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Concept
Ruling class
Summary
In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and apply their cultural hegemony to determine and establish the dominant ideology (culture, mores, norms, traditions) of the society. In the 21st century, the worldwide political economy established by globalization has created a transnational capitalist class who are not native to any one country.
In previous modes of production, such as feudalism (inheritable property and rights), the feudal lords of the manor were the ruling class; in an economy based upon chattel slavery, the slave owners were the ruling class. The political economy of the feudal system gave socio-economic and legal power to the feudal lord over the life, labour, and property of the vassal, including military service. The political economy of a slave state gave the slaver socio-economic and legal power over the person, labour, and property of a slave.
In Marxist philosophy, the capitalist society has two social classes: (i) the ruling-class bourgeoisie (capitalist class) who own the means of production as private property; and (ii) the working-class proletariat whom the bourgeoisie subject to the exploitation of labour, which form of political economy is justified by the dominant ideology of the ruling class. To replace the capitalist mode of production in a society, Marxism seeks to void the political legitimacy of the ruling class to hold power of government. Afterwards, the proletariat (the urban working class and the peasantry) assume political and socio-economic power as the ruling class of society.
In the political economies of the former marxist-leninist states, the nomenklatura are the ruling class who control the means of production, allocate resources, etc for the society, per the directions of the party. As the administrators of the bureaucracy required to realise the socio-economic functions of the state.
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