Marxism

Question 1

outline the structure of Marxist society

Answer 1

• its built on an economic base (capitalism)
• society/ institutions (the superstructure) are formed to maintain capitalism

Question 2

outline pre modern society

Answer 2

before the industrial revolution, there was the pre-modern society;
- was based on agriculture
- the feudal lord (noble who owned the land) exercised political, economic and judicial judgement - even if money played a small role in rural life
- land was the main source of substantial wealth and so was a motive force of the ruling class
- aim of production was consumption - not accumulation
- was a strong collective consciousness

Question 3

outline modern society

Answer 3

post industrial revolution, is modern society;
- cities + their populations grew - as did poverty, crime and other social issues
- people now work to generate money for themselves + produce goods for the owner of the means for production (bourgeoisie) in return for a salary
- workers have to take on low-paid roles
- modern production maximises output + minimises cost (profit is key)
- with the era of enlightenment, people looked to rational thought

Question 4

outline the case study of Grenfell Tower

Answer 4

• the Grenfell Tower is based in Chelsea; one of the most affluent areas
• killed 72/350 residents
• the fire was due to the less safe - but cheaper - materials used in its construction (flammable cladding) which enabled the fire to spread quicker
• Laws around construction were ambiguous and allowed loopholes for cheaper construction
• constructors of the block are also to blame as they cut corners to spend less money; profit is key and comes at the danger of the w/c

Question 5

outline the case study of the Rana Plaza

Answer 5

• a Bangladesh factory producing fast fashion collapsed - killing 1,100 people
• after years of protest, murder charges were filed to those involved in forcing workers to work after a crack in the structure
• consumers of fast fashion must acknowledge their contribution to the continuity of w/c exploitation

Question 6

outline contextual examples of Marxism

Answer 6

• there is the 1% who exploit the poor
• globalisation allows for exploitation across boarders
• white collar crimes are ignored
• crumb analogy: ruling class feeds the w/c just enough to work without revolting

Question 7

outline Gramsci’s core views

Answer 7

• is a humanist Marxist
• mentions hegemony (ideological leadership) to explain how the RC maintains their position
• the WC must develop a counter hegemony to become dominant
• he rejects economic determinism as an explanation of change
• G explains the RC dominance in society by 2 things: coercion (uses institution such as police to force WC to accept its rule) + consent/ hegemony (uses ideology to legitimise their rule)

Question 8

outline Gramsci’s view of revolution and hegemony

Answer 8

the RC relies heavily on consent to maintain their rule which they’re able to do as they control institutions
- revolution hasn’t yet occurred due to the RC hegemony that society accepts
- the WC can only revolt by having a counter hegemonic bloc - where an organic intellectual (class conscious leader) will bring about an ideological revolution

Question 9

why does Gramsci think the ruling class hegemony is never complete

Answer 9

1) the RC are a minority:
- to rule they need to create a power bloc by making alliances w/ other groups - like the MC
2) the proletariat has a dual consciousness:
- their ideas are influenced by both bourgeois ideology as well as the poverty + exploitation they experience (their material conditions)
- they can see through the dominant ideology to an extent

Question 10

outline 2 criticisms of Gramsci

Answer 10

• he overemphasises the role of ideology + underemphasises the role of both state cohesion and econ factors
• many are aware of their exploitation but wont revolt due to fear of consequences
• e.g. Willis: describes WC lads as ‘partially penetrating’ bourgeois ideology by recognising that in schools, meritocracy is a myth

Question 11

outline Althusser’s criticisms of Marx’s base superstructure model

Answer 11

• Marx: societies economic base determines institutions, ideologies + actions. challenges to the base causes changes in the structure + the downfall of capitalism
• Althusser: society is made up of 3 levels that have relative autonomy (independence)
• the economic, political and ideological level
• a collapse in one level means the others will still exist

Question 12

outline Althusser’s concept of ideological and repressive state apparatuses

Answer 12

• political and ideological levels perform indispensable functions

Question 13

outline Marx’s concept of historical materialism

Answer 13

• materialism = the view that humans have material needs (e.g. food, shelter etc). in doing so they use the means of production
• in early history, production is unaided human labour - but over time people develop tools to assist production
• in working to meet their needs, humans enter social relations of production - cooperating with each other
• as the means of prod. develops, so does the social relations of prod and so a division of labour/ 2 classes are formed (class that owns means of prod and the class that doesn’t)

