The Cultural Marxism of Work Reform

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Jana Bartoloni

Sociology 401

9/29/05

The Cultural Marxism of Work Reform

The economy today tends to consist of class struggles between the ruling class and the working class. Karl Marx was able to develop two specific theories based on his views of class struggle and the economy. These two views are called: structural/classical Marxist theory and cultural Marxist theory. Structural/classical Marxist theory refers to two specific classes; the bourgeoisie (capitalist, ruling class) and the proletariat (working class). This theory deals with social class and inequality based on the means of production. The social conflict between the two classes leads to the class struggle which Marx bases his theory on. The structural Marxist theory also deals with his idea of a base and superstructures. The base is considered the economy and the superstructures are meant to be what the economy consists of (institutions, forms of consciousness political and cultural practices). In his second theory, cultural Marxism, he uses the concepts ideology, hegemony, and determination to explain why certain events happen. Each of these concepts have to do with the idea that the economy changes because of beliefs or ideas and things remain the same because you convince them to stay the same. The events of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire article can be explained using both of these Marxist theories. For the purpose of this paper I will be defending Cultural Marxist theory as the best explanation of the events presented in the article.

The first concept of cultural Marxism I am going to look at is determination. Determination is a concept that has to do with an event occurring because of some force other then their own will. Raymond Williams explained it in terms of Marxism when he said, "at any particular point in time, men find themselves born, thus the 'accessible' conditions into which the 'determining' process is 'independent of their will' not in the historical sense that they have inherited it but in the absolute sense that they cannot control it; they can seek only to understand it and guide their actions accordingly" (Williams, 85). The outcome of the triangle shirtwaist company fire was "independent of their will" because it was not the working class that started the reform of working conditions or fueled the union movement. It was the public's disgust of the event that occurred due to the working conditions that lead to the reform. Also the owners of the Shirtwaist company were forced to pay $75.00 to each of the twenty-three families who lost a family member in the fire. This was independent of their will because it was not the people that forced this event it was the court that ordered the company owners to pay, proving that cultural Marxism and determination are one explanation of the events in this article.
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Another concept of cultural Marxism is hegemony. The article starts off with the working class doing long hours everyday and being paid low because they were controlled by the ruling class but by the end of the article the class that was once ruled has become part of the ruling class. Gramsci suggested, "In a hegemonic system, democracy between the ruling group and the ruled groups exists to the extent that the development of the economy, and therefore of the legislation which expresses that development , holds open the channels for the ruled to enter the ruling group" ...

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