Marxism: Origins, Core Ideas, and Critique of Capitalism
Karl Marx
Sources of Marxism
Marxism is not solely defined by the works of Marx, but also by his collaboration with Engels and the intellectual trends of their time.
Hegelian Left
Marx, while not a direct student of Hegel, was influenced by the Hegelian Left at the University of Berlin. Key figures included Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872), who bridged Hegelian idealism and Marx’s thought. Feuerbach emphasized a materialist turn in philosophy and the concept of alienation in religion. He critiqued Hegelian idealism, arguing for a return to nature and matter as the basis of knowledge. Feuerbach also saw God as a human construct, leading to human alienation.
Utopian Socialism
Mid-19th century socialist philosophers like Comte de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen advocated for social reforms to address economic injustice. Marxists, however, criticized their naivete and lack of scientific validity.
Anarchism
Anarchists, such as Mikhail Bakunin and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, sought radical social transformation by rejecting all forms of authority and advocating for the destruction of the State. While sharing the goal of societal reform, Marxists and anarchists differed on the means, leading to a split in the labor movement.
Economic Liberalism
Thinkers like Adam Smith and David Ricardo legitimized economic liberalism during the Industrial Revolution. They viewed capitalist laws as natural and immutable, justifying worker insecurity. Marx rejected this analysis.
Materialism
Dialectical Materialism
Marx adopted Hegel’s idea of reality as dynamic and changing, driven by contradictions. However, influenced by the Hegelian Left, Marx saw this dynamic as a product of material forces and relations, not consciousness. This materialist perspective posits that material reality shapes ideology, not the other way around. Economic systems (infrastructure) determine culture, institutions, and ideologies (superstructure). Marx viewed history as a dialectical process of evolving production systems, driven by internal contradictions. This dialectical materialism sees the economy as the engine of historical progress, moving from thesis to antithesis to synthesis.
Historical Materialism
Historical materialism is a method for analyzing social reality with scientific claims. It aims to uncover the laws of historical development and predict the social future. Applied to capitalism, it identifies contradictions in production relations, leading to class struggle and the eventual establishment of communism. The class struggle is the motor of history, a clash between oppressors and the oppressed, driving societal change.
Social Criticism
Marxism critiques capitalism’s injustices and inconsistencies. Marx believed that capitalism alienates human beings.
Economic Alienation
Marx saw work as essential for human survival and self-realization. However, under capitalism, work becomes dispossessed and alienated. Workers are exploited, and their labor becomes a mere instrument for capital accumulation. This alienation manifests in two ways:
- On the act of working: Workers are reduced to cogs in the production system, unable to develop intellectually or spiritually.
- Regarding the product of work: Workers do not own or identify with what they produce; their labor becomes a commodity.
This economic alienation takes the form of surplus value, the mechanism of capitalist exploitation. Capital accumulation relies on the difference between invested capital and the value of goods sold, benefiting only the employer. Marx criticized this as illegitimate appropriation, arguing that the means of production should be social, not private.
Social and Religious Alienation
Marx saw social and religious alienation as derived from economic alienation.
Social Alienation
Social divisions based on ownership of the means of production lead to social inequality and denial of dignity for the economically disadvantaged.
Religious Alienation
Marx viewed religion as a tool for maintaining oppression, offering a heavenly future to pacify the oppressed and make them accept injustice. He famously called religion the opium of the people, numbing their desire for social change.
Communism
Historical materialism advocates for the arrival and establishment of communism, a new social order free from exploitation. Marx saw communism as a natural evolution of capitalism, driven by its internal crises. This evolution would follow these stages:
- Capitalist production
- Dictatorship of the proletariat: a transitional socialist state
- Communism: the final stage, with the disappearance of the state and class divisions, leading to the end of history and a society of peace, equality, and freedom.