SOC231H5 Lecture Notes - Complex Number, Bourgeoisie, Alexis De Tocqueville
Document Summary
Premise: there is a pattern to human history, pay attention to how society is organized to meet fundamental needs. Marx critiquing peers who believe ideas shape how society works. No; how we meet fundamental needs shapes society. In order to survive, we have to have food, shelter etc. Meeting these needs is essential to human life. To understand history, one needs to look at how society is organized to meet these fundamental needs. In a capitalist society, you have no choice but to sell your labour to meet your fundamental needs; forced to be a proletarian. As a proletarian you will; feel separated from work, the product of work, and from other people. The implication for studying society: how society produces is fundamental. If i want to eat, i need to sell my labour for a lack of options. The bourgeoisie has created immense material wealth which should give more time for humans to reach potential, but it has not.