A class society is a society divided according to certain characteristics into groups - classes. Although this concept is mainly attributed to the 19th and first half of the 20th century, the division of people into certain categories existed even earlier, right up to the origins of human civilization.
Founder of the concept
For the first time the concept of "class society" was introduced by Max Weber. His idea of the division of 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 - people who own property;
- workers and peasants - without property, but able to sell 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 savings. They receive income in the form of rent, interest andlease payments or from the profits of the enterprise they own. The workers and peasants have no property, no means, no production. They are forced to rent or purchase from the capitalists, or work for them. There is an irreconcilable enmity between the capitalists and the workers, since their interests are opposed. 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 drawbacks, one of which was an oversimplified scheme and a small number of categories. Even then, society was too complex, and there were a much larger number of classes than is described in Marx's theory. In addition, in many cases the interests of capitalists and workers were not opposed.
Modern structure of society
Modern sociologists have developed a different way of defining the hierarchy of statuses in society and social relations. So, there was a process of stratification into layers - strata. According to such a classification, social classes should be considered as certain strata 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 one or another 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, businesses, etc.).
- Field of activity, profession.
- Circle of interests and acquaintances.
Modern sociologists divide the whole society into 9 layers or into three main ones: the highest, the middle and the lowest. Such a division into classes of a capitalist society is more true.
Who is in the upper class
The upper class is divided into three layers: upper, middle and lower. The other two are divided in the same way. The upper layer of the upper class includes those with the highest status, income, influence. It includes top dignitaries, rulers, deputies, representatives of large transnational companies, famous scientists and artists. The middle stratum consists of owners of large and medium-sized enterprises and governors. The lower layer of the upper class is represented by directors and managers of large companies, heads of districts, regional deputies and judges.
Middle class
The upper middle class in a capitalist society includes heads of state institutions (schools, hospitals), entrepreneurs of medium-sized enterprises, high-ranking police and military officials, representatives of the local intelligentsia (university professors, rectors).
The middle layer of the middle class consists of teachers from universities and vocational schools, individual entrepreneurs of small businesses, programmers, masters of sports, designers, architects. The lowest stratum of this class includes teachers, doctors, highly skilled workers.
Lower class
The lower class also has three layers, the top of which is occupied by working professions: seamstress, cook, carpenter, miller, drivers, bricklayer and others.
The middle stratum of the lower class is occupied by professions that do not require special qualifications, but for which they pay well: construction workers, road workers, nurses, orderlies. The lowest rung is occupied by the unemployed and people engaged in anti-social activities, as well as those who do not have any property.
Of course, the main parameter by which an individual is assigned to a particular class or stratum is the level of income. Prestigious work is most often at the same time highly paid. Since there are many professions (more than 3000), and the level of education is not always possible to determine objectively, in most cases the status and belonging of a person to one or another 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
In the history of mankind there have been attempts to build a classless society, and even several books have been written about how this can be done and what advantages experimenters will have in the future. Unfortunately or fortunately, all attempts to build such a society have failed, including the Soviet experiment. The former class structure of society was replaced by a new one, in which there was an even more rigid hierarchy and system of distribution of benefits.
The main share of the pie produced by the whole society was taken by representatives of the party nomenclature, the rest got smaller pieces. Those who, for some reason, did not fit into the distribution system, got very little, or nothing at all.
The main capital in such a society was family ties, acquaintances, blat, belonging to a certain ethnic group. So an attempt to build an equal society led to the creation of a class society with an even more rigid hierarchy and high thresholds for moving from a lower category to a higher one.
Antique period
The prototype of a class society existed in ancient times. The division of society into certain groups existed in the days of 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 system of six-class society 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 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 towards free ones. The murder of a slave was judged in the same way as for the murder of a free man.
In Ancient Rome and Greece the situation was different. People fell into slavery as a result of wars, they were driven from theirterritories to the cities of the conquering countries. Therefore, the attitude towards them was like war trophies. The slave was likened to cattle. The owner could have killed him, and he would have done nothing for it.
Slavery continued in this form after the fall of the Roman Empire. It received its second heyday during the colonial conquests, mainly in America, where it existed until the middle of the 19th century.
Caste in India
In India, for centuries of history formed its own system of hierarchy - a caste society. From birth, a person belongs to any one caste and must lead a certain way of life and engage in a specific business. For example, if he was born in a Brahmin family, then he must become a Brahmin, in a military family - a military man, etc. The transition from one to another was prohibited.
All benefits were distributed according to which caste an 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, peasantry and urban artisans.
The head of state was the king, but his power was not absolute, and he himself was dependent on his subjects. Thus, in the history of Europe there were frequent cases when vassals rebelled against their patron. The clergy could alsooppose the sovereign, and he, in turn, could go against his vassals and even against the Pope.
In those days, not only (and not so much) generosity was of great importance, but the presence of large land plots and gold reserves. Trade in titles of nobility 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 estates, only two were, in fact, powerless - these were peasants and artisans, but over time the situation began to change. Money was already 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 got rich, others went bankrupt and went to work for the rich. This is how factories and factories appeared. The peasantry also began to stratify. Part of the 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 by the beginning of the Industrial Revolution went bankrupt and moved into the class of petty officials - the bourgeois. The rest, who managed to save capital, took higher posts. In fact, society was divided into a class of capitalists, workers, intelligentsia (most of them were bourgeois), officials and clergy. But such a stratification of society, containing elements of both class and estate division, could notexist for a long time.
As the structure of society becomes more complex, new professions appear and the difference in the habits and standard of living of different groups of people, the approach to defining different strata of society and correlating one or another individual to a certain category began to change. What is the class society today? Yes, any. The answer to this question can be expressed simply - the division of society into groups of persons with certain characteristics has always existed, and will continue to do so in the future.
