Marx, Weber and Canada

Canadian Studies > Gender, Race, Class issues
Economics
Political Science > Marx / Engels
Political Science > Political Theory
Sociology > Theory

This paper compares the theories of Karl Marx's and Max Weber and then attempts to apply their ideas to the reality of Central Canada.

1,950 words () | 7 sources | APA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Karl Marx's theories of class include economic, political and cultural/ideological elements as being intrinsically interconnected as compared to Max Weber, who saw the economy as distinct from society and the concept of class as being less important than a person's particular spot in the economy. The author points out that, compared to Weber, Marx's view of class and class distinctions seems to make the mistake of viewing a class as a 'thing' as though all members of the proletariat were the same, had the same ways of seeing their reality or an identical position in the capitalist order. The paper stresses that the drab focus of these and other theorists on race, class, gender and ethnicity, which they hypothesized to be so terribly important in the relation to income and opportunity, is not substantiated when examining the culture of central Canada.

Table of Contents
Marx vs. Weber
The Contemporary Reality in Central Canada

From the Paper:

"In fact, if one has observed different parts of central Canadian society, one can object to what is presented in Peter Newman's "The Canadian Establishment". In referring to an 'old money' as opposed to 'new' money culture, a number of remarks appear that require qualification on the part of persons having known menial work. ... There is an equalitarian spirit less often found in other societies in awareness of persons having the struggle of their ancestors to become established or make something of themselves."

Sample of Sources Used:

Course Materials, Social Stratification 3410.06A, Professor Hira Singh, York University.
Lamont, M. and M. Fournier. (1992). Excerpts from Cultivating Differences - Symbolic Boundaries and the Making of Inequality, in Cultivating Differences - Symbolic Boundaries and the Making of Inequality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Marx, K. and K. Engels. (1994). Manifesto of the Communist Party. Ed. J. Wayne. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press.
Newman, P. (1975). The Canadian Establishment. (course materials).
Turrittin, A.H. (1986). Inequalities in Social Class, in K. Ishwaran. Sociology - an Introduction. Toronto: Addison-Wesley.