2. Karl Marx, the father of scientific
socialism, famously stated in his A
Preface to a Critique of Political
Economy the most controversial
assertion in sociology:
(1) In the social production of their
life, men enter into definite relations
that are indispensable and
independent of their will.
3. These relations of production
correspond to a definite stage of
development of their material forces
of production.
The sum total of these relations of
production constitutes the economic
structure of society-the real
foundation, on which rises a legal
and political superstructure and to
which correspond definite forms of
social Consciousness.
4. The mode of production of
material life determines the
social, political and intellectual
life process in general.
It is not the consciousness of
men that determines their being,
but, on the contrary, their social
being that determines their
consciousness.
5. In a feudal society, for instance, where
agriculture is the main pillar of
production, hierarchical social
relations are produced owing to the
inequality between the landlords and
the landless peasants.
Naturally, the political system under
feudalism is either authoritarian or
despotic. The same applies to slave-
owning societies. If a society remains
feudal, people will always be tied to the
land and its economic structures.
6. The assertion of Karl Marx is also a truism in
another way. The cultural lifestyle of the poor
will be much different from those of the
middle classes and the super-rich. Whereas
the rich and the middle classes can afford to
buy original products, the lower class will be
drawn more to popular culture and its
affordable products.
Hence, families from the upper classes enjoy
watching golf, while the lower classes tend
to watch popular sports like basketball It
does not mean, of course, that poor people
are incapable of enjoying "high art" and
stylish dresses, leisure, and music.
7. If given the proper education and
socialization, the lower class can
also learn how to appreciate the
"conspicuous consumption" of the
rich.
In the case of the Philippines,
"lifestyles as indicative of class
cultures may be inferred from
material possessions, the way people
handle leisure and their exposure to
media and cultural preferences"(p.
153)
8. For Cynthia Bautista (2001), "Of
material possessions, the dwelling unit
is among the best indicators of social
status in the Philippines, since
Filipinos tend to invest their savings in
the appearances of their houses“ A
recent study on the education of the
elite members of European societies in
relation to students from lower classes
illustrates further the way class
structure shapes the trajectory of
scholastic achievement:
9. A child from the so-called
"educationally remote strata" who,
despite all these obstacles, reaches
a university is then confronted with
the extremely effective "unofficial"
curricula and the behavior patterns
of the "education oriented strata."
According to a study undertaken by
the German Studentenwerk (Student
Services Association), these
students also have to cope with
greater material problems...
10. This is then reflected in the fact that
twice as many of them take longer than
average to complete their studies.
All in all, the university prospects for
children from working-class families or
normal white-collar or civil service
backgrounds are far worse than they
are for children from the upper classes,
despite the fact that universities have
gone through a process of social
opening (Hartmann 2004, p. 91).
11. In the case of women, their
status will also depend, not only
on the cultural definition of
gender roles, but also on the
economic development of
society. Marx, again, famously
observed that the degree of
development and progress of a
society is always measured by
the status of women.
13. The distribution of wealth in society
will always be dependent on the
economic structure of society. One
of the major impacts of economy,
therefore, on society is on defining
the status and class of individuals
within society.
For Marx, class refers to relations
among people who share the same
class interests in relation to the
means of production.
14. Class is dependent on the
access to the ownership of the
means of production. Those
who own and monopolize the
means of production in the
classic Marxist analysis,
under capitalism, are called
the bourgeoisie or the
capitalists.
15. Those who own nothing except to
sell their labor power in the market
are the proletariat (from French
prolétariat, from Latin proletarius- -a
man whose only wealth is his
offspring).
Classes are real or objective entities
that shape the way people think
about themselves and how they
relate with others in the real world.
16. (1) The bourgeoisie, which
the Communist Manifesto
referred to as "owners of
the means of social
production and employers
of wage labor“.
17. (2) The proletariat or the working
class, which are said to be "the
Class of modern wage-laborers who,
having no means of production of
their own, are reduced to selling
their labor-power in order to live”.
There are also the petty bourgeoisie
who are the class of educated
individuals. The big landowners who
exploit the labor of the peasants.
18. (3) the peasant class that include
landless farmers who are forced to
offer their services to the big
landowners.
Finally, Marx also included the
"dangerous class," otherwise
known as the lumpenproletariat,
which is said to be composed of
"the social scum, that passively
rotting mass thrown off by the
lowest layers of old society.
19. The lumpenproletariat sell their services to
the bourgeoisie, who use them as strike
breakers, labor spies, and fighters against
the workers in times of revolution. Such
are the actions which make them the
"dangerous class."
According to Bertell Ollman, Marx's
criteria for distinguishing classes hinge on
the question of class conflict and
interests. The proletariat and the
bourgeoisie are the great classes under
capitalism because their interests are
directly opposed to each other.
21. Anthony Giddens, a British sociologist,
explains the multiplication of risks in a
globalized economy: "In the new global
electronic economy, fund managers, banks
corporations, as well as millions of individual
investors, can transfer vast amounts of capital
from one side of the world to another at the
click of a mouse.
As they do so, they can destabilize what might
have seemed rock-solid economies-as
happened in the events in Asia" (2002.n 30).
22. Financial crisis has become
global because world
economies are integrated.
From an economic point of
view, globalization may be
seen as "the process of
progressive growth of
economic activities which
transcends any kind of
geographical border.
23. According to this definition,
globalization can be seen as the
increasing movement of goods and
services as well as human
resources through trade and
investments among nations. Trade
liberalization policy and
international trade are perceived as
important ingredients of
globalization" (Thai, Rahm, and
Coggburn 2007, p. 2).
24. The original and continuing
fundamental goal of economic
internationalization is free trade.
The dream of economists after
World War II was a system of
multilateral trade through the
International Trade Organization
(ITO) to reverse the
protectionism of the Great
Depression.
25. Today, this dream has come true
in the major agreements, such as
the European Union (EU), North
American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC), Association
of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), and the Common
Market of the South
(MERCOSUR).
26. Economic globalization today is
facilitated by the interlocking of nation
states through free market agreements
by supra-national organizations such as
the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
World Bank, the World Trade
Organization (WTO), NAFTA,
Transpacific Partnership (2005), and
APEC.
These international and regional trade
agreements limit the scope of nation-
state activities while facilitating free
trade.
27. The WTO, in particular, is an
organization that supervises and
liberalizes international trade. It is
one of the pillars of economic
globalization.
The organization officially
commenced on 1 January 1995
under the Marrakech Agreement,
replacing the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which
commenced in 1948.
28. According to the WTO website:
The World Trade Organization
(WTO) is the only global
international organization dealing
with the rules of trade between
nations.
At its heart are the WTO
agreements, negotiated and
signed by the bulk of the world's
trading nations and ratified in their
parliaments.
29. The WTO is supposed to promote
free and fair trade. Yet, it must also
be pointed out that the "agreement
establishing the WTO commits its
member states to a variety of noble
objectives: improved standards of
living, full employment, expanded
production of and trade in goods and
services, sustainable development,
and an enhanced share of developing
countries in world trade."
30. The Agreement further commits
its members to contribute to
these objectives "by entering into
reciprocal and mutually
advantageous arrangements
directed to the substantial
reduction of tariffs and other
barriers to trade and to the
elimination o discriminatory
treatment in international trade
relations" (Narlikar 2005).
31. Many economists believe that
trade liberalization is favorable
to democracy. A democracy
that starts with a liberalized
economy is likely to strengthen
democratic rule. Liberalization
accelerates growth and
increases competitiveness.
32. Growth following
economic liberalization
may permit redistribution
required in democracy
(Pelaez and Pelaez 2008,
71). However, many critics
assail its negative effects
on poor countries.
