Marx’s Theory of Class Struggle
Definition of Class
The word “class” originated from the Latin term “Classis,” a group called to arms, a division of the people. During the rule of the legendary Roman king, Servius Tullius (678-534 B.C.), the Roman society was divided into five classes or orders according to their wealth. Subsequently, the word ‘class’ was applied to large groups of people into which human society came to be divided. Marx speaks of classes in the Capital (2019) and differentiates three classes based on the source of their income. These are:
The owners of land, who get rent.
The owners of capital, who earn the profit.
The owners of simple labour power, who get wages.
In this way, the class structure of modern capitalist society is composed of three major classes,’ i.e., salaried labourers of workers, capitalists, and landowners. At a broader level, society could be divided into two major classes—Haves and Have-not’s. Haves are the owners of land/or capital, often called as Bourgeoisie and the Have-not’s are those who own nothing but their own labour power, often called as Proletariats. Under the capitalist system, these are the two functional classes. Marx defined class as “a social class occupies a fixed place in the process of production.”
The theory of class struggle is central to Marxian thought. The first line of Communist Manifesto (1848) reads: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle.” Marx was the first thinker to bring together the various strands of socialist thought into a coherent worldview and gave an impassioned doctrine of ‘class struggle.’ The Marxist theory of classes and class struggle is integral to historical materialism. He argued that class conflict is the real driving force of human history and that division of labour was the main source of the historical emergence of classes and class antagonisms.
Classes and class struggles have existed throughout human history and their antagonistic interests as well. Philosophers, prior to Karl Marx, had recognized and agreed with this historical fact but have given superficial interpretations to their origin that society is divided into rich and poor, into hostile, antagonistic classes and that a struggle is going on between them long before Marx and Engels. Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, stated that each State consists of two States- one a state of the rich and the other a state of the poor, and that these are in constant conflict.
Marx and Engels believed that classes were present in all societies, they considered class division to be most prominent under capitalism. According to him, in every society, there were two classes, the rich and the poor, one that owned the means of production and the other that sold its labour. During different historical phases, these two classes were known by different names and enjoyed different legal statuses and privileges, but one thing was common that in the course of all these phases, their relationship had been one of exploitation and domination. He believed that with the development of the forces of production, one mode of production is replaced by another, but class conflict (between the new social classes) reappears under the new social formation.
He objected to the idea of the middle-class historians that class struggle had ended with the rise of the bourgeoisie. He harnessed the rising consciousness and power among the industrial proletariat and emphasized that they desired to bring about economic equality that kept class struggle and revolutionary change alive. He summed up his own contributions to the notion of class struggle in a letter to Josef Weydemeyer in 1852, wherein he confidently declared that class struggles would not be a permanent feature of society but were necessitated by the historical development of production. Class struggle would end with the destruction of capitalism, for Communism would be a classless society.
The status of the class conflict in modern capitalist society is described in the Communist Manifesto as ‘the modern bourgeois society that has sprouted from the ruin of feudal society and has not done away with class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, and new forms of struggle in place of the old ones’. Marx and Engels hoped that this conflict had entered a decisive phase. They had full faith in the revolutionary potential of the proletariat, i.e., their ability to overthrow capitalism. So they observed that the proletariat class alone is really revolutionary. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of modern industry. The proletarian revolution would be different from all previous revolutions of history: as the proletarian movement would be a self-conscious, independent movement of the immense majority and in the interest of the immense majority.
According to Marx and Engels, this revolution would bring about the final emancipation of mankind because there is no class below the proletariat which could be subjected to exploitation when the proletariat comes to power. It would place all means of social production under social ownership, make work compulsory for everyone, and develop the forces of production to their full potential. This will pave the way for the emergence of classless society, which will mark the end of class conflict.
Conclusion
Marx was a revolutionary and a socialist, but above all, he was a humanist who believed in genuine emancipation and liberation of human beings. He registered protests against every kind of domination. He answered the question of why there is a need for the dictatorship of the proletariat and what constitutes its historical mission. The establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat is not the end goal of the proletariat's class struggle against the bourgeoisie; it is a vital means and instrument for building and consolidating socialism on the road to building a classless society. This explanation and analysis of the Marxist conclusions on classes and class struggle certainly lead to the inference that classes have existed throughout, and so have the class struggles, and they will continue to exist till a scientific end is met.
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