- Marx discusses class "in itself" and "for itself" (summarized in Rise and Fall of Class in Britain, 1999, pp. 2-4). What does Marx mean? Give two examples [either "in itself" and "for itself" from either history or private life; or either "in itself" or "for itself" from both history and private life, or....] of what he means. That is, can you describe an example from history that shows class "in itself" at work or as a factor, one from history that shows class "for itself," one from your own life or that of your family that shows class "in itself," or from your own life/family that shows class "for itself." Those drawn from British history would be nice, but not necessary.
- Alternately, Cannadine gives several reasons why historians have become less interested in class explanations since 1980. Explain three of them in your own words and then state which reason you find most compelling and why.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
pre-departure query two (alternative)
For the second of the four pre-departure questions (you should already have read, Cannadine, "Chapter One, Introduction: Beyond Class - Forward to Class?"), I have two options:
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The first reason is the growing number of women histrians. Women historians tend to make history more of a gender thing and not class thing. The second reason is the number of people in labor unions is decreasing. This used to make up an entire class by itself and they had a big influence on politics. The final reason is Margaret Thatcher getting language of class abolished in public talk. This is the most compelling to me. Ihave studied cockney and propper british and it was a very interesting class. There was a distinct difference to them and it would be hard for me to not take that into a fact when talking about the classes.
When Marx refers to "in itself", he means for it to be "no more (and no less) than an objective social category that grouped individuals together on the basis of their shared economic characteristics". An example from history would be peasants, and how they were grouped together by means of their wealth, and occupation. From my family, the great-grandchildren could be considered "in itself", because the children are grouped by the "nature of their occupations" (youngest children of the family), and where their influences are from.
"For itself" would refer to the social conflicts that came about, and how everyone in the class would fight over the spoils. An example of “For itself” in history would be the way the Germans fought over control of various countries in World War II, and created social conflict by doing so. An example from my family is the way my brother fights about what he wants. Though he can be considered a class in himself, he is “for himself” by the way he looks out for his own interests only, and fights for what he believes he deserves.
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