Theories of the State

Chapter 4: Marxism

 It became popular due to the Communist regime

 Marxism influenced Western countries which rejected communism as they saw it as
totalitarian.
 Marx himself said he is not Marxist, rejecting the simplified versions of his ideas.
 The theory looks through a lens of class struggle and a theory of how all human societies
develop and change.
 It offers a theory on how human societies develop.
 It looks how at how capitalism came into being, how it works and how it will eventually exit.
 Communist parties were inspired by Marxism and this led to revolutions in Russia, China etc.
These parties created centrally planned economic production that focused on heavy industry
and not consumer goods. But when Russia slowly lost is dominance it looked at though
Marxism would decline. It now rested on the hope that a alternative econ system to
capitalism would be possible.

Origins and Core Ideas:

 Marx said mankind makes their own history due to existing circumstances already present
from the past.
 His theory of revolution provided a guidance on how to achieve radical social change.
 Lenin made changes to the theory by affirming that revolutions would first take place in rural
societies which created a short term dictatorship of the proletariat and a extended
dictatorship of the communist Party.

Understanding the Dialect: come back to it

 Marx was influced by Georg Hegel.

 Hegel stressed the power of ideas in moving history.
 Marx was in contrast a matrearilistic and saw history as moved by material econ forces, not
ideas.
 Marx retained 2 of Hegel’s ideas:
- Accepted that there was a pattern of progressivie development towards perfection in
human history.
- Rejected any gradualist model of this progress a she belived that advances could only
result from a clash between 2 oppositing social forces, the accepting thesis and
oppositing anthithesis
 From this clash a new ‘synthesis; would emerge combing the thesis and antithesis.
 Hegel: thesis and antithesis were bodies of ideas.
 Marx: thesis and antithesis were found in econ and its power structure.

Revolution and Social Crisis: