Marx's theory of class

Marx's theory of class is a central element of Marxist thought, referring to the social stratification and conflict that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued was a defining feature of human history and particularly acute under capitalism. For Marx, a class is a group of people defined by their relationship to the means of production—the facilities, tools, land, and resources by which a society's goods are produced. He posited that the history of class society (that is all society in which classes and a structure of class have existed) is fundamentally a story of class conflict, in which the ruling class, which owns and controls the means of production, exploits the subordinate classes who do not.

In capitalist society, Marx identified two primary classes: the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class), which owns the means of production, and the much larger proletariat (the working class), which must sell its own labor power to survive. This relationship is inherently exploitative, as the capitalists extract surplus value from the workers' labor. This economic antagonism is the root of class struggle, which, in Marx's view, would eventually culminate in a proletarian revolution. He saw the proletariat as a unique "special class" whose historical conditions and interests would lead it not only to overthrow the bourgeoisie but to abolish all class distinctions and create a classless society.

Marx's analysis also accounted for other classes and strata, such as the petty-bourgeoisie (small business owners and professionals), the peasantry, and the lumpenproletariat (the declassed and socially marginal). He viewed these groups as transitional or intermediate, often politically unstable and ultimately subordinate to the main conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. A key principle of his political theory was the self-emancipation of the working class, arguing that the proletariat must achieve its own liberation through its own organized struggle, rather than being freed by benevolent saviors or elite groups.