Karl Marx, Max Weber and Social Class Theory

Sociologist identify a social class as any group of citizens who share an equitable socioeconomic condition. As a basis for scientific inquiry, the acceptance of social class as a verifiable demographic has added significantly to the research of various social attitudes and ideology, producing an entire subset of groundbreaking author. Even so, there are just two writers whose legacy stands astride the science of studying social class like a towering collosus: Karl Marx and Max Weber.

Marx's theories on social class postulate that the owners or the means of production exploit those who produce goods and services, while the working class become alienated consumers. Max Weber's responds to Marx through his critique that Marxian social class theory is too dialectical and so he includes factors associated with such societal input as politics and status. Central to every single theory regarding social class within an economic system based on private ownership is that status becomes the foundation upon which to delineate economic empowerment.