Outline Conditions: Problem(s) we face, relevance of Marxism - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1
Slide2

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”