“The enslavement of the collectivity to its own products entails the mutual isolation of individuals” (2).
This shows that the alienation of society and alienation of the product of labour are closely linked.
The State
“The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” (3)
This is the clearest assertion of the basic notion of Marxist theory of the state. The interests of the two classes: the dominant and the subject class, were not equally reflected in the legislation and decisions that emerged from the state. He views the state as the means whereby the ruling class forcibly maintains its rule over the other classes.
The nature of the technological and economic system of each society determines the power relations within that society, dividing it between those who own and control the means of production and those who are exploited. These classes struggle over resources and when the technological and economic base of society changes, a new class develops.
Historical Materialism
Marxists called the study of how societies developed over time the dialectic materialist theory of history. Marx viewed history in terms of different forms of ownership and essentially thought that there were four distinct stages (or epochs) – tribal, ancient, feudal and capitalist.
Tribal This was a form of primitive communism. It was based on a productive system based around kinship and where individual members co-operatively produced the means to survive collectively – therefore there were no struggles between classes as it simply did not exist.
Ancient Tribes merged and formed cities and states. Property became privately owned and a system of class relations developed from this ownership. The relationship between owners and producers of labour formed a class system of citizen and slave (e.g. ancient Rome).
Feudal The chief form of property in this stage was landed property, with a class system emerging between enserfed peasants who perform the physical labour, and the aristocracy, who had social and political rights giving them power over the serfs.
Capitalism With the industrial revolution meaning that working on the land had given way to working in factories etc – the peasant serfs from the previous epoch were now effectively turned into ‘wage slaves’ who must sell their labour in order to meet their economic needs. There was a widespread emergence of private property and a developed class system of capitalists who own the means of production – who Marx termed the bourgeoisie – and the workers, the proletariat.
Marx believed that the next epoch would emerge as the proletariat started to develop class consciousness (breaking free from the ‘false consciousness’ that led them to believe that they weren’t exploited). They would realise that they were oppressed and would rise up in revolt and overthrow capitalism in a socialist revolution. In the first stages of socialism the state would be a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ where the workers would rule the other classes by force.
“The class domination of the workers over the existing strata of the old world must last until the economic foundations of the existence of classes are destroyed.” (4)
Road to Revolution
Marx’s theory of the road to revolution is as follows: -
Communism (re-distribution of wealth)
Withering away of the state (the state / establishment disbanded)
Socialism
Dictatorship of the proletariat (the working class have control)
Seizure of state power (coup d’etat)
Revolutionary class consciousness (proletariat become politically and class conscious – break free from false consciousness)
Immiseration of the proletariat (through poverty, oppression etc)
Economic Crisis (unemployment, booms and slumps in the economy)
Socialism would be the lower phase through which the higher phase of communism would be reached. The revolutionary transformation of the one into the other would negate the need for such a workers dictatorship. Once a communist society was achieved, Marx believed that there would be no social classes and thus no need for a state.
In this new era of material abundance and self regulation, the state would finally ‘wither away’ completely. Government, the judicial system etc would no longer be necessary. These institutions were based on the assumption that there would be conflicts of interest in society that would need to be regulated. In communism though, class will have vanished and therefore so would the basis of conflicts. Also with peoples material needs being met and the abolition of private property the main reason behind the system for law and order would no longer be required either.
Criticism of Marx’s Theory
Marx believed that it was inevitable there would be a revolution – he did not realise that the bourgeoisie would make concessions to the proletariat helped by the formation of trade unions. He also believed in class being bipolar whereas with the rise of ‘middle class’ there is multi polarisation. Marx’s view was that the larger and more powerful companies (or bourgeoisie) would takeover the smaller independent ones leading to a rise in the numbers of the proletariat. Though to an extent this does happen – there are numerous small or middle sized independent business still going strong – there are also laws now to prevent monopolies and competition is encouraged.
Marx’s theory of history has to be commended though as it is an insightful view into how class struggles have shaped society.
References
- Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party
- H. Marcuse, Reason and Revolution
- Das Kapital
- Conspectus on Bakunin
Bibliography
Introduction to Psychology, GC Davenport, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2000
Models of Democracy, David Held, Polity Press, 1987
Plato to Nato – Studies in Political Thought, B Redhead, Penguin Books Ltd, 1995
Politics class notes
Sociology class notes
