Kar

lMar
x(German:5May1818–14March1883)wasaGermanphi
l
osopher
,economi
st,
hi
stor
ian,
soci
ologi
st,
pol
i
tical
theor
ist
,jour
nal
i
standsoci
ali
str
evol
uti
onar
y.

DasKapit
al.Hi
spoli
ti
calandphil
osophical
thoughthadenor
mousi
nfl
uenceonsubsequent
i
ntel
l
ectual
,economi
candpol i
ti
calhi
story,
andhisnamehasbeenusedasanadject
ive,
anoun
andaschoolofsoci
altheor
y.

Mar
x'scr
iti
cal
theor
iesaboutsoci
ety
,economi
csandpol
it
ics–coll
ect
ivel
yunder
stoodas
Mar
xism –hol
dthathumansocieti
esdevel
opthr
oughcl
assst
ruggl
e.

I
ncapi t
alism, thismanifestsit
sel
fintheconf l
i
ctbet weent herul
ingclasses(knownast he
bourgeoisie)thatcont r
ol t
hemeansofpr oductionandt hewor ki
ngclasses( knownast he
prol
etari
at )t
hatenabl ethesemeansbysel l
i
ngt heirl
abourpoweri nreturnforwages.[16]
Employingacr iti
calapproachknownashi stor
icalmat eri
ali
sm, Marxpredict
edt hat
,li
ke
prev
ioussoci o-economicsy st
ems,capi
tali
sm pr oducedinternalt
ensionswhi chwouldleadt
o
i
tsself-
dest ructionandr epl
acementbyanewsy stem knownassoci ali
sm.

Mar
xism
-
aneconomi
candsocial
syst
em basedupont
hepol
i
tical
andeconomi
ctheor
iesofKar
l
Mar
xandFri
edr
ichEngel
s.

-summedupi nt
heEncart
aRefer
enceLi
braryas“at
heor
yinwhichcl
assst
ruggl
eisa
cent
ralel
ementi
ntheanal
ysi
sofsoci
alchangeinWest
ernsoci
eti
es.
”

-ant
ithesi
sofcapi
tal
ism whichi
sdefi
nedbyEncartaas“aneconomicsyst
em basedon
thepr i
vat
eownershi
poft hemeansofproduct
ionanddist
ri
buti
onofgoods,
character
izedbyafr
eecompet i
ti
vemarketandmot i
vat
ionbyprof
it
.”

-syst
em ofsoci
alism ofwhi
chthedomi nantf
eat
urei
spubl
i
cowner
shi
poft
hemeansof
product
ion,di
str
ibuti
on,andexchange.

Marxi
sm,toputitrathersimply
,isaty
peofeconomicsyst
em proposedbyKar
lMarxi
n
whi
chtherear
enocl asses.Thegover
nmentwouldcont
rolal
lresour
cesandmeansof
pr
oducti
onto,i
nt heory,ensur
eequali
ty.

Al
i
enat
ioni
sthet
ransf
ormat
ionofpeopl
e'
sownl
abouri
ntoapowerwhi
chr
ules
t
hem asifbyaki
ndofnat ur
alorsupra-humanlaw.(inMarxi
sttheor
y)acondi
ti
onof
wor
kersinacapi
tal
isteconomy,result
ingfrom al
ackofident
it
ywi t
hthepr
oductsof
t
hei
rlaborandasenseofbeingcont r
olledorexpl
oit
ed.

TheI
ndust
ri
alRev
olut
ionwasat
imewhent
hemanuf
act
uri
ngofgoodsmov
ed
fr
om smal
lshopsandhomestolar
gefact
ori
es.Thi
sshi
ftbr
oughtaboutchangesi
n
cul
tur
easpeoplemovedf
rom r
uralar
eastobi
gciti
esi
nordert
owor k.

Decl
i
neofCr
aftGui
l
ds
Thecolumnarguest hatincreasingincenti
v estodobusinesswi
thmer chantsoutside
thegui
ldsyst
em, andt heav ai
labil
i
tyofbet teri
nfor
mationaboutthosetradingpart
ners,
l
edt ot
hedecli
neofmer chantgui l
dsint he16thcentur
y .Thi
soccurr
edf i
rstincoastal
cit
iest
hatwereearlyadopt ersofprinti
ngt echnol
ogy.

Howi
sMar
xism r
elat
edt
oIndust
ri
ali
zat
ion?
Hev i
ewedindustri
ali
zati
onasmer el
yrepr
esenti
ngaf ur
therst
ageint
he
dehumanizati
onofwor kersandasanessenti
alsteppi
ngstonetowar
dst
he
rev
oluti
onaryprocesseshewascer t
ainwoul
dcome.

Marxbeli
evedthatt
heIndustr
ial
Revol
uti
onwasunf
airt
othewor
ker
s.I
ttookawayt
hei
r
i
ndependenceandthei
rpridei
nthei
rwork.