Lecture 5 Flashcards
What are the core concepts of marxism?
● Analysis of the social world as a totality
● Materialist understanding of history (Class struggle)
● Means of Production (tools) vs. Relations of Production (Industraliztaton, automatation, e.g factorys and china) as
the economic base of society
● Legal, political and cultural institutions as the
superstructure of society ( spiral pattern, base is generallt dominant)
● Society is systematically prone to class conflict
● Normative theory distinct from Marxist ideology ( value based > strives to emancipation goals
● Capitalism subject to recurrent crises
● IR is not necessary connected to the ideology
What is the Superstructure?
Everything not directly to do with production
(ideologly, art, culture, law, politics, etc)
What is the base of the superstructure?
The Means of production ( tools, machines, factories) and the relations of production( bourgeoise, proletariat)
What is the result of Capitalism’s expansionary and contradictory nature according by maxism?
Capitalism’s expansionary and contradictory nature
leads to imperialism (and continuing neocolonialism)
What is the result of monopoly capitalist accoriding by maxism?
Big business fuses with the state to keep profits in powerful countries
How does the dominant core exploits the periphery?
through power differentials and declining terms of trade ( the dominat want to remain > only focus on free trade from the periphery)
What do marxists think of other grand theories (liberalism, constructivism, realism)?
Other Grand Theories of IR provide overly large,
general explanations
How do marxists think on the emphasis on states in IR?
Over-emphasis on states obscures the true driving
(capitalist) forces of international relations.
How do marxists think of the problem-solving theory?
Problem-solving theory perpetuates the status quo
and serves the interest of the powerful
How do marxists think about Ahistorical claims aboutt anarchy and balance?
Ahistorical claims about anarchy and balance of
power are flawed
What is the world systems thoery?
World Systems theory envisions the rise and fall of
different systems, with the end of the Cold War the
beginning of the end for capitalism (Wallerstein 1995). ( cold war end> capatalism to spread around the world > There is no market concour any more > Capitalism will fall on its own.
How does feminist marxism and Gramscian theory play a role in IR?
Feminist Marxism highlights capitalism’s gendered
valuing of labour (Mies 1998) ( Woman work less paid jobs, housewives), capital’s use of gender to
naturalise capitalist crises (Roberts 2012; Prugl 2015),
and Gramscian theories highlight the significance of cultural
hegemony
○ Power as a ‘centaur’ mix of coercion and consent
What is the Uneven Development theory?
States develop from a different starting point, because of different resources, people, cultrues, inter- connection
What is the Historically backwards theory?
A late developmenst countries combine different stages of the journey, “separate steps, an amalgam of archaic with
more contemporary forms.
What is leapfrogging?
Skipping procces in a develeopment
