Problem
For Marx and Engels, "the [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." In this chapter they set out a sweeping history of class society, in particular the struggle of the bourgeoisie against the rotten feudal system, and explain how the bourgeoisie, having taken power in one country, is forced by its own system to revolutionize production on a world scale and with this, produces "its own grave-diggers": the proletariat.
Task
1. How do Marx and Engels define "class"?
2. What are the bourgeoisie and proletariat?
3. How did capitalism come into existence according to Marx and Engels?
4. What relationship exists between economic development and the political struggle? Can we find examples of this in society today?
5. What do Marx and Engels mean when they write, "The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary part"?
6. How does this chapter predict globalization?
7. In what sense is capitalism "like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells"?
8. How is the proletariat formed under capitalism?
9. What is the role of trades unions for Marx and Engels?