In Marx's model of social class, which group is labeled as the workers?

• A. Landowners
• B. Merchants
• C. Clerks
• D. Workers

Answer: (D)

In Marx's framework, class is defined by ownership of the means of production. The workers, or proletariat, are the group that does not own productive assets and must sell their labor to those who do. They provide the necessary labor to create value, but they do not control factories, land, or tools. Landowners sit on the other side because they own the means of production. Merchants may hold capital and run businesses, placing them in the capitalist sphere rather than the worker class. Clerks are engaged in wage labor as well, but the term used for the laboring majority in Marx’s two-class view is the workers. So the group labeled as the workers is the class that sells labor and lacks ownership of production.