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Marxism

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Marx and Engels 1860s

Karl Marx (right) and Friedrich Engels (left), 1860s

Marxism, sometimes known as Scientific Socialism, is a political philosophy and scientific method of socioeconomic and historical analysis based in the theory of historical materialism, to understand social conflict and class relations. Marxism was initially synthesized by Karl Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels in the 19th century. At its core, Marxism tries to explain how societies develop, how economic systems shape human life, and why social inequalities; especially class inequalities, exist.

In Marxist analysis, class is not determined by one's personal wealth, but by ones relations to the means of production. The means of production are the raw materials needed to produce basic goods and services, primarily necessities. While classes haven't always been the same throughout history, there has always been a ruling class and oppressed class of some form. Marxist analysis doesn't just apply to history, politics, and socioeconomics, but to many fields of study, such as film theory, evolution and zoology, mathematics, cultural studies, humanities, science fiction, ethics, criminology, theatre, urban planning, psychoanalysis, sociology, archaeology, astronomy, and art theory.

Classes Under the Capitalist Mode of Production
Class Name Emerged Definition
Bourgeoisie 1500s-1700s The bourgeoisie, or the class of capitalists, is the highest class in capitalist society. The bourgeoisie extracts the labour power[Note 1] and surplus value of proletarians in exchange for giving them a wage, and profits by selling the labour power of the proletarian. The bourgeoisie is the ruling class.
Petty Bourgeoisie 1700s-1800s The petty bourgeoisie[Note 2] is generally considered the "middle" class of capitalist society. The petty bourgeoisie is defined by small amounts of control over the means of production, but lacks the practice of extracting labour power[Note 1] from workers.
Proletariat 1600s-1700s The proletariat, or class of proletarians, is the working-class under the capitalist mode of production. The proletariat is defined by the extraction of their labour power[Note 1] and the surplus value[Note 3] they create by the capitalist, in return for a wage. In Marxist analysis, the term used for the extraction of surplus value is "exploitation". The proletariat has little to no control over the means of production.
Lumpenproletariat 1800s The lumpenproletariat is the class which has no direct relations to the means of production. The lumpenproletariat is generally considered the "lowest" class in capitalist society, and includes groups such as the homeless, sex workers[Note 4], and jobless adults.

Commodities[]

Commodities are goods and services (ie. products) with a use-value and an exchange-value. Use-value is the ability of a commodity to satisfy human needs and/or wants, and exchange-value is the price of a commodity on the market. Goods and services without a use-value and/or exchange-value are just products, not commodities.

Base, Superstructure, and Modes of Production[]

Marxist scientific analysis views a society's economic mode of production as the foundation of its social, political, and intellectual life, a concept known as the base and superstructure model. The base refers to the mode of production which includes the forces and relations of production in which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of human life. The superstructure refers to society's other relationships and ideas not directly relating to production, including but not limited to; its culture, politics, religion, media, state, institutions, social norms, etc. The base of society shapes the superstructure, while the superstructure maintains the base. The base is generally considered the dominant part of society as a whole. The modes of production include the primitive mode of production ("primitive communism"), the ancient mode of production ("slavery"), the feudal mode of production ("feudalism"), the tributary mode of production ("tributarism"), the capitalist mode of production ("capitalism"), the lower stage of the communist mode of production ("socialism"), and the higher stage of the communist mode of production ("communism").

List of Influential Marxists[]

This will be expanded upon.

Orthodox/Classical Marxism[]

Left Communism[]

  • Herman Gorter (1864-1927) (Netherlands)
  • Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960) (Netherlands)
  • Alexander Bogdanov (1873-1928) (Russia)
  • Amadeo Bordiga (1889-1970) (Italy)
  • Onorato Damen (1893-1979) (Italy)
  • Paul Mattick (1904-1981) (Germany/United States)
  • Otto RĆ¼hle (1874-1943) (Germany)

Marxism-Leninism ("Stalinism") (and Derivatives)[]

Bolshevik-Leninism ("Trotskyism")[]

  • Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) (Ukraine)
  • Lev Sedov (1906-1938) (Russia(?))
  • Isaac Deutscher (1907-1967) (Poland)
  • Tony Cliff (1917-2000) (Palestine/England)
  • Ernest Mandel (1923-1995) (Belgium)

Notes and References[]

  1. ā†‘ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The capacity of one to work.
  2. ā†‘ Also known as the "petite bourgeoisie" or the "petty bourgeois".
  3. ā†‘ Surplus value is the difference between the value someone creates, and the wage that they recieve.
  4. ā†‘ Debated.
  1. ā†‘ https://monthlyreview.org/articles/why-socialism/
  2. ā†‘ https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/seven-more-people-they-never-told-you-were-socialists
  3. ā†‘ https://www.cpusa.org/article/were-not-going-back-forward-together/
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