Marxism and factors relevant to it

Marxism is a social, political, and economic philosophy examining the effect of capitalism on social arrangements. This article explores the concept of capitalism, Marxism, and its related factors such as communism and socialism. It also delves into the different schools of Marxist thought and key Marxist thinkers.

Marxism and factors relevant to it
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Introduction
Marxism is the social, political, economic philosophy examining the effect of the concept of
capitalism on the various social arrangements like labour, productive work, economic
progress and so on. The Marxism theory stipulates that social classes have constant struggles
among themselves. The Bourgeoisie and the Capitalists are pitted against the Proletariat and
the Workers. Marxism defines the system, arrangement and progress of the state in terms of
the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. (Kubalkova, and Cruickshank 2015) The basic crux of the
Marxism is that the bourgeoisie tries to keep control of factors of production from the masses
and if the control is reduced or taken away , the economy gets free from private ownership
and grows gradually and steadily.
Marxism is a mixture of social, political and economic ideologies. Marxism basically
stemmed from the Marxian economics and criticisms of capitalism of Karl Marx. Karl Marx
had several beliefs which he discussed at length in his famed book ‘Das Kapital’. (Ollman
2015) To understand Marxism and its theories and factors, the main elements brought out by
Marx have to be understood.
Karl Marx viewed Capitalism as one of the steps of systematic progress of the economy.
According to him, the following points elaborate the meaning of Marxism and Capitalism-
- The deep rooted inequalities of the Capitalism system lead to continuous tensions,
tussles and crises between business owners and managers and the working classes and
workers. Marx predicted that this situation will create a revolution where the private
ownership will be abolished, collective ownership will take over and equality will be
established between all classes.
- Capitalism, according to Marx, is related directly to the system and arrangement of
commodity management. The worker’s labour is a form of commodity which needs
value. Labourers do not own the means of production and business operations and
hence get disregarded and are replaceable. This leads to unemployment.
- Business owners and managers and employers do not pay the workers the right
amount. They profit, in Marx’s opinion, from the end product and deny the workers
any credit. The benefits from the surplus value are shared among those who did not
directly work or contribute labour.
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- Marx felt that capitalism created an unfair lack of balance between the Capitalists and
the Labour classes. The workers get to be unfairly taken advantage of and exploited,
as per Marx. The worker does not get the due credit and personal stake in the share,
and becomes isolated from the real profits, gains, benefits.
- Marx opined that the relationship between all the social classes and the socio-
economic factors are all interrelated. The Labourers are reduced to fights for survival
while the Capitalists are bent on creating increasing financial assets and profits. The
economic polarity will, according to Marx, lead to serious social issues, eventually
resulting in an impending revolution.
The Marxian economics is a school of thought which has emerged from Karl Marx’s
Marxism. The school of thought further focuses on the role of labour in the development of
economy as well the criticism of the various approaches and techniques of wage payment and
productions. The specialisation of labour force, according to the Marxian economists, and the
various factors like population and employment create a real value of labour which is too
discredited or denied. Marxian economics is related closely to the concept of Marx’s theories
of Marxism. It does not focus much less on political and social factors. (Panda 2015)
It is crucial to understand the concept of Capitalism in order to understand Marxism and its
related factors, Communism and Socialism. Capitalism, from the perspectives of the general
economics, is the economic arrangement where capital products and goods are owned by
private individuals, businessmen and agencies. The products and services are created,
produced and distributed on the system of demand and supply. The concepts of market
economy and planned economy are the driving forces of the market. The pure form of
Capitalism is the presence of Free Market, the Laissez-Faire Capitalism. There is no restraint
in the dynamics of business, marketing, operating, investing, buying, selling, creating,
producing and so on and so forth. Many countries have in practice the Mixed Capitalism
System where there is both regulation and freedom of business and market.
Constructively, the concept of Capitalism is the process of creating a balance between
economic production and resource distribution. (Thornton, 2017) Economic planning through
Capitalism is more decentralised and based on individual decision making rather than
centralised, politicised under the Marxist Socialism. One chief feature of the Capitalism is the
private property ownership. Private ownership allows the owner to utilise own resources and
maximise the value from these. The private property owner pays the values of the property. If
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the property is shared with or by the public, the commonness leads to market failure. The
labour value of the workers would be spread out and dispersed among several, leading to a
lack of connection between labour and value. There occurs, eventually, disincentives for
increasing value and production.
