A social-conflict theorist who takes a Marxist class-conflict position is likely to agree with which of the following statements?

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The question asks us to identify which statement a social-conflict theorist with a Marxist class-conflict perspective would likely agree with. The four options are:
- Option A: 'The hierarchical organization of the United States gives control over our society to the greatest number of people.' This is inconsistent with a Marxist view, which emphasizes how social hierarchies concentrate power and resources in the hands of a dominant ruling class rather than distributing influence to the greatest number. From a class-conflict lens, hierarchy serves capitalist interests, not broad popular empowerment.
- Option B: 'Most of the harm done to the natural environment is directed at people living in overdeveloped nations.' This statement shifts blame to geography or development status rather than to the structural capitalist dynamics highlighted by Marxist analysis. A Marxist would focus on how accumulation and profit motives drive environmental exploitation across capitalist systems, not simply locate harm by nation category. 
- Option C: 'Most of the planet's people live in low-income societies and will never raise their living standards under the current capitalist world economy.' This aligns with Marxist critiques of capitalism, which argue that the system tends to reproduce poverty and inequality globally, trapping a large portion of the population in low-income conditions due to structural constraints, imperial dynamics, and exploitation embedded in capitalist relations of production.
- Option D: 'Corporate executives who order the release of pollutants or toxic waste are usually held personally accountable for their actions.' A key Marxist claim is that the system transfers responsibility away from structural exploitation to individual actors, whereas in practice accountability often remains diffuse or corporate, not personal, and legal mechanisms may mitigate personal accountability for systemic harms. This makes the statement inaccurate within a class-conflict framework.

In examining these options, the core idea of a Marxist class-conflict perspective is to highlight how capitalist relations produce persistent global inequality and limit the potential for universal improvement within the system. The other statements either misattribute power, focus on consequences rather than structural causes, or imply outcomes (personal accountability) that conflict with how systemic exploitation is understood in Marxist theory. The third option most directly reflects the Marxist expectation that capital accumulation under global capitalism constrains broad improvements for the majority of people, making it the statement most consistent with a Marxist class-conflict position.

SOC 225-001 Quiz 17

A social-conflict theorist who takes a Marxist class-conflict position is likely to agree with which of the following statements?

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