Socialism - Marx & Engels Flashcards
(20 cards)
Key thinkers of socialism
- Karl Marx and Engels
- Rosa Luxembourg
- Beatrice Webb
- Anthony Crossland
- Anthony Giddens
What was Robert Owen’s idea of a perfect society (utopia)
- Common ownership :
- Co-operative communities : by working together more ppl will enjoy the fruits if their labour and better quality of life
Theory of Alienation - Marx & Engels
- Marx thought that capitalism separates ppl from their ‘species-essence’ forcing them to live in an inhuman and unnatural way.
What did Marx & Engels argue that capitalism separates workers from (THEORY OF ALIENATION)
- The products of their labour : they spend their time making goods that aren’t useful to them because they can’t afford it
- The process of their labour: capitalism treats humans like machines, workers employed just to do one step in production process
- Workers are alienated from themselves (species-essence) : many workers couldn’t use their unique capacity to produce many things & develop
- Workers are alienated from each other: we see people as competitive rivals just to bargain
He said what separates humans from animals was the fact that humans were capable of using their imagination and creativity to produce while animals produce limited things they need to survive
What did Marx criticise Owen for
For treating humans like objects, passive machines that could be improved with the right rules and conditions
Historical Materialism
- Humans progress through a serious of stages each of which was shaped by the way it produced material goods
What are Marx’s stages of history shaped by
- Means of production available at each stage and the methods used to produce material goods
- Relations of production: the relationship formed during the production, the way we produce influences how ppl in society interact w/ each other
What did Marx see the history of societies as
The History of Class Struggle
- Each of Marx’s stage is defined by an economic structure in which one class exploits the labour of another
- The Bourgeoisie exploiting the labour of the Proletariat
Bourgeoisie
the upper class
Proletariat
The working class who sell their labour to survive
Economic base
The means and relations of production that shapes a societies superstructure
Superstructure
All other aspects of society
- law, art, science , religion
He argued that those who benefit the most from the relations of production use their wealth to promote superstructures that benefit them and exploit people
False consciousness
The capitalist dominating the superstructure and promoting an ideology that instills in the working class
- The proletariat are unable to see they are being exploited bcuz the upper class is the ruling intellectual force
Dialectical Materialism
The idea that everything around is constantly changing and results in conflict
What does Marx believe that stages are built upon
Conflict
As rival classes want different things
- the rulers want the exploiter to work longer workers and accept lower wages while the exploiter wants the opposite
What did Marx think would happen eventually with relations of production
- Exisiting relations of production can overtime come into conflict with new means of production.
What did Marx think will happen after the ‘fetter’
That society would enter an era of revolution in which the ruling class is replaced by a rising class
