Lecture 13 - Marx's Theory of Class and Exploitation
recorded by: Yale University
published: June 24, 2012, recorded: October 2009, views: 2491
released under terms of: Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND)
See Also:
Download yalesocy151f09_szelenyi_lec13_01.mp4 (Video - generic video source 597.4 MB)
Download yalesocy151f09_szelenyi_lec13_01.flv (Video 256.1 MB)
Download yalesocy151f09_szelenyi_lec13_01_640x360_h264.mp4 (Video 153.2 MB)
Download yalesocy151f09_szelenyi_lec13_01.wmv (Video 231.6 MB)
Download subtitles: TT/XML,
RT,
SRT
Related content
Report a problem or upload files
If you have found a problem with this lecture or would like to send us extra material, articles, exercises, etc., please use our ticket system to describe your request and upload the data.Enter your e-mail into the 'Cc' field, and we will keep you updated with your request's status.
Description
In order to move from a theory of alienation to a theory of exploitation, Marx develops a concept of class and of the capitalist mode of production. He developed these in The Communist Manifesto, the Grundrisse and Das Kapital. Marx argues that what sets the capitalist mode of production apart from the commodity mode of production is not only the accumulation of money; the capitalist mode of production is characterized by the use of labor power as a commodity to create more value. The capitalist compensates the laborer enough for his labor power to reproduce the commodity (the labor power), but the laborers' power produces additional value: a surplus value for the owner. The worker is exploited when he does not keep or control the value created by his own labor power. Marx argues that the capitalist system forces people into one of two classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. This class dichotomy did not describe accurately social structure in Marx time, when a sizable class of self-employed existed. Marx predicted that this "middle class" will disappear; instead it grew in size over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Reading assignment:
- Marx, Collected Works, "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," Vol. 6. pp. 477-506
- Marx, Capital, Vol. 1. pp. 163-221
- Marx, Capital, Vol. 3. Chapter 52
Link this page
Would you like to put a link to this lecture on your homepage?Go ahead! Copy the HTML snippet !
Write your own review or comment: