A study on class struggle : the reaction of working class toward bourgeois` oppressions in the 19th century France as seen in Emile Zola`s Germinal - USD Repository
A STUDY ON CLASS STRUGGLE: THE REACTION OF
WORKING CLASS TOWARD BOURGEOIS’ OPPRESSIONS
TH
IN THE 19 CENTURY FRANCE AS SEEN IN ÉMILE
ZOLA’S GERMINAL
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
FRANSISKA CHANDRA LEONITA
Student Number: 054214074
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
A STUDY ON CLASS STRUGGLE: THE REACTION OF
WORKING CLASS TOWARD BOURGEOIS’ OPPRESSIONS
TH
IN THE 19 CENTURY FRANCE AS SEEN IN ÉMILE
ZOLA’S GERMINAL
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
FRANSISKA CHANDRA LEONITA
Student Number: 054214074
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:
M y beloved parents, L eonardus Sudarsono & M ariana Nurmayanti
M y brother, Thomas Pandu Brahmantya
And le gagnant de mon coeur Thanks for your love and support
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, my greatest gratitude goes to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for the blessings, love, strength and guidance that really help me to pass through the hard time in finishing my study.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S, M. Hum. for her precious time, guidance, and supports that helped me in the process of writing my thesis. I thank my co-advisor, Tatang Iskarna S.S., M.Hum. for giving his precise correction and suggestion to improve my thesis writing. I also thank my thesis examiner Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., for giving me questions and comments in the thesis defense. Thanks to all of the lecturers of the Departments of English Letters of Sanata Dharma University, for their gifts of the best knowledge I got during my study.
I must record my gratitude to my grandmother, Mbah Hadisumarto, who passed away. Thanks for the love, care, and patience in taking care of me while I lived in Yogyakarta.
My special thanks go to my best friends, Cindy Abram, Elisabeth Ria Handayani, and Galih Asri Nindita D. I would never forget the best time we had spent together in joy, happiness, and sadness. Thank you for the supports and help they gave to me. I also thank my friends in the play performance, “Wine in the Wilderness”, Nana, Della, Greg, Adit, Efra, Aye. My gratitude also goes to my classmates: Dessy, Norie, Bayu, Alvin, Adi “Pethuk”, Risang, Ika, Pamela, and all students in “Angkatan 2005” for the chance of having socialized during my study. abroad, and also Nikodemus Wuri K. for his kindness in giving me some reviews about Émile Zola.
Particularly, I would like to express my greatest love and gratitude to Hardian Putra Pratama, for the love, support, and care. Thank you for the encouragement he has given to me during the process of writing this thesis. He becomes a special gift from God to brighten the days.
My profound appreciations belong to my parents: Leonardus Sudarsono and Mariana Nurmayanti for their priceless love, care, patience, and supports to encourage me. Last but not least, my truly gratitude goes to everyone whom I cannot mention one by one for their involvement in the process of writing this thesis, thank you very much.
Fransiska Chandra Leonita
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE…………………………………………………….............. i
APPROVAL PAGE……………………………………………………… ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE………………………………………………...... iii
DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………….... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………... vii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………….... ix
ABSTRAK………………………………………………………………... x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION……………………………………….. 1
A. Background of the Study…………………….……………………. 1 B. Problem Formulation…………………………………………….... 4 C. Objectives of the Study……………………………………………. 4 D. Definition of Terms……………………………………………….. 5CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……………………………. 7
A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………… 7 B. Review of Related Theories………………………………………. 9 1. Theories of Character & Characterization……………………. 9 2. Theory of Setting……………………………………….…….. 11 3. Marxism Theory………………………………………………. 12a. Theory of Oppression………………………………………. 13
b. Theory of Class Struggle…………………………………... 14 C. Review on Life of Working Class in the 19
th
Century……………. 18 D. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………. 25
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………………. 27
A. Object of the Study………………………………………………... 27 B. Approach of the Study…………………………………………….. 28 C. Method of the Study………………………………………………. 29CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………... 31
A. Descriptions of Characters & Settings…………………………….. 31 1. Characters Description………………………………………... 31a. The Working Class…………………………………………. 32
b. The Bourgeois……………………………………………… 40 2. Settings Description…………………………………………... 44 B. The Oppressions Experienced by Working Class………………..... 47 1.
