Key Definitions for the Study of Social Class

(from Karl Marx)

• Mode of Production -- the psychosocial structure that molds the "dominate" rules for human action in a social and economic environment.  Normally one structure evolves into another

• Control over the Means of Production – the degree of power one has to command one’s own labor schedule.

• Material Interest – strategies and/or tactics employed to secure and maintain one’s wealth. 

• Class Consciousness – a type of  "collective consciousness" in which a cohort share identification based on material interest and control over the means of production.

• False consciousness – a shared acceptance of the negative consequences of membership to a social class.