JURISPRUDENCE’S PSDA

KARL MARX’s THREE STAGE THEORY

Kar l Heinr ich Mar x (1818 – 1883)

He was a German philosopher critic of political economy, economist, historian, sociologist, political
theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary.

BORN: 5TH MAY 1818

DIED: 14TH MARCH 1883
SCHOOL: CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY MARXISM
In a layman language he said that “ you cannot separate law from the society, law is a n integral part of
society and society is the functional aspect of law. So your focus should be on how the society and law
would function in respect to each other.”

He gave a utopian vision of a just society for some, a blueprint for totalitarian regimes for others, Marxist
thought is laid out in the Communist Manifesto. His theory is also called marxism.

 Marxism is a social, political, and economic theory originated by Karl Marx that focuses on the
struggle between capitalists and the working class.
 Marx wrote that the power relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative
and would inevitably create class conflict.
 He believed that this conflict would ultimately lead to a revolution in which the working class would
overthrow the capitalist class and seize control of the economy.

‘CLASS STRUGGLE’

Marx believed that humanity’s core conflict rages between the ruling class, or bourgeoisie, that controls
the means of production such as factories, farms and mines, and the working class, or proletariat, which is
forced to sell their labour.

According to Marx, this conflict at the heart of capitalism -- of slaves against masters, serfs against
landlords, workers against bosses would inevitably cause it to self-destruct, to be followed by socialism
and eventually communism.
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‘COMMUNISM’

For Marx, the goal was the conquest of political power by workers, the abolition of private property, and
the eventual establishment of a classless and stateless communist society.

According to Marx’s theory of historical materialism, societies pass through six stages —

 Primitive communism,

 Slave society,

 Feudalism,

 Capitalism,

 Socialism and finally

 Global, stateless communism.

Three stages of class struggle

PRE CAPITALIST SOCIETY CAPITALIST SOCIALIST SOCIETY

PRE CAPITALIST SOCIETY:

It is a society existing or operating before the advent of capitalism.

He said that in pre capitalist society commodities were divided between people of different classes and
people are working in social pressure so that they won’t be disowned by the society.

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CAPITALIST SOCIETY:
He divided the society into two classes
1) PROLETARIAT (Lower Class)
2) BOURGEOISIE( Upper Class)

 Capitalist society is made up of two classes: the bourgeoisie, or business owners, who control
the means of production, and the proletariat, or workers, whose labor transforms
raw commodities into valuable economic goods.
 Ordinary laborers, who do not own the means of production, such as factories, buildings, and
materials, have little power in the capitalist economic system. Workers are also readily
replaceable in periods of high unemployment, further devaluing their perceived worth.
 To maximize profits, business owners have an incentive to get the most work out of their laborers
while paying them the lowest possible wages. This creates an unfair imbalance between owners
and laborers, whose work the owners exploit for their own gain.
 Because workers have little personal stake in the process of production, Marx believed they
would become alienated from it, as well as from their own humanity, and turn resentful toward
business owners.
 The bourgeoisie also employ social institutions, including government, media, academia,
organized religion, and banking and financial systems, as tools and weapons against the
proletariat with the goal of maintaining their position of power and privilege.
 He said that with time the working class will be more exploited, oppressed by the capitalists i.e.
Bourgeoisie and with this the capitalist will become even more rich and it will become a vicious
circle of death.

SOCIALIST SOCIETY:

Karl Marx said that this oppression and constant exploitation will lead to a revolt by the Working class i.e
proletariat and it will result in abolition of the capitalism. After that people will be given resources
according to their need and the amount of work they’ll do.

There will be no class division and it will become a class less society.

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RATIONALE OF KARL MARX

 Modern work is alienated

Karl Marx claims that humans are reduced to the level of an animal, working only for the purpose of
filling a physical gap, producing under the compulsion of direct physical need. Alienation from my
life-activity also means that my life-activity is directed by another.

 Modern work is insecure

Karl Marx said that with the increase in population, there will be a lot of people who can do a work even
with less wages and ready to perform for more working hours, so work would become insecure as the
demand of workers will remain the same and the supply of workers will increase.

 Instability of capitalism

Karl Marx argued that in an attempt to cushion the effect of the fall in revenue on profit, the bourgeoisie
would cut costs by cutting the wages they pay to the proletariat. However, a fall in wages would reduce
the purchasing power of the proletariat which would force them to decrease the demand for goods.

DOCTRINE OF MARX’s PHILOSOPHY

 Economic Determination of Law:

Law is molded according to economic determination, law is dictated by whom you are and what you
earn in the society
 Class Character of Law:
Karl Marx said that law ultimately with time becomes a tool to keep the subject under their control, he
was not against the law, he was against the state which use law to oppress.
 Identity of Law and State:
Karl Marx said that state and law are separate. The state exist because of unequal distribution of

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commodities or wealth in the society.
 Withering away with class less society:
Karl Marx said that if there would be a class less society there will be no need for law and state, we
need law and state just because people are divided into different classes.

CRITCISM OF KARL MARX’S THEORY

 In the theory of Class struggle Karl Marx never recognized a third group in the society which is
known as middle class. The middle class has substantial influence on the society but Marx’s
theory has not place for it.

 Marx said that the law is a tool of oppression, but he never gave any exceptions. As, some laws
like laws of Human Rights, laws for Reservation of lower class and the Rights conferring laws
are not the laws which oppress the people.

SUBMITTED BY: PUNEET RATHORE

OO816503519
BBA-LLB(6TH SEM)

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