Karl Marx's Theory Of Social Change

Karl Marx developed his theory in the latter part of the nineteenth century, during one of Europe’s most volatile periods of social change. In some respects, his is yet another version of mass society theory but with several very important alternations and additions. Marx was familiar with the grand social theories of his era. He was a student of the most prominent German Idealist philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Early in his career, Marx drew on Hegel’s ideas, but later he constructed his own in opposition to them. From Hegel he derived insights into the human construction of the social world and of human reason itself. But while Hegel attributed social change to a metaphysical force, a “World Spirit,” Marx eventually adopted a …show more content…
He believed that elites dominated society primarily through their direct control over the means of production, the base of society. But elites also maintained themselves in power through their control over culture, or the superstructure of society. Marx saw culture as something elites freely manipulated to mislead average people and encourage them to act against their own interests. He used the term ideology to refer to these forms of culture. Ideology fostered a “false consciousness” in the minds of average people so they came to support elite interests rather than their own. Marx believed an ideology operated much like a drug. Those who are under its influence fail to see how they are being exploited as it blinds them or it distracts them. In the worst cases, they are so deceived that they actually undermine their own interests and do things that increase the power of elites while making their own lives even …show more content…
One common objective was to identify those texts having greatest cultural value and interpreting them so their worth would be appreciated and understood by others. These humanists saw texts as a civilising force in society (Bloom, 1987), and hermeneutics was seen as a ranged from religious humanists, who focused on Bible or the writings of great theologians, to secular humanists working to identify and preserve what came to be known as the “literacy canon” which is a body of the great literature. The literacy canon was part of what was referred to as high culture, a set of cultural artifacts including music, art, literature, and poetry that humanists judged to have the highest value. By identifying and explaining these important texts, humanists attempted to make them more accessible to more people. Their long-term goal was to preserve and gradually raise the level of culture. It is meant to enable even more people to become humane and civilized. In this way it would be possible to advance civilization in Europe and its