Marxism

Karl Marx (1818-83)

Historic MaterialismPri

mitive Communism

• Early classless society in which it’s members collectively provide a source of food and materials for one another.

Social

relns &

forces of

prod’

• Social relationships & forces of production e.g raw materials, technology, scientific knowledge.

Developmen

t into two

classes

• Owners of the means of production (legally owned forces), the bourgeoisie.

• Labourers, the proletariat

Capitalism

• Minority capitalist class Vs Majority working class.

• Proletariat do not receive the value that their labour produces, only the cost of sustenance.

• Means of production = concentrated e.g MNCs. Independent businesses become part of the proletariat.

• Technological advances de-skill workers. smaller workforce = more profits for bourgeoisie. Consequence = higher levels of unemployment.

Alienation & Class Consciousness

• Alienation – separated and no control over our labour and products. Unable to release our true creative nature. Work acts as a confinement. Frustration released by spending money in the entertainment & leisure industry and materialistic world. Forces money back into the Bourgeoisie’s pockets.

• Class Consciousness – Separated from the owners of production -> polarisation of the classes, WC develop their own perspective of society. They become aware of the need to overthrow Capitalism.

Ideology & Revolution

• Ideology - Ideas of the economically dominant class. Institutions produce ideologies to legitimise social order and present a Capitalist society as desirable and inevitable.

• Revolution Prevention The ruling class use the state as a weapon to supress the WC.

• Aims of a Revolution State -> classless society Private ownership -> Social ownership Profit -> satisfaction of human needs Alienation -> Control

Evaluation of Marx

• # (+) Marxist economic ideology has been at the heart of many social revolutions e.g French Revolution.

• # (-) Class – Simplistic, one dimension view of inequality.

• # (-) Feminists – Gender inequality is more fundamental.

• # (-) Variation of class structures in different societies. Western society -> + MC jobs due to decline in manufacturing industry. Eastern society -> +WC jobs due to globalisation and therefore more exploitation.

• # (-) Economic Determinism.

Humanistic/Critical Marxism

Similar to action theories and interpretive sociology

Scientific/Structuralist Marxism

Similar to positivist sociology

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)

First leader of the Italian Communist Party (1920’s)

Louis Althusser (1918-90):

Leading intellectual within the French Communist Party.

A. Gramsci - Hegemony

= ideological and moral leadershipGramsci rejects ‘economic determinism’:

Capitalism -> Communism – The poor economic state of a country i.e mass unemployment and falling wages act as preconditions for a revolution however an overthrow will cease to occur until there is a change in the ideology and morals of the proletariat.

In order for the bourgeoisie to be overthrown, the proletariat must develop a ‘counter-hegemony’.

Greece2015 – 49.8% of under 25’s are unemployed (poor economic state)

Nationwide disagreement with EU governance and current hostile living conditions stimulates a change in morals/ideology.(EU policies = Capitalist Hegemony)

Alexis Tsipras, Leader of ‘Coalition of the Radical Left’ voted in as prime minister (Jan 2015) (counter-hegemony)

Bourgeoisie Vs. Proletariat

• Bourgeoisie (ruling class)= minority. In order to maintain rule, they form alliances with other groups such as the middle class. Ideological compromises must be made such as reduced tax for MC and funding for the private schools that educate their children.

• Proletariat (working class) = dual consciousness. Socialised by bourgeoisie ideology however experience of exploitation and material deprivation means that individuals are sceptical of the bourgeoisie’s intentions.

Evaluation of Gramsci

# (+) Like Paul Willis (’77) who found that the school boys he studied were only partially permeable to bourgeoisie ideology, Gramsci recognises that individuals are not passive puppets of Capitalism, the WC realise that they are being exploited.

# (-) lack of acknowledgment to RSA. Workers may want to overthrow Capitalism but fear state repression or unemployment.

L. Althusser: Structural

Determinism Economic level –

national currency that serves the needs of individuals.

Political level – form of national governance and organisation.

Ideological level – how people perceive themselves and the world around them.

Factors that contribute to revolution formation.

Ideological function – Workers socialised into accepting the policies of the dominant ruling class.

Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs)– inc. The media, education system, family and trade unions.

Ideological State Apparatuses

Repressive State Apparatuses

Political function – Workers who rebel are punished. Thus, workers are coerced into complying with the will of the bourgeoisie out of fear.

Repressive State Apparatuses (RSAs) – inc. The government, military and criminal justice system.

Evaluation of Althusser

# (-) Assumes that three structures maintain capitalism, Structural Determinism. Ignores incoming influence on an individual, interactionist level.

# (-) A scientific and rigid perspective on society prevents social change. Individuals feel as though institutional control is inevitable and undefeatable.