Marxism-key elements

Question 1

society as a series of

Answer 1

conflicts (have and have nots) btw means & relations of production, class (not a central harmony of interests as liberals say but conflict btw bourgeosie & proletariat)

Question 2

1. Historical Materialism

Answer 2

view of the world shaped by our material interactions with it, development of societies over time follows key tendencies
ie. Production is key human activity

Question 3

what is historical materialism a theory of?

Answer 3

a theory of history according to which the material conditions of a society’s way of producing and reproducing the means of human existence.

Question 4

2. Idea of critique

Answer 4

• We need critique ideology to change the world

Question 5

3. $ determinism

Answer 5

theory that $ relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist, or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation upon which all other social and political arrangements in society are based.

Question 6

4. Base & superstructure model describes

Answer 6

human society

Question 7

in (4. Base & superstructure model) those who control means of

Answer 7

production (base) most important-deep structure/essence of society

Question 8

in (4. Base & superstructure model) ordering of superstructure

Answer 8

depends on means of production (capitalism)- families seen as a way of control, need to work to support fam

Question 9

What does base & superstrcutre model highlight?

Answer 9

how systems structured to maintain divisions of means of production & to maintain control

Question 10

superstructure

Answer 10

appearance: everything not to do with production –> owners, church, fam, uni,school, workers,)

Question 11

base

Answer 11

everything to do with means of production (ie actual tools, factories…)

Question 12

5. Dialectics & Contradiction

Answer 12

• Everything comes from material conditions in which we live (not natural)
• Everything has an opp which they create (dialectic) & something new emerges out of it as a result, (contradictions are motor of change)

Question 13

according to key element of dialectics & contradiction, why does change occur?

Answer 13

Everything has an opp which they create (dialectic) & something new emerges out of it as a result, (contradictions are motor of change)

Question 14

what’s wrong with capitalism?

Answer 14

alienation

Exploitation

Question 15

alienation from

Answer 15

1. our products (which confront us as something alien, controlling us).
2. other people (they seem like competitors and adversaries).
3. $ as a whole (which is a social product, but seems like an alien force that controls us).

Question 16

exploitation

Answer 16

1. Those who own the means of production possess the capacity to exploit those who sell their labor…

Question 17

what is exploitation?

Answer 17

pay workers less than what it costs to produce a given product … , Owners extract the surplus value from the labor of the worker - this is capital

Question 18

how does capitalism survive then?

Answer 18

• Nothing else to challenge it- there’s no awareness/class conscience of it

Question 19

where did WST develop from & why?

Answer 19

Development of Lenin’s work on imperialism and the Latin American Dependency school.
–> Immanuel Wallerstein.
wanted to try & answer why LA hadn’t developed & caught up w. western world?

Question 20

What did Immanuel Wallerstein introduce into WST?

Answer 20

semi-periphery of some power but not heaps of it, eg Thailand, South Korea,

Question 21

Core

Answer 21

Democratic Governments
High Wages
Import Raw materials
Export: manufactured goods

Question 22

Semi-Periphery:

Answer 22

Authoritarian Regimes
Low Wages
Import: Mixed
Export: Mixed

Question 23

Periphery:

Answer 23

Non- democratic Governments
Poverty
Export: Raw materials
Import: manufactured goods

Question 24

Why doesn’t periphery revolt?

Answer 24

believe they’ll be able to move up ladder one day, states at the bottom need help of stronger states & stronger states rely on poor for materials

Question 25

What did Gramsci try to answer?

Answer 25

1. why Communism/Marxism hadn’t spread across Europe
2. flaw in marxist theory of why russia, a backward country had transitioned to socialism before capitalist countries had, like Marx had predicted

Question 26

What does Gramscianism cause us to do?

Answer 26

• Hegemony means we now have accepted capitalism & deomocracy, Gramscianism wants us to challenge this acceptance.

Question 27

Gramscianism- The social relations/interactions of superstructure determines

Answer 27

how susceptible society is to transformation

Question 28

what does Gramsci argue?

Answer 28

hegemony (consent & coercion) controls society
o Consent for certain political ideas/parties produced & reproduced by hegemony as hegemony enables these ideas to spread through all civil systems in society.

Question 29

what did Gramsci shift focus of Marxism to?

