AN101 Marxism

Why was Marx himself interested in anthropology

he hoped to find traces of a more communal way of life in ‘primitive societies’

why was there a rise in the influence of marxism in the 1960s

Rise of communist parties, access to higher education expanded to include working class students

What was the enclosure of common lands, and what effects did it have according to Marx

lands that were communal could be used by the poor for cattle, but in the 16-19th centuries landlords and the state closed these off. This widespread dispossession created what marx called ‘free labour’

what did changes ‘free labour’ make appen

they were ready to work the factories and mines of the industrial revolution, a period characterised by rapid urbanisation,widespread poverty, and horrific working conditions for industrial proletariat

Engels and Marx developed a model of social evolution, what is the final stage

communism (characterised by true equality and freedom)

What is marx’s social evolution model called

historical materialism- emphasises the material conditions of production as the driving force behind social change

Forces of production (marx)

technology, tools, resources and individuals’ labour power

Relations of production (marx)

Social and economic relationships that govern the production process

what aspect of production foes marx see as the central driver of historical change

mode of production

What 2 categories does ‘mode of production’ encompass

forces of production (technologies, tools, labour) and relations of production (social and economic relationships that govern the production process)

What is primitive accumulation according to marx

This is how capitalists amass wealth. This involves dispossessing people of their land and transforming them into a ‘free’ labour force

According the marxism, what are the 2 key components that make up society

The base and the superstruture. The base is the economic foundation. The superstructure is everything else (law politics, culture). The base heavily shapes the superstructure

Where and with who does taussig conduct fieldwork

Colombia, with Afro-Colombian peasants who were being forced off their land by expanding sugar plantations

What are the 2 key beliefs held by Taussig’s participants

the devil contract, the role of baptism

What is the devil contract and what is the consequence

Male plantation workers were believed to secretly make a pact with the devil to boost their output by 2-3 times. However, this money came with consequences- the worker dies prematurely in agony and when he is alive he is a soulless puppet

how can devil contract money be used

must be spent immediately on luxuries rather than being invested. If you try to use it productively, it will fail.

there is only 1 context in which the devil contract can be used

capitalist wage labour. Does not happen when peasants work their own land or that of other peasants

What is believed about baptism

A godparent hides a peso note in their hand during a child’scatholic baptism so that the bill gets baptised rather than the child. The note is given the child’s Christian name, leaving the child unbaptised.

Example of the baptism belief in practice

A shopkeeper finds all of her cash gone after a customer was acting strangely.

What does taussig argue is revealed by the ebliefs of colombian peasants

These are not just superstitions. They are systematic, coherent critiques of capitalism.

What philosophical distinction is expressed within peasants’ critique of capitalism

use value and exchange value

what is use value and what is exchange value

Use value is producing things to satisfy real human needs, money is a neutral medum of exchange in order to buy something needed. Exchange value is producing in order to accumulate money as an end in itself.

Marx’s commodity fetishism

social relationships between people are replaced by objecs.

How do the peasants beliefs contrast with commodity fetishism

Commodity fetishism naturalises capitalis to make violence disappear, meanwhile peasants beliefs supernaturalise capitalism to make its violence explicit. Neither fully explains what is happening

What is primitive marxism (taussig says colombian peasants represent this)

An instinctive understanding of capitalist exploitation. European working class once had this but was lost once capitalism was normalised

What 3 things does primitive marxism make visible that commodity fetishism conceals

Moral condemnation: Baptism and devil contract are seen as evil wheras commodity fetishism presents itself as neutral or good. Human agency is still visible: the individual excercises agency by initiating the constract. meanwhile capital’s self expansion is seens as money growing on its own. The cost is made visible: the devil contract costs you uour soul and life

Who does Shah study

Indian maoists (a arxist-leninist party) who conduct armed guerrilla warfare to seize the indian state and build communism

why does the persistence of indian maoists seem anomalous

Because elsewhere in the world former communist regimes have collapsed

What 2 components does Shah argues has resulted in the preservation of maoism in india

the vanguard, rank and file

Who makes up the vanguard of maoists in india

High-caste educated men

What group does Shah draw similarities between wit the maoists

Hindu renouncers

What group makes up hindu renouncers

high caste men

Similarities between indian maoism and hindu renouncers

joining the parties require ‘declassification’- giving up all family ties and property, no salary, everyone takes turns in manual labour, new name, willingness to die for the cause

Name of Shah’s main ethnographic figure

Gyan

What is the ideological staying power of maosit leadership rooted in a specifically indian cultural template

the hindu renouncer

Describe Gyan’s journey

He was deep in the path of Hindu renounciation, refusing to cross a line of ants, but has now moved to another form of total commitment which requires carrying a .303 rifle

what does ‘rank and file’ refer to

the ordinary members of the organisation

What does Shah argue motivates the rank and file to join

intimacy and belonging

Why was the state regarded as a predator by many adivasi regions

Adivasi regions had experienced centuries of extraction through colonial forest laws, forced settlement, exploitative contractors

What did maoists do that made adivasi communities feel more proected

they treated adivasi with basic dignity, they chased out officers, replaced outside contractors with locals, raised wages for forest product collection

what does shah use the ‘muck of the past’ to argue

the same forces that made the movement strong are now destorying it

who first used the phrase’muck of the past’

marx and engels

How did kinship cause problems for gyan

his attatchment to his wife who was outside the movement, that drew him out of safe guerrilla zones into the city where he was arrested

how is class differentiation weakening the maoist movement

Through state affirmative action, education expansion, government jobs, bank loans, and small trades, a new generation of Adivasis is slowly seeking upward mobility. The party's collective resources are being turned into a private resource for individual family mobility.

Who is the ethnographic subject who is used to show class differentiation

Oraon

What was the case of oraon

Considered one of the most trustowrthy members, it was found that Oraon had been embezzeliing party funds to pay for a lavish second wedding and house

What is the underlying paradox that is bringing down maoism

a movement fighting in the name of class is being undone by class

Why did kinship originally make the maoist movement strong

guerilla squads became a second family. Young people moved in and out of the squads freely, and village life and party life were completely blurred. This gave the movement deep roots, and the party was not an outside alien force

How and why is kinship now destorying the party

The villages themselves are changing, and a new generation wants upwards mobility not just resistance to the state. Because cadres never fully severed their village ties, these new aspirations are flowing into the pary

Similarities and differences between marxism and structural functionalism

Both answer the same question of how society reproduces itself. But, conflict and change are a really important part of marxism- wheras they are seen as temporary disruptions in structural functionalism. In practice though, structural marxism often soothed over contradictions by showing how resistance and ideology fet absorbed back into the system