On Marx and Weber

1. Lecture 4

2.  We discussed the main ideas and theories
developed by Comte and Durkheim.
 Those included:
Positivism, Law of Three Stages, Social Facts,
Social Solidarity and Anomie.

3.  Karl Marx theories and ideas on Capitalism
and social class.
 Max Weber’s ideas on Social Action,
Bureaucracy & Rationalisation.

4.  In Marx’ view labour was man’s essence.
 He saw power, wealth and social status, primarily originate in the
forms of economic production: what is produced, how it is produced and
how it is exchanged.
 Economic arrangements and forces of production in each society - to
meet humans’ basic needs - will determine all other aspects of social life
and were of primary significance in understanding the social system.
 ‘Ideas’ in Marx’s view are simply the reflections of material conditions
(Materialism).
Like Durkheim and Comte, Marx’s core
ideas developed around changes and
transformations happened following the
Industrial Revolution.

5. 1. Primitive communist stage: societies of hunters
and gatherers
2. Slave-owning systems
3. Feudal systems: landowners and peasant farmers
4. Capitalist system
5. Communism
Marx argues that except in ‘primitive communist
stage’, the history of human being and social
institutions are characterised by social inequality.

6. Definition: The organisation of economic activities in
modern societies that led to the unprecedented division
of labour and the formation of social classes.
 In Marx’s view, capitalism contrasts radically with all
previous economic systems; those who own capital –
capitalists or bourgeoisie - form a ruling class, while
the mass of the population make up a class of waged
workers- the working class or proletariat.

7.  Capital: any asset including money, machines,
factories that can be used or invested to make
future assets.
 Wage-labour: pool of workers who do not own
any means of production themselves but must
find employment provided by the owners of
capital.
Marx’s core idea: social stratification emerges out
of differential access to the forces of production
and consequently to the sources of power.

8.  Capitalism according to Marx was a class system in
which relations between the two main classes are
characterised by conflict and not functional
collaboration. Class conflicts is the motor of history
and the motivation for historical developments:
 Although both classes depends on each other, but
this dependency is unbalanced: Workers have little or
no control over their labour, and employers are able
to generate profit by appropriating the products of
the workers’ labour.
‘The history of all hitherto existing society is the
history of class struggles’(Communist Manifesto, Marx and
Engels, 1848).

9. Definition: A condition in which men are
dominated by the forces of their own
creation which then confront them as an
alien power; the lack of recognition that
society and [capitalist] social institutions
are constructed and reconstructed by
human beings and therefore can be
changed.

10. a. Objects of labour: workers have no ownership of
the products or tools of production.
b. The process of production: workers do not play a
part is setting organisational goals.
c. Other workers: due to increasing division of labour
and competition.
d. Himself/herself: work is an enforced activity simply
the means for survival and no longer an expression
of individuals’ creativity & freedom.
Marx regards ‘the capitalist relations of production’ as
the source of alienation in modern capitalist societies.

11.  Marx argues that Capitalism carries the seeds of its own
destruction as bourgeoisie is constantly creating more
powerful forces of production – thanks to technological
advancements- which leads to increasing concentration of
wealth in the hand of the few.
 Class consciousness among workers will bring about a
new society in which there would be no large-scale
division between owners and workers.
 The economic system would be under communal
ownership and a more humane, egalitarian society would
emerge.

12. Like Marx, Weber also developed his core
ideas around capitalism and modernity.
 Weber believed economic factors are important, but
ideas and values can also help to bring about social
change (Idealism).
 Sociology for Weber was a comprehensive science
of social action: Sociologists should study ‘social
action’ i.e the subjectively meaningful actions and
interactions of people that are oriented towards
other people within specific social contexts.

13. In ‘The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of
Capitalism (1904), Weber argues that:
 Religious values –especially those associated
with Puritanism – were of fundamental
importance in creating capitalism (Idealism).
 Calvinism in particular provided religious
sanctions that promoted a spirit of rigorous
discipline and rational pursuit of wealth.

14. I. Weber argues that modernity accompanied by
important shifts in patterns of social action.
II. Traditional beliefs grounded in superstition,
religion, customs increasingly replaced by
rational, instrumental calculations that took
into account efficiency and the future
consequences of their actions.

15. Traditional Authority: dominant type of authority in traditional
societies, based on the sacredness of tradition.
Rational-legal Authority: impersonal rules that have been
legally established. Weber considers rational-legal authority
as the main feature of social relations in modern world.
Charismatic: associated with leaders with extraordinary
personalities who could mobilise people.
Weber’s primary concern in developing such typologies was to
differentiate between modern and traditional societies by
highlighting the shift in the motivation of individual behaviours.

16.  Weber regards rationalisation as the defining
feature of modernity.
 Rationalisation refers to the practical application of
knowledge to achieve a desired end and is
characterised by greater efficiency, coordination,
and control over both the physical and the social
environment.
Some examples: Development of scientific knowledge,
modern technology and bureaucracies,
mechanisation, new division of labour.

17. Organisation of social life according to principles
of efficiency and on the basis of technical
knowledge. Bureaucratisation values efficiency,
individualism, self-discipline and calculability.
Rationalisation is at the heart of modern
bureaucracies.

18. Hierarchy of authority
Impersonality
Written rules of conduct
Promotion based on achievement
Specialised division of labor
Efficiency
Bureaucracies:
goal-oriented
organizations
designed according
to rational principles
in order to efficiently
attain their goals.
They became the
dominant structural
features of modern
societies.

19.  Weber was concerned that the spread of
bureaucracy and increased rational calculations
and control would imprison individuals in a
‘steel-hard cage’.
 Bureaucratic domination and its impersonality –
that is needed in attaining efficiency- could crush
the human spirit by over-regulating all aspects of
life, over consumption of world resources and
threatening traditional social institutions such as
family and religion. All these may lead to greater
social inequality and socio-political instability.

20.  In Weber’s view, bureaucracies increasingly
dominate the social structures of modern
societies.
 Those on the top of bureaucratic hierarchies
(oligarchs) can use unregulated economic,
political and social power for their own
interest, eventually undermining human
freedom and democracy.

21.  This week we addressed the main ideas of
Karl Marx and Max Weber and concluded that
while Marx regarded economic structures as
the main factor in his analysis of changes and
transformations in human societies, Weber
was primarily concerned with shifts in the
patterns of social actions and its
consequences in modern world i.e
rationalisation and bureaucratisation.

22.  Review lecture four and read Giddens &
Sutton (2015) pp: 15-17 and take notes.