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Contradictions Of Marxism Analysis

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Through identifying, defining, and understanding the key concepts of Marxism, the preconditions and contradictions of a capitalist society become more prominent. The contradictions of a capitalist society will be introduced through identifying and defining; radical change by societal transformation exploitation, conflict between different social groups (the bourgeoisie and proletariat), and exploitation. The two contradictions “exploitation” and “conflict between social groups” can be explained complimentary to one another as a result of being closely related. Key concepts such as; historical materialism, means of production, class consciousness, superstructure, and alienation will be referred to in order to aid the further understanding of …show more content…

Marx observed society in any possible way he found that he could and through this, he discovered the laws influencing/causing societal and economic evolution (Bowens, Carroll; 2013; 7). Thus the first contradiction of a capitalist society is introduced. Marxism is a universal perspective and method of observing society in such a way that helps to understand the transition from capitalism, which Marx saw as a system that was destined to end, to a society that is much more structured, making social revolution inevitable and a new system replacing capitalism (Heywood; 2003; 113). The single distinguishing factor of Marxism from any other approach is that the theory of historical materialism is firmly believed in (Heywood; 2003; 113). The first key concept introduced, is historical materialism, and this is a theory of Marxism which believes that, “material or economic conditions ultimately structure law, politics, culture and other aspects of social existence” (Heywood; 2003; 113) and that class struggle/conflicts and revolution are two important factors when attempting to encourage and implement a societal …show more content…

Marx thought “class” to be the collective involved in a relationship that can be related closely to the means of production. Means of production can be identified as the physical material/equipment that is needed for economic production and can be in the form of raw materials, machinery, or even land. The means of production is owned by the bourgeoisie who own most of society’s wealth and buy the labour of the proletariat through wages (Spicer, Draper et al; 41). In the pursuit of profit, it is expected of the bourgeoisie to exploit the proletariat (Marsh; 1996; 53). The relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is an exploitative one, referring to the meaning that the proletariat are producing goods through the means of production for the bourgeoisie, and these goods hold a higher value than what the proletariat are being paid (exploitation) which develops into class conflict/struggles. The wages that the proletariat are paid are used for their survival - as well as the survival of their family- however, even though the proletariat are underpaid for their labour , it is not the main concern for the bourgeoisie as they are seeking to gain as much production out of the proletariat as possible (Marsh; 1996; 54). This is a clear

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The production of goods and services during this time period transitioned from manual, artisanal methods to the use of sophisticated machinery propelled by steam, and eventually electricity. Many Britons enjoyed a major rise in their standard of life during this time period of significant economic and social development, but there was also an increase in poverty, child labor, and inequality. During this time, many people found resonance in Karl Marx's theories of historical materialism and dialectical materialism, which made a significant contribution to our understanding of the social and economic upheavals that were taking place. Marxism is a school of political-economic philosophy that has been and continues to be regarded as being strongly critical of capitalism and the capitalist mode of production and accumulation.

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In the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution caused a massive economic spike from small-scale production to large factories and mass production. Capitalism became the prevalent mode of the economy, which put all means of production in the hands of the bourgeoisie, or the upper class. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels argue that capitalism centralizes all the wealth and power in the bourgeoisie, despite the proletariat, or the working class, being the overwhelming majority of the population. The manufacturers would exploit the common proletariat and force them to would work in abysmal conditions and receive low wages, furthering the working class poverty. “The Communist Manifesto” predicts that as a result of the mistreatment

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It is argued that social inequality occurs because of the conflict between the upper-class and the working-class, or as Marx defines it, the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. Based on the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx and Engels, 1848), the divergence emerges because the aim of the Bourgeoisie is to obtain a surplus-value that is produced by the work of the Proletariat. On the other side, the Bourgeoisie provides the Proletariat with the minimum required, such as a place to live and a minimum wage, in order to keep the society under control and avoid a rebellion. However, Marx did predict a revolt of the working-class that would eventually lead to a communist regime. When it comes to applying this theoretical approach to reality, it is evident to notice that no global revolt in regards to capitalism has occurred.

