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Objectives
By the end of this quantum you will be able to recognise and use
Marxist concepts and have an understanding of the main elements of
Marxist theory and how they fit together.
PRE-REQUISITES
To complete this quantum successfully you will need to refer to the
following textbooks:
GIDDENS, A. (1998) Sociology (3rd edition) Cambridge: Polity
Press
HARALAMBOS, M. and HOLBORN, M. (1995) Sociology: Themes
and Perspectives (4th edition) London: Collins Educational
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WELCOME
Sociology has a number of different ways of looking
at society, known as 'perspectives', of which
Marxism is one. It is probably the most difficult and
contentious of these perspectives, although well
worth the effort of getting to grips with it. This
quantum is designed to provide a simple basic
outline of the main ideas.
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MARXISM
Marxism is the most theoretically complex and also the most
controversial of sociological perspectives. There are many reasons for
this complexity, including:
xý
the fact that Marx wove into his theory an array of subjects,
such as philosophy, economics, history, politics and attempted
to explain all aspects of human society and human history
xý
Marx and his partner Engels produced a huge quantity of
writing that is not always consistent; there is no one text that
fully sets out the theory
xý
since the death of Marx and Engels, a great many Marxists
have interpreted the basic theory in a different ways, so that
there is now a variety of different versions of Marxism
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All this creates a good deal of dispute over the true nature of Marxist
theory. But the main reason why Marxism is also the most controversial
of sociological outlooks is the fact that it is also a political theory
designed to show what is wrong with the world and how it can be made
better.
Marx was a revolutionary socialist, believing that the capitalist system
was an evil that had to be eliminated, and all his sociological ideas
relate to this belief. Needless to say, Marxist's sociology is politically
committed and does not have that value-freedom that many
sociologists consider essential. Marxist's tend to argue that value
freedom is not necessary and in fact impossible anyway, arguing that
most sociologists who disagree with them are really supporting the
present political system.
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Self Assessment 1
Write down what you understand by the term
'sociological perspective' and make a list of other
perspectives.
Check your findings against what it says about
perspectives in Haralambos and Holborn, pages 2–18.
DISCUSSION POINT
What is value-freedom and why do many sociologists
think it is essential? Compare your conclusions of value
freedom in Giddens, pages 7–8, and Haralambos and
Holborn, pages 5–6, 808–809.
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The Marxist system of ideas was created by Karl Marx (1818–1883)
with the assistance of his friend and associate, Frederick Engels
(1819–1896). As young men both got into trouble for their political
activities in Germany and spent most of their adult lives in exile in
Britain. Marx wrote most of his major works in the British Museum,
while Engels ran the factories his family owned in Manchester.
Activity 1
As a sociological perspective, Marxism is classified as a type of
'conflict theory'. Find out:
1ý
Why it is classified in this way.
2ý
What other versions of conflict theory there are and how they are
different from Marxism.
3ý
How conflict theory differs from other kinds of sociological perspective.
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MARXIST ANALYSIS OF SOCIETY
Marx believed that he had discovered the correct scientific way of
analysing and explaining society. Every society has to produce food
and other material goods necessary for its survival, and this basic
economic function has to be socially organised with different social
classes doing different jobs.
The economy, together with the social organisation that went with it,
Marx called the socio-economic substructure or base of society; and
it was this, he argued, that determined and explained every other
aspect of social life. All the other aspects of society, the laws, politics,
religion, art, morals and the rest, which Marx collectively called the
superstructure, are all determined by the base.
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In other words, a feudal society based on peasant agriculture will
have different kinds of laws, institutions, arts, beliefs and morals,
than a modern capitalist industrial society.
Each phase of human history has had its characteristic economy
and social system, which Marx called the mode of production,
including the feudal and capitalist modes.
The reason why the elements of the superstructure are all
directly shaped by the base is because each element exists, in
one way or another, to maintain the social structure. More
precisely, they all exist to maintain the position and power of the
ruling class.
