Marx's theory of class is a central element of Marxist thought, referring to the social stratification and conflict that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued was a defining feature of human history and particularly acute under capitalism. For Marx, a class is a group of people defined by their relationship to the means of production—the facilities, tools, land, and resources by which a society's goods are produced. He posited that the history of class society (that is all society in which classes and a structure of class have existed) is fundamentally a story of class conflict, in which the ruling class, which owns and controls the means of production, exploits the subordinate classes who do not. In capitalist society, Marx identified two primary classes: the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class), which owns the means of production, and the much larger proletariat (the working class), which must sell its own labor power to survive. This relationship is inherently exploitative, as the capitalists extract surplus value from the workers' labor. This economic antagonism is the root of class struggle, which, in Marx's view, would eventually culminate in a proletarian revolution. He saw the proletariat as a unique "special class" whose historical conditions and interests would lead it not only to overthrow the bourgeoisie but to abolish all class distinctions and create a classless society. Marx's analysis also accounted for other classes and strata, such as the petty-bourgeoisie (small business owners and professionals), the peasantry, and the lumpenproletariat (the declassed and socially marginal). He viewed these groups as transitional or intermediate, often politically unstable and ultimately subordinate to the main conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. A key principle of his political theory was the self-emancipation of the working class, arguing that the proletariat must achieve its own liberation through its own organized struggle, rather than being freed by benevolent saviors or elite groups.
Fundamental concepts
Definition of class
According to Hal Draper, Karl Marx never provided a complete definition of "class" in a single, dedicated text, but his understanding is consistently demonstrated throughout his work. For Marx, class is not determined by income, occupation, or social status, but by a group's relationship to the means of production. In any given society, the key distinction is between those who own the means of producing wealth and those who do not. The owning class constitutes the ruling class, while the others are the exploited classes. This division is not a static sociological category but a dynamic social relationship rooted in the production process. The specific form of this relationship defines the economic and political character of each historical epoch. In capitalism, for example, the defining relationship is between the wage-worker and the employer of labor power, a relationship that presupposes a class of owners and a class of propertyless workers. Marx's definition of class under capitalism is rooted in a two-fold separation inherent to its mode of production. The first is the separation between the units of production, where social production is coupled with private appropriation. Individual enterprises, though interdependent parts of a social production system, are privately owned, and their products are commodities to be sold on the market. The second, more fundamental separation is that of the "direct producers" from the means of production. This historical expropriation creates a class of propertyless workers who are compelled to sell their labor power to the capitalist class in exchange for a wage, a relationship which is continually reproduced by the workings of the capitalist system. Marx distinguished between a "class in itself" (Klasse an sich) and a "class for itself" (Klasse für sich). A "class in itself" is a group that shares a common relationship to the means of production but lacks a collective consciousness of its shared interests or role. It becomes a "class for itself" when it achieves political organization and consciousness of its position and historical goals. This transformation, Marx argued, occurs through the process of class struggle.
Class struggle and revolution Marx's theory posits that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles". This ongoing conflict between exploiting and exploited classes is the primary engine of historical change. Marx distinguished between a political revolution and a social revolution. A political revolution alters the governmental structure or transfers power between factions of the same ruling class. A social revolution, however, is a more fundamental transformation involving the transfer of state power to a new class, which then remodels society according to its own interests and establishes a new mode of production. The class that takes power must, in its first moments, conquer political power in order to represent its interest as the general interest. The ultimate goal of the proletarian revolution is the creation of a classless society. By overthrowing the bourgeoisie, the proletariat would "sweep away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class." For Marx, the defining tenet of his theory was this practice of proletarian revolution and the theory and practice of class power.
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