Class Consciousness and False Consciousness as Defined by Marx

Class Consciousness and False Consciousness as Defined by Marx Class consciousness and false consciousness are concepts introduced by Karl Marx that were later expanded by social theorists who came after him. Marx wrote about the theory in his book Capital, Volume 1, and again with his frequent collaborator, Friedrich Engels, in the impassioned treatise, Manifesto of the Communist Party. Class consciousness refers to the awareness by a social or economic class of their position and interests within the structure of the economic order and social system in which they live. In contrast, false consciousness is a perception of ones relationships to social and economic systems of an individual nature, and a failure to see oneself as a part of a class with particular class interests relative to the economic order and social system. Marxs Theory of Class Consciousness According to Marxist theory, class consciousness is an awareness of ones social and/or economic class relative to others, as well as an understanding of the economic rank of the class to which you belong in the context of the larger society. In addition, class consciousness involves an understanding of the defining social and economic characteristics and collective interests of your own class within the constructs of the given socio-economic and political order. Class consciousness is a core facet of Marxs theory of class conflict, which focuses on the social, economic, and political relationships between workers and owners within a capitalist economy. The precept was developed in conjunction with his theory on how workers might overthrow the system of capitalism and then go on to create a new economic, social, and political system based on equality rather than inequality and exploitation. The Proletariat vs. the Bourgeoisie Marx believed that the capitalist system was rooted in class conflict- specifically, the economic exploitation of the proletariat (workers) by the bourgeoisie (those who owned and controlled production). He reasoned that the system only functioned as long as the workers did not recognize their unity as a class of laborers, their shared economic and political interests, and the power inherent in their numbers. Marx argued that when workers came to understand the totality of these factors, they would achieve class consciousness, and this, in turn, would lead to a workers revolution that would overthrow the exploitative system of capitalism. Hungarian social theorist Georg Lukcs, who followed in the tradition of Marxist theory, expanded the concept by saying that class consciousness is an achievement that opposes individual consciousness and results from the group struggle to see the totality of social and economic systems. The Problem of False Consciousness According to Marx, before workers developed a class consciousness they were actually living with a false consciousness. (Though Marx never used the actual term, he did develop the ideas that it encompasses.) In essence, false consciousness is the opposite of class consciousness. Individualistic rather than collective in nature, it produces a view of oneself as a single entity engaged in competition with others of ones social and economic standing, rather than as part of a group with unified experiences, struggles, and interests. According to Marx and other social theorists who followed, false consciousness was dangerous because it encouraged people to think and act in ways that were counterintuitive to their economic, social, and political self-interests. Marx saw false consciousness as a product of an unequal social system controlled by a powerful minority of elites. The false consciousness among workers, which prevented them from seeing their collective interests and power, was created by the material relations and conditions of the capitalist system, by the ideology (the dominant worldview and values) of those who control the system, and by social institutions and how they function in society. Marx cited the phenomenon of commodity fetishism- the way capitalist production frames relationships between people (workers and owners) as relationships between things (money and products)- with playing a key role in producing false consciousness among workers. He believed that commodity fetishism served to obscure the fact that relations with regard to production within a capitalist system are actually relationships between people, and that as such, they are changeable. Building on Marxs theory, Italian scholar, writer, and activist Antonio Gramsci expanded the ideological component of false consciousness by arguing that a process of cultural hegemony guided by those holding economic, social, and cultural power in society produced a common sense way of thinking that embued the status quo with legitimacy. Gramsci noted that by believing in the common sense of ones age, a person actually consents to the conditions of exploitation and domination that one experiences. This common sense- the ideology that produces false consciousness- is actually a misrepresentation and misunderstanding of the social relationships that define the economic, social, and political systems. False Consciousness in a Stratified Society An example of how cultural hegemony works to produce false consciousness- that is true both historically and today- is the belief that upward mobility is possible for all people, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, as long as they choose to dedicate themselves to education, training, and hard work. In the U.S. this belief is encapsulated in the ideal of the American Dream. Viewing society and ones place within it based on the set of assumptions derived from common sense thinking results in a perception of being an individual rather than part of a collective. Economic success and failure rest squarely on the shoulders of the individual and do not take into account the totality of the social, economic, and political systems that shape our lives. At the time Marx was writing about class consciousness, he perceived class as the relationship of people to the means of production- the owners versus the workers. While the model is still useful, we can also think about the economic stratification of our society into different classes based on income, occupation, and social status. Decades worth of demographic data reveals that the American Dream and its promise of upward mobility is largely a myth. In truth, the economic class a person is born into is the primary determinant of how he or she will fair economically as an adult. However, as long as a person believes the myth, he or she will continue to live and operate with a false consciousness. Without a class consciousness, they will fail to recognize that the stratified economic system in which theyre operating was designed to afford only the bare minimum of money to workers while funneling huge profits to the owners, executives, and financiers at the top.

