Class conflict

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on
Political revolution
By class Bourgeois Communist Counter-revolutionary Democratic Proletarian
By other characteristic Colour From above Nonviolent Passive Permanent Social Wave
Methods Boycott Civil disorder Civil war Class conflict Contentious politics Coup d'état Demonstration Human chain Direct action Guerrilla warfare Insurgency Mass mobilization Mutiny Protest Rebellion Resistance Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Riot Samizdat Strike action Tax resistance Terror
Examples English Atlantic American Brabant Liège French Haitian Spanish American Serbian Greek 1820 1830 July Belgian Texas 1848 Italian states February German Hungarian Eureka Bulgarian unification Philippine Iranian First Second Young Turk Mexican Chinese Xinhai Communist Cultural 1917–1923 Russian German Siamese Spanish August Guatemalan Hungarian (1956) Cuban Rwandan Nicaraguan Argentine Carnation Saur People Power 1989 Yogurt Velvet Romanian Singing Bolivarian Bulldozer Rose Orange Tulip Kyrgyz Arab Spring Tunisian Egyptian Yemeni Euromaidan Second Arab Spring Sudanese
Politics portal
v t e

In political science, the term class conflict, or class struggle, refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequalities of power in the socioeconomic hierarchy.^[1] In its simplest manifestation, class conflict refers to the ongoing battle between rich and poor.^[2]

In the writings of several leftist, socialist, and communist theorists, notably those of Karl Marx, class struggle is a core tenet and a practical means for effecting radical sociopolitical transformations for the majority working class.^[3] It is also a central concept within conflict theories of sociology and political philosophy.

Class conflict can reveal itself through:

• Direct violence, such as assassinations, coups, revolutions, counterrevolutions, and civil wars for control of government, natural resources, and labor;
• Indirect violence, such as deaths from poverty, malnutrition, illness, and unsafe workplaces;
• Economic coercion, such as boycotts and strikes, the threat of unemployment and capital flight, the withdrawal of investment capital;
• Political machinations through lobbying (legal and illegal), bribery of legislators, voter suppression and disenfranchisement;
• Ideological struggle by way of propaganda and political literature.^[1]

In the economic sphere, class conflict is sometimes expressed overtly, such as owner lockouts of their employees in an effort to weaken the bargaining power of the employees' union; or covertly, such as a worker slowdown of production or the widespread, simultaneous use of sick leave (e.g., "blue flu") to protest unfair labor practices, low wages, poor work conditions, or a perceived injustice to a fellow worker.^[4]