Profits, gains, benefits are all closely related to the Capitalism, and so are losses and
drawbacks. On becoming owners of private property, voluntary trade mechanisms come into
play, and market, trade and commerce activities are centred around it. There is a balance in
the system of supply and demand for proper distribution of resources. Economies are
controlled by factors of production that are run by individuals and organisations. (Zhu, et al
2015)
The concepts of Marxism, Communism, Socialism are closely related. There are theories and
practical applications that show different types of Marxism and its related factors-
- Marxist Communism consisting of Leninism, Stalinism, Trotskyism, Maoism,
Dengism, Titoism, De Leonism and many others
- 21st century communist theories
- Non-Marxist Communism comprising Anarchist Communism, Christian Communism
for instance.
Today the Marxist concept and its factors are studied through 21st century theories. The
theorists basically share four common ideas in relation to Marxism- Voluntarism, Economism
and Statism, Neoliberalism and Freedom and Equality. The Marxism concept has been a
subject of several theories, debates, practical applications and ideas.
Marxism, Communism, Socialism and related factors
Closely related to the concept of Marxism are two concepts that emerged from Marxist ideas-
Communism and Socialism. In order to understand Marxist theories, it is vital to understand
the two concepts. (Gronow, 2016. )
Socialism is the populist, economic and political stream of thought, focusing on public
ownership or collective or common ownership of property, means of productions and
business. All resources are shared by the public and there is nil private ownership. The pure
socialism theory stipulates that all production and distribution measures, decisions and
techniques are determined and carried out by the government. According to Socialists, the
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shared ownership of resources and central planning create an equal distribution of good and
services within a society where all classes are equal.
Common ownership involves several possible stages of conversion of the society, such as
Technocratic society, Oligarchic society, Totalitarian society, Democratic society and so on
and so forth. China, Cuba are two quite common examples of the contemporary Socialist
societies. Socialism in the modern context is criticised as the utopian system, that is
something that is not attainable and achievable. However, it is also believed, Socialism on a
proper planning and execution can create equality among people and security in the society.
The labourer’s value would be measured in terms of work hours and not the production limit.
The ideals of Socialism focus on the production for use, equal distribution of wealth and
resources, less competition in the market, free access to everything and availability of all
conveniences to everyone. (Halliday, 2015)
Communism is the political and economic ideology that vehemently opposes the liberal
Democracy and Capitalism. There is a strong demand for a classless society where the
community owns and manages the means of production and the private ownership is severely
reduced. Communism is basically an umbrella term and among other theories, is closely
associated with Marxism and Socialism. The modern Communist Manifesto originated in the
1840’s, when thinkers like Marx and Engels developed their ideas about Communism.
The French Revolution gave rise to the idea that the Bourgeoisie or the merchant class was
consolidating too much of power and misusing it to gain profits and exploit the working
classes as much as possible. The aim of Communism is to have a normal social equilibrium
in the society. Two countries are perfect examples of Communist societies running on the
lines of Marxist Socialism- Erstwhile Soviet Union and China.
The Soviet Union first began with Marxist Leninism in the aftermath of 1917 Russian
Revolution. Lenin introduced Karl Marx’s theories and developed his own style of Socialist
Communism. The Russian Communism then converted to Stalinism, which was the extreme
form of Communism. Stalin converted the country into a totalitarian society. In the 1950’s
Russia became a one party Soviet Union. Communism helped the country recover from years
of suffering and helped to an extent in increasing the progress of the economy. In the 1990’s,
with the downfall of the Soviet Union system, Russia’s Communism lessened and restricted
reforms were initiated to hasten the progress of the economy.( Banerjee 2016)
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The Communist China began as a Maoist Communist nation. Mao’s Communism resembled
the Stalinism of Soviet Union. The Communist China was extremely repressive and over
obsessed with regards to its Totalitarian Communism. After Mao’s death, Communism in
China was reformed and there were efforts to reduce the impact of the extreme Communism.
There is still a restrictive Communism in the country.
The Marxism concept, together with other theories believed in the following-
- Capitalism is the blatant exploitation of the labour classes.
- Capitalism is a politically motivated system.
- Capitalism is based on the Surplus Profit, that is the profit difference between the
value of sold goods and the reals cost of production.
- Capitalism leads to serious political, social, economic and cultural conflicts, thus
splitting the society into unequal classes.
