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Karl Marx Historical Materialism

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Title: Karl Marx Historical Materialism


1
Karl Marx -Historical Materialism
2
Marx Historical Materialism
  • 1) History of Marx Marxism
  • 2) Influences
  • 3) Basic concepts
  • (Aims of sociology, human nature,
  • historical materialism, class struggle)
  • 4) Mode of production
  • 5) Social change Revolution
  • 6) Capitalism Communism
  • 7) Evaluation

3
History of Marx Marxism
  • Karl Marx (1818-1883)
  • Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
  • Marx joins radical movement exiled from
    Germany goes to Paris goes to London writes
    main works
  • Engels factory owner socialist scholar aids
    Marx financially
  • Both important figures in the Socialist
    International

4
Important Writings
  • EARLY more about philosophy
  • Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
  • MIDDLE more about politics
  • The Communist Manifesto (1848)
  • (with Engels)
  • LATER more about economics
  • Das Kapital (Capital) (1867)

5
Influences
  • 1) Theory German Philosophy
  • Hegel social change comes through social
    struggles and conflicts (dialectics)
  • Feuerbach deal with the real world, not just
    ideas about it (materialism)
  • 2) Analysing economy British political economy
  • Adam Smith study the division of labour
  • 3) Politics French Socialism
  • - Saint-Simon must create a new society, based
    on cooperation between classes, not conflict

6
Basic Concepts
  • 1) Aim of sociology (Historical Materialism)
  • Create knowledge critical of existing society
  • Inform the working classes of their oppression
  • Encourage revolution abolition of capitalist
    society
  • Build new socialist, then communist, society

7
  • 2) Human nature
  • a) Human being is fundamentally a social animal
  • (agreement with Durkheim)
  • b) Human nature changes over time
  • - shaped by particular societies
  • (e.g. human nature in capitalism selfish
  • human nature in communism cooperative)

8
  • c) Part of human nature remains constant
  • i) Humans creative / creativity in making things
  • ii) Making things creatively allows
    self-expression
  • iii) Humans like working (if allowed to do so
    freely creatively but not if forced to)
  • iv) Good society allows creativity in work
  • v) Bad society people forced to work, work
    uncreative

9
  • 3) Historical Materialism
  • Always see the material aspects of society as
    the most important
  • The ideal elements of society are less
    important
  • (Contrast with Durkheim and, partly, Weber)

10
  • Ideal aspects of society
  • Ideas and beliefs (e.g. morals and religion)
  • Ways of thinking
  • Culture
  • (Emphasis on ideal comes from Hegel)

11
  • Marxs breakthrough
  • Concentrate on material aspects
  • - people making things (production)
  • - people working (labour)
  • people acting on raw materials to make goods
  • humans transforming Nature for their use

12
  • Historical Materialism
  • Materialism
  • looks at material factors in society
  • emphasises production and labour over ideal
    factors (culture)
  • Historical
  • i) looks at changes over time in material factors
  • ii) social change produced by changes in material
    factors
  • iii) Human history changes over time in how
    people work make things

13
  • 4) Class and class struggle
  • Two basic types of society
  • Class-less societies (e.g. communism)
  • Class-based societies (e.g. capitalism)
  • Within class-based societies
  • Classes are the most important social groups
  • Different classes are antagonistic to each other

14
  • i) Classes are antagonistic to each other as each
    class has its own interests
  • ii) Class interest to be the most powerful group
    in society
  • (especially in terms of wealth)
  • iii) Class struggle classes always in conflict
    with each other to be the most powerful
  • iv) Human history driven by conflicts between
    classes classes win, classes lose

15
  • Dominant class(es) Subordinate class(es)
  • Rulers Ruled
  • Leaders Followers
  • Power Powerless
  • political economic politically/economically
  • Political
  • Control the government Ruled by government
  • Economic
  • Control production Carry out production
  • Controllers of economy Workers
  • Exploiters Exploited

16
Mode of Production
  • ECONOMIC BASE
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • KEEPS FUNCTIONING---------------------------SHAPES
  • SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • - Ways of thinking, values, ideas
  • - Social institutions

17
Mode of Production (1)
  • Most important idea of Marx (in later writings)
  • i) Production making things
  • - Production is essential for human life
  • food, clothes, shelter, etc.
  • ii) Making things transforming Nature
  • Making things using TOOLS to transform RAW
    MATERIALS into useable GOODS
  • iii) Consumption using those goods ( thus
    staying alive)

18
Mode of Production (2)
  • i) Production is a SOCIAL ACTIVITY
  • ii) Individual humans cannot make much on their
    own
  • - Must work cooperatively with others
  • - Division of labour different people have
    different jobs
  • iii) Production has to be managed
  • Different forms of management different types
    of society

19
Mode of Production (3)
  • In class-based societies
  • i) Ruling class controls production
  • ii) Ruling class OWN tools, raw materials and
    finished goods (class of OWNERS)
  • iii) Subordinate classes do the actual work
    (class of NON-OWNERS) (workers)
  • iv) Division of labour
  • OWNERS NON-OWNERS
  • Ruling class reaps the benefits
  • Subordinate classes exploited

