2. Marxism (Conflict) Flashcards
Introduction to classical Marxism
-A sociological theory based on ideas mainly formed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
-Marx was not just a theorist; he was also a revolutionary polictical socialist and his ideas have subsequently formed the basis for communism and socialism
-Marxism has shaped many countries and how they are governed such as USSR, China, North Korea, Vietnam.
-Marx saw both the harm caused by modern industrial society and the promises it held
-Believed it was possible to understand society scientifically and this knowledge would point way to a better world
Historical Materialism
-Marx’s theory of historical materialism is a theory that traces the evolution and development of human societies from one stage to another over time. Marx notes that:
Humans must produce these essential needs through, forces of production
Forces of production
-Priority of human beings is to ensure physical survival by producing the means to sustain themselves. All humans have material needs, e.g. food, shelter and clothing to survive.
Relations of production
-At first these forces are just unaided labour, but over time people develop more efficient ways of organising production (e.g. tools, machines, knowledge) and the exchange of material goods. Requires humans to enter social relations with each other, this is relation of production
Means + Mode of production
-As the forces of production develop over time, the social relations of production also change. A division of labour develops that eventually becomes a division between two classes- a class that owns the ‘means of production’ and class of working labourers. Production is then directed by the class of owners to meet their own needs. The forces and relations of production together are the ‘mode of production’
Materialist foundations
-Marx has interpreted the evolution of societies in terms of their material needs, and how this shapes the infrastructure and superstructure of society. He suggests the societies the societies have experienced similar patterns of history, and every history is built upon its materialist foundations
Economic base and superstructure
In developing his history of materialism theory, Marx distinguished between the base and superstructure of society. He sees two essential components of society:
Economic base
Consists of those who own the means of production like land, factories, raw materials, technology and labour necessary to produce society’s goods
Superstructures
Social institutions in society such as the law, army, police force, media, education and religion etc. Marx believes the economic base shapes and influence the superstructure in terms of doing so socially, politically and in forming peoples values and beliefs. The superstructure, in turn, supports the basic values of the economic structure of society. In modern Western Societies, such countries support the capitalist economic base
Class, Social change exploitation
-Marx argues as forces of production and relations of production become more complex, this leads to the conditions for different modes of production to develop.
-He suggests when we look at the history of society every society has moved through stages- different types of modes of production. They are:
3 successful class societies according to Marx
- Ancient society- in the ancient society, slave masters exploited the labour of slaves whom they legally owned
- Feudal society- in the feudal society, the lords (landowners) exploited the labour of serfs (agriculture labourers) who were legally tied to the land
- Capitalist society- in the capitalist society, the bourgeoisie (those who own the means of production) exploit the labour power of the proletariat (working class) by making a profit out of them by keeping wages low. In each case, exploitation leads to class conflict and the eventual replacement of each mode of production, as claimed by Marx.
Capitalism 3 distinctive features
-Capitalism breeds competition between those who own means of production. Through competition, ownership of the means of production becomes concentrated in ever fewer hands. Causes capitalists to pay lowest price possible to be price competitive which means working class get
-Capitalism continually expands the forces of production in its pursuit of profits; production becomes concentrated in ever larger units and technological advances de-skill the workforce
-A concentration of ownership and the de-skilling of the proletariat together produce class polarisation. That is, society divides into a minority capitalist class and a majority working class who ‘face each other as two warring camps’
Ideology
-The class that owns means of material production (e.g. factories, and land) also pwns and controls the means of mental production- the production of ideas.
-Therefore, the dominant ideas in society are the ideas of the economically dominant class- this is spread by institutions (superstructure) such as religion, education and the media.
-Marxists argue the production of ideas performs a central function in maintaining inequality and oppression by persuading the powerless working class to accept the ‘ideas and values’ of the capitalist system as being fair and in everybody’s interest.
-In this way ruling class can maintain social order and control. However as capitalism impoverishes the workers they begin to see through capitalist ideology and develop class consciousness
Alienation
-The condition of capitalism leads to the alienation of working-class people.
-This means people have become disconnected from them world they live in and are longer acting as autonomous and creative human beings
-This is because under the condition of modern factory production the worker is a replaceable cog in a giant production apparatus
-Workers therefore have no control and complete repetitive tasks creating feelings of misery and demoralisation as a human
The revolutionary change
According to Marx, the state exists to protect the interests of the small minority of people- the ruling class: class of owners who control the state. Ruling class maintains its rule through:
