Inequality in Industrial Societies

Paper Summary:

Contrary to popular perception, as societies have shifted from agricultural production to industrial production, inequalities between those at the bottom of the social structure and those at the top have grown. In this essay, the writer discusses why this is so and how the social relations of production have affected the division of labor, the social class structure, and the degree of inequality between social classes.

From the Paper:

"The reasons for increasing inequality in industrial societies, particularly in the early stages of its transformation from an agricultural society can be found in the Marxist theory of Immiseration. According to Marx, who has made a thorough analysis of capitalism that has not been refuted ; the profit motive, increasing production, finding markets for the "surplus" production and a constant need for reducing costs and increasing efficiency are at the heart of the capitalist system. Moreover, in a capitalist/ industrial society most of the means of production is owned by a small body of people, the capitalists, while a much larger body, the workers provide the labor force. The need for reducing costs leads to the necessity of keeping the cost of labor at the lowest possible levels. Hence, the workers are paid no more than bare subsistence as reward for operating the means of production for the benefit of the owners."

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