Marxism
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels first met in September 1844. They discovered they shared similar views on philosophy and socialism, which led to a lifelong collaboration. In January 1845, Marx was deported from France, forcing him to move to Belgium. This country permitted greater freedom of expression than other European nations at the time. The two men returned to Brussels in January 1846 to establish the Communist Correspondence Committee. Their partnership produced foundational texts like The Holy Family and The German Ideology. By 1847, they began writing The Communist Manifesto based on Engels' Principles of Communism. Six weeks later, they published the 12,000-word pamphlet in February 1848. After Marx died in 1883, Engels became the editor and translator of his writings. He also wrote Origins of the Family, Private Property, and State in 1884, analyzing monogamous marriage as guaranteeing male social domination.
Marxist analysis uses a materialist methodology known as historical materialism to examine societal development. Karl Marx described this theory in The German Ideology (1845) and the preface A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859). All constituent features of a society stem from economic activity, forming what is called the base and superstructure model. The base includes material forces of production such as labor, means of production, and relations of production. From this base rises a superstructure of legal and political forms of social consciousness. Conflicts between developing productive forces and existing relations of production provoke social revolutions. Engels clarified that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. These struggles manifest as distinct transitional stages of development in Western Europe. Marx designated human history as encompassing four stages: primitive communism, slave society, feudalism, and capitalism. He did not claim to have produced a master key to history imposed by fate upon every people.
Under the capitalist mode of production, struggle materializes between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie own the means of production and buy labor power from the proletariat. This relationship allows capitalists to exploit workers because their labor generates surplus value greater than the worker's wage. Exploitation is defined as surplus labor, the amount performed beyond what is received in goods. Under capitalism, the labor theory of value states that commodity value equals socially necessary labor time required to produce it. Surplus value is synonymous with surplus labor, meaning capitalist exploitation derives from extracting this difference. Workers do not own the means of production and must voluntarily enter exploitative work relationships to earn necessities. However, the choice to work or starve makes participation inevitable despite its illusory voluntary nature. Alienation results when fruits of production belong to employers who expropriate surplus created by others. Marx emphasized that capitalism per se does not cheat the worker but creates objective estrangement from humanity.
The October Revolution in 1917 saw Bolsheviks take power from the Russian Provisional Government. They established the first socialist state based on soviet democracy and Leninism. Their federal state promised to end Russian involvement in World War I and establish a revolutionary worker's state. Fifty thousand workers had passed a resolution favoring transfer of power to the soviets. Following the revolution, the Soviet government struggled with the White Movement during the Russian Civil War. In 1919, the nascent Soviet Government established the Communist Academy and the Marx, Engels, Lenin Institute for doctrinal study. With Lenin's death in 1924, internal struggle emerged mainly between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. The Chinese Communist Party was founded in 1921 and conflicted with the Kuomintang over the country's future. Mao Zedong developed a theory of Marxism for the Chinese historical context, finding support in the peasantry rather than urban centers. The People's Republic of China (PRC) was declared in 1949. Later, Deng Xiaoping reworked official Marxism into socialism with Chinese characteristics centered around Four Cardinal Principles.
Classical Marxism denotes theories expounded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Ernest Mandel remarked that Marxism is always open, critical, and self-critical. Libertarian Marxism emphasizes anti-authoritarian aspects and emerged in opposition to Marxism, Leninism. Early currents included left communism and autonomism. Notable theorists include Maurice Brinton, Cornelius Castoriadis, Guy Debord, and Raya Dunayevskaya. Marxist humanism was born in 1932 with publication of Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. It reached prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. Humanists argue that grasping Marx's philosophical foundations is necessary to understand his later works properly. They contend that man is the measure of all things and should be treated differently from natural order. In contrast, Soviet Union interpretations viewed Marxism as natural science. Western Marxism became accepted within academia during the 1940s, fracturing into perspectives like the Frankfurt School or critical theory. The legacy of Critical Theory remains controversial due to its focus on dismantling structures of oppression.
In 1959, the Cuban Revolution led to victory for Fidel Castro and his July 26 Movement. Castro adopted the Leninist model of socialist development, allying with the Soviet Union. Che Guevara aided revolutionary movements in Congo-Kinshasa and Bolivia before being killed by the Bolivian government. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw collapse of most socialist states professing Marxist, Leninist ideology. Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985. His reforms coupled with rising ethnic nationalism led to dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991. At turn of 21st century, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam remained only officially Marxist, Leninist states. A Maoist government led by Prachanda was elected into power in Nepal in 2008 following long guerrilla struggle. Early 21st century also saw election of socialist governments in Latin American nations known as pink tide. Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez declared himself a Trotskyist during cabinet swearing-in two days before inauguration on the 10th of January 2007.
Marxism has influenced many fields including anthropology, archaeology, art theory, criminology, cultural studies, economics, education, ethics, film theory, geography, historiography, literary criticism, media studies, philosophy, political science, political economy, psychoanalysis, science studies, sociology, theatre, and urban planning. According to a 2007 survey by Neil Gross and Solon Simmons, 17.6% of social science professors and 5.0% of humanities professors identify as Marxists. The theoretical development of Marxist archaeology began in Soviet Union in 1929 when Vladislav I. Ravdonikas published For a Soviet history of material culture. Australian academic V. Gordon Childe used Marxist theory in understanding human society development. Marxist sociology emerged in late 19th and early 20th centuries with Max Weber and Émile Durkheim considered seminal influences. First Marxist school was Austro-Marxism featuring Carl Grünberg and Antonio Labriola. In India, B. N. Datta and D. D. Kosambi are founding fathers of Marxist historiography. Senior scholars today include R. S. Sharma, Irfan Habib, Romila Thapar, D. N. Jha, and K. N. Panikkar.
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Common questions
When did Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels first meet?
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels first met in September 1844. They discovered they shared similar views on philosophy and socialism, which led to a lifelong collaboration.
What is the historical materialism theory described by Karl Marx?
Historical materialism is a materialist methodology used to examine societal development where all constituent features of a society stem from economic activity. This forms what is called the base and superstructure model with the base including material forces of production such as labor and means of production.
Who established the Communist Correspondence Committee in January 1846?
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels returned to Brussels in January 1846 to establish the Communist Correspondence Committee. Their partnership produced foundational texts like The Holy Family and The German Ideology before writing The Communist Manifesto.
Which countries remained officially Marxist Leninist states at the turn of the 21st century?
At the turn of the 21st century China Cuba Laos North Korea and Vietnam remained only officially Marxist Leninist states. A Maoist government led by Prachanda was elected into power in Nepal in 2008 following long guerrilla struggle.
When did the October Revolution take place and who took power?
The October Revolution in 1917 saw Bolsheviks take power from the Russian Provisional Government. They established the first socialist state based on soviet democracy and Leninism.