LEC 4 - Marxism and critical theory

Question 1

where did critical theory originate from?

Answer 1

1923 the institute for social research was founded in frankfurt and was the first marxist oriented research centre

Question 2

what is critical theory?

Answer 2

made to critique and change power structures as if we can understand systems of domination and subordination we can change them
based on marxism and hegelian philosophy

Question 3

how does critical theory asses societal structures

Answer 3

questions the structural conditions that were taken for granted which allowed for the structural inequality to materialise
(instead of measuring the problem it looks how it emerged in the first place to try and prevent these from happening again)

Question 4

what three things does critical theory do?

Answer 4

1) looks at the historical foundations behind structural conditions (historicises)

2) contextualises the situations and allows for solution to be made which highlight how space and time are often used as dimensions of power

3) makes contingent world orders

Question 5

what does karl marx argue people must engage in to make a change in society

Answer 5

‘ruthless criticism of all the exists’
ie. questioning everything

this is ruthless because:
- its not afraid of its own conclusions which may put us in an uncomfortable position showing you have benefited from a power structure for example and not being scared to remove it

• not afraid to conflict with powers that be not afardi to go against the structures of the staus quo to change it

Question 6

what is the purpose of ruthless criticism

Answer 6

• undo alienation
• undo exploitation
• undo all social forces that constrain us

Question 7

what is dialectical synthesis?

Answer 7

the engine for historical materialism

the idea that a thesis and antithesis come together and create a synthesis
( two different ideas combine to create a mutual outcome)

Question 8

what is dialectical synthesis in relation to historical materialism

Answer 8

the organisation of society and technology and technical knolwedge combined to create the idea of the mode of production

Question 9

what are the three laws of dialectical materialism

Answer 9

1) unite and conflict opposes
2) transition of quality and quantity
3 ) the negation of negations

Question 10

how will people gain agency to change the structures?

Answer 10

need to gain consciousness of the structures and how they are exploiting and alienating the population:

• the rise of capitalism
• wage labour
• end of rent in kind labour

Question 11

what is the main consequence of capitalism?

Answer 11

reification: an extreme form of alienation of all aspects of human activity are objects of rather than aspects of human activity and humans themselves are seen as objects rather than subjects

Question 12

how is reification linked to international relations?

Answer 12

the organisation of production requires the organisation of rule.

the state exists as a technology of power to organise capitalism through making laws which promote it and allow for capitalism to run and exploit humans

Question 13

what are the consequences of reification?

Answer 13

• otherness and differences become omnipresent (race, religion and gender)
• images and discourses are commodifying
• time and space shaped modes of oppression
• Historical geographical materialism as open ended capital moving through space

Question 14

what problems may occur stalling revolution?

Answer 14

• some classes may resits liberation and emancipation due to being the benefitting class or due to false class consciousness of the proletariat

Question 15

how can resistance be understood more deeply by understanding class?

Answer 15

• class like all identities is flued and contextual based on time and space
• collective identities are also forges in physical, material and social environments
• these conditions are given to us are shaped by past material economic conditions

therefore when thinking about agency to bring about marxist change you needs to consider the constraints of the system of exploitation which are preventing agency from being fulfilled

Question 16

what is capital the explotation of?

Answer 16

surplus:

• surplus in asymmetrical labour exchanges
• surplus in extraction
• surplus in domination within institutions and institutional settings

Question 17

what is the classical definition of capital?

Answer 17

• something used in the production of other goods and was itself produced
• something that is not exhausted in the process of production
• for example factories used to make products dont run out after the products are made
  ex. factories used to make products dont run out after products are made

Question 18

what is the fictive definition of capital

Answer 18

• new way of thinking of capital
• capitalisation of owned property and the stock market
• decoupling capital value from market wealth

Question 19

what is cultural hegemony

Answer 19

• hegemony is a class relationship: one class is so dominant that its interests are normalised through institutions and cultural practices which are so built in to the lives and minds of society that they can maintain their power
• resulting in a subordinate class playing a role in their domination without their knowledge

ex. working class investing into the stock market or pension funds which are made for the bourgeoisie to benefit the bourgeoisie

Question 20

what is symbolic violence

Answer 20

thorisesd by pierre bordeaux:

the discursive normalisation and naturalisation of one classes interests over the tohers
the idea it is natural for the bourgeoisie to dominate the proletariat

Question 21

what is neo-gramsican hegemony?

Answer 21

• transposes cultural hegemony onto an international stage
  hegemony can be transnational

for example the washington consensus:
- in the 1970s the US believed the developing countries should develop free market policies to get richer. through organisations such as the IMF
- this practice reinforced and reproduces the power structures of capitalism and prevented and local voiced emerging in the first place
- developing countries implementing these practices are told they will face economic trouble is not

Question 22

what are the two approaches to create a counter-hegemony

Answer 22

war of position: use persuasion or propaganda to increase the numbers of political actors who oppose or see alternatives to the hegemonic position or discourse

war of movement: once counter-hegemonic elements are sufficently strong to directly cahllege the position of the bloc, through force, violence overthrowing of the bloc will occcur

Question 23

dominating class language

Answer 23

Gamsci argues that instiutions of the dominating class reproduce a language which created hegemonic power

ex. acadameia as a system in inherently western as the language of acadmic insitutions is tailored towards western history ect

Question 24

what is wallerstein’s world systesm theory?

Answer 24

• the world is unequal economically in which some countries dominate the economic system and exploit other countries to benefit themselves

there is a difference between core and periphery countries

core countries are: economically diverse with a strong flow of capital and strong central governments

periphery countries are: not economically diverse with weak central governments and weak institutions with a large number poor or uneducated

core countries exploit periphery and semi-periphery countries for cheap labour and raw materials

Question 25

examples of world systems theory

Answer 25

core: USA

semi- periphery: saudi arabia as it relies economically on oil with a lack of economic diversification

periphery: Rwanda

Question 26

whayt are the benefits of core exploitation (world systems theory)

Answer 26

• accsess to a large quantitiy of raw materials
• enormous profits from direct capital investments
• market for exports
• cheap labour
• inexpensive skills and professional labour through migraiton from the non core to the core