Marxists have noticed that Polarisation of the Classes is the possible process of structuring
the societal classes so that they can be in the middle. (Morgan, and Patomäki, 2017) The
modern world has seen the emergence and rise of the Middle classes, the balanced economic
groups with the right resources and equality. The more polarised all classes become, the more
the economy will improve, as opined by economists. It is predicted that the class system will
be soon abolished, as the economy is becoming liberated every day. Today efforts are made
to give everyone equal access to facilities, opportunities and situations. The Neo-Marxism
ideas, which were originally developed by Karl Marx, stipulated that economic power leads
to political power. It is taken as the right approach to resolve class differences.
The Social and Political theorists have argued against the piling up of capital waste, leading
to disruption in the society. They argue that Capitalism comprises irrational measures of
trading in commodities and reducing resource generation. In their opinion, the essential
principle of economic activity in Capitalism is investment in production means instead of
prioritising the main labourers. Socialists, Communists, Marxists take private property as
limitations of productive potentials. Excess in differences in income distribution creates
social instability.
The various Marxist Schools of Thought have applied theories to governance, politics and
social situations. (Hussain and Tribe, 2016) Some of the major ones are elaborated below-
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- One of School of Marxist thoughts, under Gramsci, brought out terms to elaborate on
Communist Socialism. For instance Cultural Hegemony concept was used to describe
means of sustaining a state within the Capitalist arrangement.
- Structural Marxism approach was developed by Althusser to scientifically structure
the society. The theory suggests that economy, the state and the society can be free
from the control of the elite if the state utilises the production means and the profits
generated for economic development.
- Humanistic Marxism stands by the idea that the labour classes should not be isolated
from all means of production. The humanity angle approach is concentrated upon,
where the interest of the working classes are considered alongside.
- Autonomist Marxism focuses on the capacity to organise the societal and the
economic divisions into autonomous networks unlike unions so that the interests of
the working classes can be looked after within the Capitalism structure.
Several writers, thinkers and theorists developed their own ideas, opinions and theories along
the lines of Marxism, Socialism, Communism and related ideologies. (Sheehan, 2018) Some
of the key Marxist thinkers are as follows-
- Engels- He was the co-founder of the Marxist theory alongside Karl Marx.
- Paul Lafargue- He believed that socialism should be revolutionary in nature.
- Karl Kautsky- He helped create German Social Democracy on the lines of Socialism,
where the State while being Capitalist, had regulated control over the economy.
- DeLeon- He believed that democracy and socialism can be practised together, and
suggested that the workers share control over the means of production.
- Leon Trotsky- A Russian political thinker and a revolutionary, his ideas were on the
lines of Left Communism.
Conclusion
A little more than 150 years later, Marxism is still one of the most heavily debated concepts.
Whether Marxism is relevant in today’s context or not is still a huge question. It is without
doubt that the topic is discussed even today. The insights of the Marxism is crucial for
understanding the way a balanced society can run. The central theme of the Marxist ideology
is the use of the Capital. The Capital is not only a vital resource but is also factors of
production that cannot be denied to the labour classes. (Arato, 2016) It is significant that the
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social relationship between the worker and the employer enables a constructive and
productive utilisation of the Capital so that both sides benefit without exceeding the other.
The identification of three main principles can help in understanding how Marxism can be
used for creating a balanced system in the society-
- Concentration of production and means is suggested to be social initiatives, where
instead of being owned by any specific group, the ownership can be shared to a
considerable extent.
- Labour is suggested to be segregated on the basis of division of work and duties.
- The world market creation can help in keeping everything globalised. Today
globalisation is said to have resulted from the ideas of spreading and sharing the entire
Capitalist arrangement.
The dynamic Capitalism is continuously creating new approaches of production. The
accumulation of the finances is creating social and economic relations in today’s context.
Karl Marx saw capitalism as a constant disequilibrium. The deep seated tension between the
classes can be avoided. (Forbes 2015. )
The essential characteristic of the capitalist system, as described by Marx is alienation. The
workers feel isolated when they are deprived of their credits, rights and the required wages.
Workers should be able to have control over their work.
Karl Marx was a true revolutionary who almost correctly predicted the state of affairs brought
about by the class distinction. The Communist Manifesto and the globalisation are two of the
effects of what he had set out to theorise about. Marx’s key requirement was that the theory
has to be applied and practised. (Tamdgidi, 2015) Marxism today is still very much relevant
and a very important approach to understand the structure of the society.
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