Reflected through Characters…………………………………. 48
a. Woman and Child Labor...…………………………………. 48
b. Long Working Hours.............………………………………. 50
c. Low Wage/ Wage Cut…………………………………….... 52
d. Insecurity of Working.……………………………………… 54
a. Mining Camp……………………………………………….. 56
b. Housing Condition………………………………………….. 59 C. The Reaction of Working Class toward The Oppressions……........ 61 1.
Ideological Struggle…………………………………………... 62 2. Political Struggle……………………………………………… 65 3. Economic Struggle……………………………………………. 68
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…………………………………………. 74
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………... 77APPENDIX: Summary of Émile Zola’s Germinal ………..…………… 79
ABSTRACT
FRANSISKA CHANDRA LEONITA. A Study on Class Struggle: The
th
Reaction of Working Class Toward Bourgeois’ Oppressions in the 19
Century France As Seen in Émile Zola’s Germinal. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.
Class struggle is the reaction of a group of people to social conflicts such as social injustices and inhuman treatments that happen in a society. In class struggle, there are two sides that are opposed each other, which are working class and the bourgeoisie. The novel, Germinal, written by Émile Zola, is suitable to be the object of the study as the characters and setting in this novel depict the life of working class in dealing with the oppressions. A study on class struggle becomes an interesting topic to discuss. Class struggle shows the efforts of the working class in getting their rights and social welfare.
The aims of this research are to find out the description of working class and bourgeois through characters and settings description, to identify the oppressions experienced by the working class through the presentations of characters and settings, to find the reactions of the working class and identify the class struggle toward the bourgeois’ oppressions.
This study was conducted through library research by applying the data from books and internet sources. The theories of character, characterization, setting, Marxism theory: theory of oppression and class struggle, and review of
th life of the working class in France in the 19 century were applied in this thesis.
The writer used sociocultural historical approach to identify the social and historical background in the society.
This study goes to the result that working class in France in the nineteenth century was treated unfairly by the bourgeois. They were exploited physically, mentally and economically. The company did not only employ man to work in the mining camp, but also women and children that could endanger them. The workers had to work in the coal mining company for 15 to 16 hours a day with less pay. The bourgeois cut the workers’ wage by giving them fines. The workers were also oppressed by the insecurity of workings; in this case, they did not get life insurance from the company. As the result, the working class could not stand in sufferings, and they revolt against the bourgeois. The working class reacted against the oppressions in three forms: first, they did ideological struggle in order to know their basic interests before they go on strikes, second they were united by making a union or organization and collecting provident funds to strengthen the revolt, third, they go to economic struggle in which they did strike to convey their demands of the economic interests like raising their wage, shortening the working hours, and asking for a better workplace and living condition. The novel,
Germinal completely becomes the representation of the cruel system of the
capitalists in treating the working class.
ABSTRAK
FRANSISKA CHANDRA LEONITA. A Study on Class Struggle: The
th
Reaction of Working Class Toward Bourgeois’ Oppressions in the 19
Century France As Seen in Émile Zola’s Germinal. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.
Class struggle merupakan reaksi dari sekelompok masyarakat terhadap
masalah sosial seperti ketidakadilan dan perlakuan yang tidak manusiawi dalam suatu masyarakat. Dalam class struggle, ada dua golongan yang bertentangan satu dengan yang lain, yakni golongan para pekerja dan golongan borjuis. Novel
Germinal karya Émile Zola merupakan objek penelitian yang sesuai, karena
karakter-karakter dan latar dalam novel menggambarkan dengan jelas kehidupan para perkerja yang tertindas. Studi tentang class struggle merupakan topik yang menarik untuk dibahas. Class struggle menunjukkan usaha-usaha yang dilakukan para pekerja dalam mencapai hak asasi dan kesejahteraan sosial.
