The perpetual tension, conflict or the antagonism between the owning and the non-owning class is called Class struggle. The concept of class and class struggle is central to Marxian theory of social thought which is based on the famous saying "the history of all the hitherto existing society is the history of the class struggles".
Marxian sociology is often called "The Sociology of Class Conflict". The term "class" is said to be originated from the latin word "Classis" meaning a group called arms, a division of people. It is an economic group based on criteria of income.
According to Marx the modern society is an antagonistic society and at every stage in the history, there is war between the classes. Example; The landowners exploit the landless and factory owners exploit the workers. The idea of class war emerges from the theories of dialectical materialism, materialistic interpretation of history and surplus value. The word 'class' was applied to large groups of people into which human society came to be divided. Therefore, class struggle is the moving power of history which leads to the revolution.
