Marxism

Marxism

The term “Marxism,” as we use it in this class, refers more to a critical framework for analyzing the system of capitalism than it refers to a structure of government.

Certainly, Marx’s original texts, such as The Communist Manifesto and Capital, contained predictions for the future of society—a revolution would topple capitalism, which would be followed by a transitional period of proletarian rule, which would eventually lead to a stateless, classless, communist society (please forgive the heavily condensed account). In practice, however, world history has not progressed as Marx predicted. So what should we make of his writing today?

As critical communications scholar Robert McChesney points out in Communication Revolution, just because Marx “does not have a lot to say to us—in fact, very little—about the process of social change and what a postcapitalist society would look like….does not mean scholars should throw Marx under the bus” (47-48). Being a Marxist does not mean “being a supporter of one-party dictatorships” (46). The unacceptable treatment of life and civil liberties under large-scale communist regimes in the mid-20th century should not make Western intellectuals complacent with our current capitalist system, which, after all, has led to its own set of abuses. Instead, we should take the best of what Marx has to offer—a critical mode of analysis for understanding the capitalistic system and its far-reaching consequences.

Marx’s analysis and observations of capitalism are too numerous to list here, but some of his most salient ideas to the theories we are studying in class include:

• Commodity Fetishism – The false belief that the value of a commodity comes from the commodity itself rather than the human labor that went into it. This process masks class relations and the conditions of labor. To read more, see Capital, Vol. 1, available online at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm#S1

• Accumulation – Under capitalism, firms need to continually grow and achieve profits. However, these firms also need consumers with enough money (or the ability to borrow money) to purchase their products. Harvey draws from other theorists when he writes: “A regime of accumulation ‘describes the stabilization over a long period of the allocation of the net product between consumption and accumulation; it implies some correspondence between the transformation of the conditions of production and the conditions of reproduction of wage earners.’” (121). In The Condition of Postmodernity, Harvey argues that we have shifted from a Fordist regime of accumulation to a post-Fordist, flexible regime of accumulation.

Another highly influential Marxist theory is that of materialism, or historical materialism. This concept is explored in its own wiki entry.