class-divided society

class-divided society

  1. any society in which there exist fundamental class divisions.
  2. (GIDDENS, 1984) any agrarian State in which there is class division, but where this division ‘is not the main basis of the principle of organization of the society’. As such, these forms of society are contrasted directly with modern forms, including CAPITALIST SOCIETY, in which class divisions are a main basis of the social organization and the central dynamic of society. In making this distinction, Giddens wished to undermine orthodox Marxist accounts of the dynamic role of class in all societies, i.e. ‘the history of all societies as class struggle’. See also CLASS, STRATIFICATION, MARX, ASIATIC SOCIETY.