Marxism

A Brief Introduction

Who was Karl Marx?

Economic theorist 1818 1883 Had a big beard In collaboration with Hegel developed theories of societal development through dialectic, and of class struggle.

Principles of Marxism
Society is divided into three classes: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Class
Aristocracy
Ruling class, inherited wealth.

Bourgeoisie

The middle classes. Educated and in control of industry and business. The working classes. Exploited by the bourgeoisie.

Proletariat

Marxist Economics
1. All items have two values:
1. A use value 2. An exchange value

3. The Exchange Value:

1. How much people are prepared to pay for an item. Determined by cultural pressures such as fashion, social status.

2. The Use Value

1. The value of an item from a purely practical standpoint.

2.

Use Value vs Exchange Value

Nike Air Max
(legendary sneaker from the 90s)

Steel Toe-Cap Boot

(Branded as military approved)

Marxist Economics, part 2

In order for the bourgeoisie to make money and keep control of their wealth, they must extract more exchange value out of an item than it cost to produce. Therefore, all workers must be paid less than the value of the goods they produce. Capitalism as a system is only possible through this exploitation of the working classes.

Youre working for me, sunshine. My pension needs topping up.

Thieving capitalist running dog. My hard work is paying for your cushy retirement.

Class Struggle
Because of the exploitation inherent in all societies, the different classes cannot coexist happily or peacefully:
The proletariat will always seek to improve its position and overthrow its oppressors The bourgeoisie must always keep the proletariat under control.

Control and Repression

Marxist critics argue that there are many means by which the bourgeoisie exerts control over the proletariat:
Military power; Legal system (protection of property, inheritance laws); Police; Church; Moral codes; Cultural codes.

The Individual versus the System

Individualism:
Capitalism argues that it is free, individual choice which guides our actions in life, and those choices determine our success and happiness. Society, therefore, reflects the choices made by individuals and its structures are generated by the choices people make. In other words, people are rich because they behave in a way that makes them rich, and they are poor because their choices keep them poor.
The Marxist View
Marx took the opposite view. He argued that: It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness. In other words, the way we experience reality is determined by the society we live in. Therefore, free choice is never possible: our choices are limited and even predetermined for us by our social conditions. Marxist theorists argued that it is through ideology that peoples thought processes are shaped.

Ideology Mind Control

Ideology was traditionally taken to mean a set of beliefs to which an individual ascribed, such as Christianity or environmentalism. However, Marxist theorists argue that Capitalism is also an ideological system which interpolates its subjects silently, hiding the means by it dictates the way we think. Hence, ideas such as individualism can be seen to be constructs of capitalist ideology:
We believe we can act freely and have freedom of choice, but in reality our behaviour is circumscribed by a network of codes and practices:
Good behaviour Manners Sense of class or social obligations Taboos

We are not individuals, but Subjects

The Free Individual?

Culture
For some Marxists (belonging to the Structuralist school), culture is also a means of controlling subjects (in particular the proletariat). Texts will often celebrate certain characteristics which embody the qualities needed by a capitalist society.
The Volunteer by Herbert Asquith, for example.

Other texts, even those that appear radical, will ultimately support the dominant ideology simply by being different and radical:
The subversive figure of the fool in Lear is only possible in a system in which the authority of a King remains supreme.

A Marxist Reading
The Volunteer Here lies a clerk who half his life had spent Toiling at ledgers in a city grey, Thinking that so his days would drift away With no lance broken in lifes tournament: Yet ever twixt the books and his bright eyes The gleaming eagles of the legions came, And horsemen, charging under phantom skies, Went thundering past beneath the oriflamme. And now those waiting dreams are satisfied; From twilight to the halls of dawn he went; His lance is broken; but he lies content With that high hour, in which he lived and died. And falling thus he wants no recompense, Who found his battle in the last resort; Nor needs he any hearse to bear him hence, Who goes to join the men of Agincourt.

Resistance and Subversion

Whereas structuralist critics see all cultural acts as being products of a hegemonic ideological system (a system which exerts universal and total control over its subjects), other critics see high culture as a location where ideological norms can be challenged (this view is characteristic of the Frankfurt School). Interestingly, mass culture is seen as a means of control, whereas high culture (literary fiction, poetry, theatre, visual arts) offer the possibility of subverting or resisting capitalist hegemony.

Marxist Reading
A Marxist reading of a text will explore how that text either perpetuates or resists the capitalist system. It will be closely attentive to images of power, value and commerce, and will often explore the way that writers ideology contradicts the surface meaning of the words

When reading a text, explore it on three levels:

1. The surface of the text: what happens in the plot? Are poor characters repressed or able to resist power? Who wields power in the text? 2. The codes of the text: how does the text encode ideology? Are certain forms and modes of behaviour criticised or praised? 3. The form and function of the text: how does the text function in society (is it a prestige form, is it literary, does it have a specific purpose, such as a hymn?)

Discussion Point
Take a text you have previously studied, at AS, GSCE or lower down the school
To Kill a Mockingbird Death of a Salesman The Charge of the Light Brigade (for example)

Analyse how it supports or challenges capitalist ideology