A Biography of the Venerable Bede

A Biography of the Venerable Bede The Venerable Bede was a British monk whose works in theology, history, chronology, poetry, and biography have led him to be accepted at the greatest scholar of the early medieval era. Born in March of 672 and having died on May 25, 735 in Jarrow, Northumbria, UK, Bede is most famous for producing the Historia ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History), a source essential for our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons and the Christianisation of Britain in the era before William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest, earning him the title of the Father of English history. Childhood Little is known of Bedes childhood, other than he was born in March of 672 to parents living on land belonging to the newly founded Monastery of St. Peter, based in Wearmouth, to which Bede was given by relatives for a monastic education when he was seven. Initially, in the care of Abbot Benedict, Bedes teaching was taken over by Ceolfrith, with whom Bede moved to the monasterys new twin-house at Jarrow in 681. The Life of Ceolfrith suggests that here only the young Bede and Ceolfrith survived a plague which devastated the settlement. However, in the aftermath of the plague the new house regrew and continued. Both houses were in the kingdom of Northumbria. Adult Life Bede spent the rest of his life as a monk at Jarrow, first being taught and then teaching to the daily rhythms of monastic rule: for Bede, a mixture of prayer and study. He was ordained as a Deacon aged 19 – at a time when Deacons were supposed to be 25 or over – and a priest aged 30. Indeed, historians believe Bede left Jarrow only twice in his relatively long life, to visit Lindisfarne and York. While his letters contain hints of other visits, there isnt any real evidence, and he certainly never traveled far. Works Monasteries were nodes of scholarship in early medieval Europe, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that Bede, an intelligent, pious and educated man, used his learning, life of study and house library to produce a large body of writing. What was unusual was the sheer breadth, depth, and quality of the fifty plus works he produced, covering scientific and chronological matters, history and biography and, perhaps as expected, scriptural commentary. As befitted the greatest scholar of his era, Bede had the chance to become Prior of Jarrow, and perhaps more, but turned the jobs down as they would interfere with his study. The Theologian: Bedes biblical commentaries – in which he interpreted the bible mainly as an allegory, applied criticism and tried to solve discrepancies – were extremely popular in the early medieval period, being copied and spread – along with Bedes reputation – widely across the monasteries of Europe. This dissemination was helped by the school of Archbishop Egbert of York, one of Bedes pupils, and later by a student of this school, Alcuin, who became head of Charlemagnes palace school and played a key role in the Carolingian Renaissance. Bede took the Latin and Greek of the early church manuscripts and turned them into something the secular elites of the Anglo-Saxon world could deal with, helping them accept the faith and spread the church. The Chronologist Bedes two chronological works - De temporibus (On Times) and De temporum ratione (On the Reckoning of Time) were concerned with establishing the dates of Easter. Along with his histories, these still affect our style of dating: when equating the number of the year with the year of Jesus Christs life, Bede invented the use of A.D., The Year Of Our Lord. In stark contrast to dark age cliches, Bede also knew the world was round, the moon affected tides and appreciated observational science. The Historian In 731/2 Bede completed the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. An account of Britain between the landings of Julius Caesar in 55/54 BC and St. Augustine in 597 AD, its the key source on the Christianisation of Britain, a mixture of sophisticated historiography and religious messages containing details simply not found elsewhere. As such, it now overshadows his other historical, indeed all his other, works and is one of the key documents in the entire field of British history. Its also lovely to read. Death and Reputation Bede died in 735 and was buried at Jarrow before being re-interred inside Durham Cathedral (at the time of this writing the Bedes World museum in Jarrow have a cast of his cranium on display.) He was already renowned among his peers, being described by a Bishop Boniface as having shone forth as a lantern in the world by his scriptural commentary, but is now regarded as the greatest and most multi-talented scholar of the early medieval era, perhaps of the entire medieval era. Bede was sainted in 1899, thus giving him the posthumous title of Saint Bede the Venerable. Bede was declared venerable by the church in 836, and the word is given on his tomb in Durham Cathedral: Hic sunt in fossa bedae venerabilis ossa (Here are buried the bones of the Venerable Bede.) Bede on Bede The Historia ecclesiastica finishes with a short account of Bede about himself and a list of his many works (and is actually the key source about his life that we, much later historians, have to work with): Thus much of the Ecclesiastical History of Britain, and more especially of the English nation, as far as I could learn either from the writings of the ancients, or the tradition of our ancestors, or of my own knowledge, has, with the help of God, been digested by me, Bede, the servant of God, and priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, which is at Wearmouth and Jarrow; who being born in the territory of that same monastery, was given, at seven years of age, to be educated by the most reverend Abbot Benedict, and afterwards by Ceolfrid; and spending all the remaining time of my life in that monastery, I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture, and amidst the observance of regular discipline, and the daily care of singing in the church, I always took delight in learning, teaching, and writing. In the nineteenth year of my age, I received deacons orders; in the thirtieth, those of the priesthood, both of them by the ministry of the most reverend Bishop J ohn, and by the order of the Abbot Ceolfrid. From which time, till the fifty-ninth year of my age, I have made it my business, for the use of me and mine, to compile out of the works of the venerable Fathers, and to interpret and explain according to their meaning... Source Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Penguin Classics, D. H. Farmer  (Editor, Introduction), Ronald Latham (Editor), et al., Paperback, Revised edition, Penguin Classics, May 1, 1991.