Answer 29

superstructural phenomena

Question 30

what is the significance of Robert W Cox’s work?

Answer 30

brought Gramsci to modern world transposing his ideas

• All knowledge reflects certain time, context, place

Question 31

what notion did Robert W Cox present?

Answer 31

• Knowledge isn’t objective & timeless
• Hegemonic idea of UK & US (as hegemons) free trade (a concept accepted, despite being bad for periphery)
• Counter hegemonic mvts will emerge from collapse of capitalism & $ crisis

Question 32

criticism of WST

Answer 32

o Assumes core country is democratic & western (China???)
 Traditionally a periphery nation (major site of production) but as the middle class develops its moved definitely into semi or even the core.
o Too simplistic? Assumes every nation is monolithic.
•

Question 33

what does WST represent?

Answer 33

Reflects the clash of civilisation (Samuel Hungtington- world can be divided by civilisations ie west and east, Buddhist & animist influences theory based a lot on religious values, dividing up the world arbitrarily to an extent)

Question 34

To wallerstein (who introduced semi-periphery into WST) what did end of CW symbolise?

Answer 34

indicated end phase of system to be replaced by another (not triumph of liberalism like fukuyama proposed)

Question 35

critical theory developed out of

Answer 35

Frankfurt School (20s-30s) and Gramscian thought

Question 36

How does critical theory differ to other types of Marxism?

Answer 36

focus mostly superstructural (not base) Concerned with emancipation & critique of social science & not $.

Question 37

How does critical theory critique Marx’s view of revolution?

Answer 37

• Argue that proletariat has been absorbed into system & no longer threatens it.
o Question whether proletariat actually has potential to revolt/emancipatory transformation

Question 38

traditional marxist meaning of emancipation

Answer 38

humanity having more mastery over nature through development of sophisticated technology to benefit all

Question 39

Early critical theorists view of emancipation

Answer 39

opposed this, & believe that this domination of nature leads to domination of humans (ie sophisticated methods of killing others- WWII), need to reconcile with nature instead

Question 40

Habermus- emancipation

Answer 40

about communication rather than reconciliation w nature, through radical democracy where widest amount of participation is achieved, not just confined to borders. (Rights & obligations extend beyond borders)

Question 41

Why is Andrew Linklater’s work important?

Answer 41

took Habermasian perspective & applied it to World politics

Question 42

how does Andrew Linklater view emancipation?

Answer 42

expansion of moral boundaries of a political community so citizens have same duties & obligations towards noncitizens (Where borders of sovereign states lose ethical & moral significance)

Question 43

what does Linklater view the EU as?

Answer 43

tool towards emancipation- if true it could mean we’re entering era where sovereign state is no longer preeminent

Question 44

what sort of system is the WST?

Answer 44

historically bounded- has beginning & end

Question 45

What do the core, semi-periphery & periphery symbolise and how are they connected?

Answer 45

3 zones of world economy, linked together by exploitative relationship wealth drained from periphery to the core, explains why west is so developed

Question 46

Why did WST develop?

Answer 46

trying to answer why LA hadn’t developed & caught up to west, highlights how manufactured goods gain greater value faster than raw materials (which LA produced).

Question 47

how could you describe Marx’s view of the world?

Answer 47

as almost teleological, has an endpoint which is socialism

Question 48

criticism of marxism

Answer 48

too focussed on the economy, however this in many aspects is seen as the essence of marxism

Question 49

how does marxism contrast with other IR theories?

Answer 49

it’s normative/prescriptive!!

• Marxist school of thought has greater sense of social activism (why it’s often labelled as more radical)

Question 50

Marxism vs Realism

Answer 50

Realism a static theory- biggest difference: situation can’t be changed it is inherently anarchic, unchangeable. ‘Marxism wants radical change, additionally liberalism wants change but not the same radical nature.’

Question 51

Since marxism has greater sense of social activisim, what is it often labelled as?

Answer 51

a more radical theory

Question 52

• Marx argued that nation had to be (feudal then) fully capitalist before getting to

Answer 52

socialism and then communism.

Question 53

how did Gramsci refute Marx’s argument that nation had to be (feudal then) fully capitalist before getting to socialism and then communism.

Answer 53

he highlighted the hegemonic forces at play and how they led to the control of a society.