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The three main ideas from the Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, had little to no influence when it was first published in 1848 for the Communist League. However, soon after Marx and Engel’s other writings on socialism became published it grew in popularity, and was considered a standard text of the time (Brians, 2006). With Marx’s radical ideas, and Engels’ thorough writing, they were able to convey how they were individual of the other socialists of the time and elaborate on their idea socialism and how it would inevitably be achieved. The three main ideas from The Communist Manifesto are class conflict, ephemeral capitalism, and inevitable revolution.

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Karl Marx talks about the role of communism and his conjecture of underlying this type of revolution. He speaks of two different class struggles, the "Bourgeoisie and Proletarians". Bourgeoisie are the people with authority, the ones who own production and are bosses of wage labor while the proletariat are the individuals with no authority, no ownership and are giving up their own power to the Bourgeoisie in order to survive. Societies began to separate and became hostile and aggressive classes. It all became about social ranking because of the increase and need of production.

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Marx believed that the class struggle forced social change. Marx’s theory is based on a class system

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The proletariats are the wage earners or the labour class, in a capitalist society the proletarians don’t have much wealth, and their main asset is their labour power. The bourgeoisie is the class that owns the means of production, their class interest lies in the value of property and the preservation of capital, and this ensures their perpetual economic supremacy in society. According to Marx, in the capitalist mode of production, a worker slowly loses the power to decide upon his or her life and destiny, they lose their Gattungswesen (“species-essence”), and this is a consequence of living in a socially stratified society, where human beings become a mechanistic part of a social class. Even though human beings are self-conscious and autonomous, in a capitalist society they are nothing but an economic entity whose acts are dictated by the bourgeoisie, with the aim

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Marx believed that the current capitalist society is separated into two classes, the Proletariat society, and Bourgeois society. The Proletarians, as perceived by Marx, are part of the working class that only possess one significant material value, that is the ability to work, or labour power. The Bourgeoise, on the other hand, is the societal class that owns the means of production and hence rule over the Proletarians. As I quote from Marx’s book, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1988, p. 473)

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According to Edwards et al. (2006) Marx thought that within capitalism there would be an increased divide between the bourgeoisie class and the proletariat class in the future. The proletariats are lower of the two classes, the people who have to work for wages in order to survive. The bourgeoisie are the people in society who controlled and owned the means of production in a capitalist system.

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Marx saw capital and liberal democracies as the fundamental reasons for the low standards of living and the low social conditions of workers. Karl Marx in particular is especially concerned with the political assumptions behind these two ideologies. According to him, these two types of government should be replaced by communism, since communism would provide a more equal and socially just society. Although this statement may seem unusual, since we tend to associate communism with Stalin and China, the type of communism implemented in these countries is different from the communism that Marx and Engels envisaged in their Communist Manifesto. Marx and Engels’ vision of communism is based on the principle of equality among the people and freedom

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Bourgeoisie, which gains the power, defines superstructure “including all social and legal institution, all political and educational systems, all religions and all art” (Bressler, 162), and articulate the ideology which is based on profits of bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie ideology leads to alienation of individuals, especially proletariats. This bourgeoisie ideology creates the clash between the two classes. Marx supported the working class and their victory over dominant class. Marxism believes in providing equal opportunity to the working class as that are available to the

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This theory is based on the principles that the value of man is based on the forced job or potential job; economy as a factor that determines the action of society; the struggle of social classes are the construct of its history; it is also taken into consideration the proletariat and the bourgeois, among others. Marxism is the sign of the struggle for a balance between the oppressed and the upper class to create a better world for

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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.

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CHAPTER 3 CLASS STRUGGLE Generally class struggle means conflict between the upper class and lower class the idea of Class struggle is long-used mostly by socialists and communists, who define a class by its relationship to the means of production such as factories, land, and machinery. From this point of view, the social control of production and labour is a fight between classes, and the division of these resources basically involves conflict and causes damage. Societies are socially divided based on status, wealth, or control of social production and distribution, and in this division of class conflict arises. It is important to know Karl Marx theory on class struggle; he viewed the structure of society in relation to

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In the Communist manifesto, a well known quote of Marx, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” This is introductory to the first part of the pamphlet and a conclusion to Marx’s theory about class struggle. Marx’s highly structured on how the class struggle emerges and affects the development of a society. The development of a society from the old and from the new is the result of the conflict of classes in the society.

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