MARXIST THEORY

Developed by Karl Marx during the latter half of 1800, the Marxist Theory argues that the hierarchical class system is at the root of all social problems and that it must be ended by a revolution of the proletariat. Karl Marx believed that elites dominated society primarily through their direct control over the means of production (labour, factories, and land) which he referred to as the base of the society.

He also argued that the elites also maintained themselves in power through their control over culture, or the superstructure of society(culture of a society). He saw culture as something that elites freely manipulated to mislead average people and encourage them to act against their own interest. He used the term ‘ideology’ to refer to these forms of culture.

The Marxist Theory based on Karl Marx’s Social Theory concludes that the Mass Media (the means of producing information) are owned and controlled by the bourgeois class, which manipulates the media for propaganda and for exploiting the working class.