Tujuan analisis ini adalah untuk mengetahui deskripsi karakter antara para pekerja dan borjuis serta latarnya, untuk mengidentifikasi penindasan-penindasan yang dialami oleh para pekerja dilihat dari karakter dan latar dalam novel, untuk mengungkap reaksi dan class struggle para pekerja terhadap penindasan- penindasan kaum borjuis.
Skripsi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka dengan mengambil data dari buku-buku serta sumber internet. Teori tentang karakter, penokohan, latar, teori Marxism: tentang penindasan dan class struggle, serta ulasan tentang kehidupan para pekerja di Prancis abad ke 19 digunakan dalam mengerjakan analisis ini. Penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosio-kultural dan sejarah untuk mengetahui latar belakang di dalam masyarakat.
Hasil dari analisis ini menunjukan bahwa para pekerja di Prancis pada abad ke 19 diperlakukan secara tidak adil oleh kaum borjuis. Mereka dieksploitasi secara fisik, mental dan ekonomi. Perusahaan tidak hanya memperkerjakan buruh laki-laki, tetapi juga buruh wanita dan anak-anak yang dapat membahayakan mereka. Para pekerja harus bekerja di pertambangan selama 15 sampai 16 jam sehari dengan upah sangat minim. Para borjuis memotong upah buruh dengan memberikan denda. Para pekerja juga tertindas dengan ketidakamanan pekerjaan; dalam hal ini mereka tidak mendapatkan jaminan keselamatan bekerja dari perusahaan. Akibatnya, para pekerja tidak tahan akan penderitaan, dan melakukan pemberontakan terhadap kaum borjuis. Reaksi para pekerja terhadap penindasan- penindasan ada tiga bentuk: pertama, mereka melakukan perjuangan ideologi untuk mengetahui dasar utama kepentingan mereka sebelum mereka melakukan pemogokan, kedua mereka bersatu membentuk serikat atau organisasi dan mengumpulkan dana untuk memperkuat pemberontakan, ketiga mereka melakukan perjuangan ekonomi dengan melakukan pemogokan untuk menyampaikan tuntutan-tuntutan ekonomi mereka seperti kenaikan gaji, pengurangan jam kerja, dan tuntutan akan kelayakan tempat kerja serta kondisi tempat tinggal. Novel Germinal dengan sempurna mengungkap gambaran sistem kapitalis yang kejam dalam memperlakukan para pekerja.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literature may become a reflection of the social condition. The social
conditions that are reflected through the literary works can be in certain issues, but most of them indeed, deal with the conflicts in the society. A society may be divided into many classes based on the honor, the status, education, or properties they have. Langland states in his book, Society in the Novel, that “society in a literary works does not merely comprehend people and their classes but also to study upon their physical environment, their customs, culture, conventions, codes, norms, beliefs and values, religions and institution” (1984: 6).
By studying the elements of the society that Langland mentioned, it can be assumed that there are many differences on the elements that the society have in each class. Those differences will cause conflicts in the society, such as the injustices that are experienced by the lower class (working class); the low wages they earn as workers, inappropriate life, and the oppression from the middle and upper class or the bourgeoisies.
Due to the oppression from the upper class, then the class-consciousness of working class is stimulated to struggle in order to get social injustices and equality in the political-economical system. Marxism deals with this kind of issues, as stated in Peter Barry’s An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory,
Marxism sees progress as coming about the struggle for power between social classes. This view of history as class struggle (rather progress toward the attainment of national identity and sovereignty) regards it as ‘motored’ by the competition for economic, social, and political advantage (Barry, 2002: 157). Émile Zola’s Germinal, is a novel that reflects the social conflicts in
French society, in which there are many social injustices and inequalities happen here. Germinal was written in 1880 and set in France in the 1860s. In this novel, the author depicts the struggle of a mining community which, facing a collapse in the market for coal (a symptom of European-wide post-war depression) chooses to respond to the threat of wage cuts by taking refuge in the revolutionary orations of a young outsider, Étienne, the central character of the novel, and striking.
(http://mag.christis.org.uk/issues/52/germinal.html).
