User:Lewelch/Evaluate an Article

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Class society

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
This article has very limited information on what Marx has to say on class in society, and how it is determined, and how it looks.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Lead section:

"Class stratification is theorized to come directly from capitalism. In terms of public opinion, nine out of ten people in a Swedish survey considered it correct that they are living in a class society."

This quote in the lead section has a few problems. First, the mention of class stratification without a link to "stratification" or a description of what this means and the connection to hierarchal society feels short-sighted. Stratification is not a common enough term for others to really recognize how it is important in relation to a class society.

Additionally, the poll listed is either unimportant or too skewed for the purpose of this article. Sweden public opinion does not make a very representative opinion of developed society. For one, Sweden has much different social views than other capitalist societies like the U.S. Additionally, it is very racially homogenous which makes a key difference in understanding the impacts of class society and how hierarchies are created and maintained.

Content:

Under the subsection: Class society in Marxist sociology

This section ignores many of Marx's concepts that lead to how he views class. For starters, there is no mention of the proletariat or the bourgeoisie. However, arguably more importantly, there is no mention of how Marx states that the ruling class determines social norms. This is crucial in understanding Marx's perspective as it is these social norms that are created by the ruling class (who Marx claims are both materially ruling and ideologically ruling) that help to perpetuate the hierarchized class society we live in, and it helps prevent class consciousness.

Tone/balance: The article sounds unbiased, and it is factual even if there are many facts missing.