Marxism

MARXISM
 This theory is from the 19th century
German social thinker, Karl Marx, who
approached the nature of Western society
from a different perspective, that is from
the perspective of the “economy.”
 Marx saw his society in terms of a basic

contradiction: In a country so rich, how

could so many people be so poor? Just as
important, he asked, how can this situation
be changed?
 Karl Marx and Frederick
Engels in 1848 wrote The
Communist Manifesto.

 The Communist Manifesto

describes the process by
which society developed over
time so that today it is
divided into roughly two
great classes: the ruling
class (bourgeoisie) and the
working class (proletariat).
1. Karl Marx’s “Dialectics”

 Marxists claimed “uneven
development is the universal law
of human history”.
 He drew heavily from the concept of
“dialectics” of Georg Wilhelm Hegel
where it says that there had been a
contradiction referring to the idea
that social relationships contain
opposing forces in human society.
2. Marx’s Conflict Theory
  Conflict theory originated in the
work of Karl Marx, who focused on the
causes and consequences of class
conflict between the bourgeoisie (the
owners of the means of production
and the capitalists) and the proletariat
(the working class and the poor).
 Focusing on the economic, social

and political implications of the rise of

capitalism in Europe, Karl Marx
theorized that this system, premised
on the existence of a powerful minority
class (the bourgeoisie) and an
oppressed majority class (the
proletariat), created class conflict
because the interests of the two were
at odds, and resources were unjustly
distributed among them.
  Karl Marx used the term
class conflict or class
struggle to refer to the conflict
between entire classes over the
distribution of a society’s wealth
and power.
 According to Karl Marx, if

the changes made to appease

conflict maintained a capitalist
system, then the cycle of
conflict would repeat. However,
if the changes made created a
new system then peace and
stability be achieved.
3. Historical Materialism
 Marx identified that humans
underwent a unilineal historical
process based on economic or
materialist framework or known as
“historical materialism”.
 -Historical materialism

◦ “theory of history”- human history is

basically determined by the material
conditions
◦ The process of material production is the
foundation of all human societies
 Modes of Means of Characteristic Historical Period
Production Production
Primitive Foraging in Tribal society, No Prehistory
Communism nature ruling class,
egalitarian
Ancient Mode of Slave labor Ancient society. Ancient times
Production Ruling class
exists
Feudalism Land Reciprocal Medieval period
relations between
landlords and
peasants
Capitalism Machines, Ruling class Industrial,
factories exploiting the capitalist society
working class
Socialism Publicly and Production Postcapitalism
collectively owned intended to
machines, directly satisfy
factories and human needs
other productive
forces
Communism Publicly and “Perfect and ideal” Hypothetical
4. Relations of Production
 Classes or categories of people are markedly
defined according to where they stand in the
productive process.
 Marx called the owner of the factory (or any
piece of technology) as the
capitalists/bourgeoisie; and the workers, the
proletariat.
 Social relations depend on who owns or controls the means
of production (land, technology, and capital) – in this case,
the capitalist. Anyone going into this capitalist system enters
a definite social relation determined by “relations of
production.”
 Anyone who controls the capital (raw materials and the
means of production) becomes the ruling class.
 Imagine a manufacturing company where
workers are trained to do a single type of
activity. The factory owner, who does not
have to work for himself, merely
supervises day-to-day production and
pays daily wages to his workers. The
worker, in turn, leaves no bearing or
legacy upon the product he or she makes
as he or she is only part of a larger
productive process.
  

5. Base and Superstructure

 Toelucidate further: the society is
consists of two parts:
Social Social Structures such as
Superstruc religion, family, law,
ture government, culture, values,
etc.
Base Consists of the means of
production and the social
relations of production
 Therefore, the class that
controls the base shall control
the social structures of
society. In this light, Marx saw
cultural forms as not only
economic in nature but also
“ideological” because they
represent the interests of the
ruling class. This ideology is
not at all easily realized by
both the proletariat and the
ruling elite because “reality” is
disguised due to long history
of having been involved with
such system of relationship.
6. Capitalism
Marxism sees/analyzes the
society and social relations
from the perspective of the
economy where it is shaped
by unparalleled economic
processes such as
capitalism.
CAPITALISM
a way of organizing the society
where the means of all
production is owned or ruled
by a certain group of people
especially the ruling class
exploiting the working class.
 Marxist analysis
of capitalism has
three general
objectives: (a) to
demonstrate that
capitalism is an
exploitative mode of
production, (b) to
discover the laws of
capitalist
development, and (c)
to show how and
why capitalism is
doomed system.
7. Socialism
SOCIALISM
 The means of production are socially
owned and democratically controlled.
 Socialism's mantra is, "
From each according to his ability, to
each according to his contribution."
 Everyone in society receives a share

of the production based on how

much each has contributed.
8. Communism
COMMUNISM
 Classless society; utopian society
 Common ownership of the means of

production. No private property.

 In such a society, social relations were

to be regulated on the fairest of all

principles: “from each according to his
ability, to each according to his needs”.
APPLICATION
 Marx ideas are, in fact, still
relevant today, however, not in the
sense that there is a place for an
actual application of communism
but rather that Marx’s propositions
about justice and equality should
find application in improving the
existing society.
APPLICATION
 Marxist theory of the state and power is
central to the idea of social conflict, “the
struggle between segments of society over
valued resources” with class conflict arising
from the way a society produces material
goods. Marx used the term class conflict or
class struggle to refer to the conflict
between entire classes over the distribution
of a society’s wealth and power.
APPLICATION
 Further, recognizing that the economic
system is society’s infrastructure or the
society’s real foundation, other social
institutions such as the family, the
political system, and religion are built
on this foundation or economic base
and for society’s superstructure and
support the economy (Macionis, 2007).
APPLICATION
 Such observation of Karl Marx is still very much
evident in our society today. There seem to be a
widening gap between the rich and poor where
the majority of the world’s resources are owned
by the few elite or rich countries. People who
don’t have an access to these material goods
continue to struggle for daily survival. The social
structure that was observed by Karl Marx during
his time is still true today where the less
privileged are the ones working for the few elites
who enjoys majority of the resources in the world.
Strengths and Weaknesses
 It is a broad theory that sees society as inherently divided
between the haves and the haves- not.
 The theory has its strength in explaining the role of power,
control and wealth in making different social class in
society.
 However, it has its weakness in failing to understand
individual’s motivation and behavior that guides their action.
 Critiques say that why would the working class
question the unequal relations among ruling and
working class when they depend on the ruling class
for they survival and subsistence.
Evaluation:
 Reflect on the song Tatsulok by Bamboo
particularly on the following lines: “Habang may
tatsulok, at sila ang nasa tuktok, di matatapos
itong gulo…” Do the following:
 1. Answer briefly: Can you sense a s reflection
of Marxist framework in those lines and in the
content of the song? Explain your answer.
 2. Illustrate (Draw) this triangle or “tatsulok” by

labeling and indicating who belong to the various

layers of this social structure.