Marxism

Marxism as a theoretical system developed out of, and drew inspiration from, the writings of Karl Marx. However, ‘Marxism’ as a codified body of thought came into existence only after Marx’s death. It was the product of the attempt by later Marxists to condense Marx’s ideas and theories into a systematic and comprehensive world view that suited the needs of the growing socialist movement. However, a variety of Marxist traditions can be identified, including ‘classical’ Marxism (the Marxism of Marx), ‘orthodox’ Marxism or ‘dialectical materialism’, the mechanistic form of Marxism that served as the basis for Soviet communism, and ‘Western’, ‘modern’ or ‘neo’ Marxism, which tend to view Marxism as a humanist philosophy and are sceptical about its scientistic and determinist pretensions.

The cornerstone of Marxist philosophy is what Engels called the ‘materialist conception of history’. This highlights the importance of economic life and the conditions under which people produce and reproduce their means of subsistence, reflected, simplistically, in the belief that the economic ‘base’, consisting essentially of the ‘mode of production’, or economic system, conditions or determines the ideological and political ‘superstructure’. Marxist theory therefore explains social, historical and cultural development in terms of material and class factors. The basis of the Marxist tradition is Marx’s teleological theory of history, which suggests that history is driven forward through a dialectical process in which internal contradictions within each mode of production are reflected in class antagonism. Capitalism, then, is only the most technologically advanced of class societies, and is itself destined to be overthrown in a proletarian revolution which will culminate in the establishment of a classless, communist society.

Marxism has constituted for most of the modern period the principal alternative to liberalism as the basis for political thought. Its critique of liberalism amounts to an attack on individualism and the narrow concern with civic and political rights, on the grounds that it ignores wider social and historical developments and thereby conceals the reality of unequal class power. Liberalism is thus the classic example of bourgeois ideology, in that it serves to legitimise capitalist class relations. Nevertheless, modern Marxists, repelled by the Bolshevik model of orthodox communism, have sometimes sought to blend Marxism with aspects of liberal democracy, notably political pluralism and electoral democracy. Marxist theories have influenced feminism and provide the basis of socialist feminism, which highlights links between capitalism and patriarchy. Marxism, further, provided the basis for critical theory, which attempted to blend Marxist political economy with Hegelian philosophy and Freudian psychology. Attempts have also been made to fuse Marxism with certain rational choice theories, notably in the form of so-called analytical Marxism.

The intellectual attraction of Marxism has been that it embodies a remarkable breadth of vision, offering to understand and explain virtually all aspects of social and political existence and uncovering the significance of processes that conventional theory ignores. Politically, it has attacked exploitation and oppression, and had a particularly strong appeal to disadvantaged groups and peoples. However, Marxism’s star has dimmed markedly since the late twentieth century. To some extent, this occurred as the tyrannical and dictatorial features of communist regimes themselves were traced back to Marx’s ideas and assumptions. Marxist theories were, for instances, seen as implicitly monistic in that rival belief systems are dismissed as ideological. The crisis of Marxism, however, intensified as a result of the collapse of communism in the revolutions of 1989–91. This suggested that if the social and political forms which Marxism had inspired (however unfaithful they may have been to Marx’s original ideas) no longer exist, Marxism as a world-historical force is effectively dead. Although so-called ‘post-Marxists’ have attempted to salvage certain key Marxist insights by trying to reconcile Marxism with aspects of postmodernism, in renouncing historical materialism and class analysis they have, arguably, abandoned the very ideas that made Marxist theory distinctive.

Key figures

Karl Marx The breadth and complexity of Marx’s own writings has made it difficult to establish the ‘Marxism of Marx’. A distinction is sometimes drawn between the ‘young Marx’ and the ‘mature Marx’. Marx’s early writings portray him to be a humanist socialist, concerned about alienation, the commodification and depersonalisation of labour under capitalism, and interested in human self-realisation under communism. However, in his later writings, Marx undertook a highly detailed examination of the economic conditions of capitalism, leading some to describe him as an economic determinist and the progenitor of later orthodox Marxism.

Friedrich Engels (1820–95) A German industrialist and life-long friend and collaborator of Marx, Engels elaborated Marx’s ideas and theories for the benefit of the growing socialist movement in the late nineteenth century. He emphasised the role of the dialectic as a force operating in both social life and nature, helping to give rise to dialectical materialism as a distinct brand of Marxism, and portraying Marxism in terms of a specific set of historical laws. Engels also extended materialist analysis to the family, arguing that monogamous marriage involves the subjection of women by men and has its origins in the institution of private property. Engels’ major works include Anti-Du¨hring (1877–8), The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884) and Dialectics of Nature (1925).

Vladimir Illyich Lenin (1870–1924) A Russian revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union, 1917–24, Lenin was the most influential Marxist theorist of the twentieth century. He was primarily concerned with the issues of organisation and revolution, emphasising the central importance of a tightly-organised ‘vanguard’ party to lead and guide the proletarian class. Lenin analysed colonialism as an economic phenomenon and highlighted the possibility of turning world war into class war. He was also firmly committed to the ‘insurrectionary road’ to socialism and rejected electoral democracy as ‘parliamentary cretinism’. Lenin’s best known works include What Is to Be Done? (1902), Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916) and The State and Revolution (1917).

Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) A Russian revolutionary and political thinker, Trotsky was an early critic of Lenin’s theory of the party, but joined the Bolsheviks in 1917. His theoretical contribution to Marxism centres on the theory of permanent revolution, which suggested that socialism could be established in Russia without the need for the bourgeois stage of development. Trotskyism is usually associated with an unwavering commitment to internationalism and with a denunciation of Stalinism that portrays it as a form of bureaucratic degeneration. Trotsky’s major writings include Results and Prospects (1906), History of the Russian Revolution (1931) and The Revolution Betrayed (1936).

Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) An Italian Marxist and social theorist, Gramsci tried to redress the emphasis within orthodox Marxism upon economic and material factors. He rejected any form of ‘scientific’ determinism by stressing, through the theory of hegemony (the dominance of bourgeois ideas and beliefs), the importance of the political and intellectual struggle. Gramsci highlighted the degree to which ideology is embedded at every level in society and called for the establishment of a rival ‘proletarian hegemony’, based upon socialist principles, values and theories. Gramsci’s major work is Prison Notebooks ([1929–35] 1971).

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) A Chinese Marxist theorist and leader of the People’s Republic of China, 1949–76, Mao adapted Marxism–Leninism to the needs of an overwhelmingly agricultural and still traditional society. His ideological legacy is often associated with the Cultural Revolution, 1966–70, a radical egalitarian movement that denounced elitism and ‘capitalist roaders’. Maoism emphasizes the importance of politics in the form of the radical zeal of the masses, acknowledges the necessity of opposition and conflict, and stresses community rather than hierarchic state organization. Mao’s main works include On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship (1949), On the Ten Major Relationships (1956) and On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among People (1957).

Further reading

Avineri, S. The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press, 1968.

Kolakowski, L. Main Currents of Marxism, 3 vols. Oxford University Press, 1978.

McLellan, D. Marxism After Marx. London: Macmillan, 1980.

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