MARXISM Flashcards
How does Marxism differ from Functionalism?
- marxists reject the view of a harmonious social structure based on value consensus. they see it as based on a conflict of economic interests between social classes of unequal power and wealth.
- reject the idea that society is stable
What are the key ideas of Marx about human history?
- Historical Materialism
- Class Society and Exploitation
- Capitalism
- Class Consciousness
- Ideology
- Alienation
- The State, Revolution, and Communism
What is Historical Materialism?
human beings have materialistic needs such as food, shelter, clothing. they work to meet these needs.
over time as the forces of production grew and developed, and a division of labour developed, giving rise to a division between two classes;
- a class that owns the means of production
- a class of labourers
Marx refers to the forces and relations of production together as the mode of production. The mode of production forms the economic base of society.
What is Class Society and Exploitation?
in class societies once class owns the means of production which enables exploitation of the labour of others for their own benefit. they control society’s surplus product. marx identifies three successive class societies;
1. ancient society - based on the exploitation of slaves legally tied to their owners.
2. feudal society - based on the exploitation of serfs legally tied to the land
3. capitalist society - based on the exploitation of free wage labourers
What is Capitalism?
based on division between a class of owners; the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat.
capitalism has three distinctive features;
- the proletariat are legally free and separated from the means of production as they don’t own any. they sell their labour in exchange of wages. this is an unequal exchange as the proletariat don’t receive the value of their labour. the bourgeoisie make profit from the surplus value.
- through competition between capitalists, money becomes focused on fewer and fewer hands. competition also forces capitalists to pay the lowest possible wages.
- capitalists continually expand the forces of production in pursuit of profit. production becomes concentrated in larger units.
What is Class Consciousness?
capitalism produces class polarisation and brings the proletariat together. capitalism creates conditions under which the working class can develop a consciousness of its own economic and political interests and oppose the exploiters. this may lead to the overthrow of capitalism.
What is Ideology?
the bourgeoisie also own and control the means of mental production. the dominant ideas in society are the ideas of the ruling class. the ideas are spread through institutions such as religion, education, and the media. ideology fosters false class consciousness and helps sustain class inequality
What is Alienation?
the result of our loss of control over our labour and its products and thus from our true nature. it exists in all class societies because the owners control the production process for their own needs. under capitalism alienation reaches its peak because;
1. workers are completely separated from and have no control over the force of production
2. the worker is reduced to an unskilled labourer mindlessly repeating a meaningless task
What is the State, Revolution, and Communism?
- marx defines the state as ‘armed bodies of men’
- the state exists to protect the interest of the ruling class
- the ruling class uses the state as a weapon to suppress opposition and prevent revolution
What are the criticisms of Marx?
- he sees class as the only important division which is a one dimensional view of inequality.
- his two class model is too simplistic. eg. Weber divides the proletariat into skilled and unskilled classes, including white collar middle class
- class polarisation has not occured. instead of the middle class being swallowed up by an expanding proletariat, it has grown.
- his superstructure model is criticised for economic determinism, the view that economy is the sole cause of everything in society such as social change. this fails to recognize the free will of humans which can bring about social change.
- ## the structure neglects the role of ideas
What is Gramsci’s Humanistic Marxism?
- introduced the concept of hegemony (ideological and moral leadership of society) to explain how the ruling class maintain its position
- he argues that the proletariat should develop their own counter-hegemony to win the leadership.
Why is the hegemony of the ruling class never complete according to Gramsci?
- the ruling class are a minority. to rule they need to make alliances with other groups and create a power bloc. they must make ideological compromises
- the proletariat have a dual consciousness. their ideas are influenced by the bourgeoisie as well as their material conditions of life such as their poverty and exploitation.
How does the ruling class maintain its dominance according to Gramsci?
- coercion: uses the army, police, prisons, and courts of the capitalist state to force other classes to accept its rule
- consent: uses ideas and values to persuade the subordinate classes that its rule is legitimate
How can the proletariat create a revolution according to Gramsci?
- they should create a counter hegemonic bloc to be able to offer moral and ideological leadership to society
- they should produce their own organic intellectuals, creating a body of class conscious workers organised into a revolutionary political party
- they would win ideological leadership from the ruling class by offering a new vision of how society should be organised based on socialist values.
Evaluation of Gramsci?
- ## over emphasises the role of ideas and under emphasises the role of both state coercion and economic factors. for example workers may see through ruling class ideology and wish to overthrow capitalism but be reluctant to try because they fear state repression or unemployment.