Fundamentally, this novel is a criticism toward bourgeois society in the late of nineteenth century. In one early chapter, Zola describes a family that is unable to find enough bread to eat, and this pathetic scene is swiftly followed by an account of an ostentatious banquet at the residence of the mine-owner. For the next chapter, Zola describes the system of working in the mining camp owned by the bourgeoisie and clearly describes the gap of social condition between miners and the mine-owner.
Emile Zola’s Germinal describes the strike done by the working class as the result of oppressions. The strike was caused by conflict over pay systems.
Miners were then not employed directly by the mine-owner. The leader of each 'gang' bid for a seam of coal in an auction. The gang was paid only for the coal it dug out, so they begrudged time wasted on putting up pit props to hold up.
Tunnels often caved in, causing bad accidents. The mining company feared the timbering work, and for coal dug out. Miners suspected it was a trick to reduce their payment, and went on strike. Zola also describes the brutalizing effects of women and children who are employed underground, to haul away the coal as the men dug it out. He is moved by the plight of pit ponies that lived permanently in the dark tunnels down the mine (http://www.gailanderson.org/2007/08/emile- zolas-germinal.html).
In writing this novel, Zola did researches. He interviewed miners and their families, visited their homes, went down a mine, and listened to strike meetings.
He soon got the feeling of how the miners were permanently hungry, living brutish lives in overcrowded cottages, often diseased through dangerous working conditions, haunted by debt, insecurity, and the risk of total ruin by a disabling accident. They were scarcely educated, knew no other life, and had neither the energy, money nor organization to do anything about it. Their violence was usually aimless and ineffective. Their main escape was in sex and alcohol - in bars provided by the management to keep them permanently stupefied.
The study about class struggle is interesting to discuss since the writer can explore the conflicts that happen in social classes that emerging struggle. This study reveals the realistic condition of the capitalism system that affects the working class life. The writer also wants to show the huge gaps between the haves
th
and the have-nots in the society, especially in France in the 19 century when it is under the Second Empire and also to show the corruption in high places, with whole section of society being exploited. The topic is also appropriate to the object of the study which is Zola’s Germinal, because it tells about strike of the may become a social criticism in French in the nineteenth century toward the bourgeois society. By discussing the topic about class struggle, the writer hopes that the thesis will contribute some knowledge about the awareness of reaching for the justice and human rights.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three problem formulations that are raised in this analysis. They are: 1.
How are the settings and characters in Zola’s Germinal described? 2. What are the oppressions experienced by working class as reflected through the settings and characters?
3. What are the workers’ reactions to the oppressions they experienced? C.
Objectives of the Study
The objective here is the goal or aim concerned with the problem formulation. The aim of doing this thesis is to obtain a clear and satisfying explanation. The writer has three objectives or aims in doing this thesis. First aim is to find out the description of setting and historical background of the novel, and also the characters described by the author.
Those descriptions later will go to the second aim, which is to identify the oppressions through the working class life experience in the novel. These experiences deal with the oppression they get from the upper class or bourgeoisies. In this case, the writer wants to know how the working class undergoes their life under the oppression from the bourgeoisies in matters seen
The third, the writer wants to find out the reaction of the workers toward the oppressions. The conflicts happen in the working class will cause struggle and labors’ strikes against the upper class. In this case, the writer wants to understand about the class struggle that appears as the impact of the oppressions.
D. Definition of Terms
To give a better understanding to the readers, the writer provides the definition of some terms used related to the topic in this thesis.
1. Bourgeoisie
This term comes from French. Campion Hall defined the bourgeoisie is the class of the owners of the basic means of production, which lives by exploiting the hired labour of the workers. It is the ruling class of capitalist society (1963: 154). Bourgeoisie was originally the name for the inhabitants of walled towns in medieval France; as artisans, the bourgeoisie occupied a socioeconomic position between the peasants and the proprietors in the countryside (http://www.answers.com/topic/bourgeoisie-proletariat).
