Marxism

When did Marxism emerge

19th century

• By Hobson and Lenin

• Theorising marxism after WW1

What did marxism emerge from?

• Industrialisation

• Capitalism

What was the concern around COVID vaccines

• Priority of developed countries

• Unequal distribution

  • Deepened inequality and health gap

Vaccine’s exposed what about the international system in health governance?

competition over cooperation

When is the historical origin of Marxism?

1857 - worldwide bank crisis

How many banks collapsed in 1857?

1,400 in America

What were the new factors at work during this crisis?

• Global interconnected system 

• Market

• Uneven development

• Inequalities 

What was criticised about Marx and Engels

That their theory had a ‘geopolitical deficiency’

= a gap in how geography, state power & IR affected capitalism 

—> they saw capitalism as linear 

What was Marxism a response to?

Adam Smith and Cobden’s commercial liberalism

How was Marxism applied to IR

By theorising imperialism (Hobson, Hilferding, Lenin)

Who emerged in the inter war period

Gramsci

What did Gramsci create

The Critical Theory = how Marxism could explain international theories

Hegemony

Where are these theorists categorised?

Dependency Theory 

What is the Dependency Theory

That the global capitalist system is unequal

The poor are poor because the rich exploit them

What are the 3 core assumptions of Marxism?

1. Historical materialism 

2. Social classes

3. Internal Capitalist System

1. Why is historical materialism important?

• the history of the production process 

• modes and relations of production shape politics 

• changes are a reflection of the economic development 

2. Why are social classes important

• Social classes are the main actors

• States are executing agents of capitalist elites

• Transnational actors

• Economic factors shape IR

3. Why is the global capitalist system important

• Hierarchal international system

• Influence on the structure of the global system

• By-product of imperialism

• Global distribution of means of productions drives state behaviour

• Opportunities for some states, constraints for others

What divide happened to Marxism after WW2

Divided into 2 branches:

1. Builds on Gramscian notion of hegemony

2. Focuses on world system theory = perception of the global economic system being organised by core, periphery, semi-periphery

From Imperialism to dependency. What were Marxists the first theorists of?

Globalisation

Provide an example of a theorist who linked capitalism with imperialism

Rhode - ‘the scramble for Africa’ - benefited from colonialism 

According to Hobson, globalising capitalism and imperial power happened because of:

1. Overproduction (industries)

2. Oversavings (elites & capitalists)

3. Underconsumption (powers)

What was the solution to the issue caused by globalising capitalism and imperial power

• Expansion

• New markets & wage competition

• Development of financial capital

• State intervenes to support bourgeoise

According to Lenin, imperialism is the highest form of_____?

Capitalism

What relation did Lenin find between capitalism and imperialism?

Increasing capitalist accumulation led to colonial expansion

What result did increasing capitalist expansion have?

further expanded the west monopoly of the industrial-financial capital

What happens when imperialist states rise?

• “law of uneven development”

• inter-imperialistic rivalry source of conflict (WW1)

What is the origin of the Latin America Dependency School?

Marxism and Lenin’s global unequal theory

What does the Latin American Dependency School discuss

How development of the periphery depends on the Core

= core has global markets that exploit the Periphery for cheap labour, natural resources…

Who created the World System Theory?

Wallerstein

What is the World System Theory

IR takes place within a world capitalist system since the 16th century

What did Wallerstein do?

Transnational division of labour into core, semi-periphery and periphery

What does the location of states determine?

Their relations and foreign policies

What does the World System Theory outline about the relationship between the core and the periphery

The core exploits the periphery 

What is Gramscianism

A theory by Gramsci that builds on Marxian traditions

What did Gramsci focus on?

Why states accept the unequal system and the failure of workers revolutions 

What did Gramsci reject

Economic determinism of Marxism (core, semi periphery, periphery)

What did Gramsci give a greater emphasis to?

• Subjectivity

• Culture

• Ideology

—> constructivism?

What was his main contribution to Marxism?

a new theory of hegemony

What type of power is a hegemon

• a more subtle form of political power

• rests on consent of the working class, not just coercion

Who used Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and to understand what?

• Cox

• understand emergence of ‘World Order’

What is meant by ‘World Order’

That neorealism and neoliberalism reinforce the status quo

What are some ruling hegemonic ideas

• Washington Consensus

• Neoliberalism 

How is the global system rigged?

• states are supposed to make up the international system

• but IO’s play a large role in maintaining stable politics & economic relations between independent states 

• = belonging to IO’s curbs the power of members, especially weaker states

• = international economic order rests on deep inequality & on the infringement of sovereignty of the weak

What types of interferences are found in in domestic affairs?

external interferences

What happens after the provision of funds

increasingly tight conditions placed on domestic policy

What does cross-country business interests ensure?

• secure property rights

• low taxation

• independence of central banks across borders

How is Marxism perceived today?

As though it is fading after US hegemonic ideas have expanded globally 

How is US global activism explained?

it is the ‘core’ of the core in global structure

How has the US favoured its interests

pushed capitalist world order

through strategic ideologies of economic security (access to resources, freedom of navigation…)

How are transnational actors relevant?

• global business class

• transnational defence-industrial class

• transnational civil society 

What is happening to inequalities as a result

they keep growing

What are 2 limitations of Marxism in IR?

1. Economic determinism?

2. Ignoring important factors

1. What is economic determinism?

• Is the political sphere always shaped by economic forces?

• Are classes the main actors in IR

• Reductionist view of the state

2. What is meant by ‘ignoring key factors’?

• Politics & ideology

• Nationalism (vs. transnationalism)

• Resilience of the state as a major actor in IR

• Military power