marxism

Question 1

what do marxists argue?

Answer 1

sees society as a structure that shapes behaviours but also sees it as conflict of interests between classes

Question 2

what is Marx’s historical materialism key idea?

Answer 2

humans need things to live and to get these things we need to work and have needs met through forces of production
in early days of mankind, these forces where unaided human labour and overtime humans cooperated and entered into social relations of production where production grew and resulted in a division of labour between classes

Question 3

what is Marx’s class, society and exploitation key idea?

Answer 3

primitive consumerism, class societies and means of production, surplus, capitalist society

Question 4

what is Marx’s capitalism key idea?

Answer 4

division between classes where ownership of means of production becomes concentrated

Question 5

what is Marx’s class consciousness key idea?

Answer 5

middle class shift from being a class in itself to a class for itself and gives an awareness to the need to overthrow capitalism

Question 6

what is Marx’s ideology key idea?

Answer 6

ideas that dominated society controlled by class that own means of production which legitimises existing social order and sustains class inequality

Question 7

what is Marx’s alienation key idea?

Answer 7

loss of control over labour and products where capitalism causes alienation as workers have no control

Question 8

what is Marx’s state, revolution and consumerism key idea?

Answer 8

the state is ‘armed bodies of men’; a revolution involves overthrowing of existing ruling class; working class will have a revolution and create a classless communist society

Question 9

what does Gramsci argue about humanist marxism?

Answer 9

uses the idea of hegemony to argue that there will not be a revolution

Question 10

what is coercion?

Answer 10

uses police and prison to force other classes to accept its rule

Question 11

what is consent?

Answer 11

uses ideas and values to persuade the subordinate class that rule its legitimate

Question 12

what does Gramsci argue about a revolution?

Answer 12

people can only be successful in leading a revolution if they can gather ‘intellectuals’

Question 13

what does Althusser argue about structural marxism?

Answer 13

people are not free agents that humanists think as our belief that we are
in reality we are products of social structures which determine everything about us and prepares us to fit in society

Question 14

what does Althusser argue about socialism?

Answer 14

it will not come about because of a change in human consciousness but because of a crisis of capitalism