Marx

Question 1

Characteristics

Answer 1

Real world source of social change is the clash of social interests arising from social inequalities

Question 2

What is historical materialism?

Answer 2

1. our interactions with others in the real world shape our consciousness as well as society and history
2. dialectical logic as the basis for social progress
3. Need to understand modern society through an analysis of its mode of production and the changing forms of social divisions of labour.

Question 3

Revolutionary Social Change/class struggle

Answer 3

The Communist Manifesto identified class struggle as the motor of history and predicted the end of capitalism through a revolution of the working class.

Question 4

Mode of production

Answer 4

productive forces and social relations through which people organize themselves in order to produce in a particular way.

Question 5

Base-Superstructure Model of Society

Answer 5

the base shapes the superstructure

• the superstructure maintains and legitimizes the base.
• the base is relations of production and means of production
• the superstructure is made up of education, politics, religion, mass media ect

Question 6

Classes in society

Answer 6

Capitalist/Bourgeoisie: owns the means of production

Workers/Proletariats: sell their labour for power to survive; produce commodities.

Question 7

Commodity

Answer 7

• a product produced for the purpose of exchange

- each has a value and exchange value which arise from the labour power that the workers invest to produce them

Question 8

Rate of exploitation

Answer 8

worker produces a value for the capitalist in excess of the value paid to them in the form of wages.

Question 9

What is the class struggle?

Answer 9

the outcome of the conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat. Contradiction inevitably leads to crises and destruction
pauperization of working class— growing concentration of capital in the hands of a few—alienation

Question 10

Socialist Mode of Production

Answer 10

• power of the ruling class is never total, efforts t exert complete control fail.
• conflict propels the capitalist MoP to its revolutionary negation

Question 11

what is law’s capitalist function?

Answer 11

law is used as a tool of social control

Question 12

Criticisms

Answer 12

• only focuses on class oppression, ignores race, class and gener
• critique of prediction of communist revolution
• critique of deterministic account of law and society
• critique of communist social change.