Marxism Flashcards
What is Historical Materialism?
The idea that we must work to provide human beings with material needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, which has evolved with the development of tools and organization of production.
What are the three class societies identified by Marx?
- Ancient society: exploitation of slaves tied to their owners. 2. Feudal society: exploitation of serfs legally tied to land. 3. Capitalist society: exploitation of free wage laborers.
What are the three main features of capitalism?
- Proletariat are separated from means of production and must sell labor power for wages. 2. Ownership of means of production becomes concentrated in fewer and fewer hands as a results of competition between capitalists. 3. Capitalism expands forces of production in pursuit of profit e.g technology advancements de-skill the workforce such as the introduction of robot servers in Japan..
What is Class Consciousness?
The awareness of the working class (WC) of their own interests that oppose their exploiters, leading to the realization of the need to overthrow capitalism.
What role does Ideology play in Marxism?
Institutions spread ideas that serve the dominant class, creating a false consciousness in workers, who eventually recognize their impoverished state as ‘wage slaves’.
What is Alienation in Marxist theory?
A condition where workers lack control over the means of production, experience intense division of labor, and are reduced to unskilled laborers mindlessly completing tasks.
How do Marxists define the State?
As an armed body of men protecting the interests of the ruling class, which can be abolished by the proletariat to create a classless community and social ownership.
What is Gramsci’s concept of hegemony?
The ruling class maintains power and control through coercion and consent, but their hegemony is never complete due to their minority status and the proletariat’s dual consciousness.
What is required for revolution according to Gramsci?
The working class must construct a ‘counter-hegemonic bloc’ by producing their own ‘organic intellectuals’ and organizing into a revolutionary political party.
What criticism does Gramsci face?
He is accused of overemphasizing the role of ideas while underemphasizing state coercion and economic factors.
What does Paul Willis describe about the working class lads?
He describes them as ‘partially penetrating’ bourgeois ideology, recognizing that meritocracy is a myth.
What are Althusser’s three levels of society?
- Political: through government and organizations. 2. Ideological: through ideological state apparatuses reinforced by media, education, and religion. 3. Economic: through economy and production.
What are Althusser’s two state apparatuses?
- Ideological State Apparatus (ISA): manipulates the WC into accepting capitalism. 2. Repressive State Apparatus (RSA): coerces the WC into compliance.
What is the evaluation of Althusser’s approach?
Gouldner argues that Althusser’s scientific approach discourages political activism by stressing structural factors that individuals cannot easily affect.