20
Mode of Production (4)
  • - Most important things in society are
  • MATERIAL FACTORS (production, work, division of
    labour)
  • - Less important are IDEAL FACTORS (ideas and
    beliefs)
  • ECONOMIC BASE (primary)
  • shapes
  • SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE (secondary)

21
ECONOMIC BASE FORCES of RELATIONS of
PRODUCTION PRODUCTION Scientific
knowledge Social relations Technological
knowledge which control Technology
(tools) organize production Raw
materials Labour force (people) Class of OWNERS
(ruling class) controls class of
NON-OWNERS (workers)
22
  • SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • 1) Ways of thinking, values, ideas
  • (Forms of social consciousness)
  • (Ideologies)
  • 2) Social institutions
  • Religion
  • Family
  • Education
  • Government / the State

23
  • ECONOMIC BASE
  • shapes
  • SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • BASE controlled by RULING CLASS
  • SO
  • SUPERSTRUCTURE controlled by
  • RULING CLASS too
  • Dominant ideologies reflect ruling class
    interests
  • Dominant ideologies justify rule of the rulers
  • Social institutions work in ruling class interests

24
  • Social institutions work in ruling class
    interests
  • (Marxist functionalism)
  • Family
  • instils dominant ideologies in young
  • breeds and maintains workers
  • Education instils dominant ideologies in young
  • Media spreads dominant ideologies
  • Government controls NON-OWNERS / protects
    OWNERS interests / ensures social stability

25
Mode of Production
  • ECONOMIC BASE
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • FUNCTIONING----------------------------------
    SHAPES
  • SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • Ways of thinking, values, ideas
  • Social institutions

26
Types of Mode of Production
  • 1) Primitive communism
  • (primitive society, no classes, very low division
    of labour, all work together)
  • 2) Ancient mode of production
  • (ancient Greece and Rome, aristocracy and slaves,
    slaves do most of the work)
  • 3) Feudalism (medieval Europe, aristocratic lords
    and peasants, peasants do all the work)
  • 4) Capitalism
  • 5) Socialism / Communism

27
Social Change Revolution
  • i) Social change transition from one mode of
    production to another
  • That transition entails a revolution
  • ii) Revolutions occur in the ECONOMIC BASE
  • iii) Forces of production change, transforming
    relations of production
  • iv) Changes in BASE lead to changes in
    SUPERSTRUCTURE whole society transformed
  • Forces ? Relations ? Superstructure ? Society

28
Revolution from feudalism to capitalism
  • FEUDALISMS ECONOMIC BASE
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • Agriculture Aristocratic lords
    peasants
  • ------------------------------------------
  • FEUDALISMS SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • Ways of thinking Catholic Christianity
  • Social institutions Catholic Church, family

29
Revolution from feudalism to capitalism
  • CHANGING ECONOMIC BASE
  • (happening from 16th to 19th centuries)
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • Industrialism Power of aristocratic (factory
    production) lords taken over by a new
    class
  • Produced by capitalists (bourgeoisie)
  • Scientific innovations
  • Technological developments Peasants move to
    cities
  • Become workers in factories
    (proletariat)

30
CAPITALISM
  • CAPITALISMS ECONOMIC BASE
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • Industrialism Capitalists proletariat
  • ------------------------------------------
  • CAPITALISMS SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • Ways of thinking capitalist ideologies
  • (religion no longer required)
  • (Capitalism allows individual freedom, democracy,
    social mobility, etc.)
  • Social institutions family, media, government

31
CAPITALISM TODAY?
  • CAPITALISMS ECONOMIC BASE
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • Post-Industrialism Capitalists
  • (service sector, Managerial class
  • computers IT, Proletarians stock
    markets) (white collar, McWorkers)
  • ------------------------------------------
  • CAPITALISMS SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • Ways of thinking capitalist ideologies
  • (social mobility, meritocracy, consumerism)
  • Social institutions media, welfare state

32
From Capitalism to Communism
  • Forces of production develop, they change the
    relations of production
  • (technology develops no need for manual labour
    no need for a working class)
  • 2) Capitalism contradictory
  • (capitalists seek profit, always in competition
    with each other, eventually no profits to be
    made, system falls apart)
  • 3) Proletariat come to realise they are being
    exploited revolution

33
Communist Mode of Production
  • ECONOMIC BASE
  • Forces Relations
  • of production of production
  • Highly developed Classes abolished
  • machines doing most
  • routine work All work together in
    cooperation
  • Humans working All contribute to society
  • freely creatively All get what they need
  • ------------------------------------------
  • SUPERSTRUCTURE
  • Ways of thinking end of ideologies, community
    spirit
  • Social institutions withering away of the
    state communities govern themselves true
    democracy

34
Evaluation
  • 1) Overemphasises material over ideal
    factors?
  • - things like religion just as real as work
  • 2) Reductionist
  • oversimplifies a complex reality
  • explains everything in terms of production
    classes (but not all things can be explained that
    way)
  • 3) Overly politicised
  • not really social science - too biased
  • more like propaganda wishful thinking?

35
Evaluation (2)
  • 1) Production at the heart of human life
  • 2) Outdated? Still applicable
  • We still live in capitalist society
  • Marxs ideas can be reworked to fit todays
    conditions
  • 3) Requires sociologist to be highly critical of
    current society
  • reject dominant ideologies
  • get at deeper truths
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