Karl Marx's class theory is based on the argument that ever since human society emerged from its primitive state, it has
been divided into classes that clash in the pursuit of their own particular
interests. These class interests are determined by each individual's relationship to the means of production. The paper explains that to Marx, the driving force in the history of society is the way men relate to each other as they seek to exact their subsistence from nature. This paper provides a complete overview of Marx's theory and discusses issues such as alienation, exploitation, bourgeois democracy and the concept of 'pure communism'.