A class society is a society divided according to certain criteria into groups - classes. Although this concept is mainly attributed to the XIX and first half of the XX century, the division of people into certain categories existed even earlier, right up to the origins of human civilization.
Concept founder
The concept of “class society” was first introduced by Max Weber. His idea of dividing society into classes was picked up by other prominent scientists of the 19th century. One of them was Karl Marx, who created his own theory. According to this theory, the whole society was divided into three main categories:
- capitalists - persons owning property;
- workers and peasants - not possessing property, but capable of selling their labor for a certain remuneration;
- intelligentsia - do not have property (or it is insignificant) and are engaged in activities not related to the production, creation and distribution of capital.
Capitalists, according to the theory of Karl Marx, have large accumulations. They receive income in the form of rent, interest and rental payments, or from the profits of the owned company. Workers and peasants have neither property, nor means, nor production. They are forced to rent or acquire them from the capitalists, or to work for them. An irreconcilable enmity exists between capitalists and workers, since their interests are opposite. The capitalist wants the worker to produce more and get less. The worker, on the contrary, tries to do less, and get more.
The dualistic division into social classes had many shortcomings, one of which was a too simplified scheme and a small number of categories. Even then, society was too complex, and there were a significantly larger number of classes than is described in the theory of Marx. Moreover, in many cases, the interests of capitalists and workers were not opposed.
The modern structure of society
Modern sociologists have developed a different way to determine the hierarchy of statuses in society and public relations. So, there was a process of stratification into layers - strata. According to this classification, social classes should be regarded as certain layers that differ from each other in specific ways. They are not strictly structured, but form a complex mosaic. The main signs by which people are attributed to a particular stratum are:
- Income level.
- Social position in the hierarchy of a particular profession.
- The level of intelligence (education).
- Age.
- Presence / absence of property (apartments, cars, enterprises, etc.).
- Field of activity, profession.
- Circle of interests and acquaintances.
Modern sociologists divide the whole society into 9 layers or into three main ones: higher, middle and lower. Such a division into classes of capitalist society is more consistent with reality.
Who is in the upper class
The upper class is divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. The remaining two are divided according to the same principle. The upper layer of the upper class includes people with the highest status, income, influence. It includes the highest dignitaries, rulers, deputies, representatives of large multinational companies, famous scientists and artists. The middle layer consists of owners of large and medium enterprises, governors. The lower class of the upper class is represented by directors and managers of large companies, heads of districts, regional deputies and judges.
Middle class
The upper class of the middle class in capitalist society includes the heads of state institutions (schools, hospitals), entrepreneurs of medium-sized enterprises, police and military officials, representatives of the local intelligentsia (university professors, rectors).
The middle layer of the middle class consists of university teachers and vocational schools, individual entrepreneurs of small enterprises, programmers, masters of sports, designers, architects. The lower layer of this class includes teachers, doctors, highly skilled workers.
Lower class
The lower class also has three layers, the upper of which is occupied by working professions: a seamstress, a cook, a carpenter, a milling machine operator, drivers, a bricklayer and others.
The middle layer of the lower class is occupied by professions that do not require special qualifications, but for which they pay well: workers at construction sites, road workers, nurses, orderlies. The lowest level is occupied by the unemployed and people engaged in antisocial activities, as well as those who do not have any property.
Of course, the main parameter by which this or that individual is ranked as one or another class or layer is the level of income. Prestigious work is most often at the same time highly paid. Since there are many professions (more than 3,000), and the level of education cannot always be determined objectively, in most cases the status and membership of a person in a particular layer is mainly determined by the level of his income and the amount of power that he has. Such is the class stratification of modern society.
Attempts to build a classless society
There have been attempts in the history of mankind to build a classless society, and even several books have been written on how this can be done and what benefits experimenters will receive in the future. Unfortunately or fortunately, all attempts to build such a society failed, including the Soviet experiment. The old class structure of society was replaced by a new one in which there was an even more rigid hierarchy and a system of distribution of goods.
Representatives of the party nomenclature took the main share of the pie produced by the whole society, the rest got smaller pieces. Those who, for whatever reason, did not fit into the distribution system, got completely crumbs, or nothing at all.
The main capital in such a society was family ties, acquaintances, blat, belonging to a particular ethnic group. Thus, an attempt to build an equal society led to the creation of a class society with an even tougher hierarchy and high thresholds for the transition from a lower category to a higher one.
Antique period
The prototype of class society existed in ancient ancient times. The division of society into certain groups existed in ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece. In these states, basically the whole society was divided into two classes: free citizens and slaves. Later in ancient Rome, a six-class society system was developed in which the lowest position was occupied by the proletarians. Their financial situation was often worse than that of slaves. But the former had freedom, and they were considered citizens.
The ratio of free citizens to slaves in different countries was different. So, in ancient Egypt, slaves became mainly in the event of non-payment of debts, so the attitude towards them was the same as to free ones. The murder of a slave was tried the same way as the murder of a free one.
In ancient Rome and Greece, the situation was different. People fell into slavery as a result of wars, they were driven from their territories to the cities of the conquering countries. Therefore, the attitude towards them was like to military trophies. A slave was equated with cattle. The owner could kill him, and he would have nothing for it.
Slavery in this form remained after the fall of the Roman Empire. It gained its second prosperity during the colonial conquests, mainly in America, where it existed until the middle of the 19th century.
Castes in India
In India over a long history, its own hierarchy system has formed - a caste society. From birth, a person belongs to any one caste and must lead a certain lifestyle and engage in a specific business. For example, if he was born in a brahmin family, then he should become a brahman, in the military family - a military, etc. The transition from one to another was prohibited.
All benefits were distributed according to which caste the individual belongs to. Higher categories received more benefits than everyone else.
Medieval feudalism
In medieval Europe, the Roman system was replaced by a new structure of class stratification of society. It was a division into estates. Such a model was not strictly vertical, as it might seem at first glance. There was nobility, clergy, merchants, peasants and urban artisans.
The king was at the head of the state, but his power was not absolute, and he himself was dependent on his subjects. So, in the history of Europe there were frequent cases when vassals rebelled against their patron. Representatives of the clergy could also oppose the sovereign, and he, in turn, could go against his vassals and even against the Pope.
In those days, it was of great importance not only (and not so much) the good birth, but the presence of large land plots and gold reserves. Trade in noble titles was widespread. Also, the money made it possible for the count or baron to hire a large army and oppose the king.
Of all the classes, only two were essentially powerless - these were peasants and artisans, but over time the situation began to change. Money already was of great importance in the formation of a class society.
From the Middle Ages to the present day
Gradually, as society developed, urban artisans united into manufactories. Some of them were wealthy, others went broke and went to work for the rich. So factories and plants appeared. The peasantry also began to exfoliate. Some peasants grew rich and became large farmers, the rest were forced to sell their plots and go either to the city, where they became simple workers, or farm laborers.
Most of the nobility at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution went bankrupt and passed into the class of petty officials - the bourgeois. The rest, who managed to save capital, took up higher posts. In fact, society was divided into a class of capitalists, workers, intellectuals (most of it was the bourgeois), officials and clergy. But such a stratification of society, containing elements of both class and class division, could not exist for a long time.
As the structure of society became more complex, new professions appeared, and the difference in habits and living standards of different groups of people began, the approach to defining different layers of society and correlating one or another individual to a certain category began to change. Which society is class today? Yes, any. The answer to this question can be expressed simply - the division of society into groups of individuals with certain characteristics has always existed, and will be so in the future.