Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Important Writings
EARLY: more about philosophy Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844) MIDDLE: more about politics The Communist Manifesto (1848) (with Engels)
Influences
Theory: German Philosophy - Hegel: social change comes through social struggles and conflicts (dialectics) - Feuerbach: deal with the real world, not just ideas about it (materialism) Analysing economy: British political economy - Adam Smith: study the division of labour Politics: French Socialism - Saint-Simon: must create a new society, based on cooperation between classes, not conflict
Basic Concepts
1) Aim of sociology (Historical Materialism): - Create knowledge critical of existing society
- Inform the working classes of their oppression - Encourage revolution abolition of capitalist society - Build new socialist, then communist, society
2) Human nature
Human being is fundamentally a social animal (agreement with Durkheim) Human nature changes over time:
- shaped by particular societies (e.g. human nature in capitalism: selfish human nature in communism: cooperative)
Part of human nature remains constant: - Humans creative / creativity in making things - Making things creatively allows selfexpression - Humans like working (if allowed to do so freely & creatively; but not if forced to) - Good society: allows creativity in work - Bad society: forced to work, work uncreative
3) Historical Materialism - Always see the material aspects of society as the most important - The ideal elements of society are less important - (Contrast with Durkheim and, partly, Weber)
Ideal aspects:
Ideas and beliefs (e.g. morals and religion) Ways of thinking Culture (Emphasis on ideal comes from Hegel)
Marxs breakthrough Concentrate on material aspects: - people making things (production) - people working (labour) - people acting on raw materials to make goods - humans transforming Nature for their use
Historical Materialism
Materialism: - looks at material factors in society - emphasises production and labour over ideal factors
Historical: - looks at changes over time in material factors - social change produced by changes in material factors - Human history = changes in how people work & make things
Classes are antagonistic to each other as each class has its own interests Class interest: to be the most powerful group in society (especially in terms of wealth)
Class struggle: classes always in conflict with each other to be the most powerful Human history driven by conflicts between classes; classes win, classes lose
Ruled by government
Mode of Production
ECONOMIC BASE Forces Relations of production of production FUNCTIONING---------------------------------- SHAPES SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE Ways of thinking, values, ideas Social institutions
ECONOMIC BASE
FORCES of
PRODUCTION
Scientific knowledge
Technological knowledge Technology (tools) Raw materials Labour force (people)
RELATIONS of
PRODUCTION
Social relations
which control & organize production
SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE 1) Ways of thinking, values, ideas (Forms of social consciousness) (Ideologies) 2) Social institutions - Religion - Family - Education - Government / the State
ECONOMIC BASE
shapes
SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE
Social institutions work in ruling class interests (Marxist functionalism) Family: 1) instils dominant ideologies in young 2) breeds and looks after workers Education: instils dominant ideologies in young
Media: spreads dominant ideologies Government: controls NON-OWNERS / protects OWNERS interests / ensures social stability
Mode of Production
ECONOMIC BASE Forces Relations of production of production FUNCTIONING---------------------------------- SHAPES SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE Ways of thinking, values, ideas Social institutions
Forces of production change, transforming relations of production Changes in BASE lead to changes in SUPERSTRUCTURE: whole society transformed
-----------------------------------------FEUDALISMS SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE Ways of thinking: Catholic Christianity Social institutions: Catholic Church, family
CAPITALISM
CAPITALISMS ECONOMIC BASE Forces Relations of production of production Industrialism Capitalists & proletarians -----------------------------------------CAPITALISMS SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE Ways of thinking: capitalist ideologies (religion no longer required) (Capitalism allows individual freedom, democracy, social mobility, etc.)
Social institutions: family, media, government
CAPITALISM TODAY?
CAPITALISMS ECONOMIC BASE Forces Relations of production of production Post-Industrialism Capitalists (service sector, Managerial class computers & IT, Proletarians stock markets) (white collar, McWorkers) -----------------------------------------CAPITALISMS SOCIAL SUPERSTRUCTURE Ways of thinking: capitalist ideologies (social mobility, meritocracy, consumerism)
Social institutions: media, welfare state
-----------------------------------------SUPERSTRUCTURE Ways of thinking: end of ideologies, truth Social institutions: withering away of the state: communities govern themselves; true democracy
Evaluation
1) Overemphasises material over ideal factors - things like religion just as real as work 2) Reductionist - oversimplifies a complex reality - explains everything in terms of production & classes (but not all things can be explained that way)
3) Overly politicised - not really social science - too biased - more like propaganda & wishful thinking
Evaluation (2)
1) Production at the heart of human life
3) Requires sociologist to be highly critical of current society - reject dominant ideologies - get at deeper truths