Week 7: Marxism and Socialism

Class Struggle

political, social and economic tension or conflict between different social classes due to clashing interest and unequal access to power and resources.

Socialism

broad set of ideas that opposed the inequalities of industrial capitalism and advocated public collective ownership of capital and the means of production.

Marxism

specific theory of history, philosophy, and economics, based on writings of Karl Marx.

• All marxist are socialist, but not all socialist are marxist.

• Stages of development: capitalism, socialism and communism.

Utopian Socialism

earliest current of modern socialist thought which assumed persuasion through knowledge and education, rejection of profit, model communities…

The tactics included education, experiments in communal living .

Anarchism

form of socialism which rejects the state and private property, and promotes small communities and free association.

Assumption:

• social and moral laws can be seen through dialogue and reason.

• without hierarchies of state power, natural capacity for empathy, cooperation and mutual aid appears.

Mikhail Bakinin (1814-76)

Russian political philosopher and anarchist

Total rejection of institutions and contemporary society as fundamentally oppressive.

Violence and revolution for social change, against all authorities and including communist states.

Robert Owen (1771-1858)

wealthy industrialist and philanthropist known for humane treatment towards workers.

He rejected corporal punishment and put ideas in practice in factory.

Ideals: eight-hours labour, wages as unjust and “New Moral World”

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-65)

He came from a working class background and studied thanks to scholarships.

“All property is theft”

human nature can be overcome, critique of Republicanism, mutualism.

Karl Marx (1818-83)

son of a lawyer and studied law and philosophy in Germany.

Strongly influenced by Hegel and he was exiled for inciting insurrection against Prussia monarchy.

He was an activist, the Communist Manifesto (1848), and an analyst Das Kapital (1867).

The First International (1864-76)

known as the International Working Men’s Association (IWMA).

It was the first global organization designed to unite trade unions, socialist, communist and anarchist, from Europe and the USA.

It laid the foundation for future global labour coordination.

The Second International (1889-1914)

It went from doctrine to Mass party.

It emerged from a meeting in Paris(1889) to commemorate the French Revolution,

It is established, 8-hour working day, universal suffrage, etc.

Race and Socialism

Secondary issues for Marxism, while it supported anti-imperialist and abolition of slavery.

Socialist ideas, still, did not include non-white workers in its struggle.

Racist view and anti-immigrants labour policies,

The Socialist Women

marxist theory did not include gender equality, though it laid foundations concepts.

In the first international conference of socialist women, it was established the goal of universal suffrage, social security and protection for mother and child.

Teology

belief that past events are moving towards a predetermined goal, purpose or grand design.

Karl Marx and Hegel saw history as moving through a necessary, rational sequence of conflicts towards a final state of absolute freedom or communism.