Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Max Weber (1864-1920) were the distinguished German scholars of their time and both of them individually contributed a great deal in the understanding of society and its paraphernalia. There is not much to compare between the two scholars apart from the fact they both were Germans and prominent sociologists. Karl Marx is regarded as the founder of 'socialism'. He was a great philosopher and intellectual. His philosophy essentially articulates that it's in the very nature of man to bring change in the world. This transformation process is called labor and this capacity to bring change is termed as labor power. Karl Marx's thought on sociology and philosophy had deep rooted impact on society. He was of the view that ideologies are the product of the social structure and by that he meant the theoretical perception of right being the driving force for setting up of mechanism in society whereby individuals living in society conduct themselves and approve of. Thus establishing harmony by means of social system that ensures the well being of majority is maintained always.

Max Weber is considered as one of the three main "fathers of sociology," he worked extensively to formulate and expound the different theories related to society and social change. He was the mighty exponent in elucidating the sociological perspective, to the nature of social change, and to the nature of social inequality. Weber's approach to sociology was an attempt to compensate the deficiencies of works done by his predecessors and especially by Karl Marx; his comprehensive work was an authentic approach towards understanding of social change. Unlike Marx who considered social change in the context of class struggle between rich and affluent bourgeois class and majority proletariat population (Avineri, 1968) in capitalist system which would inevitably result into cataclysm and subsequent transition into socialist system, Weber was not in agreement with Marx and for that matter with even majority of his predecessors because according to him their theories and social set ups were not objectively designed and were unable to accommodate history and contemporary study into...

This brief snapshot of the major theories of social change and development show that they are made up of almost all the elements of the theories of social change present in some versions of modernization theory, the outcome of changes due to irregular progress, the effects of international political and economic domination that transcends and effects everyone, the omnipresent impact of international finance and capital that is directed to gain more and more power, plus the phenomenon of mutual international reliance. The modern practices involve different amalgamation of these elements that had been earlier appreciated and stressed to form better society.
References

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George Herbert Mead. March 15, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herbert_Mead"

Freud, Sigmund. General Psychology Theory (Macmillan, 1963).

Freud, S., Civilization and its Discontents (Standard Edition), 21 (1930), pp. 59-145.

Daniel Kriegman and Charles Knight, "Social Evolution, Psychoanalysis, and Human Nature," Social Policy, Fall 1988, pp. 49-55.

Elwell, Frank, 1996, the Sociology of Max Weber, Retrieved March 15, 2007 http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/~felwell/Theorists/Weber/Whome.htm

Shlomo Avineri, the Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx (Cambridge University Press, 1968) ISBN 0-521-09619-7

Karl Marx. Retrieved March 15, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx