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Flashcards in Marxism-key elements Deck (53)
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1
Q

society as a series of

A

conflicts (have and have nots) btw means & relations of production, class (not a central harmony of interests as liberals say but conflict btw bourgeosie & proletariat)

2
Q
  1. Historical Materialism
A

view of the world shaped by our material interactions with it, development of societies over time follows key tendencies
ie. Production is key human activity

3
Q

what is historical materialism a theory of?

A

a theory of history according to which the material conditions of a society’s way of producing and reproducing the means of human existence.

4
Q
  1. Idea of critique
A

• We need critique ideology to change the world

5
Q
  1. $ determinism
A

theory that $ relationships (such as being an owner or capitalist, or being a worker or proletarian) are the foundation upon which all other social and political arrangements in society are based.

6
Q
  1. Base & superstructure model describes
A

human society

7
Q

in (4. Base & superstructure model) those who control means of

A

production (base) most important-deep structure/essence of society

8
Q

in (4. Base & superstructure model) ordering of superstructure

A

depends on means of production (capitalism)- families seen as a way of control, need to work to support fam

9
Q

What does base & superstrcutre model highlight?

A

how systems structured to maintain divisions of means of production & to maintain control

10
Q

superstructure

A

appearance: everything not to do with production –> owners, church, fam, uni,school, workers,)

11
Q

base

A

everything to do with means of production (ie actual tools, factories…)

12
Q
  1. Dialectics & Contradiction
A
  • Everything comes from material conditions in which we live (not natural)
  • Everything has an opp which they create (dialectic) & something new emerges out of it as a result, (contradictions are motor of change)
13
Q

according to key element of dialectics & contradiction, why does change occur?

A

Everything has an opp which they create (dialectic) & something new emerges out of it as a result, (contradictions are motor of change)

14
Q

what’s wrong with capitalism?

A

alienation

Exploitation

15
Q

alienation from

A
  1. our products (which confront us as something alien, controlling us).
  2. other people (they seem like competitors and adversaries).
  3. $ as a whole (which is a social product, but seems like an alien force that controls us).
16
Q

exploitation

A
  1. Those who own the means of production possess the capacity to exploit those who sell their labor…
17
Q

what is exploitation?

A

pay workers less than what it costs to produce a given product … , Owners extract the surplus value from the labor of the worker - this is capital

18
Q

how does capitalism survive then?

A

• Nothing else to challenge it- there’s no awareness/class conscience of it

19
Q

where did WST develop from & why?

A

Development of Lenin’s work on imperialism and the Latin American Dependency school.
–> Immanuel Wallerstein.
wanted to try & answer why LA hadn’t developed & caught up w. western world?

20
Q

What did Immanuel Wallerstein introduce into WST?

A

semi-periphery of some power but not heaps of it, eg Thailand, South Korea,

21
Q

Core

A

Democratic Governments
High Wages
Import Raw materials
Export: manufactured goods

22
Q

Semi-Periphery:

A

Authoritarian Regimes
Low Wages
Import: Mixed
Export: Mixed

23
Q

Periphery:

A

Non- democratic Governments
Poverty
Export: Raw materials
Import: manufactured goods

24
Q

Why doesn’t periphery revolt?

A

believe they’ll be able to move up ladder one day, states at the bottom need help of stronger states & stronger states rely on poor for materials

25
Q

What did Gramsci try to answer?

A
  1. why Communism/Marxism hadn’t spread across Europe
  2. flaw in marxist theory of why russia, a backward country had transitioned to socialism before capitalist countries had, like Marx had predicted
26
Q

What does Gramscianism cause us to do?

A

• Hegemony means we now have accepted capitalism & deomocracy, Gramscianism wants us to challenge this acceptance.

27
Q

Gramscianism- The social relations/interactions of superstructure determines

A

how susceptible society is to transformation

28
Q

what does Gramsci argue?

A

hegemony (consent & coercion) controls society
o Consent for certain political ideas/parties produced & reproduced by hegemony as hegemony enables these ideas to spread through all civil systems in society.

29
Q

what did Gramsci shift focus of Marxism to?

A

superstructural phenomena

30
Q

what is the significance of Robert W Cox’s work?

A

brought Gramsci to modern world transposing his ideas

• All knowledge reflects certain time, context, place

31
Q

what notion did Robert W Cox present?

A
  • Knowledge isn’t objective & timeless
  • Hegemonic idea of UK & US (as hegemons) free trade (a concept accepted, despite being bad for periphery)
  • Counter hegemonic mvts will emerge from collapse of capitalism & $ crisis
32
Q

criticism of WST

A

o Assumes core country is democratic & western (China???)
 Traditionally a periphery nation (major site of production) but as the middle class develops its moved definitely into semi or even the core.
o Too simplistic? Assumes every nation is monolithic.

33
Q

what does WST represent?

A

Reflects the clash of civilisation (Samuel Hungtington- world can be divided by civilisations ie west and east, Buddhist & animist influences theory based a lot on religious values, dividing up the world arbitrarily to an extent)

34
Q

To wallerstein (who introduced semi-periphery into WST) what did end of CW symbolise?

A

indicated end phase of system to be replaced by another (not triumph of liberalism like fukuyama proposed)

35
Q

critical theory developed out of

A

Frankfurt School (20s-30s) and Gramscian thought

36
Q

How does critical theory differ to other types of Marxism?

A

focus mostly superstructural (not base) Concerned with emancipation & critique of social science & not $.

37
Q

How does critical theory critique Marx’s view of revolution?

A

• Argue that proletariat has been absorbed into system & no longer threatens it.
o Question whether proletariat actually has potential to revolt/emancipatory transformation

38
Q

traditional marxist meaning of emancipation

A

humanity having more mastery over nature through development of sophisticated technology to benefit all

39
Q

Early critical theorists view of emancipation

A

opposed this, & believe that this domination of nature leads to domination of humans (ie sophisticated methods of killing others- WWII), need to reconcile with nature instead

40
Q

Habermus- emancipation

A

about communication rather than reconciliation w nature, through radical democracy where widest amount of participation is achieved, not just confined to borders. (Rights & obligations extend beyond borders)

41
Q

Why is Andrew Linklater’s work important?

A

took Habermasian perspective & applied it to World politics

42
Q

how does Andrew Linklater view emancipation?

A

expansion of moral boundaries of a political community so citizens have same duties & obligations towards noncitizens (Where borders of sovereign states lose ethical & moral significance)

43
Q

what does Linklater view the EU as?

A

tool towards emancipation- if true it could mean we’re entering era where sovereign state is no longer preeminent

44
Q

what sort of system is the WST?

A

historically bounded- has beginning & end

45
Q

What do the core, semi-periphery & periphery symbolise and how are they connected?

A

3 zones of world economy, linked together by exploitative relationship wealth drained from periphery to the core, explains why west is so developed

46
Q

Why did WST develop?

A

trying to answer why LA hadn’t developed & caught up to west, highlights how manufactured goods gain greater value faster than raw materials (which LA produced).

47
Q

how could you describe Marx’s view of the world?

A

as almost teleological, has an endpoint which is socialism

48
Q

criticism of marxism

A

too focussed on the economy, however this in many aspects is seen as the essence of marxism

49
Q

how does marxism contrast with other IR theories?

A

it’s normative/prescriptive!!

• Marxist school of thought has greater sense of social activism (why it’s often labelled as more radical)

50
Q

Marxism vs Realism

A

Realism a static theory- biggest difference: situation can’t be changed it is inherently anarchic, unchangeable. ‘Marxism wants radical change, additionally liberalism wants change but not the same radical nature.’

51
Q

Since marxism has greater sense of social activisim, what is it often labelled as?

A

a more radical theory

52
Q

• Marx argued that nation had to be (feudal then) fully capitalist before getting to

A

socialism and then communism.

53
Q

how did Gramsci refute Marx’s argument that nation had to be (feudal then) fully capitalist before getting to socialism and then communism.

A

he highlighted the hegemonic forces at play and how they led to the control of a society.