Abstract

BAJOIT, Guy. Class relations and means of production: Theory and analysis. Cultura representaciones soc [online]. 2014, vol.9, n.17, pp.9-53. ISSN 2007-8110.

The main purpose of this article is to show the importance of an approach for our societies in terms of social classes and means of production. For reasons that would deserve to be better studied, these concepts, which were in vogue in sociology throughout the 20th century, are no longer in vogue. Nevertheless, our societies have never produced such wealth before. The author wants to show here that social classes have always existed -and will always exist - in societies that produce more wealth than what they consume. In order to produce this surplus, they establish "means of production" that structure the actors, whose collaboration and conflicts are essential for those that want to understand their functioning and their historical evolution. If we want to know "the world in which we live" today, it is not enough, but it is essential to begin by analyzing the relations among the social classes.

Keywords : means of production; social classes; contemporary sociology.