Good Essay About Karl Marx’s Theory

What sets Karl Marx apart from other theorists is that he gives primacy to the economic function, compared to other theorists who regard the various functional exigencies as more nearly cognate. Karl Marx's theory argued that the state should specialize in dealing with conflict situations, but these situations are of a particular kind--those arising from contradictions in the economic order and the class antagonisms arising from them--and the orientation of the state is subordinated to the interest of the dominant economic class. Furthermore, Marx posited that the paramount form of ownership is the ownership of a property that is used as the arena of oppression and exploitation.
With this, the conceptualization of substructure and superstructure comes in. The substructure consists of the material, economic foundation of society. Marx explains that substructure is the most important aspect of a society, and, in turn, it gives rise to the superstructure. Taking a closer look at the substructure, Marx understands the material, economic foundation of social classes (Rejai, 12).
The superstructure, meanwhile, consists of all other elements of society: art, culture, religion, social and political institutions, ideology, and the like. The superstructure may be defined as the complex ideas which are correlated with the sub structural content. Indeed, the superstructure has no independent reality, mirroring as it does a much more elemental force.
When subcultural breakup occurs, two divisions come out: the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie are the wealthy capitalists, financiers and business owners. The primary concern of a nascent society is to have shelter and food and those who an abundance of these two were considered as those belonging in the upper class. The Proletariat, meanwhile, are those without social prominence. They are the workers. They earn their keep, are needy and dependent on the Bourgeoisie. Marx accused the bourgeoisie for exploiting the proletariat. According to him, the proletariats are the ones working hard to enable the capitalists to create great wealth.
The idea of false consciousness and class consciousness has also been succinctly discussed. False consciousness is discussed as the lack of awareness among class members about the sense of belongingness, thus, resulting in a distorted perception of the reality of class and its consequences. When the Proletariat does not fight back against the abuses of the Bourgeoisie, they are believed to have that sense of false consciousness. Meanwhile, if the class has that consciousness on the social conditions and are aware that they exist as a class, then, they have that sense of class consciousness. Thus, in order for the proletariat to rise, they have to disregard false consciousness and stand up for class consciousness. However, failure of a class to do so could only lead them to suffer from extreme isolation and misery, which is called alienation. Alienation also happens when citizens are dominated by forces of their own creation, which eventually overcome them as alien powers.

Works Cited

Rejai, Mostafa. Political Ideologies: A Comparative Approach. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 1995.