POL 315
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MARXISM
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Base and Superstructure
Foundation Society
Superstructure of society
Art
Law
Religion
Education
Government
values, etc
Relations of
production
(social classes
Fig.3.1: Marx’s Society Structure
Means of Production
Resources & Technology
1. There are two major social groups- bourgeoisie and the
proletariat (a ruling class and a subject class).
2. The power of the ruling class comes from its ownership and
control of the means of production (land, capital, labor power,
buildings and machinery).
3. The ruling class exploits and oppresses the subject class.
4. As a result, there is a basic conflict of interest between the two
classes.
5. The various institutions of society, such as the legal, religious,
and political systems, are instruments of ruling class domination
and serve to further its interests.
6. Only when the means of production are communally owned will
classes disappear, thereby bringing an end to the exploitation and
oppression of some by others.
From a Marxist perspective, systems of stratification derive from the
relationships of social groups to the means of production. Marx saw all
societies as composed of two basic parts: the foundation and the
superstructure. The foundation of any society, according to this theory,
is material. In other words, the economic system is at the base of the
society. Marx further divided the economy into two basic factors: the
means of production and the relations of production.
The means of production are the resources and technology at the
disposal of a particular society, and their interrelationship determines the
kind of economic system the society enjoys. The relations of production
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