2. Working Class
As stated in An Encyclopedic of Marxism Socialism and Communism, the working class is one of the three main social classes, whether under capitalism (in addition to the bourgeoisie and the peasantry. The social class derives its livelihood from employment outside agriculture and the professions. The core of the working class is industrial workers, workers employed in construction, politically, the working class or the proletariat are dominated by the ruling class – the bourgeoisie (Wilczynski, 1981: 645).
3. Class Struggle
According to Nikolai Bukharin, class struggle is a struggle in which one class has entered into action against the other class and stands opposed the other.
Usually the class struggle involves one class that is oppressed by another class and they struggle to get social justice and equality (1969: 298).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter consists of some reviews related on the novel that will be
discussed. The reviews may come from related studies and critiques toward the novel and the author, Émile Zola. The writer also provides some theories that latter will help the writer answering the problems formulated in the previous chapter. Therefore, it is important to comprehend and understand the literary reviews and theories before analyzing the work.
A. Review of Related Studies
There are some critiques and comments on Zola and his work Germinal, after it was published. Gail Anderson gave comment to Zola’s description of the plot. He was impressed about how Zola creates a novel as he created a series of paintings that beg the reader to visualize the settings. Gail stated that the setting was like when visiting a museum, first it is seen a beautiful but haunting painting of the early-spring landscape (April, or the germinal month), treeless with ugly slagheaps, smoke that curls into the grey sky, and grey figures that are but shadows trudging their way to the mine. It is a beautifully wrought but haunting landscape.
Repeatedly Zola portrays the mine as a living monster that devours the workers. We see the haphazard timbering, the hay, the wet walls, and the lamps that provide the only light. There is sadness to Bonnemort’s face and we detect a within the working mine. They bond because they suffer together. And the next painting, shows several miners at work. Their shirts are off and their bodies are glistening with sweat. The air outside is cold, but in this living hell, temperatures rise dramatically. Their arms and shoulders which have worked in the mines for all their lives should be strong and steady. Instead, they seem weak and exhausted (http://www.gailanderson.org/2007/08/emile-zolas-germinal.html).
In this case, Zola had special strength in visualizing the characters and setting in the novel, his output is staggering, considering the depth of his characters, descriptions, and actions portrayed in his work.
Havelock Ellis also stated in the introduction part of Germinal, that the book was produced when Zola had at length achieved the full mastery of his art and before his hand had, as in his latest novels, begun to lose its firm grasp. The subject lent itself, moreover, to his special aptitude for presenting in vivid outline great human groups, and to his special sympathy with the collective emotions and social aspirations of such groups. We do not, as so often in Zola's work, become painfully conscious that he is seeking to reproduce aspects of life with which he is imperfectly acquainted, or fitting them into scientific formulas which he has imperfectly understood. He shows a masterly grip of each separate group, and each represents some essential element of the whole; they are harmoniously balanced, and their mutual action and reaction leads on inevitably to the splendid tragic dose, with yet its great promise for the future.
A critic named Paul Brians said that it is very interesting to discover the different ways of living for miners and their social and working lives.
We also see conditions of recruiting and working, the risks taken by employees and the true dangers of the job but also the eventual diseases that workers can catch. The conditions of lodging are also an interesting point and you can clearly see the bunch of minors is coordinated by the paternalism of the company. The promiscuity in which the minors live is quite real and shows the fine bond or even differences occurring among the nest. The book reveals the origins of the strike and the major causes, how the mining company is intending to face it. The policy of minors, what they want to get and how they want to lead the strike and make the management give them what they request. (http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/germinal.html) The above reviews will help the writer in analyzing the historical background of the characters, including the setting that influences them. As some critics said that Zola describe the setting as if the reader is involved and imagining the social condition by the represented visualization.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Character & Characterization
Richard Gill stated on his book, Mastering English Literature Second
Edition
, that “a character is someone in literary work who has some sort of identity, an identity which is made up by appearance, conversation, action, name and thoughts going on in the head” (1995: 127). In this case, each character in the story has their own identities and different personalities based on the way the author characterized them. The characters are made up by appearance, action, and conversation, meaning that they are come from author’s depiction and important because of their role in the story by their actions, conversations, and thoughts. Character in the story actually has the important role to bring the plot of the story.
