Marx And Weber Theories

The world has always been divided among races, classes, etc. What goes on today, most likely went on one hundred years ago, the only difference is time. Max Weber has proven to have strong theories which identify that the world is distributed among certain classes and the situations that go on within them. The Class Positioning of the Bijelic family will be looked at in comparison to Weber's theories. This essay will describe Weber's theories along with comparing and contrasting them to Karl Marx's and Pierre Bourdieu's ideas. The Bijelic family background will be discussed and the class that they fit into along with my own position within my family. The ideas/theories by Max Weber clearly identify the positioning of the Bijelic family within society and help us understand other classes by grouping them into certain categories.

Weber believed that money caused differences within a society because of the different classes. Max Weber "recognized the importance of economic conditions in producing inequalities and conflict in society" (Dawson, 2006). What this means is that, people were different-- basically some people made more money then others. The fact that one might have more money then the other causes conflict within society, because not everyone was alike. The film Roger and Me (Michael Moore, 1989), 11 General Motors (GM) plants shut down. This meant that tens of thousands of jobs were lost. The people were frustrated and did not know where to turn. The GM Company opened up 11 plants in Mexico where they clearly paid for cheaper labor. Former employees blamed Roger Smith who was their Chair Worker; they said he was rich and that he did not do much. In the City of Flint 3400 people were laid off, and many left the city because there was no work, and therefore could not afford and provide for their families. Michael Moore tried to meet up with Roger Smith but could not get a chance to. Michael tried catching him at the yacht club where Roger Smith usually goes to, but could not find him there. Later on Moore interviews some people who were members of the yacht club and one man mentioned the people who lost their jobs should get up in the morning and go do something he also said that there are many things to do out there in the world and mentioned that they should start something on their own. But to start something on their own they need money. How could someone so "well educated", wealthy and "proper" say something like that about another? This is what Weber means when he states that economic conditions produce inequalities and conflict within society. So these wealthy people would then be considered the positively privileged class and then those people who lost their jobs would be part of the negatively privileged class. When someone from the higher class talks bad about the lower classes, then the lower classes rebel--this is where the conflict begins. Many of the former employees of General Motors were angry at the fact that they closed down the plants when apparently the company had money. However, they still went to Mexico because of the cheap labor! They believed that the CEOs did not care about them and only about themselves, because they aren't the ones who are going to be jobless.

Weber categorized the social world according to many different qualities. He said that there were two positively privileged class positions which included 1. The "ownership or propertied classes-- those who owned land, buildings, and people"-- and 2. "acquisition or commercial classes-- those who possessed goods, skills, or services that they could offer on the market" (Anderson, 316). Number one the ownership or propertied classes were basically those wealthy business men and possibly even the government or slave owners--someone who had not only wealth but power. The acquisition or commercial classes would be those people who work for the ones beneath them, and have businesses that are pretty successful. This positively privileged class would be considered as the wealthy class. The next social class follows.

The next two social classes are identified as the negatively privileged property class. This contains 3 different types: "the unfree, the declassed, and the paupers" (Anderson, 316). It also includes the negatively privileged commercial classes which include: "the skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled workers" (Anderson, 316). In between these two classes existed many who were considered to be middle class: "peasants, professionals, craftspeople, and public officials" (Anderson, 316).

To Weber class was "both objective and subjective" (Anderson, 316). He also believed that it would be understood "as an aspect of consumption and as an aspect of production" (Anderson, 317). So there are workers (could be known as the lower class), these people produce and then there are the consumers (which are both the wealthy and the poor). Both classes produce and consume, so why is there conflict? Maybe this is because many of the poorer classes produce for the superior social classes to consume. Not only does class dominate but the idea of power over others is a big issue and these ties in with the idea of being wealthy--you have power.

I would consider my family to be partly of the acquisition or commercial class. I believe that we would be one of the two positively privileged class positions. This is because, these people were considered to be "those who possessed goods, skills, or services that they could offer on the market" (Anderson, 316). My family first came to Canada in 1988 from Yugoslavia. My father dropped out of University because he did not have enough money to keep going, and my