ipl-logo

Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

446 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Marxist theory in modern society

This essay will seek to legitimize the belief that Marx would uphold the idea that political protest always improves society, through an analysis of the three primary aspects of Marxism. It will begin by establishing an understanding of Marx material and dialectical concept of history as the root of social exploitation and the predecessor of capitalist society. It will then move onto a critique of capitalism using the concept of alienation to prove why, on a social psychological level, change is necessary to improve society. Finally, it will discuss Marx advocacy of proletarian revolution and the inevitability of class struggle, both of which solidify his theory of historiography and economic profit as the forces that drive society. Firstly then, we must begin with an …show more content…

He furthers this argument by claiming that his materialist conception of history transcends into social consciousness. Marx views history through a dialectical lense and uses his theory of historical materialism as a fundamental pillar in his social philosophies. The Marxist view of history as “material” challenged the Hegelian beliefs of his time by proposing that history results from matter and material goods, rather than on ideological fallacies like religion and fate. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Marx, the Communist Manifesto) This statement is important for two reasons. First, it encompases Marx theory of a “base and superstructure.” His theory holds that changes in the mode of production, or the economic base of society create change in the superstructure of the political system. Marx sees a two essential forces as shaping history. Using a methodological approach Marx’s historiography distinguishes between the “means of production”, or the actual materials need for production and the social relationships individuals enter into

Show More
Related
735 Words | 3 Pages

Marx explains that society needs to be understood by studying real, existing human beings. We think about individuals historically to gain an understanding of reality. Physical survival is the key component; moreover, individuals need to survive to create history in which Marx studied to create explanations. Social production is a fundamental part of Marx’s theory of historical materialism. He asserts that individuals need to organize themselves and create some sort of order to survive.

Read More
984 Words | 4 Pages

For Marx, production is central to life; "…it is a definite form of activity… a definite form of expressing life." (Tucker:150). Mankind and therefore history progresses, as and when, these material productive forces come into conflict with the prevailing relations of production. In other words, whenever the means of production and the relations of production come into conflict, there is a revolution that alters the economic foundations of society causing the entire superstructure to be transformed. For Marx, “real sensuous activity” was the driving force behind history.

Read More
960 Words | 4 Pages

Marx argues that due to division of labor and class struggle, “man comes to objectify himself through this mere one-dimension he has created and identifies with” (Marx p.475). The class struggle resulted from division of labor created an inequality where some will own the means of production, and the lower class who provides or sells their labor or “self” to survive working for those owners of means of product. This two groups are simply explained as bourgeoisies and proletariats by Marx. As the industrialization and society modernizes, the inequality will prevail observably. Marx argues that the proletariats will revolt against bourgeoisies and lead to the fall of capitalism and rise of communism.

Read More
812 Words | 4 Pages

In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” he too argues that people do not realize that there is a greater world, or a greater good out there. Humans only focus on what is right in front of them, what makes sense to them in their own realities and prefer to remain in their comfort zones. Plato’s allegory is told as a dialogue between Plato’s mentor, Socrates, as well as Plato’s brother, Glaucon, whom of which agrees to everything that Socrates states. In the allegory, there are prisoners who are trapped inside. However, one of the prisoners is freed and is given the opportunity to learn of the greater world.

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

Karl Marx Karl Marx was a German sociologist who contribution to sociology is known as Marxism (Rubel, 1968). Marx’s influence paved the way to a new theoretical perspective known as conflict theory. Unlike Durkheim, this paradigm suggests that society has conflict due to specific groups struggling to obtain scarce resources (Lindsey et al, 2009). Marx looked at two classes, the bourgeoisie, also known as the capitalist, and the proletariat, also known as the working class. He stated that the economic structure is the reason for the inequality and that those who have wealth have the power to control society (Coser, 1968).

Read More
1543 Words | 7 Pages

Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.

Read More
1079 Words | 5 Pages

The idea behind this according to Marx is that history is a series of stages, defined by their mode of production and the struggle between classes: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. " According to Marx, the current historical stage is the capitalist historical stage. This is the conflict between the bourgeoisie (middle class) and the proletariat (working class). This theory is supported by the historical stages preceding the capitalist historical stage which can easily be defined by their modes of production and class struggle, or lack thereof.

Read More
947 Words | 4 Pages

The three main ideas from it that i will discuss are: The struggles of class, The abolishment of private property and Alienation. -Struggle with Class "The history of all hitherto societies has been the history of class struggles", this is the famous opening to Marx's Communist Manifesto. He goes on to describe the past and existing classes of society and the system of hierarchy. A system of higher and lower classes has always existed.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

The key concepts that I will discuss in this assignment are the theories and ideas of Karl Marx on Alienation, Exploitation, Materialism and Class struggle. The objective of this assignment is to examine the literature written about Karl Marx in order to clearly present his main ideas and theories in relation to work and capital. In the second part of my assignment I will discuss what relevance these theories and ideas have in today’s world. Karl Heinrich Marx the philosopher and revolutionary socialist was born on the 5th of May 1818 and died on the 14th of March 1883. He was born in the city of Trier in Germany and studied law in Bonn University.

Read More
1802 Words | 8 Pages

INTRODUCTION This essay will discuss the concept of one of the greatest economists, a philosopher, a journalist, a historian, also known and believed to be one of the founding fathers of sociology. Karl Marx, made a contribution to sociology in the 19th century. He developed a sociological theory that stated that human societies progress through a struggle between two distinct classes, namely; the bourgeoise and proletariat. It claims that society is in conflict between the rich who own and control everything, and the poor who must work for the rich and be rewarded very little for their hard work. The theory is known as the conflict theory or the Marxist theory or Marxism, which is more concerned about the class struggle within the society,

Read More
1011 Words | 5 Pages

Marxian Theory This essay is a critical analysis of the theories given by Karl Marx of class struggles and alienation with specific emphasis on the concept of 'bourgeois' and 'proletariat' and it is illustrated with the help of the Italian film 'The Bicycle Thief'. Karl Marx is a German sociologist and has given many theories till date. His theories of society are important as they are concentrated on economic issues whereby he has connected economic problems to social institutions and have inspired many communist regimes in the 20th century. "Marxism refers to the political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx in which the concepts of class struggle plays a central role in understanding society's allegedly inevitable development

Read More
1140 Words | 5 Pages

Capitalism, according to Karl Marx is divided into two major social classes: the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie, which is the minority of the class system, own the means of production such as land, machinery, factories and raw materials whereas the Proletariat, which is the majority of the class system, having no means of their own production and have to work to earn wage for a living. Karl Marx has his own theory that history is made up by class struggle which he mentioned in his book – Manifesto of the Communist Party: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1848) and had predicted that the Proletariat would lead a revolution to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. Karl Marx believed that there will be intrinsic conflict like exploitation, alienation of labour and commodity fetishism between both of the classes.

Read More
1719 Words | 7 Pages

Marx was one of the most intelligible and perspective critics. However, the study of political sociology refers to the interrelationship between both politics and society and somehow this relationship cannot be separated between both of them or it is hard to separate between both politics and society, because they are interrelated. As a result, of this interconnection between both politics and society, there is a social relationship between both of them which lead to reform in the society and make the community a better place

Read More
1486 Words | 6 Pages

Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.

Read More
1177 Words | 5 Pages

Marx’s use of this method, the dialectical materialism, to analyze the general development of historical events and it is a large outline of the principal stages through which history has moved. The materialist view to history shows that humanity has the capability to survive, as

Read More

More about Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx

Related Topics

Open Document