Question 14

outline Marx’s concept of class society and exploitation

Answer 14

• primitive communism: in early humanity, society was classless, there was no private ownership/ exploitation, everyone worked + everything was shared
• there were 3 successive class societies; ancient (exploitation of slaves legally tied to their owners), feudal (exploitation of serfs (agricultural worker) legally tied to the land) and capitalist society (exploitation of free wage labours)

Question 15

outline Marx’s concept of capitalism

Answer 15

• cap is based on the division between the owners/ bourgeoisie and the labourers/ proletariat
• 1) proletariat are legally free + separated from the means of prod. they have to sell their labour in return for wages
• this exchange of labour + wage is unequal. the capitalist makes surplus value/ profit
• 2) through competition, ownership of the means of production becomes concentrated in fewer hands. this drives independent owners into the proletariat
• competition also results in lower wages - causing immiseration (impoverishment of the proletariat)
• 3) cap continues to expand means of prod in its pursuit for profit meanwhile tech advances de-skills the workforce
• concentration of ownership + de-skilling of proletariat produces class polarisation of the minority capitalist class and the majority working class

Question 16

outline Marx’s concept of class consciousness

Answer 16

• capitalism sews the seeds of its own destruction
• e.g. by polarising the classes, brining the proletariat together and low wages, this creates the conditions for which the WC can develop a consciousness for its won econ/ pol interests
• as a result, the WC becomes a class for itself, whose members are class conscious + aware of the need for a revolution

Question 17

outline Marx’s concept of ideology

Answer 17

• the class that owns the means of prod also owns + controls ideology
• thus, the dominant ideology in society is that of the bourgeoisie
• the institutions that produce + spread the ideology (e.g. education, media) are controlled by the ruling class and spread sets of ideas beliefs that legitimise the existing social order
• ideology curates a false class consciousness + helps to sustain class inequality

Question 18

outline Marx’s concept of alienation

Answer 18

• M believes that our true nature is based on our capacity to create things to meet our needs
• alienation is the result of our loss of control over our labour/ our separation from our true nature
• alienation exists in all class societies – but under capitalism its at its peak for 2 reasons;
  1) workers are completely separate from + have no control over their means of production
  2) the division of labour is at its most intense – the worker is reduced to an unskilled labourer mindlessly repeating a meaningless task

Question 19

outline Marx’s concept of the state, revolution and communism

Answer 19

• Marx defines the state as ‘armed bodies of men’
• the state exists to protect the interests of the ruling class who own institutions. They use the state in the class struggle to protect their priv property, suppress opposition + prevent revolution
• the proletarian revolution that overthrows capitalism/ the ruling class will be majority against the minority
• revolution will: abolish state/ create a classless + communist society, abolish exploitation + priv ownership, end alienation as humans regain control of their labour + its products

Question 20

name the 2 aspects of criticisms of Marx

Answer 20

• Marx’s view of class
• economic determinism

Question 21

outline marxs view of class as a criticism of Marxism

Answer 21

• M has a simplistic, one-dimensional view of inequality
• he sees class as the only division: Feminists argue that gender is a more fundamental source of inequality
• Marx’s 2 class model is also simplistic: Weber subdivides the proletariat into skilled + unskilled classes
• class polarisation has not occurred: the MC has grown (instead of being swallowed into the proletariat) and the industrialist WC has shrunk

Question 22

outline economic determinism as a criticism of Marxism

Answer 22

• Marx’s base-superstructure model is criticised for economic determinism (the view that economic factors are the only cause of everything in society). This view fails to recognise that humans have free will + can bring about change through their own actions
• the model also neglects the role of ideas: weber argues it was the new emergence of a new set of ideas (Calvinist Protestantism) which helped to bring about modern capitalism
• Marx is also criticised for his prediction of a revolution that has not come true: M thought a rev would happen in the most advanced capitalist countries – but its only the economically backwards countries like Russia that have seen Marxist led countries

Question 23

outline the ‘two Marxisms’

Answer 23

• the absence of revolution in the west has led Marxists to reject the economic deterministic model and have tried to explain why capitalism has persisted
• there are 2 approaches: humanistic/ critical Marxism (has similarities with action + interpretive theories), scientific/ structuralist Marxism (is a structural approach + has similarities with positivist theories)