ABSTRACT: The notion social class attains a well defined theoretical content for the first time in the works of the Classical Political Economists, who defined classes on the basis of the specific income form that each category of people (class) obtains. This approach to classes, when combined with the Classical labour value theory, may lead to a theory of class exploitation of the labour class by the capitalist class. The theory of classes has been, thus, totally banished from the corpus of «modern“ (neo-classical) «Economic Science“. Consequently, «social class“ has been regarded as a mainly sociological category. The sociological approaches to classes are characterised by a certain theoretical ambiguity, since they are, in most cases, based on a form of theoretical individualism inherited to modern social sciences by Political Philosophy. The scientific elements inherent in Political Economy’s class theory were preserved only by the Marxian class theory, which, though, revolutionised the Classical approach, creating a new, purely non-economistic and non-mechanistic «relationist“ class theory. Theoretical approaches which attempt to give the Marxian class theory a «subjectivist“ interpretation, or to reduce it to the methodological individualism of «modern“ (neo-classical) economic theory, are -according to my opinion- of very low analytical value.

1. Introduction

The theory of the classes comprises one of the most controversial chapters of the Social Sciences, in the sense that it comprises a forefront of confrontation between the different theoretical schools which are formulated within the field.

I may, therefore at this point reiterate, as an introductory clarification for what is to follow, the position that was stated by de Ste. Croix (1983, pg. 31): «It seems to me hardly possible for anyone today to discuss problems of class, and above all class struggle (or class conflict), in any society, modern or ancient, in what some people would call an ‘impartial’ or ‘unbiased’ manner. I make no claim to ‘impartiality’ or ‘lack of bias’, let alone ‘Wertfreiheit’, freedom from value-judgements“.

The purpose of the present paper is to defend the ability of Marxist class theory to scientifically investigate the structure of modern capitalist societies, by formulating, simultaneously, a Marxist approach to the notion of social classes.

In order to state the criteria of the basis of which may be made the necessary theoretical evaluations, I will begin with a brief reference to the first theoretical foundation of the notion of social classes in the framework of Classical Political Economy. In this way, the theoretical parameters will become apparent, which determined the articulation of more recent approaches. The Marxist notion of the mode of production, as developed by Althusser in Reading Capital, will be used as a «starting point“ for a more detailed theoretical approach to the class structure of capitalist social formations, whereas a critique to a recently developed subjectiveindividualist approach to social classes will illustrate the theoretical accuracy of the Marxist approach adopted by this paper.

2. The Notion of Social Classes in Political Economy

The notion of social classes acquires for the first time theoretical – analytical content in the works of the Classical School of Political Economy, which Adam Smith initiated in 1776 in «The Wealth of Nations», and the historical cycle of which is considered to have closed in 1848, with the «Principles of Political Economy with some of their Applications to Social Philosophy» of John Stuart Mill (Roll 1989, Rubin 1994).

The notion of social class first appears, of course, in Ancient Greek and Roman society. However, for the ancient writers, social class consisted of either a clear descriptive term with practical use in the formation of the «commonwealth» of the city (separation of the free citizens into «classes» according to the amount of property), or as a normative notion (a description of an ideal social organisation, in the framework of which are determined, by mainly political criteria – that is in reference to the organisation of power – the «classes»)1. The approaches to the classes during the Middle Ages had a similar normative character.

The precursors of Classical Political Economy were, of course, the Physiocrats, who articulated a concept of social classes on the basis of a series of theoretical deductions. However the society (and the classes) that the Physiocrats described was itself idealised, it was a model that they were dreaming of imposing, with the assistance of the monarchy, upon France: an agricultural – capitalist society which derived its characteristics a) from the conviction that only agricultural economy can create a surplus above the costs of production, and b) from the idealisation of certain elements of British capitalism in the second half of the 18th century.

On the Theory of Social Classes (From the Classical Political Economy to Marxist Theory