ABSTRACT
Karl Marx developed a number of economic and psychological theories to explain the role of capitalism in the modern world. One of the primary factors leading people to focus their attention on purchasing things is alienation, by which Marx meant a separation or estrangement of man's true nature from his sense of self. The unequal distribution of goods leads to class conflict, a basic Marxist theory. As he writes: The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles. Sociologists Weber and Simmel are not Marxists, but they recognize the importance of material goods to people as giving them a sense of their value and goodness. Weber discusses material culture more broadly, tying our love of things to Calvinism and Protestant thought and an attack on medieval asceticism. Simmel focuses upon fashion, explains it is a social force based upon differentiation, and links women's concern with fashion to their social subjugation.