According to Abrams in Glossary of Literary Terms, a character is a has different types of person (1981: 20). In order to understand the plot of the story, we need to know the characters told in the story; the name and the role of the characters. Abrams gives definition of characters in which they can be recognized by their attitude and personal qualities. In this case, the moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in the dialogue (what they say) and the action (what they do). By those, the person in the literary work can be decided what sort of person he is and distinguishes one person to another. Moreover, the character may have stability in his attitude and his qualities of mind from the beginning to the end of a work or he may have a change through a gradual development or due to the extreme crisis (Abrams, 1981: 21).
According to Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to literature, there are two kinds of character. They are static and dynamic character. A static character is limited in changes. The action and experience of a static character are limited and has a little bit change. A dynamic character has more changes than static one. It changes the characteristic or personally by actions or experiences that influence to change. The characteristic of a person may change in the end of the story because of the influenced condition or he will not change at all through the whole story (1986: 83).
Rohrberger explains in Reading and Writing about Literature, that characterization is “the process by which the author creates a character”. There are two ways used by the author to characterize the characters. First is Direct, means to describe physical appearance, e.g. tall, weight or to explain the intellectual or moral attributes or the degree of person’s sensitivity. Second is
, means to place the person in situations to show what he/she is in the
Dramatic way he/she behaves or speaks (1971:20).
Another theory to understand the way characters described is stated by Murphy in Understanding Unseen. First is personal description, in which the author describes the appearance of the characters from many sides. The reader will know about the character from his/her build, skin-color, hair, hands, face, and other personal aspects. Second way is characters as seen by another. The reader will understand the character through another character’s perception and opinions. The third is speech. The reader will understand a character from his saying, whenever character has conversation and gives opinions. The fourth way is past
life . The author gives description about the past event of the character that can
help to shape a person’s character. The author can use direct comment through the person’s thought, through his conversation, and through the medium of another person. The fifth is conversation of others. The character is described through the conversation of other people and the things they say about the character. The sixth way is reactions of the character whenever he/she is facing the situation. The seventh is direct comment from the author to characters. The eighth way is
. In this way, the author gives direct knowledge of what a person is
thoughts
thinking about. The last is mannerism in which the reader will understand the character from his/her manners, habits and behavior (Murphy, 1972: 161-173).
2. Theory of Setting
In a literary work, intrinsic elements are important to help revealing whole where the story happens. According to Robert Stanton in his book, An , setting is the environment of the moment where the
Introduction to Fiction
moment happens (1965: 18-19). Setting can be introduced with the time of day ore year, the climate or the historical period. The setting (environment and condition in the story) also can influence the characters build in the story. It helps shaping the character by the events happens in the story and other social circumstances.
Another explanation of setting is stated by William Kenney in How to
Analyze Fiction . He determined the elements of setting, which are: i.
The actual geographical location, including topography, scenery, even the detail of room’s interior. ii.
The occupation and modes of day-to-day existence of the character. iii.
The time in which the action of character takes place, e.g. historical period. iv.
The religious, moral, intellectual, social, and emotional environment of the characters (Kenney, 1986: 40).
3. Marxism Theory
Marxism is a theory that was found by Karl Marx. Marx was a German philosopher and he was a great influential philosopher in the history of philosophy. Marxism is a theory based on a materialistic interpretation of the world history, which posits that the course of history is determined by a series of class struggle, that progress in a dialectical process (1995: 534).
The aim of Marxism is to bring about classless society, based on the Marxism sees progress through struggle for power between different social classes. The struggle can be motored by the competition for economic, social and political advantage (Barry, 2002: 157).
Marxism theory is actually associated with the idea of oppression by the bourgeoisie and the conflicts happen because of the oppression in society will cause the class struggle emerges. Therefore, the understandings of oppression and class struggle are needed and significant in this chapter.
a. Theory of Oppression
Oppression exists when one group is being dehumanized by another group or dominant group. This concept may imply injustice, because one places a heavy burden on the other one and it relates to the discrimination, degradation, exclusion, exploitation and dehumanization of the oppressed group (Becker, 1992: 921). The examples of the minority group or oppressed group are people of different color like African American; women (biological sex); gay, lesbian and bisexual people (sexual orientation or identity); working class and poor people (class); immigrants (ethnicity or national origin). And the example of dominant group or oppressor group are white people, people of European (race, ethnicity, national origin); males (biological sex); heterosexuals (sexual orientation or identity); middle and owning class (class).