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CLASS SOCIETIES
All known societies, Marx insisted, have been class societies in
which one class, the ruling class, has dominated and exploited the
other classes by virtue of its ownership of the means of production
(the land or tools or factories necessary for the economy).
Thus, in feudal society it is the lords who own all the land while the
peasants do all the work; while in modern capitalism it is the
capitalists (or bourgeoisie) who own the factories and machines,
while it is the industrial workers (or proletariat) who actually
produce the goods.
The various elements of the superstructure, each in their different
ways, all exist to reinforce this class dominance.
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The various aspects of the state – the laws, police and armed forces –
all exist to protect the property and privileges of the ruling class.
The educational system teaches everyone their role in society. The
various beliefs, values, art, etc., all exist to promote the idea that the
position of the ruling class is right and proper. Thus, in feudal times the
current religious belief was that God had given everyone their place in
the social hierarchy and that it was sinful to try to change it.
CAPITALIST SOCIETY
Capitalist society has different beliefs. For example, the belief that
everyone competes freely and equally in the market, which justifies the
capitalist's position because they have competed fairly and come out
best.
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The ruling class uses such beliefs, or ideology, to keep the exploited
population deceived as to the true nature of their condition. Believing
the ideology of the ruling class, the exploited classes suffer from false
consciousness, that is a belief that the way society is organised is
natural and right, when in fact it is exploitative, oppressive and full of
contradictions.
TO SUM UP
Marx believed all known societies could be scientifically analysed in the
following way.
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SUPERSTRUCTURE
IDEAS, VALUES, RELIGION,
ART, PHILOSOPHY, ETC
THE STATE, LAWS
INSTITUTIONS, ETC
Ideology, which is the means by which
the existing order is justified. It reflects
the ideas and values of the ruling class.
How the existing order is maintained in
the interests of the ruling class.
HOW A SOCIETY EARNS ITS
LIVING. ITS MEANS AND
ORGANISATION OF
PRODUCTION, CREATES A
PARTICULAR CLASS SYSTEM.
THIS IS THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
BASE
THE BASE DETERMINES THE SUPERSTRUCTURE
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There is always a ruling class who
own the means by which the rest
of society makes its living.
BASE OR FOUNDATION OF
ANY SOCIETY.
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All aspects of society are related to each other in a system.
But the socio-economic organisation is essential and
determines all the rest. Explaining any social phenomenon
(institution, work of art, etc.) consists of relating it to the
economic and social conditions that gave rise to it.
Self Assessment 2
Set down briefly in your own words, definitions of: base and
superstructure, means and modes of production, ideology
and false consciousness. Check these against definitions
given in one or more of the suggested books.
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DISCUSSION POINT
The Communist Manifesto opens with the words:
'The history of all hitherto existing societies
is the history of class struggle'.
Do you think there is necessarily always class
conflict in every society? How would a Marxist
explain periods of when things seemed peaceful?
Discuss this with your fellow students and/or your
tutor.
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SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE MATERIALIST THEORY
OF HISTORY
If the way the economy is organised determines everything else in
society, then economic change must be behind all historical change:
political, social, cultural, etc. Great events, like the Renaissance or
Reformation or the French Revolution, do not arise because of the
ideas and actions of particular individuals. These are only surface
manifestations of deeper changes in the socio-economic base of
society.
Marx believed that societies could be classified according to what
sort of economy and associated social structure they possessed,
their mode of production, and that there were only a limited number
of basic types.
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HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
Societies evolved from one type to another according to a
predetermined pattern. Marx believed that he had made history into a
science by discovering this pattern and the laws of historical
development that brought it about through time.
History is seen as a series of necessary stages, each based on a
different mode of production, with characteristic technologies, property
relations and class structure.
However, before this sequence began, Marx conceived of their being a
form of primitive communism where everything was communally owned
(a rather speculative idea based on little evidence). But as soon as
private property appeared, conflicts began and the necessary
sequences of historical stages began.
