The Theoretical Development of the Marxism and PostMarxism Theories - Term Paper Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2012 Introduction Theoretical development which entails the progressive formulation of various theoretical viewpoints has an enormous power to explain social life and phenomena. Indeed various theories have historically been devised to try and provide explanation to the social and political reality of life. One of the dominant and most profound theories has been the Marxism theory which was and continues to provide and insight or refection of contemporary society. The inception of the Marxism theory was perceived as a great hope for millions who believed that capitalism was an oppressive approach to govern society. Nevertheless, as time went by, many theorists have extended or reacted to the Marxism theory in a number of interesting and useful ways leading to the formulation of what is referred to as post- Marxist theories. This particular paper seeks to provide a detailed review of the theoretical development of the Marxism and post–Marxism theories. Furthermore the paper will also examine whether post Marxist theories are an effective way of describing the social and political reality of our everyday life. Theoretical development begins with the Marxist and historical materialism theories. The Marxism theory was propagated by Karl Marx who was known for his revolutionary writings such as Capital (1867–1894) and the Communist Manifesto (1848). Blackledge, (2006) highlights that the Marxism theory incorporated the idea of historical materialism which was grounded on Hegel's view that history transpires through a clash or dialectic of opposing forces. Marx analysis of history was based on the difference between the means of production and the social relations of production or basically the social relations that people get into in order to use and obtain the means of production. The result of the relations is the formation of the two classes in society which include; the owners of production "bourgeois or “capitalists” and the proletariats, those who sell their labour to the owners of production. Blackledge (2006) highlights that; the capitalist means of production has the ability to create growth through new technologies, reinvestment profits and incentive. Nevertheless according to Marx the approach would result to social conflict and disruption. This is based on the fact that the capitalist system was prone to sporadic crisis such as decline of profits due to the lack of investment on labour. The decline of profits would then result to economic recession leading to the collapse of certain sectors of the economy. On the other hand the working class or the proletarians would feel opposed due to the decline in prices of labour. Consequently, a revolution is bound to occur, whereby the working class would seize the means of production and eliminate the bourgeois class and then encourage a social system of equality that is grounded on communism. Historical materialism was therefore integrated into the Marxism theory as the culmination in the communism. Shimp (2009) highlights that historical materialism is founded on the idea of dialectic whereby man will progressively move to absoluteness which according to Karl Marx was the communist system. Jason (2005) argues that the Marxism theory still applies in contemporary society and can effectively explain modern day social and political reality. For instance most modern day societies are still characterized by different classes of people such as a dominant middle class. In addition there is still the existence of a lower class or the working class that only sells their labour to the owners of production. Jason ( (2005) further argues that both classes collaborate in the production environment in order to get profits, but only the bourgeoisie gain the profits from the efforts of the working. After Marxism and the historical materialism theories, the modernity theory arose as a transition theory that was theorized by conflict arising between the capitalist system and democracy (Delanty, 2000). Modernity can generally be described as a set of theories that attempted to give explanation to contemporary civilization. These theories were mainly centered on explanations that encounter or engage the capitalism system in order to enhance civilizational progress, survival, maintenance and advancement, as witnesses in the enlightenment projects that influenced the emergence of the industrial revolution (Rappa, 2002). The hallmark of modernity was therefore marked by the equanimity or dismay of faith in the continued use of reason that connected humans to rationality. Classical reasoning was therefore replaced with scientific rationality (Rappa, 2002). Rappa, (2002) highlights that over the previous a hundred years; the theory of modernity has gone through rejuvenations and renovations such as information, consumption and communication revolutions. A more recent definition of modernity is signified by the struggle between the domination of instrumental rationality and communicative rationality that arises from the civil society (Delanty, 2000). In addition all the renovations in various areas only signify the changes that have occurred in modern life through application scientific thinking. Gramsci and the theory of hegemony is another significant theory that arose along the premise of the Marxist theory. The theory was propagated by Antonio Gramsci. While Engels and Marx gave an in depth evaluation of capital at the economic and social level, by specifically arguing how capital alienated the working class and produces a crisis, Gramsci on the other hand supplemented these ideas with a refined political realism theory and how it related to the economic and social conditions. According to Gramsci the working class has to politically organize itself and bring about a revolution in order to effectively counter the pressures that are brought about by the capitalist system. Hegemony comes in when leadership or power is occupied by a certain political sphere which according to Gramsci, power and leadership can also be occupied by the proletarians or the civil society (Brown, 2008). Gramsci (1971) believed that the probability of developing a revolution to eliminate class struggle and also control the means of product was minimal; however the working class would only succeed through the creation of a war position which involved new beliefs and ideas that would lead to the formation of new hegemony/control. Subsequent to the Gramsci and the theory of hegemony was the development of the psychoanalysis and social repression. Hegemony and the psychology of repression can be linked to the approaches of unpacking concepts. Crossley (2004) highlights that; the concept of repression is key to psychoanalytic and psychoanalysis social theory. The theory is grounded on Sigmoid Freud’s view of force of repression. Repression makes sense socially, whereby human beings develop a routine of pushing unacceptable or unpleasant thoughts at the back of our minds, or humans may tend to cover the unpleasant thoughts with other rationalizations. In order to remember such thoughts psychoanalysis is required. Mehlman, (1996) also reveals that Louis Althusser one of the proponents of Marxism in the 1960’s interpreted the of psychoanalysis theory through adopting the Marxist ideology. According to Althusser, state apparatus shapes an individual as a subject. This occurs when psychological and political forces unite to give a definition to the possibility of forces and actions of repression and constraint. Crossley, (2004) also argues that psychoanalysis and social repression can be applied to the current social and political life in the sense that according to Freud, the demands of the civilized society may result to frustrations of a person’s life which further results to repression. After the Gramsci and the theory of hegemony and psychoanalysis and social repression, the post- Marxist theories arose. Some of the post Marxist theories include; Lyotard and post-modernism condition, post-structuralism, deconstruction, antagonism and social dislocation Goldstein, (2005) highlights that although post Marxist theories integrated the letter Marxism on their wording, the theories can be conceptualized as being relevant to the new cultural climate that no longer responds to the classical doctrine of Marxism. For instance unlike the traditional Marxism which emphasized the concept of class struggle, post- Marxism puts more emphasis on racial, ethnic , class and sexual division of modern society. The big question that arises is whether the emergence of the post -Marxist theories can be used as an effective means of describing the social political reality of everyday life. It can be argued that the emergence of post Marxist theories can be relevant or useful in describing modern day life. For instance the theory of deconstruction provides a tangible basis of application to the social political reality of everyday life. The theory was initiated by Derrida who was committed to understanding meaningless tests or what one would consider as vague rhetoric’s. According to Derrida the meaningless texts can actually be interpreted in a way that is as good as the next text or other texts. In addition the theory also emphasizes the need of reading between the lines, being responsive to texts within the cultural context and also being sensitive. (Keller, 2001).The deconstruction view can actually be relevant to the social and political life today in the sense that it gives an impression that what is perceived as not being useful can actually turn out to be useful. As the theory states meaningless or vague texts, can turn out to be as useful as others, this assumption calls for the need for modern society to put into consideration the importance of all social and political entities that might have been ignored based on the fact that they seemed to lack productivity or even meaning. This will assist in creating a balance in the current social expression. Also the second assumption of the deconstruction view, which involves reading between the lines, is significant. This is because it promotes the concept effective evaluation of issues. Effective evaluation which can also be linked to reading between the lines is essential in all areas of life in order to identify the challenges that may be affecting people in society. If the challenges are affectively identified then it will be possible to reduce conflict in society and also people would work as one. Furthermore, post Marxism theories can be argued to be an effective means of describing the social political reality of everyday life. Lyotard and post-modernism condition is a significant post Marxist theory that also gives backing to the relevance of post – Marxist theories in society today. Lyotard give an understanding of modern society in terms of progress that has been brought about by technological, political and cultural change. Lyotard further propagates that in order for progress to continue the power of reason must exist (Smith, 2006). Lyotard and post-modernism can therefore be anticipated as a relevant theory in examining modern society. This is because progress in contemporary society has been spearheaded by reasoning which has resulted to the development of technological, cultural and political changes, which have improved the status of the modern life both in the social, economic and political arena. Bennington and Massumi (1984) highlights that the legitimacy of postmodernism is also grounded on consensus and discussion as opposed the use of violence or revolutions, this notion is different from the classical Marxist view that salvation will rise through a revolution of the proletariats. This particular assumption of the post modern theory is relevant in the real political life in the sense that, although political challenges are prevalent in society such difficulty in solving the unemployment challenge and low incomes among certain classes of people. The approach of violence and revolutions can not be deemed as useful in resolving social struggles. But rather today we see approaches such as negotiations and discussion as a way of resolving conflicts in well developed democracies. Antagonism and social dislocation is another post- Marxist theory that can be argued as relevant in explaining the social and political reality of our everyday life. The antagonism and social dislocation theory as proposed by Ernesto Laclau is grounded on the assumption that antagonism exists in the society which further results to social dislocation. According to Laclau antagonism can be described as the displacement of the consequence of the real. The occurrence of antagonism in society is usually as a result of any effort at universalism that needs both initial lack and reversal of alternative means. Laclau highlights that antagonism is usually accountable for the impossibilities that occur in society. Dislocation on the other hand discloses the lack that surrounds society; while antagonism represents the efforts that compete to put an end to the lack (McMillan, 2006). The Antagonism and social dislocation theory can be described as revenant in explaining what goes on the real social and political life. For instance the problem of climate change has been a dominant challenge in contemporary society, however the problem is entangled around social antagonism and the dislocation of discourse, in the sense that the although the problem is universal it can not be solved universally due to the existence of social antagonism. Therefore climate change continues to be a prevailing problem in society. On the other hand the post Marxism theories can be argued as an irrelevant way describing the social and political reality of our everyday life. This is basically because most of the theories even as discussed above have eliminated the issue of class struggles in society which was a core concept of the classical Marxist theory(Chilcote, 1990). However class struggles still exist in our society today. The poor workers continue to be poor as they offer their labour to the owners of production. In addition the irrelevance post Marxist theories in social and political reality of our everyday life occurs in sense that as highlights by Chilcote, (1990), the post Marxist theorists have avoided analysis of the exploitative relations that exist between labor and capital as a central aspect in the accumulation of wealth in the capitalist system. Instead the posts Marxist theories have put more emphasis on ideologies and politics Debates concerning the challenges of the capitalist system are actually no longer essential. However what is evident in the real social and political world is that the capitalist system is still problematic just as described as Karl Marx. For instance; the recent global financial crisis in one of the indications of the challenges of capitalism, however no theory attempts to deal with the changes of capitalism effectively. Conclusion The above discussion has presented a review of theoretical development. The paper examined various theoretical developments from the Marxist theory and historical materialism, to the modernity, into Gramsci and hegemony, which further developed into other post-Marxist theories. In addition the paper evaluated the post- Marxism theories and their relevance in explaining the social and political life today. From the analysis various applicable relevance can be donated however the paper identifies the fact that post Marxist theories, have ignored key aspects of the classical Marxism theory such as class struggle and the negative implications of capitalism which still exist in modern day life. References Brown , T , 2008, Gramsci and hegemony, International Journal of Social Review, 1, p1-3 . Bennington, G and Massumi, B, 1984, The postmodern Condition, A report of Knowledge , Manchester University Press. Blackledge, P, 2006, Reflections on the Marxist theory of history, Manchester University Press Chilcote, R, 1990, Post-Marxism: The Retreat from Class In Latin America, Latin American Perspective, 17(2),p3-24. Crossley, N, 2004, Key Concepts in Critical Social Theory, Sage. Delanty, G, 2000, Modernity and Postmodernity: Knowledge, Power and the Self, Sage. Gramsci, A, 1971, Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci, New York, International Publishers. Goldstein, 2005, Post-Marxist Theory: An Introduction, Suny Series in Postmodern Culture. Jason, C., 2005, Marx's Theories- Application of on Social Class to Modern society Keller, D, 2001, Deconstruction: Fad or Philosophy , Humanitas, 14(2), p58-72. Mehlman, J, 1996 ,Writings on Psychoanalysis: Freud and Lacan, Columbia University Press. McMillan, C, 2006, Redefining terms Antagonism and social dislocation. Rappa, L, 2002, Modernity & Consumption: Theory, Politics and the Public in Singapore and Malaysia, World Scientific. Shimp, K, 2009, The validly of Karl Marx‘s theory of historical materialism .Major themes in Economics. Smith, K, 2006, Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?: Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church, The Church and Postmodern Culture, Baker Academic. Read More