Georg Simmel, Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, Peter Berger and David Luckman. Theories of development and globalism. Sociological Theory Marx's Essential Points 1. The economic base of a society is the greatest influence in shaping the social structure as a whole, as well as the psychology of the people within it. The primary source of historical change is the conflict between social classes.
Class struggle is the norm in capitalist society, it is inherent in the system.
Exploitation and alienation can only be overcome through the overthrow of capitalism and the abolition of private property. The exploitation and the concentration of the working class along with its key role in production makes the working class the only group capable of making the revolution to overturn capitalism. The dominant ideas of any historical period are the ideas of the ruling class. Capitalist crisis and the poverty of the masses is a result of the expropriation of surplus value, understanding this is the key to understanding capitalism. Read The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism and write a nine to ten page paper summarizing its main points.