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The first of these was what Marx called the 'Asiatic' mode of
production, where everything was owned by a great emperor or
pharaoh, who could mobilise the population for great public works,
such as for irrigation.
This mode eventually gave way to the 'Classical' mode of production of
the Ancient world which was based on slavery. This was replaced by
the 'Feudal' mode of production of lords and peasants or serfs, which in
turn developed into the 'Capitalist' (or 'bourgeois') mode of production,
which is the modern world. However, Marx did not believe that this was
the end of the historical process.
There was one final and highest mode of production which humanity
was yet to experience, namely the Communist.
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Marx argued that there was a definite mechanism of historical change by
which each stage was transformed into the next. As each mode of
production reached the fullest extent of its development, new productive
forces developed through new technology or other economic changes,
creating all kinds of economic and social conflicts or contradictions.
DIALECTICAL PROCESS
These new developments gave rise to a new social class to exploit
them, and they grow until they can no longer be contained in the old
social and economic structure. This new class would become rich and
powerful until such time as it was strong enough to challenge the old
ruling class. The old ruling class is overthrown in a revolution which
brings the new class to power ready to recreate society in its own
image and impose its view of the world and its values on everyone
else.
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Marx called this process dialectical, because each new society
resolved the contradictions of the old one; although it would develop its
own contradictions in due course. Only when the final stage of history
is reached, in Communist society, would all contradictions be resolved
and mankind would live in harmony and peace.
Marx's analysis does not work at all well for early stages of the
sequence. The classical world for example, collapsed because of the
barbarian invasions, not through any internal developments. But Marx
only discussed in any detail the transition from feudalism to capitalism
(a process he believed that finally culminated in the French Revolution)
and the future transition from Capitalism to Communism. To
understand why Marx believed the latter was inevitable we need to
understand something about Marx's economic theories.
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TO SUM UP
Let's sum up Marx's historical sequence with a simple diagram.
CLASSICAL
ASIATIC
CAPITALIST
FEUDAL
ULTIMATELY LEADING TO
THE FINAL STAGE
COMMUNISM
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Self Assessment 3
Explain briefly in your own words why Marx thought that economic and
social changes were more important than politics or ideas in explaining
history. Discuss your conclusions with your fellow students and/or tutor.
Activity 2
'Dialectic' and 'Contradiction' are concepts many students of Marx have
difficulty with. Try and arrive at your own definitions. Look at Giddens,
pages 506, 508, and Haralambos and Holborn, pages 879–880.
Read the section of the Communist Manifesto dealing with the
development of capitalism. Write an account of why Marx believed that
when the communist revolution began it would be a worldwide
phenomenon.
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MARXIST ECONOMICS
Marx's economic theories are extremely difficult and
complex, and best explained simply by means of
diagrams. The main part of the theory, most fully set out
in Marx's most important work Capital, concerns the way
in which capitalism's own internal workings must
inevitably lead to its own destruction.
Click here to view the
Marxist Economics diagram
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TO SUM UP
Capitalism is enormously productive. But it is driven by
competition so that ultimately, capitalists destroy each other,
and reduce the rest of the population to misery. The system
cannot continue because the workers become poorer and
poorer, but it is the workers who must buy the goods the
capitalists produce. This is one of the many contradictions that
would bring capitalism to an end. The workers must inevitably
take over and prepare the way for a classless society –
Communism. Thus Marx believed that the capitalist society
must collapse because its own internal contradictions force it to
self-destruct.
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Self Assessment 4
Explain in your own words:
1ý
Why Marx believed the proletariat was exploited by the capitalist
system?
2ý
Why the trade cycle (i.e. periodic booms and slumps) was an
inevitable part of the capitalist system?
3ý
Why the capitalist class inevitably grows richer and smaller, while
the proletariat inevitably becomes larger and more miserable?
Activity 3
Find out why Marx believed that following the communist revolution the
workers would need to rule for a while. Explain why Marx believed that
eventually the state would (in Engels phrase) 'wither away'.
Click the Home Button to move on
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