DISS - Marxism

Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of

historical development to understand class relations and social conflict, as well as a

dialectical perspective to view social transformation.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) wrote the Communist Manifesto (1848) which shows the basic

struggle between classes and recommends action against the 'specter' of capitalism Capital

(1867). It shows how the capitalist system is exploitative in that it "transfers the fruit of the

work of the majority...to a minority”. The book contains theories about the nature of society

and politics, that in their own words, "The history of all as yet existing society is the history of

class struggles".

Friedrich Engels (1820 – 1895) was a German social scientist, author, political theorist,

philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, together with Karl Marx. He wrote Das Kapital. He

organized Marx's notes on the "Theories of Surplus Value," which he later published as the

"fourth volume" of Capital. He wrote the Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State

(1884), presents the evolution of humankind from primitive communism, to slavery, feudalism,

capitalism, and finally, industrial communism.

Marx and Engels examined the conflict generated by the increasing wealth of the

capitalists (Bourgeoisie) at the expense of the working class (Proletariat) who only sunk deeper

into poverty. Violence and repression could reinforce legal power if the peasantry resisted

handing over the surplus. They viewed social change as an evolutionary process marked by a

revolution in which new levels of social, political, and economic development were achieved

through class struggle. A class is defined in terms of the relationship of people's labor to the

means of production. Each mode of production produced characteristic class relationships

involving a dominating and a subordinate class.

Historical materialism is a methodology used that focuses on human societies

and their development through history, arguing that history is the result of material

conditions rather than ideals. It is principally a theory of history that asserts that the

material conditions of a society's mode of production, the union of a society's

productive forces, and relations of production, fundamentally determine society's

organization and development. It is materialist as it does not believe that history has

been driven by an individual's consciousness or ideas but rather subscribes to the

philosophical monism that matter is the fundamental substance of nature and

henceforth the driving force in all of world history.

Dialectical materialism is a philosophy of science and nature developed in Europe and

based on the writings of Marx and Engels. Marxist dialectics emphasizes the importance of

real-world conditions in terms of class, labor, and socioeconomic interactions. Marx supposed

that these material conditions contained contradictions that seek resolution in new forms of

social organization. Dialectical materialism accepts the evolution of the natural world and the

emergence of new qualities of being at new stages of evolution. Change within a society is

seen as the result of contradictions arising between the forces of production and the relations

of production. Such contradictions are seen to emerge as a struggle between distinct social

classes.