In this paper, I will begin by focusing on the development of humanity as class conflict and then move onto the impact of capitalism and the relevance that class conflict bears in South Africa today. Class conflict is the “antagonism between entire classes over the distribution of wealth and power in society” (JJ & Plummer, 2012). It is a concept that has come about due to the sociocultural change in humanity, resulting in the social stratification of society (JJ & Plummer, 2012). As Marx explains it, “there are competing interests in society” (P & Zaaiman, 2015) which powers change (P & Zaaiman, 2015). Through assessing human history as class conflict, it is evident how class conflict is still majorly relevant in South Africa today, due to aspects of capitalism and exploitation that form a major part of South African history.
Firstly, class conflict began with hunting and gathering societies (JJ & Plummer, 2012). The people of this time were living under terrible conditions that allowed for their human rights to be violated time and time again, while also accessing limited resources due to this minimalistic form of social organisation (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Although, at the beginning of this time, the majority of humanity was living this way (JJ & Plummer, 2012). However, currently, there is only a hand full of communities in the world who still practice this form of social organisation, such as in central Africa (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Therefore this leads to class conflict among different communities in Africa and around the world, as not everyone has the same standard of life or resources (JJ & Plummer, 2012), due to this outdated social structure that is still practiced.
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The next form of society evolved to Horticulturalists and Pastoralists (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Horticulture is a technology that is based on using different hand tools to cultivate vegetation (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Whereas, pastoralism is the technology used to domesticate animals (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Not all communities were quick to abandon their previous roots of hunting and gathering as their system had sustained them for thousands of years (JJ & Plummer, 2012). The people who chose to be Horticulturalists and Pastoralists ended up forming permanent settlements, trade relations and a material surplus (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Therefore they became culturally and financially superior as a result of their advanced forms of production (JJ & Plummer, 2012). This would, therefore, produce more income, while advancing their community’s skill set (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Therefore, class conflict was created between these two groups at this time due to the inferior social system of the hunters and gatherers which resulted in fewer resources and wealth (JJ & Plummer, 2012).
Next came, agrarian societies that focused on large scale farming in both vegetation and animals (JJ & Plummer, 2012). This advanced technology allowed them to farm the same land for decades, which therefore lead to permanent settlements, increased productivity and therefore increased wealth (JJ & Plummer, 2012). However, agrarian societies show massive social inequality as slaves contribute a massive amount of labour, for small wages, for the small groups of land-owning (JJ & Plummer, 2012). This brought more wealth to the elite which further fuelled social and class conflict (JJ & Plummer, 2012) as the development of different classes of wealth was becoming more prominent. This is highly relevant in South Africa as there is class conflict due to the issue of land redistribution for agricultural income that stems from the 1913 Land Act (Hlubi, 2020).
The legacy of socio-economic inequality of South Africa which resulted in class conflict still to this day, is heavily due to the land act in 1913 (Hlubi, 2020). Due to this act, the people of colour in South Arica experienced a great loss of land and therefore wealth and resources (Hlubi, 2020). It was handed over to the white colonists (Hlubi, 2020). This created a class of private property owners who used their power and wealth to continue oppressing the people of colour in South Africa (Hlubi, 2020). This creates class conflict currently today In South Africa as the land has not yet been evenly redistributed (Aljazeera.com, 2020). Therefore the majority of wealth and land is still in the hands of the white minority whose families have passed down this land and wealth for generations (Aljazeera.com, 2020). Therefore, there is class conflict today In South Africa as the resources and wealth are still not evenly distributed amongst South Africa’s population. This is evident by the fact that “It is estimated that white South Africans - who make up approximately nine percent of the country's population - own more than 70 percent of the commercial agricultural land.” (Aljazeera.com, 2020).
Following the agrarian society came the industrial society. This is centred around technology that powers machinery with exceptional sources of energy (JJ & Plummer, 2012). The industry’s riches were very much concentrated in the hands of the wealthy few who owned factories and businesses in different sectors of the industry (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Whereas the rest of the population was transformed into industrial workers called the proletariat (JJ & Plummer, 2012). The proletariat laboured long and hard hours for low wages while living in terrible conditions (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Marx often asked himself, “in a society so rich, how could so many be so poor?” (JJ & Plummer, 2012). The industrial society, therefore, created class conflict as there was only a small group of very wealthy business owners, while the rest of society was earning minimal wage for intense labour or formed part of the bourgeoise (JJ & Plummer, 2012).
Emerging in recent decades is the post-industrial societies that allow for a widespread and diverse combination of perspectives (JJ & Plummer, 2012). This allowed for humanity to become more globally connected in their different societies. However, even though this new form of society has developed and is still developing, the previous forms of social organisation all coexist together (JJ & Plummer, 2012). This means that there is still evident class conflict around the world and in South Africa as there are different forms of social organisation which results in different levels of wealth all around the world and specifically, within South Africa (Anon, 2020).
The development of Capitalism, in the eyes of Marx, is heavily related to the industrial society (JJ & Plummer, 2012). It is therefore heavily linked to class conflict, and specifically in South Africa, due to the major inequality in wealth and resources experienced by South Africans (Anon, 2020). The capitalist economic system only transformed a small minority of the population into the thriving capitalists (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Whereas the rest of the population was transformed into industrial workers called the proletariat (JJ & Plummer, 2012). Next developed the bourgeoisie, the middle class of society (P & Zaaiman, 2015). With capitalism came the dominant and oppressed classes which created major class conflict (JJ & Plummer, 2012) as capitalism encouraged and fuelled the idea of different classes of wealth. This resulted in the alienation of the poor as they continued to become more powerless (JJ & Plummer, 2012). This is highly relevant in South Africa as the misfortune of capitalism, which is mass poverty for the majority and wealth for the few minorities, causes major class conflict and frustration amongst the people of South Africa. This class conflict is a result of apartheid who prioritized the white minority but is also as a result of the Capitalist system in South Africa today which doesn’t correct the wrongdoings of the past (Anon, 2020). With the capitalist system comes mass exploitation, which is evident and relevant in South Africa today when assessing class conflict (Anon, 2020). This is due to the current poverty of people of colour because of the exploitive apartheid system that still affects South Africa’s society today both economically and socially (Anon, 2020). As Marx said, 'the expropriation of the great mass of the people from the soil, from the means of subsistence and the means of labour,’ (P & Zaaiman, 2015) is an example of one of the main reasons that there is still such a great issue of class conflict in South Africa (P & Zaaiman, 2015). This is class conflict in South Africa is therefore due to the masses of people that have been exploited for their labour and resources, such as land, for decades by the colonial and apartheid systems and is now worsened by the capitalist system (Anon, 2020).
Therefore, it is evident that class conflict has formed a huge part of human history and humanity’s development. Also that this class conflict is still incredibly prominent around the world and is especially relevant in South Africa, due to the economic and social inequality that stems from colonialism, apartheid, and capitalism.
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