<P> The anarchist Mikhail Bakunin argued that the class struggle of the working class , peasantry and poor had the potential to lead to a social revolution involving the overthrow of ruling elites , and the creation of libertarian socialism . This was only a potential , and class struggle was , he argued , not always the only or decisive factor in society , but it was central . By contrast , Marxists argue that class conflict always plays the decisive and pivotal role in the history of class - based hierarchical systems such as capitalism and feudalism . Marxists refer to its overt manifestations as class war , a struggle whose resolution in favor of the working class is viewed by them as inevitable under plutocratic capitalism . </P>
<P> The anarchist Mikhail Bakunin argued that the class struggle of the working class , peasantry and poor had the potential to lead to a social revolution involving the overthrow of ruling elites , and the creation of libertarian socialism . This was only a potential , and class struggle was , he argued , not always the only or decisive factor in society , but it was central . By contrast , Marxists argue that class conflict always plays the decisive and pivotal role in the history of class - based hierarchical systems such as capitalism and feudalism . Marxists refer to its overt manifestations as class war , a struggle whose resolution in favor of the working class is viewed by them as inevitable under plutocratic capitalism . </P>
who argued that class struggles were what led to historical progress and development
who argued that class struggles were what led to historical progress and development
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin