Marxism Marxism, social and political theory based on the works of Karl Marx and his followers, associated

with the socialist and communist movements. Marx's works can be broadly divided into his early philosophical writings (for example, the posthumously published konomisch philosophische Manuskripte aus dem !ahre "#$$%&hilosophic and 'conomic Manuscripts of "#$$, (ie deutsche )deologie%*he +erman )deology, "#$, "#$-., his pamphlets (for example, Manifest der kommunistischen &artei%*he /ommunist Manifesto, "#$#., his analyses of contemporary events (for example, (er 0cht1ehnte 2rumaire des 3ouis 4apoleon%*he 'ighteenth of 2rumaire of 3ouis 4apoleon, "#,5, and (er 26rgerkrieg in 7rankreich%*he /ivil 8ar in 7rance, "#9"., and his mature and fundamental works, :ur Kritik der politischen konomie (/ontribution to the /riti;ue of &olitical 'conomy, "#,<., and, above all, (as Kapital (vol. ", "#-9= vols. 5 and > published posthumously.. *o summari1e, let alone explain, this vast and complex theoretical system in a few paragraphs is impossible. *he ramification of the doctrine have included philosophy, economics, history, politics, and most of the social sciences. 4o theorist has been as analysed and discussed in the 5?th century as Karl Marx. *he reason behind this attention is far from being purely academic. 4o comparable modern thinker has had as much impact on political parties and movements. &rior to the collapse of communism in 'urope one third of humanity was under regimes purportedly inspired by Marx's works. Marx sought to unveil the inner laws of the development of capitalism. 'ach historical epoch was said to be characteri1ed by a specific mode of production to which corresponds a particular system of power and, conse;uently, a ruling class in constant open or hidden conflict with an oppressed class. *hus feudal society is dominated by a feudal mode of production in which the class of landlords extracts a surplus from a rural population bound to the land. *ransitions from slavery to feudalism and from feudalism to capitalism occurred when the forces of production (that is, labour power and the actual means of production such as machines. could no longer develop within existing relations of production, that is the relations between classes. 7or example, the crisis which overcame feudalism when capitalism's need for a growing working class re;uired the elimination of traditional legal and ideological arrangements which tied serfs to the soil. )n capitalism the fundamental relation, the wage relation, is based on a contract between @uridically e;ual parties. *he owners of capital (capitalists. pay the workers (the proletariat. wages in return for an agreed number of working hours. *his disguises a real ine;ualityA the capitalists BcheatC the workers by appropriating far more than they pay out in wages and other necessary production costs. *his special and statistically un;uantifiable appropriation, or Bsurplus valueC, gives the owners of capital great wealth and control over the economic development of society. *hey thus appropriate not simply wealth but also power. 0 complex political superstructure, consisting of laws and ideologies of various types, regulates and reinforces these social relations. )n effect, by being in charge of the surplus which results from accumulation, capitalists can determine the overall direction of society. *he commodities produced by capitalism must possess Buse valueC, otherwise they would not find buyers, but to the capitalist they must have exchange valueA they are not needed for the capitalist's own consumption but only to be exchanged for money. *hus capitalist production is essentially production for exchange and not for needs. /ompetition drives inefficient capitalists into bankruptcy and leads to concentration and monopolies. Markets, however, are constantly expanded while techni;ues of production and forms of exchange are ceaselessly revolutioni1ed.

/rises are central to capitalism. /apitalists are driven to try to increase the length of the working day, its intensity, or the productivity of labour. 8orkers, if appropriately organi1ed, will offer resistance. /apitalists try to enlarge their markets while paying their workers as little as possible. Det if they all succeeded, workers' consumption and so their demand would decrease, markets would shrink, and capitalism enter into crisis. Marx's complex and at times obscure writings allowed for disparate interpretations. 2efore "<"$ the dominant orthodoxy was that propounded by Karl Kautsky, who stressed the inevitability of capitalism's collapse. 0fter the Eussian Eevolution, Fladimir )llich 3enin added to the Marxist canon a theory of imperialism, a theory of the state, and principles of revolutionary organi1ationGhence Marxism 3eninism. *he )talian communist 0ntonio +ramsci stressed the role of ideology in civil society in the construction of political hegemony. *he appeal of Marxism was that it gave powerful intellectual backing to the moral outrage arising from the purported ini;uities of capitalism and to the hope that a system which ought to disintegrate would eventually do so. *he theory was sophisticated enough to appeal to the intellectually minded while being amenable to simplification and diffusion at a mass level by socialist activists. Hince "<$, most socialist parties have renounced Marxism, while the study and development of the doctrine has remained largely confined to academic circles. /ontributed 2yA (onald Hassoon Microsoft I 'ncarta I 'ncyclopedia 5??5. J "<<> 5??" Microsoft /orporation. 0ll rights reserved.