Marxism Flashcards
what are the three traditions to look at the interactions between states
realist- a state of war
grotian- restructure in the system
revolution- dismantle the system
Marxist view of liberalism and realism
they are limited because they assume the existence of state actors without understanding how they were built.
Marxist take on human nature view of realism and liberalism
Human beings are not the way they are because of the precondition to be selfish, they are act the way they do because of social relations and social structures which can be changed.
dialectical understanding of history
humans are historical actors who simultaneously make and are made by history. Politics is the struggle to direct these social formations and unlike liberalism which sees freedom as free choice, Marxism sees freedom as social self-determination.
agents
social actors who are actively participating in social relations and social structures/institutions
dialectical understanding of history implications of the study on social life
it challenges the empirical view of society being a collective of “dead facts” it is digging into the historical context of why things are the way they are.
how does the dialectical understand of history shape the way we see politics, freedom and unfreedom
politics- the struggle to direct the processes of social self-replication
freedom- social self-determination; collective ability to shape ourselves and our world
unfreedom-
Marx definition of capitalism
capitalism was a social structure in which human labour became a commodity to be sold on the market
Marx’s concept of freedom in capitalism
Labour is free but they are compelled to sell their labour to the owning class in order to survive. (there is both freedom and unfreedom).
Marx’s concept of disabling nature of capitalism
capitalism is disempowering to the social population because it doesn’t allow them to see there realize their full productive capacity. Capitalism makes people believe their individuals hardwired into a system and not a social collective that has agency over the world.
Marx’s concept of exploitative nature of capitalism
the surplus value that is created by labour is kept by the owners of production and not given to labours. Since this happens under the premise of private property owners are not accountable to anyone for what they do with their private property
privatized social powers
private social powers are masked under the pretense that they are outside of the sphere of politics and hidden in the pretense of the equality of economy.
imperialism
capital accumulation is what drives imperialism
economic determinism
the ideas that processes intrinsic to the economy are the primary determinants of social and political social life.
Western Marxism
a critique of capitalism but also a critique of socialism and economic determinism and positivism as a way of understanding social life.
Gramsci’s Theory of hegemony
subtle form of political power that relied more on consent than coercion to maintain power. The dominant force creates a social vision that is said to be in the interests of all and recruits junior supporters to dismantle opposition and people who agree with the vision will naturally follow.
war of position
Gramsci’s belief that every hegemony should be questioned and challenged by its society.
Frankfurt school theorists
critical of Marxism and say that all political ideology has value and norms that have consequences in the social world.
dialectical theories of world politics
Robert cox; method of historical structures- Robert cox, state power is not the explanatory factor but one of the things that needs to be explained. The belief states are not inherently the way they are but were structured this way by history
the Gramscian critical approach to global politics
looking at how history links institutions, social forces, and states together, it would seek to highlight potential tensions to encourage people to see alternative world views.
Justin ronsenberg’s critique of Marxism?
the political sphere can use the economy as means to an end, but the economy is not the ultimate construction of society. Focuses on the global production and reproduction of society.
Robert cox’s problem solving theory
theory ends up solving a problem in the social sphere
