MULT10018 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Primitive Communism, The Proletariat, Dialectic
28 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
07/03/17
POWER AND SOCIETY - Economics, Gender
Karl Marx’s (1818-1883), Germany but Jewish by descent) work has become an extremely
important form of analysis and political organisation. He was a foundational theorist of power.
- He was a philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist (esp. NY Tribune)
- The context and focus of his writing: collapse of Feudalism and rise of (particularly
industrial and the rise of people who worked in said industry- industrial bourgeoisie)
Capitalism.
- Marginalised for radical ideas; moved to France, back to Germany, Belgium, and then
finally settled in England. Main collaborator, friend and benefactor was Friedrich Engels.
Marx was a theorist of class, his key idea was Historical Materialism.
“Materialism”
● The primary of the social:
Marx believed the individual producer was a figment of the imagination of Utilitarians. Rather, he
argues, productivity is fundamentally impossible without human beings entering into
relationships with other human beings. He believed it was about groups of people.
● Materialism:
The most fundamental aspect of human existence is the necessity to produce the means of
subsistence.
● The Hegelian Inversion:
Rather than human society being a product of ideas, ideas are a product of human society.
“Historical”
● Mode of Production (or Base): the sum total of productive activities in any given society.
- The forces of production; human knowledge e.g.) science and tech, employed in
productive activity.
- The social relations of production; the specific ways in which labour is organised within a
productive activity.
- The means of production; the tools and machinery employed in a productive activity.
The Base / Superstructure distinction:
● Base (or mode of production) refers to the sum total of productive relations.
● Superstructure consists of the ‘ideological’ aspects of a society (including media,
religion, law, arts and political discourse)
“The mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and intellectual life
process in general. It is not consciousness of men that determines their being, but their social
being that determines their consciousness.”
The characteristic modes of production through human history:
- Primitive communism (or tribal society)
- Ancient feudalism (based on slavery)
Document Summary
Karl marx"s (1818-1883), germany but jewish by descent) work has become an extremely important form of analysis and political organisation. He was a philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist (esp. The context and focus of his writing: collapse of feudalism and rise of (particularly industrial and the rise of people who worked in said industry- industrial bourgeoisie) Marginalised for radical ideas; moved to france, back to germany, belgium, and then finally settled in england. Main collaborator, friend and benefactor was friedrich engels. Marx was a theorist of class, his key idea was historical materialism. Marx believed the individual producer was a figment of the imagination of utilitarians. Rather, he argues, productivity is fundamentally impossible without human beings entering into relationships with other human beings. He believed it was about groups of people. The most fundamental aspect of human existence is the necessity to produce the means of subsistence.
