Question

Explain Karl Marx’s ‘Class Theory’.

Answer 1

The new thesis formulated by Karl Marx led to the rise of a new school of thought in the latter half of the 19th century.

1. According to Karl Marx, history was about living people and not about abstract ideas. The fundamental needs of people and the ownership as well as the nature of prevalent means of production to meet those needs shape human relationships.
2. Furthermore, as different strata of the society may not get equal access to these means, it causes a division of the society into classes, leading to class struggle.
3. Karl Marx opined that human history is comprised of the history of class struggle, wherein the class owning the means of production economically exploited the rest of the classes. A treatise in the form of the book ‘Das Kapital’, written by him, is the most referred book all over the world.
4. In this way, through his ‘Class Theory’, Karl Marx gave a new perspective to the world to view history.