Karl Marx: Humanity, Alienation, Capitalism

Andrew J. Perrin • SOCI 250

September 17, 2013

Andrew J. Perrin • SOCI 250 Karl Marx: Humanity, Alienation, Capitalism September 17, 2013 1 / 21

Karl Marx1818–1883

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Karl Marx: Life & Times

Academic star in Gymnasium

Studied in Bielefeld, then Berlin

Early member of “Young Hegelians”

Becomes politically active, leaves academia to be activist & journalist

Founder of “scientific socialism” movement

Living in exile in London, dies and is buried there

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Big Themes in Marx

Dialectical Materialism

Parsimony / reductionism

Base / Superstructure

Conflict / Consent

The Theory of History

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Dialectical Materialism

Marx’s theory of historical progression

Dialectics: Progression through antagonistic opposition

Materialism: Progression through real interests

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Materialism

“Social life is essentially practical. All mysteries. . . find their rationalsolution in human practice and in the comprehension of this practice.”

–Theses on Feuerbach

“History is nothing but the succession of the separate generations, each ofwhich exploits the materials, the capital funds, the productive forces

handed down to it by all preceding generations.”

–The German Ideology

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Species BeingWhat is special about humans?

Humans work

What distinguishes human societies is the organization of humanproduction

Humans’ species being is a complete link between self and worldlyactivity

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Alienation

Artificial separation of things that are naturally united

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Primitive Communism

“Primitives” are not alienated from their labor

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Economic Development Drives Social Change...and the news isn’t (all) good!

1 Intellectual success breeds economic growth

2 Economic growth enables technological change

3 Technological change brings social change

4 More on this next week

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Alienation of Labor

A person and her work are naturally merged

Economic necessity drives society to divorce them

Man is therefore alienated from his own labor because it confrontshim as external

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The Commodity Fetish

Remember: a fetish is desire misplaced onto an incorrect object

Why do people work?1 to make the stuff they need;2 because it’s their species being

Under capitalism, people don’t understand their own desires; theywant things because of the price they command

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The Origin and Role of Ideas

The world of material production is the origin of ideas.Andrew J. Perrin • SOCI 250 Karl Marx: Humanity, Alienation, Capitalism September 17, 2013 14 / 21

The Origin and Role of Ideas

“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.” (TheGerman Ideology)

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The Origin and Role of Ideas

Paradox Why do criticism, then, if it’s material reality and not ideasthat move the world?

Answer Dialectics! The material and the ideal are dialecticallyrelated.

Ideas (Superstructure)m

Material (Base)Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers from the chain. . . so that

[man] shall cast off the chain and pluck the living flower.

Material force can only be overthrown by material force; but theory itselfbecomes a material force when it has seized the masses.

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Conflict and Consent

History, therefore, is driven by conflicts

Conflict is functional and fundamental

Consent: a kind of false consciousness produced by the ruling class inan attempt to suppress conflict

Andrew J. Perrin • SOCI 250 Karl Marx: Humanity, Alienation, Capitalism September 17, 2013 17 / 21

The Overall Theory of History

Primitive society: nomads ⇒ animal husbandry and agriculture

Agriculture ⇒ feudal class structure (landowners vs. peasants)

Efficient planting ⇒ trading ⇒ trading class (bourgeoisie)

Importance of trading grows ⇒ bourgeois revolution (French,American, etc.)

Processing and manufacture ⇒ capitalist class structure (capitalistsvs. workers)

Dependence on workers ⇒ proletarian revolution ⇒ socialism

. . .

=⇒ Communism

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Conventional (Durkheim) View of Progress

Progress

Time

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Dialectics

Progress

Synthesis

Thesis Antithesis

Synthesis

Thesis Antithesis

Synthesis

Thesis Antithesis

Synthesis

Thesis Antithesis

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Dialectics and History

Progress

Time

Durkheim

Marx

Weber

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