The form of oppression can be said to operate on four distinct levels, they are the personal, the interpersonal, the institutional, and societal or cultural level: i.
The personal level: it refers to an individual’s belief that members of the ii.
The interpersonal level: the interpersonal level is manifested when a bias affects relation among individuals, transforming prejudice into its active component—discrimination. iii.
The institutional level: it refers to the ways in which governmental agencies; businesses; and educational, religious, and professional organizations systematically discriminate against target group (minority group). iv.
The societal level: the societal or cultural level refers to social norms or codes of behavior that work within a society to legitimize prejudice and discrimination (Roth, 1995: 632).
There are some reasons why the oppression happens to the minority group. First, actually the oppressor wants to gain or enhance economic, political, or personal rewards or to avoid potential loss of such. Second, they want their own value system to be promoted or enhanced, and protect self-esteem against psychological doubts or conflicts. Third, they want to comprehend better the complex world by categorizing and stereotyping others (Roth, 1995: 633).
In socialists’ conception of oppression, it relates to inequality, especially inequality of property. Karl Marx held that property owners necessarily exploited propertyless workers.
The state’s coercive power was necessary to maintain the exploitation of subordinate classes by the dominant classes. This system constituted oppression. In the Marxist tradition, however, oppression also connotes degradation and repression of human development (Becker, 1992: 923).
b. Theory of Class Struggle
The oppression and forces that are experienced by the minority group later it to a class struggle. Mayo stated in his book Introduction to Marxist Theory, that class struggle is a human or social expression of the conflict of economic forces with legal forms (Mayo, 1960: 93).
Classes are divided into basic and non-basic classes according to the place they occupy in society. In slave society, the basic classes are those of the slave owners and slave, in feudal society those of the feudals and peasants, in bourgeois society those of the capitalists and workers. Then, these are classes one of which is the owner of the basic means of production and exercises power, while the other constitutes the basic mass of the exploited. The relation between these classes always remains antagonistic, based on conflicting interests (Hall, 1963: 153).
For example, the capitalist has an interest in compelling the worker to produce as much as possible while paying him as little as possible. The incompatibility of economic interests between antagonistic classes given rise to an implacable struggle between them. As in Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels stated,
Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journey-man, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes (1959: 46).
There are various forms of class struggle of the proletariat explained in
Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism , in reaching the social welfare; they are
economic, ideological and political.i. Economic struggle
The economic struggle is that waged for improving the workers’ condition of life and labour: increased wages, a shorter working day, etc. The most widespread method of economic struggle is for the workers to state their demands and to carry out strikes if these demands are not satisfied. The working class creates trade unions, mutual assistance funds and other organization to defend its economic interests (Hall, 1963: 164).
However, economic struggle has definite limitation. Since it does not affect the foundations of the capitalists system it cannot bring satisfaction of the workers’ basic economic interest, it cannot free them of exploitation. Moreover, the successes of economic struggle cannot be all secure, if they are not reinforced by political gains. The bourgeoisie will seize every chance of withdrawing its concessions and launching an offensive against the economic interests of the working class.
ii. Ideological struggle
The oppression and exploitation that the working class gets actually bring them to the awareness of feeling discontent as they constantly encounter facts of injustice and economic and social inequality, and also bring them to a spontaneous protest and indignation. However, such feelings still do not amount to an awareness of class interests.
Class consciousness, as Lenin defined it, means the workers’ understanding that the only way to improve their conditions and to achieve their Further, the workers’ class consciousness means their understanding that the interests of all the workers of any particular country are identical, that they all constitute one class, separate form all the other classes in society. Finally, the class consciousness of the workers means the workers’ understanding that to achieve their aims they have to work to influence affairs of the state (Hall, 1963: 166).