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Power in our society
Power in society
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Ruling Class and Ruling Elite Works Cited Missing The term 'ruling class' is frequently used in Marxist theory to
indicate a political leading group. 'Ruling elite' is the general term
that appears in the elite theory for describing those who exercise the
political power. The explanations of two terms share some similarities
but differences between them are very significant.
One of similarities is that both elitists and Marxists believe that
The bourgeoisie: comprised of the ruling class, the class that owns everything and everyone. Being the most important in the means of production, the bourgeoisie exploits the working, “wage-earning” class, otherwise referred to as the proletariat. Within this context, in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet he utilizes this concept surrounding the bourgeoisie through the ideas of the super structure, religion, and rugged individualism to showcase the crumbling society in Denmark which eventually leads to Ophelia and Hamlets deaths as well as the demise of Denmark as a whole.
In the book Cue for Treason social status and the hierarchy had a great affect on the characters of the story. The book Cue for Treason, written by Geoffrey Trease took place in the Elizabethan Era, a time where your social ranking decided your power and importance. The hierarchy had a great affect on many people included in this book, such as the Queen who was thought as the keystone of peace, Sir Philip who abused his ranking for power, and the lower class that were widely manipulated by higher rankings. Social status certainly had influenced the actions of the characters and the whole plot in general.
As with any new monarch in Europe came with them profound changes on the policies and governing of that time period. This was especially true following the birth of the Protestant Reformation and religion. Rulers of the time period were pressed to follow the old ways of religion in Catholicism or embrace the revolutionary Lutheranism or Protestantism movements. A few intelligent, humane leaders decided to be neutral on this issue, and they were defined as the politiques. Elizabeth I, Henry of Navarre and William the Silent were all extraordinary rulers of their respective monarchies. Their tolerance of religion was revolutionary for the time period, and is how they all relate to the singular word, politique. Each had their own degree of tolerance for the opposing religion. Elizabeth I created her tolerant state by symbolic notions, Henry of Navarre was a boisterous ruler always looking to make his policies of tolerance known to his people, and William the Silent took the quiet approach with his inaction to religious persecution. Each of these rulers manifested a politique not only through their toleration of religion, but their varying degrees of tolerance.
Marxism is a method of analysis based around the concepts developed by the two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel, centered around the complexities of social-relations and a class-based society. Together, they collaborated their theories to produce such works as The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848), and developed the terms ‘’proletariat’ and ’bourgeois’ to describe the working-class and the wealthy, segmenting the difference between their respective social classes. As a result of the apparent differences, Marxism states that proletariats and bourgeoisie are in constant class struggle, working against each other to amount in a gain for themselves.
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. n.d. http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/ch07.htm (accessed March 27, 2014). Riichi, Yokomitsu.
The decline of aristocracy in The Communist Manifesto began with Karl Marx’s statement, “The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles.”1 Marx recognized the ideals of the social rank, which has influenced every society throughout history. The two social classes described by Marx were the Bourgeoisie, or the upper class, and the Proletariats, or the lower class. Before the Bourgeoisie came to social power, landowners and corporate organizations ran the society. Marx believed that the severe separation of the two classes greatly troubled society and that the two classes must coexist as one with each other.2
Jain, Ajit, and Alexander Matejko, eds. A Critique of Marxist and Non-Marxist Thought. New York: Praeger, 1986.
For instance, the way the social classes in the novel are being represented is an example of the presence of the Marxist theory in the novel.
Works Cited http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/sw/course/mscp.pdf. n.d. - n.d. - n.d. http://www.workers.org/articles/2013/06/13/marxism-and-the-social-character-of-china/. n.d. - n.d. - n.d. http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=4214:marxism-and-the-french-revolution&Itemid=506. Marsh, David, and Gerry Stoker. Theory and Methods in Political Science.
Sociologists examine power in the political, economic, and military institutions of America, as C. Wright Mills describes the shift in national power to advantage those who are part of these three institutions. The “power elite” (1) are those who are from similar social backgrounds and interests, therefore those in the top of hierarchy are interchangeably making decisions for other social institutions, in which they have no power to do so. For example, “the corporation executive whose company was one of the two or three leading war material producers is now the Secretary of Defense” (3), therefore the rise in power of the power elite have caused those who are not belonging to the power elite to lose all form of democratic rights. Many of the
... the non-enlightened. Because the bourgeoisie has more knowledge, they wield more power and influence than the proletariat, and could exploit the proletariat, and could exploit the proletariat as they do not possess a power than that of the bourgeoisie. The essay entitled The Closing of the (North) American Mind by Robert Nielsen conveys the issues on Marxist literary theory as these issues regarding struggles are evident in the text.
...iks and the Petty Bourgeoisie." Lenin Collected Works. Vol. 12. Moscow: Foreign Languages House, 1962. 179-83. Marxist Internet Archive. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Karl Marx and Max Weber both expressed an interest in the social class. Social class as defined in the class is an individual’s relation to the organization of production. (Nakhaie 2015) Weber discusses class in the context of social stratification, which can be defined by many resources as “a society’s categorization of people into socioeconomic strata.” This social stratum is based on a person occupation, income, wealth and social status. Webers treatment of class and status indicates the manner in which the material basis of society is related to. It can be said that Weber identifies a variety of social classes; with the analysis of his classes overlapping his theory that rationalization comes to dominate modern societies and class systems. “Weber and Marx both regard society as characterized by conflicts over resources and power.” (Bratton and Denham 2014:255) Marx, on the other hand, had many views on social classes and class systems, however, his view of the capitalist stage of production consists of two classes that are seen as his most influential. The first of the two classes is the bourgeoisie or the “means of production”; this is the middle-class citizens who are seen as having materialistic values. The second is known as the proletariats, or the “working class”; they are seen as having collective values. As mentioned above, Weber agreed with Marx’ views on classes, however, our
Throughout the three books which compose the series it is easy to see examples of class struggle, ruling class ideologies, and revolution. I intend to focus on these
This week’s written assignment is to compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. I will address each form of government, providing examples of each and will include applicable comparisons and/or contrasts.