Karl Marx’s theoretical position is that the engine of social change is the class struggle. The conflict between two classes, the bourgeoisie and proletariat, fuels a revolution that brings about social change. These two classes have control over different means of production, which gives them access to resources and power in society.
The bourgeoisie is those with money and power, who own the means of production like factories.
The proletariat is made up of workers, which need jobs in order to survive. Marx thought that once these two classes have a showdown, there would be an uprising against capital owners.
The article goes on to explain how this theoretical position was used by Karl Marx as he wrote about capitalism’s ills for his time period – wage slavery (or being forced into working long hours for very little pay) and more importantly inequality between social class structures/workloads. “the source of all wealth is labour” says Marx- meaning people work hard every day without getting paid fairly or not at all because they don’t have any other options!
