Essay Example on Modernity is a term used to identify the stage in the history

This was at the time of socio economic change when slavery colonialism and expansion existed and during the industrial revolution the slave trade was a key form of labour The old feudal system when lords of the manor owned the land and ordinary people had the freedom and rights to all land Karl Marx's historical materialism and the class struggle was noted as he rejected the idea of history believed that history was made by the actions of some individuals Marx rejected the idealism of Hegel and the idea of historical change as well as the idea of social inequality Marx argued that ideas are abstract forces are driven by history rather than human agency and that man has the capacity to produce change Instead of Hegel's idea of idealism Marx advanced a materialist account of history and social change and focussed on conflict and contradiction not unity and harmony The ruling class in society are well known as the bourgeoisie they exploit proletariat members of society Capitalism is an economic system where investments in means of productions are made this means that the bourgeoisie get profits from companies that they own but do not work for the proletariats must sell their labour for low wages to survive Individuals need a satisfaction of basic material needs such basic levels of food and shelter to live These material conditions determine the necessity for one group of people to subject themselves to domination by another for example the bourgeoisie creating a false class consciousness for the proletarians Karl Marx believed that the division of labour makes it necessary to have an increased number of proletariats working in capitalist conditions for the bourgeoisie 

With the increased capitalisation and industrialisation arrangements of labour become increasingly complex it led to a more complex division of labour with humans becoming extensions of machines the machines are a more efficient system of power meaning alienation is apparent Alienation is where the relationship between human labour and human nature is perverted by capitalism because our labour is owned and controlled by capitalists which is no longer an expression of our principles and purpose Under capitalism our labour becomes a wage We are alienated from our purpose and from human nature Capitalists employ workers and own their labour as well as what is produced so workers are forced to sell their labour In a capitalist society today an example of a mechanism of exploitation are zero hour contracts This means that workers have no security as well as no holiday or sick pay The increased number of people working on zero hour contacts is ever increasing but employees therefore pay less As well as the division in class of the proletariats being paid lower wages gender is also key Women get paid less for jobs and are often a reserve army of labour for workforces Capitalism is fundamentally exploitative and produces poverty the rich are rich because they own the means of production that the poor need to live The superstructure model of society refers to the ideology the superstructure refers to the key institutions in which society is produced and how people should work From the superstructure of society there are industries the state who make laws the media who tell us what to think and how we should fit into society and education which is for the reproduction of knowledge it reproduces liberalism The base of the model is the capitalist mode of production