory Of Modernity

Karl Marx is perhaps the first in a series of late 19th and early 20th century theorists who initiated the call for an empirical approach to social science, theorizing about the rise of modernity accompanied by the simultaneous decline in traditional societies and advocating for a change in the means of production in order to enable social justice. Marx’s analysis of modernity reveals his conceptualization of modern society as being dictated by the rapid advancement of productive forces of modern industry and the corresponding relationships of production between the capitalist and the wage laborers. The concept of modernity generally refers to a post-feudal historical period that is characterized by the move away from feudalism and toward capitalism,

Weber’s disposition on modernity transformed modern society into a metaphorical iron cage. The iron cage represents society’s entanglement with the modern, mechanized transformation of society initially thought to be controllable, with the ability to detangle itself from the machines at any time, like a cloak that can be removed. Throughout history, however, Marx notes that this entanglement has become permanent and the individual has been locked in a cage by a modern society, with the implementation of more social control manifest in excessive bureaucracy. Karl Marx and Max Weber have made significant contributions to the field of sociology, and I support both theorists in their arguments. I believe that Marx was correct in regards to his conceptualization of the social structure being of man’s creation and therefore within the realm of change under the direction of man.; however, I believe that limitations exist in the idealistic nature of his utopian dream. Maintaining a utopian objective as the goal of social change exposes the inherently distorted analysis of sociological phenomenon, as there is neglect of examining social issues from a micro, day-to-day orientation essentially proving the existence of a Eurocentric male bias historically found within the study of sociology. I

Marx believed in historical materialism and class struggle, demonstrating that the private ownership of the means of production enabled the bourgeois to maintain power over the larger, powerless proletariats who provided the labor for the means of production. As a repercussion of this disparity of power, Marx concluded social and moral problems were inherent to a capitalist system, which forced competition and created unnecessary antagonisms, essentially isolating the proletariat in their social position for generations.

The Marxist perspective on work and capitalism is paralleled in many ways with Max Weber’s perspective on these issues, with subtle differences stemming from the causation of capitalism. For Marx, the theory of historical materialism held that all human institutions, including religion, were based on economic foundations, with the implication that the economic foundations came first. In contrast, Weber’s The Protestant Ethic challenges this assertion and instead implicates a religious movement as responsible for fostering capitalism, yet doesn’t fully discount the theories of