Marx amp Engels particularly drawing from Theses on Feuerbach Anti Duhring Dialectics of Nature far from comprehensive Limitations of Marx Expansions and contradictions of historical materialism VI Lenin Alexandra Kollontai Antonio Gramsci ID: 697105
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Slide1Slide2
Outline
Conditions: Problem(s) we face, relevance of Marxism
Marx & Engels:
particularly drawing from
Theses on Feuerbach, Anti-
Duhring
, Dialectics of
Nature
, far from comprehensive
Limitations of Marx
Expansions and contradictions of historical materialism: VI Lenin, Alexandra Kollontai, Antonio Gramsci
Degeneration of actually-existing socialism: some perspectives
Importance of historical materialist analysis todaySlide3
Problems we face:
Unjust systemSlide4
Problems we face:
ideological impasse
Legacy of states such as the Soviet Union: widespread
skepticism
, especially in the West, about Marxism
Many do not want to identify with a political label (feminism, socialism, left, right)
Two questions:
i) are labels such as “socialist” or “capitalist” useful?
ii) What is Marxism and is it relevant?Slide5
What is
marxism
:
marx
&
engelsSlide6
“The
condition of the working-class is the real basis and point of departure of all social movements of the present because it is the highest and most unconcealed pinnacle of the social misery existing in our day. French and German working-class
Communism
are its direct,
Fourierism
and English
Socialism,
as well as the Communism of the German educated bourgeoisie, are its indirect
products.”
-Frederick Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England
Marxism is not the only worldview to proceed from this recognition, but it is central to our outlook
What is
marxism
:
SocialismSlide7
What is
marxism
:
dialectics
Greek philosopher Heraclitus considered an early dialectical thinker: “Everything flows and nothing stays,” “Cold things grow hold, a hot thing cold, a moist thing withers, a parched thing is wetted.”
Recognition of the unity of opposites, how contradictions resolve into something new, the capacity for
change
and
motion
German philosopher Hegel developed a highly influential theory of dialectics, which Marx and Engels drew from
However Hegel proceeded from the Idea, and saw the material as a reflection of this. Hegel did not focus on production, class, exploitation.
Theses on Feuerbach
:
“The question whether objective truth can be attributed to human thinking is not a question
of theory
but is a practical question.
[People]
must prove the truth — i.e. the reality and power,
the this-sidedness
of
[their]
thinking in practice.”Slide8
What is
marxism
:
Materialism
Marx and Engels sought to synthesise dialectics (which is about change) with materialism (which is about existing reality)
Classic materialism was seen as too fixed, too rigid, not human enough
Theses on Feuerbach
begins:
“The chief defect of all hitherto existing materialism… is that the thing, reality,
sensuousness, is
conceived only in the form of the object or of contemplation, but not as sensuous
human activity
, practice, not subjectively
.”
"The materialist doctrine... forgets that circumstances are changed by [people] and that it
is essential
to educate the
educator
.“Slide9
What is
marxism
:
dialectical materialism
Engels’
Dialectics of Nature
is the first major work to try and define ‘dialectical materialism’
Engels distinguishes between “objective dialectics,” the existing world, and “subjective dialectics,” our description and understanding of the world
“
This problem is one that no single individual will ever be able to solve
.”
“
Labour
is the source of all
wealth, the
political economists assert. And it really is the source – next to nature, which supplies it
with the
material that it converts into wealth. But it is even infinitely more than this. It is the prime
basic condition for all human existence, and this to such an extent that, in a sense, we have to say
that
labour
created [humanity itself.]”-Frederick Engels, Dialectics of NatureSlide10
Limitations of
marx
& Engels
As 19
th
Century European males, they didn’t deal sufficiently with colonisation (which was in its early stages) with women’s oppression (although they supported suffrage and Engels’
Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State
lays a basis for Marxist-feminist analysis) or with many other forms of specific oppression
Later volumes of
Capital
aimed to flesh out a Marxist theory of the state, but this was not completed (Marx being mortal)
Science has developed substantially since their era, for example measuring global warmingSlide11
Development of “
marxism
”
VI Lenin developed theory of the state, theory of the party, and identified imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism
Alexandra Kollontai critiqued the increasing dominance of party bureaucrats, also developed the analysis of women’s liberation and the family
Antonio Gramsci developed theory of hegemony, the way ideology reproduces itself in non-revolutionary periodsSlide12
Marxist critiques of
socialist attempts
Trotskyist: Bureaucracy took power and socialism degenerated. Collective property is progressive, but needs to be backed by workers’ democracy and internationalism.
Maoist: During transition to socialism, party contains reactionary elements. Needs to be a struggle within Marxist parties against “capitalist roaders” (bureaucrats.)
Key point: capitalism took centuries to establish, establishing socialism is a complex long-term process not an eventSlide13
Relevance today?
Important to name the problem, to understand it
C
apitalism is sophisticated and capable of co-opting struggle
Must be internal struggle, willingness to revise ideas, engagement
with changing conditions
Marxists can act as a “memory of the class”