Karl Marx (conceptualising)

Antonio Gramsci

Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Neo-Marxist writing in the first half of the 20th century. Gramsci was a notable marxist critique of trade unionism; he rejected the notion that trade unions benefit the proletariat (wage spiralations do nothing but better the slave salary). Trade unions appear as revolutionary counter-hegemonic forces against capitalism (empowering workers), however, writing in the ''Trade Unions and the Dictatorship'' Gramsci proposed trade unions are simply parasites to the capitalist system, dividing workers as wage-earners preventing the development of a ''class consciousness'' necessary for a social revolution.

Das Kapital

Book produced by Karl Marx (which was funded by Friedrich Engles) and published in 1867 by '' Verlay Von Otto Meiouer''. Das Kapital is a critical analysis of the political economy, its focus is finding patterns that underpin the prevalence of capitalism.

Back Ground to Marx

Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist and sociologist. Born in the Rhineland in 1818 he was educated at the University of Bonn and the University of Berlin. Marx in his professional career worked as an academic and newspaper editor across Europe (Paris, Brussels and London). He is most credited for his economic and sociological contributions in ''The Communist Manifesto'' (co-written) with Fredrich Engles) and ''Das Kapital'' (funded by Engles).

Hegel

Karl Marx was an early advocate of Georg Hegel's social philosophy. Hegel was an idealist philosopher and proposed the development of society as a social system is the product of philosophers; discovering, subjecting and publicising the social tendencies that inhibit true human potential being reached allows humans to alter their moral behaviour accordingly. Hegel therefore proposed that the state embodies reason which is reflected in its legal and justice systems; comparatively contemporary society demonstrates a higher philosophical quality than past mundane civil societies. (Karl Marx later rejected Hegelian philosophy in favour of ''materialism'': Philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point is to change )

Materialism

Karl Marx's earliest academic contributions are his criticisms of Hegel's social philosophy. Marx rejected Hegel's idealism in favour of ''materialistic'' explanation of history and social change. Marx proposed the state is a reflection of ''class relations''; the relationship between groups who control different levels of capital. Throughout history social change can be understood through materialism: ''The history of all hithero existing societies is the history of class struggles.. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf.. in a word, oppressor and oppressed''

Contradictions of Capitalism

Marx predicts that the fate of capitalism is inevitably doomed because its contradictory development. Capitalism as an economic system is competitive, firms are in constant competition with one another to dominate the market to which they belong. To achieve this firms continually look for methods to reduce production cost in order to create large surplus to reinvest into production innovations:''The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production''. However, this will eventually result in profits being undermined because as workers become ever replaced by technology their wages will no longer fuel the capitalist system, this is refereed to as a ''systematic contradiction''. In addition to this ''Social contradictions'' are also created: the antagonism between the capitalist class and the proletariat increases due to widening in the luxuries and wealth: ''The various interests and conditions of life within the ranks on the proletariat are more and more equalised, in proportion as machinery obliterates all distinctions of labour, and nearly every when reduces wages to the same low level''

Economic Exploitation

Marx proposed that society is a direct reflection of its economic relations. Understanding society therefore means to understand the movement and ownership of the means of production (forces and relations of production). Relations to the modes of production constitute class relations: ''society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat''. - The Bourgeoisie are the expiatory minority, who have control over the forces of production and therefore control wage rate, -The proletariat are the exploited majority, who have to work under the rule of the Bourgeoisie, their wage rate is frequently set beneath market value of the goods they produce,

Alienation

Marx proposed that the expression of human intellect and creativity is what shapes and empowers human existence by allowing each individual fulfil their conception of what it means for human existence to flourish. However, under capitalism humans have become tied to productive forces and had to suppress their human intellect and creativity in place of an exploratory wage to survival under a set, bourgeoisie regime. To overcome the alienation imposed by the bourgeoise regime Marx proposed the working proletariat must engage in a socio-political revolution to achieve a socialist (and later communist) state

Capitalist Benefit of Alienation

Marx proposes our participation in productive systems is inherent because humans conform to ''altruistic'' behaviours: labour is the essence of human life, because humans inherently produce for the benefit of communal survival (''production life... is species life''). However, the alienating capitalist system functions by workers producing goods which they have no control of and are used against those who produce them (because their worth is greater than the labourers wage rate). Therefore, creating socio-economic divides between producers and owners (of capital) in society - ''activity under the domination, coercion and yoke of another man''. The distribution of goods within the capitalist society is what differentiates it from a feudalistic society - humans no longer relate cooperatively, rather competitively: love and trust replaced by bargaining and exchange. (humans are not recognised by their nature, but their instruments for furthering their own and their superiors egoistic and competitive interests). Featured in: Das Kapital

Superstructure

Marx regards all non-economic institutions and beliefs (cultural and social) as inherently bound with the system of economic production. This is because the economy is built upon the socio-cultural ideals of a society (for example, production stems social demand). The collectivity of non-economic systems and beliefs is referred to as the ''superstructure''. Marx regards the superstructure as a vail for the capitalist regime, masking its exploitative nature by distracting the proletariat from the reality of their existence. For example, christianity can be perceived as motivating the acquisition of wealth (a premise of capitalism) i.e."The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." (Proverbs 22:7), this notion reinforces the capitalist ideal that with money comes social power, therefore humans are likely to pursue this the acquisition of wealth and be obscured from the reality of their alienation: ''money is the universal, self-constituted value of all things. hence it has robbed the whole world, the human world of its proper value. Money is the alienation of man's labour and life, dominates him as he worships it'' (''On the Jewish Question' - Karl Marx). Marx coined the oppression of the proletariat by religion as the ''opium of the masses''

Neo-Marxist Perspectives on Superstructure

Marx was writing in the youth on contemporary capitalism, today it exists as a global phenomena as its productive forces exist across the globe. However, capitalism has not retained its image it has adapted to the contradictory forces that condemn its existence. This has led many Neo-marxists to reform classical marxism to understand it in contemporary society. In Britain the provision of welfare services have been criticised for dampening the antagonising impacts of wealth inequalities - for example; whilst the NHS serves an altruistic role in society it marginalises the material inequality between the wealthy and the poor in terms of medical provision, therefore preventing a social revolution that would serve society a much greater benefit over a longer period of time. (see also: Gramsci trade union criticism)

The Communist Manifesto

The communist manifesto is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. Published in London in 1848 it was commissioned by the communist league and acts fundamentally as a doctrine and guide to contemporary communism. Within the pamphlet Marx spells out his social and political philosophy; ''The history of all hither existing societies is the history of class struggles''. Marx paves a political prediction that society under capitalism is simply a milestone in the journey to capitalism (feudalism -> capitalism -> socialism -> communism).

Capitalism

The system of capitalism is an economic system and mode of production in which trade industries, and the means of production are privately owned. Private individual and cooperations operate under capitalism for profit. This is achieved through the production of goods costing less than the good sale, creating an overall increase in money for the private individuals. Five postulates predispose the existence of a capitalist system: 1.) Private ownership of the means of production 2.) All activities geared for profit production 3.) Market framework 4.) Private appropriation of profit 5.) Formally free labour