10 Marxism

KARL MARX
Who is Karl Marx?

Karl Marx was born in Trier in 1818, just after Napoleonic wars.
His parents were Jewish at first, but they later changed to Christianity.
He was a philosopher, political economist, sociologist , humanist and the founder of communism
He was an educated students who studied in Germany at Bonn, Berlin and Jena.
At Bonn, he engaged with Jenny von Westphalen.
He became an editor in Colongne of the RheinisheZeitung. However Prussian closed the paper
He was expelled from Paris in 1844 with Engles, due to their radical movements.
Marx’s income was mostly from Engles who had a steady family business in Manchester. •
Death of his wife and his eldest daughter made his health more worse.
He traveled all around the Europe in order to get his health cured. However he faced death in
March 14, 1883
His most influential works

Communist Manifesto is his most leading and powerful political document.
Capital , Volume 1 is one of the manuscript that are Marx’s historic work.
Critique of the Gotha Programme is a significant work for Marx’s thoughts in the nature of communist
society.
The Civil War in France, was published in order in defense of the Commune during Paris Commune of
1871.
Marxism
“Marxism is the theory of how the normality of our everyday world, … its workday habits and its working
day, its monetary stresses and pressures on one end and its leisure and freedom on the other, is riven
from within by what Marx called ‘class struggleLiterary ass struggle: a contradiction between those with
wealth and those lacking it. This contradiction sustains the society while at the same time threatening to
disintegrate it.
Capitalism
Promoting private accumulation of wealth Advocating individual freedom in economic matters
Inequality in distribution of wealth Enslaving the working class through economic policies and control of
production Class differentiation Severe poverty Works by a “hidden disequilibrium” in the work we do
what we get (salary) < what we give (labor)
Traditional Marxism :
Some Key Concepts • The BASE: economic in nature, capitalism • The SUPERSTRUCTURE: ideas, beliefs,
philosophy, art,… • The economic power holders determine economic policies and have control over the
production of goods. The values and beliefs will become the dominant ideology of the society.
Conflict Theory
The history of conflict theory can be traced back to thinkers such as Machiavelli or Thomas
Hobbes, both of whom viewed humanity cynically.
In its current form, conflict theory attempts to refute the functionalist approach, which
considers that societies and organizations function so that each individual and group plays a
specific role, like organs in the body.
There are radical basic assumptions (society is eternally in conflict, which might explain social
change), or moderate ones (custom and conflict are always mixed).
The moderate version allows for functionalism to operate as an equally acceptable theory since
it would accept that even negative social institutions play a part in society's self-perpetuation.
The essence of conflict theory is best epitomized by the classic "pyramid structure" in which an
elite dictates terms to the larger masses.
All major social structures, laws, and traditions in the society are designed to support those
who have traditionally been in power, or the groups that are perceived to be superior in the
society according to this theory.
Conflict theorists would argue that all groups in society are born from conflict.
An example might be that of labor unions, which are developed to fight for the interests of
workers, whereas trade organizations are made to fight for the interests of the moneyed
classes.
This theory of groups is opposed to functionalism in which each of these groups would play a
specific, set role in society. In functionalism, these groups cooperate to benefit society whereas
in conflict theory the groups are in opposition to one another as they seek to better their
masters.
"It is in the interests of those who have wealth to keep and extend what they own, whereas it is
in the interests of those who have little or no wealth to try to improve their lot in life.
" This can also be expanded to include any society's morality, and by extension their definition
of deviance. Anything that challenges the control of the elite will likely be considered "deviant"
or "morally reprehensible." The theory can be applied on both the macro level (like the U.S.
government or Soviet Russia, historically) or the micro level (a church organization or school
club). In summary, conflict theory seeks to catalog the ways in which those in power seek to
stay in power.
Marx and conflict theory

Karl Marx argued that property is upheld by the state, making property struggles into political
struggles between owners and renters, capitalists and workers, and other groups. Material
conditions determine the ability of any of these groups to organize effectively politically.
These material conditions are also what enable one group to propagate their views to others in
society. Because the owners clearly have an advantage in material wealth, their views are
spread more easily.
For Marx, the conflict clearly arises because all things of value to man result from human labor.
According to Marx, capitalists exploit workers for their labor and do not share the fruits of
these labors equally.
This exploitation is what allows the owning classes to dominate politically and to impose their
ideology on the workers of the world.
would argue that the conflict over limited natural resources is what led men to relegate women
to domesticity.
This interpretation of conflict theory also leads to the idea that men cannot be trusted to give
power to women because this gift would conflict with their inherent nature.
This conflict based on inequality can only be overcome through a fundamental transformation
of the existing relations in the society, and is productive of new social relations.
The disadvantaged have structural interests that run counter to the status quo, which, once
they are assumed, will lead to social change. Thus, they are viewed as agents of change rather
than objects one should feel sympathy for.
Human potential (e.g., capacity for creativity) is suppressed by conditions of exploitation and
oppression, which are necessary in any society with an unequal division of labour.

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KARL MARX

Who is Karl Marx?

His most influential works

Marx and conflict theory

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